Played Friday the 13th, which obviously was lucky this year. First time here and I really liked the whole experience. Beautiful clubhouse. Very personable customer service with a great starter. It... Continue »

Played Friday the 13th, which obviously was lucky this year. First time here and I really liked the whole experience. Beautiful clubhouse. Very personable customer service with a great starter. It looked like it would be a nice member experience.

They are doing a turf replacement on the rough, currently on the back nine. One hole was closed (16?) which was too bad because it was scenic with a creek meandering through it. 17 had roped off unplayable along both sides of the fairways. On the holes where they were allowing play on the replaced turf, it has not started thriving yet so there were seams and lies were inconsistent.

The fairways were good with some spots that, if not bare, had tight lies. On the non-par 3s, there were sand containers on either side of the fairway around 100 yards out. The rough on the front looked like traditional rye grass and was a factor but not long enough to be punitive. The sand was great. There were a ton of traps, I was in my share, they were very well maintained. The greens were firm and interesting. They looked like Poa but the caddie said they were trying to keep it out (too late). They were fast and true but with quite a few ball marks. There was a fivesome in front of us on our back nine (we started on 10) who may not have been fixing their divots. I am glad we had a caddie as the breaks were tough to read; they tended to break more then I saw.

The food was excellent. I had a great Cobb Salad but one guy in our group had homemade chips with his sandwich that made me second guess my choice.

The place was packed by the time we made the turn. Quite a few of the Newport elite enjoying a beautiful Friday at the club. That said, we finished in 3.5 hours, even waiting on most shots after our 6th hole. I would love to play it again. The teeth of the course is in the greens but it is one I think you could go low on if hitting the ball well.

Hate to rub it in, but I got to play here today. It was actually the second leg of an awesome "OC Tour" package some friends and I bought at a charity auction. We already played Shady Canyon and Newpo... Continue »

Hate to rub it in, but I got to play here today. It was actually the second leg of an awesome "OC Tour" package some friends and I bought at a charity auction. We already played Shady Canyon and Newport will be next, but today was all about Big Canyon. We were hosted by a really nice member and felt very welcomed as guests with full access to the clubhouse, locker room and other nice amenities. We teed off at 9:00 with a pretty good gap in front of us. We caught up to a fivesome ahead at the turn, but they asked us to play through. Nice relaxed 4-hour pace, so perfect country club experience. The course was in nice condition overall, highlighted by the greens. There are reasons the pros love to come out here to work on their games. The greens were exceptional. Receptive on approaches and super smooth and true on putts. Not lightning fast today, but downhillers were still sometimes hard to stop. The tee boxes were fantastic and the bunkers were excellent, as well. The fairways were good, but I wouldn't say great. I generally had nice lies in the bermuda turf, but noticed some thin areas throughout. The rough is also a bit inconsistent, but it was cut down and not much of a factor. In fact, our host told me that the members just voted to replace all of the rough with year-round bermuda. So that will be an upcoming renovation project. Looking past some of the fairway/rough imperfections this time of year, it's hard not to love this course and the high-end country club experience you get here. The course layout is really fun and interesting, with each hole offering something a little different. We played the white tees, which gave us some more scoring opportunities. Still, it makes you work with some awkward tee angles and well-protected greens with deep bunkers all around. From the tips and even the blues, I could see it would be much, much more challenging. Certainly, if you ever get a chance to play here, don't pass up the opportunity!

One of the greatest while at the same time difficult courses you will ever play. Everything is set up to be difficult. Bring lots of balls and leave the driver at home.

One of the greatest while at the same time difficult courses you will ever play. Everything is set up to be difficult. Bring lots of balls and leave the driver at home.