Date played: Thursday, Oct. 17th
Tee time: 1:30 pm
My handicap: 17.6
Green fee: $75
Pace of play: 4 hours 15 minutes
# of players in group: 4
Tee box: Blue

First time playing SF, I expected ... Continue »

Date played: Thursday, Oct. 17th
Tee time: 1:30 pm
My handicap: 17.6
Green fee: $75
Pace of play: 4 hours 15 minutes
# of players in group: 4
Tee box: Blue

First time playing SF, I expected so much more but still enjoyed the round.

Course facilities: Nice sized driving range, but we had to hit off mats, not sure if they offer grass on certain days, it does look like there is a turf line. Really nice practice putting greens but again no chipping green that I am aware of. On a side note, why don't more courses offer a chipping green or at least some range targets closer than 75 yards. The clubhouse is unique, it looks like a old farm house with a detached barn that they use for events. The restaurant is pretty nice with high ceilings and a small but nice bar. There is an outdoor patio but it doesn't overlook either of the finishing holes. The pro shop didn't carry as much merchandise as I would have thought for the type of course it is. Employees were all great to deal with, starter was a good sport but I don't recall seeing a cart attendant on the course.

Course conditions: Course is in good shape, nothing to complain about except for the bunkers. Sand was not what you would expect on a high end course, much more compacted than I had hoped for.

Course layout: No houses directly on the course, which is really nice. There seemed to be a lot of spots where you could end up in trouble. If you are not hitting it straight be prepared to take penalty strokes. Lots of OB and environmental areas that will swallow up your Pro V's.

The course was nice but I was not moved emotionally by this course. There are so many courses in the So Cal area that offer an experience that is unique to that course, but SF did not offer that experience to me. It is possible it has something to do with paying $75 for a twilight round or maybe I had hyped it up too much. But I can't shake that feeling of being underwhelmed by this course. I wish I could provide my fellow GK'ers with a list of all the things that were wrong with this course, but I am far from being a course designer and I cannot even provide you with why I feel the way I do except that I walked away after playing a round and had a sigh of apathy. It wasn't as if I played a terrible round, shot my handicap.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that you should not play this course, go play it and formulate your own opinion. The course conditions and facilities are really nice so maybe it is worth another round to unveil something that I had missed during my first visit.

Played today 10/9/13 @12:00pm. Got a great deal of $50 through their course website. The course is getting ready to begin aerating and overseeding at the end of this month and its beginning to show.... Continue »

Played today 10/9/13 @12:00pm. Got a great deal of $50 through their course website. The course is getting ready to begin aerating and overseeding at the end of this month and its beginning to show. The course is in decent shape but some of the fairways have some brown patches and are a little thin. The greens were firm for the most part although there was heavy rain at times today so this softened the greens. The greens rolled true for the most part and played slightly quick. The tee boxes were all pretty good although they have begun overseeding them but it did not affect play. This course is challenging and forces you to be pretty straight off the tee with pretty narrow fairways on several holes. Pace of play was just about 4 hours today although we did get backed up on hole 16. I enjoy playing this course and its even better when you get a deal as I don't think the course is worth the rack rate of $110. Even still I definitely recommend it.

Played here 9/23/13. Overall, average to good condition.

Greens were firm, and tough to hold, but were quite smooth and rolling nicely.

Fairways were good in most areas, but below average in oth... Continue »

Played here 9/23/13. Overall, average to good condition.

Greens were firm, and tough to hold, but were quite smooth and rolling nicely.

Fairways were good in most areas, but below average in others. I seemed to find a number of below average lies in fairway, and some areas which should have been GUR, but not marked as such.

Rough was sketchy, but its the rough. I deserve sketchy if I can't hit the fairway.

Bunkers were a coin flip. I found one that was very good, but two other that were packed dirt with a light dusting of sand over the top. Another that was full of leaves and other debris.

Good service inside and with starter. Did not see beverage cart until 15th tee. Very dissapointing on a 90 degree day.

Otherwise, an enjoyable layout, tight on the back 9, and a number of short target holes. Best to look for a good discount or you will pay an Oraneg County premium.

Played on Thursday morning at 9:15, 7/18/13, on a warm sunny day with only light breezes, with fellow GKer 1Rudedog. This was a comp practice round for the Irvine City Championship at SF this coming w... Continue »

Played on Thursday morning at 9:15, 7/18/13, on a warm sunny day with only light breezes, with fellow GKer 1Rudedog. This was a comp practice round for the Irvine City Championship at SF this coming weekend. Course is overall in very good condition. Greens look great, roll well at medium-fast speed, fairly firm but hold shots. Good lies in fairways and rough, which is generally ~2". Sand in the bunker I was in was damp and heavy from morning watering - others playing from bunkers reported damp heavy sand as well. Saw cart girl frequently, but items are expensive. We were on standby with the comp round but got out quickly after arrival with no problem, and played in just about 4 hours. Water fountain on hole 5 was broken, but bathrooms are clean and nice. The dirt cart path that has been constructed along the right side of hole #14 and around behind the green is an ugly abomination and should be removed. SF continues to trim back trees and vegetation to open the course up to sun and breezes, and the course plays much firmer and faster than it did a few years ago. Highly recommended, but normally very expensive, as are most Orange County premium venues.

