I had a opportunity to play Talega Golf Club on August 19, with three friends. We were celebrating a birthday in our foursome. Not a bad course to bring a buddy for his birthday to play a round of gol... Continue »

I had a opportunity to play Talega Golf Club on August 19, with three friends. We were celebrating a birthday in our foursome. Not a bad course to bring a buddy for his birthday to play a round of golf. As we pulled up to the bag drop, you cannot help but to be pleased by the service you will recieve from the guys greeting you at the bag drop to the starter, food service, and course marshall. The clubhouse and pro shop wasn't to bad either. Very nice!! The staff at Talega Golf Club really know what the word service means and they know how to put SERVICE into action.
We had 8:40am tee time and had arrived a bit early to have enough time to grab a bite and take some swings on the range. I must say the breakfast burrito is a must before you hit the first tee.
After chowing down on the breakfast burrito, the starter notified us that we could tee off before our scheduled tee time since the course was not busy at the moment.
This course is Fred Couples design. It was challenging but fun. There are a FEW bunkers on this course so you should know your club distances so you can pick your shots. It was my first time playing the course and I do hit the ball long and payed a price for using the driver on some holes. I purchased a lot of beach front property. The bunker sand was a good grade of sand so if you are in a bunker use the fundalmentals of bunker play and you can get some sand saves. Or use the GPS unit on the cart and play the distance and know where to hit and miss it the ball. Put the ego aside on this course if you wanna score low. There are a few holes where you will have a blind tee shot but they have placed reference poles to aim at. The par 3's greens are well protected so play to the middle of the greens and go for par and run. As I mentioned Talega Golf Club placed a few bunkers on this course so before you trek out to play the course polish up your bunker play you may need it. I learned my lesson and next time I will use course management.
As you play the course it is layed out very nice. The tee boxes are in good shape wasn't a lot of old divot marks. The fairways were well manicured. My shot shape with the driver is a draw and I did benefit with a lot of roll in the fairways due to the good condition that they were in. As far as the greens I will say that they were in a good condition and was rolling fast. However, my fellow golfers please fix your divots on the greens. It will take you a few seconds out of your life to fix your divot mark and a few more. This can be easily accomplished when you are waiting to putt and approching your ball to mark it while waiting you turn to putt.
The pace of play was good. We did catch up to a group ahead of us, and we finished our round in 4 hours 14 minutes.
The green fees are a bit expensive, $90 skins for non residents. But after experiencing this outstanding course and enjoying the beauty of the course with three good friends, PRICELESS!!
My overall experience at Talega Golf Club was very nice. The course was in excellent shape and the service from the staff was very pleasant. Talega Golf Club will be a course that I will continue to play. I would suggest to others who would like to have a wonderful golf outing for a day to experience Talega Golf Club. It will be worth the green fees. You can always play twilight or Monday-Thursday when the green fees are reduced.

Based upon the condition of this course, I would guess that this course is in financial trouble and the maintenance staff has been severly reduced. The rough around the greens is dying and in some ar... Continue »

Based upon the condition of this course, I would guess that this course is in financial trouble and the maintenance staff has been severly reduced. The rough around the greens is dying and in some areas there are only clumps of grass in the middle of dirt patches. The bunkers have not been touched my maintenance in so long that the once nice white sand is hard as the cart path and there is grass growing on the faces of the bunkers. The worst part are the greens. They are very slow and there are several greens that are infected with quarter size dead spots that cover the greens. I do not mind poor grass on greens but when the roll of a well struck putt is affected I get frustrated. I had several birdie putts that were bumped off line and missed the hole. After paying $80.00 and thinking about the experience I felt victimized. The green fees certainly does not justify the experience. I would stay home and watch the Golf Channel rather that play golf here.

Played here 6/25/11 saturday with a buddy that had a b-day. It was an $80 2:15 t-time. His was free. Wow! Fred Couples, your design was pretty freankin hard! It's a fun but challenging layout thru the... Continue »

Played here 6/25/11 saturday with a buddy that had a b-day. It was an $80 2:15 t-time. His was free. Wow! Fred Couples, your design was pretty freankin hard! It's a fun but challenging layout thru the San Clemente mountain comunity with some houses on the fairways and canyons on others. Mostly narrow and Driver did'nt get used much. Lots of "smart" play and layups. Way sloped at times. 71.7/129 blues. Greens were pretty hard to get shots to hold but slow to putt. IDK? Bunkers were a plenty with hard sand and shots flew out of them fast. It was a cool course to try. I wish I played it smarter.

