Responded to a "Meet and Play" by new GKer nick3249 for a dawn patrol round at 630AM on Saturday, 5/4/13. Thanks to big hitting leftie Nick for the invite on his birthday - Talega offers a 2 for 1 spe... Continue »

Responded to a "Meet and Play" by new GKer nick3249 for a dawn patrol round at 630AM on Saturday, 5/4/13. Thanks to big hitting leftie Nick for the invite on his birthday - Talega offers a 2 for 1 special. We got out before the men's club and a couple of tournaments and breezed around at a leisurely pace of just under 4 hours. Course is in pretty good condition - greens are rolling well at a medium-fast pace but are VERY firm, with crisply struck approaches barely leaving a mark. Quite a few old/unrepaired ballmarks on many holes. Fairways and rough were in good shape. Some tees were not level, and par 3 tees were pretty torn up. Traps on the front had been machine-raked and were in good shape, but traps on the back were wet and compacted from sprinkler usage that we could see just ahead of our play. Didn't see a cart girl that early. We got out before the starter was on duty, but cart guys were proactive and helpful. No marshall (needed) that early. Some items from my earlier review in March 2013. 1) The coot problem has apparently been addressed by the course (or all the coots migrated elsewhere [that too could be a result of course action]). Only scattered individual poops were around and easy to avoid while walking. No areas of any green were affected, and the cuttings and surrounds on hole 6, where the problems were greatest last time, were very clean and well maintained. 2) Previously the course was using extensive roping and staking to keep carts off certain areas of the fairways and define entrances. While generally effective, many of the stakes/ropes had been driven over and were down. A visual bummer. The course has now gone to a set of entry and exit stakes, well marked, to tell players where to get onto and off of the fairways. This approach is much more visually pleasing, and the stakes seemed to be working well to restrict wear and tear on the fairway margins. Recommended.

I found a $55 rate for a 1:44pm tee time today. The pro shop attendant was nice and friendly. The starter was as well and he got us off a little early so I was appreciative for that. I found the co... Continue »

I found a $55 rate for a 1:44pm tee time today. The pro shop attendant was nice and friendly. The starter was as well and he got us off a little early so I was appreciative for that. I found the course conditions good overall. Some of the greens showed slight signs of recent maintenance but were mostly smooth, receptive, and rolling well. The tee boxes were level and lush. The fairways were good. The rough was consistent and about 1-2 inches. I found myself in several greenside bunkers today and found them to be somewhat inconsistent. My playing partner and I both had plugged lies in one bunker because the sand was nice and soft but I found a couple of other bunkers which were fairly hard and crusty. We got around in about 4.5 hours. We never did see a cart girl but the lady at the bar hooked us up after the round. I enjoy playing Talega; I like the layout and I'd recommend playing the course, especially if you can find a deal like we did.

Tee'd off at 8:20am this morning. Played the Copper tee's. Just under 7,000 yards.

POP was just a bit over 4 hours and waited maybe a minute on a few tee boxes. Must say I was very happy with the... Continue »

Tee'd off at 8:20am this morning. Played the Copper tee's. Just under 7,000 yards.

POP was just a bit over 4 hours and waited maybe a minute on a few tee boxes. Must say I was very happy with the pace we were playing.

The front 9 greens are still healing and need a week or two. However the back 9 greens have healed nicely and were rolling great.

Fairway and rough were in good shape. They were watering quite a bit.

The bunkers show a vast improvement, sand is nice and was quite surprised.

Tee boxes were level and lots of lush grass. A bit long, but that is ok!

Played here a couple of weeks after some maintenance, and the greens could have used a bit more time to heal. They were not bad, but not as nice as other times I have been. The sand traps were also ... Continue »

Played here a couple of weeks after some maintenance, and the greens could have used a bit more time to heal. They were not bad, but not as nice as other times I have been. The sand traps were also a bit thin, perhaps wind blown, but it was tough to really get through the sand. Beyond that, the course is in excellent shape. Playing on Master's Sunday, we had no one else in sight, clocking in for a little over 4 hours with our 3-some.

Played here on April 1. Course is in typical shape. Nice greens, decent fairways, a little uneven in the traps, but not bad. It kinda bugs me that they have no starter, beverage cart, or marshal, bu... Continue »

Played here on April 1. Course is in typical shape. Nice greens, decent fairways, a little uneven in the traps, but not bad. It kinda bugs me that they have no starter, beverage cart, or marshal, but the one service I don't really want/need--club cleaning guys--they do have. POP was fine, although I wouldn't want to be the group behind the group behind us. On the back nine they were at least three holes behind us. Will play it again next week.