Played Presidents Day on the costco coupon ($150 for 1 round at Oak Creek and 1 round at Strawberry Farms). So I played for $75, which I thought was a great value for the course. This was my first... Continue »

Played Presidents Day on the costco coupon ($150 for 1 round at Oak Creek and 1 round at Strawberry Farms). So I played for $75, which I thought was a great value for the course. This was my first time playing, so I hit from the white tees, which was a mistake (more later). The course is in good condition, despite the fairways being dormant. There weren't many spots that were GUR, I thought the rough was fairly long, making it harder to hit out of, and the greens were quick. The course is nestled in the hills of Irvine, and while there are house way up high on the hills looking down, it feels fairly remote. Its a good place to occasionally take a moment and just look around enjoying the atmosphere.

As for golf, the course is harder for those that struggle to keep their drives straight. They've made it a bit easier by moving the whites up on many holes to the gold stones. Already short at 5800y from the whites, having many/most holes with their white tees up closer makes for a very short course. On many holes I was <70y from the green after my drive. In hindsight, I would've played the blues, as those tees were kept at the correct distance, and well, I was hitting my drives straight as an arrow that day so it would've made for a better golf experience. I enjoy the greens here as they're not too flat, making even short putts difficult to make.

For the negatives: the sand here was too hard, making greenside bunker shots a bit of a challenge. And the greens were rather hard has well, making it hard to keep some shots from bouncing off the back.

For $75, its a definite bargain (though last I checked costco no longer sells the livediscount deal). I think the normal rack rate is $110 on the weekdays, which feels to me on the border of being reasonable. I'll have to retry the course playing from the blues to see if I enjoyed it as much. Overall this course is a good option, and if you're a straight hitter, I recommend the course.

We played on the Super Bowl Score special on 2/10 for $65 plus cart fee. The facilities and the staff were great, but then out to the course. The dormant fairways not only look unappealing, there were... Continue »

We played on the Super Bowl Score special on 2/10 for $65 plus cart fee. The facilities and the staff were great, but then out to the course. The dormant fairways not only look unappealing, there were patches where the lies were so thin that I preferred to be in the rough. The bunkers were like cement and the greens quite bumpy. The $80 we spent would be the most I would ever pay for this course, how they normally charge $160 is beyond me. Since I used to live in Irvine, I was used to paying more for things than in other areas. But as far as golf, I consider it the "arrogance" of O.C. golf prices. Drive 30-45 minutes to Oak Quarry, Goose Creek or even Eagle Glen and you'll play a much better course at half the price.

Played Super Bowl Sunday, with their special Super Bowl price - played after 12:10pm.
First time playing this course. Services from Pro Shop to Cart lady were great. Truely needed course knowledge be... Continue »

Played Super Bowl Sunday, with their special Super Bowl price - played after 12:10pm.
First time playing this course. Services from Pro Shop to Cart lady were great. Truely needed course knowledge because most of the greens were protected by more than 2-3 bunkes; back nine got many blind shot, cleeks and water in play.
Not a long course but you better have good iron shot or select the good club for the second shot to the green. Enjoyed the challange and experience at Straw. but to pay the rack rate ... I will check for the next good deal to play here. Hope to come back soon.

Played the course on 1/23 for the very first time. Fairways were dormant so it wasn't the look I had hoped for at this price, but the course was great. Rough was kept tight but still difficult, and th... Continue »

Played the course on 1/23 for the very first time. Fairways were dormant so it wasn't the look I had hoped for at this price, but the course was great. Rough was kept tight but still difficult, and the greens were of great speed. The course is narrow so it can be a challenge off the tee, but I enjoyed it altogether. My only issue is it is overpriced for the value, you can play at courses within 20 miles for half the cost of equal value.

Played at 8am this morning. Used my last entry on my OC Trail Card. It was still cold and quite a bit of dew on the fairways.

Most of the fairways were thin and on a few holes we found some bare s... Continue »

Played at 8am this morning. Used my last entry on my OC Trail Card. It was still cold and quite a bit of dew on the fairways.

Most of the fairways were thin and on a few holes we found some bare spots. The 90 degree rule was in effect but we were confused about this since they had rope barriers on most of the holes that only allowed you to enter at the start of the fairway and exit at the end making it impractical to get back to the cart path.

Greens were medium speed and generally in good shape.

The rough was about 4" long in most places and relatively easy to hit out of.

Our round took less than four hours with our foursome. We didn't have to wait on any hole.

Overall the course has great scenery and an excellent layout but given the fairway conditions, I don't think is worth the rate they are charging, even with a 50% discount.

Strawberry Farms Golf Club Review
Irvine California Golf Course Reviews