5/11 from the blues 6227 70.3/120 on a comfortably mild day breezy last 6 holes POP being about 4 1/2 being paired with two rather deliberate golfers, starting a little slow behind a couple of group... Continue »

5/11 from the blues 6227 70.3/120 on a comfortably mild day breezy last 6 holes POP being about 4 1/2 being paired with two rather deliberate golfers, starting a little slow behind a couple of groups for the 1st 3 holes, not being pushed and dealing with some wayward shots here and there all added up to a leisurely round.
Tees mostly level and lush --bunkers inconsistent some groomed, some mangled from dogs paw prints, foot prints and what looked like no attention for a couple of days. Sand was of good quality and playable overall. OK pet peeve beside inconsiderate golfers who dont rake--rakes put in the bunker about a foot or 2 from the edge which caught my ball on the side of the slope--had to place it result being a foot or more below my feet--I vote for rakes OUT of bunkers.
Fairways filling in nicely and really lush in grassy areas some bare spots but mostly marked as gur. Not much rough until closer to the greens.
Greens about 90-95% healed still a little bumpy in some places rolling medium fast and challenging from above the hole. Receptive to well struck shots.
Friendly staff saw snack cart 4-5 times.

who: Me, myself & I (Again)
what: Another on the course practice round of 18
where: San Juan Hills in Camino Capistrano, CA
when: Monday 05/09/16 @ 632Am
why: .... why not
After many marketing em... Continue »

who: Me, myself & I (Again)
what: Another on the course practice round of 18
where: San Juan Hills in Camino Capistrano, CA
when: Monday 05/09/16 @ 632Am
why: .... why not
After many marketing emails received, I finally decided to play a round at San Juan Hills. Tee time was at 0632am, early morning traffic caused a bit of delay, therefore was late and was paired with another couple gentlemen starting at 0705am.
Most if not all tee boxes were in excellent conditions with green grass and leveled ground. Fairways were in very decent playing conditions with a few bare and dirt spots throughout; roughs were evenly cut to length and somewhat flat with a few exposed tree roots; greens were in great conditions and OMG weren't they tough. Overall, SJH is a great golf course for both playing experience and values. POP was about 4 1/2 hours only because the 5some in front were a bit slow, otherwise it should have been a well under 4hrs round.
SJH will indeed be in the come back list.
Til next time, have a great golfing day.

Early am tee time and despite being near the coast, it was rather cold considering it's almost April. I have no quarrels with the prior two reviews, as I found the course in decent shape, but not nea... Continue »

Early am tee time and despite being near the coast, it was rather cold considering it's almost April. I have no quarrels with the prior two reviews, as I found the course in decent shape, but not nearly as good as I remember it being. Greens were the best part of the course, fairways very playable but thin, with numerous GUR areas. Only in one bunker and it was fine.

Never have been a big fan of this course! Being a walker, some of the distances between holes takes time to navigate. I have always found this course to be kind of "quirky".

Played San Juan on Saturday, 3/19 at 9:20am in an outing. I was little hesitant to play as my last experience here was not good, but I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised. Course i... Continue »

Played San Juan on Saturday, 3/19 at 9:20am in an outing. I was little hesitant to play as my last experience here was not good, but I went in with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised. Course is in generally good shape but far from pristine.

The facilities here are average for Orange County. The driving range utilizes some non-traditional targets that are pretty cool (like field goal posts and trash cans) but is mats only and those mats need replacement. The chipping area is also quite large with a practice bunker, but I don't think any maintenance has been done to that area in weeks, so it really wasn't useful.

Course conditions are pretty average. Greens here are a very comfortable speed, medium to medium fast. You can be aggressive with your stroke with little fear of the ball running out on you. They are also very smooth, in fact, they act MUCH better than they look. There's some kind of discoloration on most of the greens but it doesn't affect the ball at all. Fairways are thin with lots of bare areas, but nearly all the bare areas on the fairways are marked as GUR, so that was a huge plus. Bunkers are thin but very consistent so it was easy to adjust. Tee boxes are pretty typical for a lower end OC course. A bit thin, some spots were not level but nothing that would affect your play.

As far as course design, San Juan Hills can be described as "quirky." I wouldn't say this target golf, but isn't not wide open either. There are at least a 3 or four holes that are downright awful designs (#2, #6, #10,) but then there are 3 or 4 holes that are beautifully built (,#4,#5,#8, #15). The holes that I'm labeling as "bad" typically don't have enough room for a golf hole. For example, #6 is a downhill dogleg left par 5 that from the tips plays 560. However, due to the slope of the fairway, you can only hit your tee shot 220-230 yard before running into the trees. The green is positioned that anything right is trouble so you want to approach it from the right side of the fairway, however you can't get to the right side of the fairway due to the slope of hill and overhanging trees. Just not a real well designed hole. Dont' get me started on #10, that's got a 25 foot oak tree in the middle of the fairway. Enough said.