Played at noon on Friday, 3/1/13, on a breezy warm sunny day where winds died down through the afternoon. Got a good deal on GolfNow but didn't get a response from anyone at GK on 'Meet Me At' - it mu... Continue »

Played at noon on Friday, 3/1/13, on a breezy warm sunny day where winds died down through the afternoon. Got a good deal on GolfNow but didn't get a response from anyone at GK on 'Meet Me At' - it must be me, it couldn't be the great venue or good price. So I was alone, and I was paired with a couple vacationing in SoCal from Montreal and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. They especially liked the ocean views (from some holes), the extensive natural vegetation, the back nine played up into a serene canyon, and the challenging shot values around and over natural arroyos and hazards.

I've seen up and down reviews for Talega over the past few months/years and was glad to find the course in pretty good condition. Greens were the best part of the course - fairly firm, rolled great with uniform speed, very quick in all directions and especially downhill and to the west, with not a lot of ballmarks. Fairways were in generally OK condition with a patchwork of grasses, with some scattered bare or thin spots. Talega uses lots of roping to restrict entry to holes and direct traffic, but in many cases players have run over the ropes and go where they want.

Rough was inconsistent - in some places bare, some lush, frequently clumpy. Tees generally looked ragged but were generally level and in OK shape. I was in the sand a lot - conditions in traps were a range of damp and firm, fluffy soft, and just rght - what am I, Goldilocks? We went out behind a men's club outing and pace was pretty slow, finishing in 4.5+ hours. Saw the cart girl frequently.

This course has lots of lakes, and there are many areas of the greens and surrounds that are sub-optimal as a result of all the bird poop around - on the greens (ugly back smears and lots of icky sticky pellets) and mixed in with the grass clippings etc. in the green surrounds. Talega represents itself as a high-end public course - let me tell you, if you have to take relief to be able to play around bird poop, you aren't a high-end course. Courses in SoCal with water features and other bird attractants need to dedicate adequate resources to controlling this nuisance and maintaining playing surfaces for their customers. We ran into the same thing at Monarch Beach in the GK Plays a couple weeks ago, where the 18th green was unplayable on 1/3 of its surface.

Still recommended.

Decided to give it another chance. Tee time was for 11:44am. Didn't go out until 12:30pm because earlier in the morning they started an hour late because of frost?

Anyway, for $60 it was a good r... Continue »

Decided to give it another chance. Tee time was for 11:44am. Didn't go out until 12:30pm because earlier in the morning they started an hour late because of frost?

Anyway, for $60 it was a good round. The course is in much better shape than last month.

However, the POP was 5 hours + and that was brutal.

Tee boxes were in better shape, but people need to learn to to use the divot mix!

Fairways were healing from the ground under repair and less bare spots. Still thin!

Rough was in great shape. Lush and green! about 2-3" max

Greens were rolling true and quick. A LOT of ball marks but its to be expected on a public course. Didn't see any bare spots.

The staff is always great here. I have always encountered friendly people from the bag drop to pro shop to the starter.

tee'd off at 7:12am with a buddy of mine who has never played here. Payed $90. POP 3:45 which was great!

Fairways are dormant. Very thin and bare spots all over. A lot of mud and ground under... Continue »

tee'd off at 7:12am with a buddy of mine who has never played here. Payed $90. POP 3:45 which was great!

Fairways are dormant. Very thin and bare spots all over. A lot of mud and ground under repair.

Rough was in better shape, lush and a bit wet.

Greens were rolling true, a lot of ball marks and bump areas.

tee boxes were NOT level and many were beat up.

In all fairness, this is the worst shape I have seen this course. Definitely NOT worth the green fee! And I have played here quite a few times.

Played here on 1/9 at twilight. Cartpath only and no marshal on the course, but POP was fine. No beverage cart, no starter. But GolfNow has deals that make it worth the lack of service, if you can ... Continue »

Played here on 1/9 at twilight. Cartpath only and no marshal on the course, but POP was fine. No beverage cart, no starter. But GolfNow has deals that make it worth the lack of service, if you can tolerate that. Fairways were a little sloppy in places. Greens were in good shape, but very uneven. Most played a consistent speed, but four or five were much faster than the others. The bunkers were also uneven. Some were so nice I wanted to lay down a towel and soak up some rays, but others were terrible--hard and wet. No excuse, since many were in fine shape. The place was shut down when we finished even though it was still light out, so we didn't stop by for a drink afterward.