Course was in generally nice condition, with the exception of the bunkers, none of which were raked. (And I was in several) Heavy fog, prevented from appreciating the views, but not to the point where... Continue »

Course was in generally nice condition, with the exception of the bunkers, none of which were raked. (And I was in several) Heavy fog, prevented from appreciating the views, but not to the point where play was interupted. Staff was wonderful. I really like this course. The greens allow for a great variety of pin location, this changing the approach shots - nice touch!

Played here yesterday, a Wednesday. I paid $65.00 as a senior. The course is fine. The fairways are relatively tight, but the ball sits up just fine. The greens are smooth, but not nearly as fast as t... Continue »

Played here yesterday, a Wednesday. I paid $65.00 as a senior. The course is fine. The fairways are relatively tight, but the ball sits up just fine. The greens are smooth, but not nearly as fast as they look. Overall the course is in good shape. The layout is …. cumbersome. You need to play the course to know where to hit the ball. The carts (and you need a cart) have excellent gps systems that show you the layout, the distance to the trouble areas and even where other golf carts are located, which you need as there are several blind shots. The greens are the “new style” meaning lots of undulations, but the slower speed makes this OK. The course seems to be one of those that the secondary purpose is golf, the primary being to enhance the value of the surrounding houses. The 2 worst examples of this type of course that I know of are Marbella CC in San Juan Capistrano and La Canada-Flintridge Country Club. I don’t know, the $65.00 I paid is the lowest fee available, before twilight rates and I think that is as much as I am willing to pay for this golf course

Played Talega, on my bday for free AND had a great time. Course is beautiful and well maintained. I will def. be out here in the near fututre.

Played Talega, on my bday for free AND had a great time. Course is beautiful and well maintained. I will def. be out here in the near fututre.

Played Saturday 05/14/11 and teed off at 2:30pm. We finished in 4hr40min (we played pretty slow though – should have finished in 4hr20min). The course in is really good shape right now. The fairway... Continue »

Played Saturday 05/14/11 and teed off at 2:30pm. We finished in 4hr40min (we played pretty slow though – should have finished in 4hr20min). The course in is really good shape right now. The fairways and greens are in AMAZAGIN SHAPE!!! The fairways were lush and the greens were smooth and rolling at about a 10. The tee boxes could use a little work though – a little bare and divot happy but nothing to severely effect this review. The bunkers, however, were borderline AWFUL!!! The maintenance crew needs to groom the bunkers more than once a week (at least that’s what it seemed). If you hit your ball into a bunker, you were pretty much guaranteed a crappy lie. Also, some of the golfers out there need a quick lesson on golf etiquette – YOU AER SUPPOSED TO RAKE THE BUNKER AFTER YOU HIT A BUNKER SHOT. I was shocked by how many footprints and unraked sand divots I saw in the sandtraps – SHOCKED!!! All things being said, the course is truly in great shape and definitely worth the $55 green fee that we paid. If mgmt could take care of business with the bunkers and tidy up the tee boxes, the course would be perfect. The verdict: MAKE A TEE TIME AND GO PLAY TALEGA…YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED.

We played Talega on May 1st. We got out with a $39 deal on Golfnow. It was a warm, windy day. Teed off at 9:30 and finshed at 2:30. Kind of a slow round. Greens were good and the course was in go... Continue »

We played Talega on May 1st. We got out with a $39 deal on Golfnow. It was a warm, windy day. Teed off at 9:30 and finshed at 2:30. Kind of a slow round. Greens were good and the course was in good condition for this time of year and the amount of rain we have received. Service was good all around. You really have to know where you are hitting your drives at this place. Some holes you have to hit a 3 wood or less to keep it in the fairway. Be aware. Overall, well worth the money.

Played Saturday 4/23 at 7:30am and had a 4.5 hour round. Conditions are as good as they get at Talega now. Greens tend to be on the slower side but roll true, fairways are good and the sand traps hav... Continue »

Played Saturday 4/23 at 7:30am and had a 4.5 hour round. Conditions are as good as they get at Talega now. Greens tend to be on the slower side but roll true, fairways are good and the sand traps have been recently worked on (they needed work - always hard). Talega has always been my favorite Southern OC course because of the variety of holes (front nine vs back nine). Too great par 3's over water (5 and 7). Driving Range is a 5 minute cart ride which isn't ideal but they have replaced their mats so for the time being it is worth going to.