However, then the course gives you holes like a #15, which is a ridiculously difficult driving hole but allows for plenty of bail-out room to the right. Then you get 180-210 yards into a slightly elevated green over water (which isn't really in play, just looks visually intimidating). It's a great hole where my group made a 3,4,6 & 9. Also there's a stretch on the front nine where the tee shot makes you think a little, you can either fly a strategically placed bunker and leave yourself with a short iron, or lay back and have a more difficult approach.

Ok, so overall SJH is a nice course, it won't overly "wow" you but it's a good value and very adequate.

Starter was very helpful in keeping the first tee organised and running on time. Course was in pretty good shape, other than various fairway spots marked by white 'ground under repair' paint throughou... Continue »

Starter was very helpful in keeping the first tee organised and running on time. Course was in pretty good shape, other than various fairway spots marked by white 'ground under repair' paint throughout the course. But, for the most part, the fairways were lush and green. Greens are notoriously fast, and today was no different. My first time playing the course, the greens are like putting on glass on a few holes. Definitely need to play for position to putt uphill, once you are familiar with the greens, and grip the putter lightly. Greens were pretty smooth, and appears most people repair their ball marks. A 5-some several groups in front of us slowed things down, particularly on the final 5 holes.

Friday morning tee time with out of town guests. Check in and staff were very good and the first tee starter kept things organized. Course is very green and in good shape. Tees, fairways and rough hav... Continue »

Friday morning tee time with out of town guests. Check in and staff were very good and the first tee starter kept things organized. Course is very green and in good shape. Tees, fairways and rough have good coverage. Almost every green is protected by sand traps, traps have good sand and were well maintained. Greens were firm and rolled true, the greens are big and almost every putt had break in it. Place was packed and POP was very slow on the front and picked up on the back. Great 19th hole.

Played the Blues (6317/70.5/127) using Forelinx in 4H, 50M. Course was busy/backed up, the POP was slowed by CPO a day after rain. Played as a 4some with Val, Adam & Kyle, all very fun/nice guys to pl... Continue »

Played the Blues (6317/70.5/127) using Forelinx in 4H, 50M. Course was busy/backed up, the POP was slowed by CPO a day after rain. Played as a 4some with Val, Adam & Kyle, all very fun/nice guys to play with. The weather was partly cloudy and a little breezy in the 70's. Most tees were fairly lush, but several could use leveling. The par 3 tees were chewed up with the soft, moist turf conditions. The kikuyu fairways were winter thin with somewhat spotty coverage. There were many clearly defined GUR spots that were bare spots, often dozens of these per fairway. The kikuyu rough had decent coverage for a grass and weed mixture in the winter. Not overly long but can still be penal because it's kikuyu. The traps were decently maintained with dark brown sand/dirt that was okay to play from. The greens looked like a bent/poa annua mixture. Fairly smooth, softer after the rains, they held approach shots great and putted medium fast. A few had some bare areas around the outside edges. These greens have a deceptive amount of break on them, no tiers, no huge slopes, but you get a putt over 20' and you are probably playing it way outside the hole. Par 71, somewhat quirky layout. Some 90 degree doglegs and some holes with fairly severe elevation changes. Hilly, tight but a fun course overall. Good customer service, quick efficient check-in & the starter was trying to keep things moving on-time. The Player Assistant was out patrolling & the beverage cart was out and making the rounds several times. The GPS on carts is to the front, middle and back of the green only. This would be very challenging course to walk, up/down hills and it cuts through tunnels several times as it meanders trough residential areas. Recommended = Yes, good mid level alternative and a fun, quirky, hilly layout.

Played SJH on Sat., PM round, running 15 min late off the tee and PoP around 4.5 hrs. Fairways are still thin with lots of divots (some repaired, some not), non-existent rough, and extra firm greens.... Continue »

Played SJH on Sat., PM round, running 15 min late off the tee and PoP around 4.5 hrs. Fairways are still thin with lots of divots (some repaired, some not), non-existent rough, and extra firm greens. Some areas marked GUR but in reality, they could have used an entire case of white paint and not circled all the bare spots on this course ... it is what it is. Greens in need of aeration: very firm and quick. Only well struck wedges and high irons will hold on most of them ... putting/chipping speed somewhat inconsistent (ie. a well struck and high iron on #9 188 yd. par 3 hole hits the front quarter of the very large green, bounces 10 ft in the air, and zips off the back, down into OB land). I attempted to play from 2 GS bunkers which were rock hard with not much sand ... not fun. Yes, they have a great 19th hole, so they have that going for them. Good news: the rain were getting should help soften this (and many other) course up and get them into a more playable condition.

I play here at least once a week. The course is in as good of shape as I have ever seen it. Still run into the patchy fairway or rough, but the fantastic greens make up for it 10 fold. POP is around ... Continue »

I play here at least once a week. The course is in as good of shape as I have ever seen it. Still run into the patchy fairway or rough, but the fantastic greens make up for it 10 fold. POP is around 4 1/4 - 4 3/4 when I play usually at 7:00-7:30 AM Saturday mornings. Cost is a little inflated but the club has some really good deals for discounts by joining the men's club or their own players program. They also have discounted times on most of the discount websites. Great Sports bar and grill for post round celebrations and libations. I Highly recommend San Juan Hills for great time.