Snagged the last spot in a GK Guru foursome at DCCC with JohnnyGK, gary00, and sparky14 ahead of the GolfMoose/GK event to be held there next week. Played at 12:21pm on Tuesday, 1/18/22 under cool, cl... Continue »

Snagged the last spot in a GK Guru foursome at DCCC with JohnnyGK, gary00, and sparky14 ahead of the GolfMoose/GK event to be held there next week. Played at 12:21pm on Tuesday, 1/18/22 under cool, cloudy skies without a lot of wind. The course was pretty busy with a multi-foursome group right ahead of us, and we finished in just over 4.5 hours.

The course is set in a remote canyon with large homes surrounding some holes and open views of SoCal brushy hillsides in the lower half, dominated by huge old oak trees. While there’s not generally a lot of elevation change on any one hole, the course plays up and down the steep canyon and uphill/downhill playing lines dominate most holes. Uphill approaches here almost always require 1 to 2 clubs more than your flat-earth distance, and the angled plateau greens make approach lines tricky and dangerous. The exceptions to this elevation discussion are the par-3 10th and 17th holes, where your tee shot drops 70 to 80 feet to the green far below. And the gorgeous par-5 11th holes plays downhill some 70 feet from tee to green through a corridor of huge oak trees.

Greens on this Nicklaus Signature design are mostly huge and sharply angled to the line of approach, with some significant undulations, slopes and tiering. Almost every green had well-defined target areas separated by hogbacks and tiers – you really had to be familiar with these greens to know the subtleties of some of the breaks. Most greens had steep runoffs into swales or hazards that made recoveries challenging. In general, the breaks on the course trend down the canyon to the south, but all greens had subtle undulations that messed with your mind. Turf on the greens was pretty thin and in areas where they are shaded by canyon walls and huge oaks the greens are noticeably damp, thin and brown. Greens were more receptive than I expected and rolled at medium+ speed. Repeated plays would definitely be beneficial for your scoring on these greens. And hit your putts firmly, especially going back up the canyon.

Fairways and rough are showing their winter dormancy and have a rough, scruffy look. Fairway lies are generally very thin and tight, although the ball usually sat OK. Rough was generally cut at 1-2” and was not difficult to play from. Around the margins of many greens there were some large semi-bare areas that were puttable if you could avoid scattered grass clumps. Tees were generally fine (we played White) with only a couple slightly sloping. Traps were well-maintained and had qood quantities of sand for fairway shots and greenside recoveries.

Carts were nice and had a cooler with ice and bottled water, but no club cleaner or charger port. There’s a nice interactive TFM GPS – that’s not always the case at private clubs. The GPS gives distance to the pin location, but today all of the pin locations shown were incorrect, so we had to use our own tools. There were ice/water machines at the turn and at bathrooms after #4 and #12, but the machine at #4 wasn’t working.

One aspect of the course that was disappointing was the number of holes designated as “path-only”, which we found out about when the GPS shut down our carts. Holes 3, 6, 11, and 18 were so designated, despite our observations that conditions were pretty firm and restrictions were not needed. These canyon-type courses are tough for older players with all the up-and-down to get to and from tees, greens, and the ball. Players don't need the 'path-only' stuff on top of that when it’s not necessary!

With hills separating the course from the cities to the west the atmosphere is very quiet and secluded. The lower level of the large clubhouse is very nice and the men’s locker room is huge. There’s a large outdoor patio that looks out at a putting green with course-ready contours and conditions, and down the canyon over the very picturesque 18th hole, with a tumbling waterfall and the only water hazard on the course fronting the green. Near the starter’s stand there’s Jack’s Den, which has sandwiches, snacks, and drinks. There’s also a second putting/chipping green there near the first tee.

Service was great at all levels and staff was very friendly and helpful. Many thanks to Johnny for setting up this round at a prime location.

1/18 guru outing with Steve, David and Johnny on a coolish bmostly overcast day with hardly any waiting with 415 POP. Layout winds through the canyons and even with homes on the perimeter there is a ... Continue »

1/18 guru outing with Steve, David and Johnny on a coolish bmostly overcast day with hardly any waiting with 415 POP. Layout winds through the canyons and even with homes on the perimeter there is a remote feel. Course design is mostly quite playable with wider fairways and visible bunkers. I think is plays longer than the stated yardage as many holes have uphill approaches. However there are a couple of par 3s that have quite a dramatic descent.
Fairways have good cover with the front 9 seemingly with more lush conditions as the back 9 had some thin tight lies. We had CPO on 5-6 holes which appeared to have been in place for some time as there were sand bottles place in those fairways. Mosdivots were filled. Roiugh was not much of an issue.
Tees level with good cover. Bunkers have well compacted sand and were generally playable.
Greens here are large with tiers undulations and slope. Some have unusual characteristics with some hollows toward the back of the green so theren are some potential pin placements that could be downright nasty. Greens are healthy, receptive for well struck aproach shots while being quick for chips and pitches.
n Carts with interactive GPS, nice practice area and very friendly welcoming staff. I would play here again in a heart beat.

I had the opportunity to play Dove Canyon for the first time last week. The driving range is large and you hit off grass with a chipping area on the side. The staff was nice and welcoming as so was ... Continue »

I had the opportunity to play Dove Canyon for the first time last week. The driving range is large and you hit off grass with a chipping area on the side. The staff was nice and welcoming as so was several of the members. They offered course tips that were helpful for first timers. The course is nice with several elevated holes which requires good aim. The fairways were in good condition, but ground was somewhat hard. The rough had patches of different grasses. The greens were extremely fast and lots of shots rolled off, but in nice condition. No beverage cart service, but several ice and water machines. Overall still a good outing.

Played Sat. April 6. If they punched the greens, its recovered now, as the greens we near perfect. Very nice and quick. As for the rest of the course, this was my first time playing, and I hadn't e... Continue »

Played Sat. April 6. If they punched the greens, its recovered now, as the greens we near perfect. Very nice and quick. As for the rest of the course, this was my first time playing, and I hadn't even heard of it before. I grew up in So Cal, but I had never been to Rancho Santa Margarita before and wow -- its a very nice place. Great scenery and very quiet. The golf was very nice as well. I checked out their membership rates, and they're a bit cheaper than places I know of in Seal Beach, San Gabriel, etc.. I thought the clubhouse was outstanding. The views from it, as well as from many of the holes were amazing. Lots of variety in the course as well. The course was challenging like a Private club should be. The rough wasn't too thick, and there were lots of trees. I had some outstanding tee shots that ended up in bad positions because of them. The bunkers were nice and soft. Greens had elevation changes and were real quick. All the tee boxes were nice as well. If I loved closer I'd definitely think of joining the place. I highly recommend!

Played Dove Canyon for the first time last weekend. Teed off about 9am after hitting some balls. Course has a nice driving range and a couple good putting greens by the clubhouse. The clubhouse is gre... Continue »

Played Dove Canyon for the first time last weekend. Teed off about 9am after hitting some balls. Course has a nice driving range and a couple good putting greens by the clubhouse. The clubhouse is great, huge mens locker room, mens grill and outdoor eating area. The course plays out in the canyon but has some houses bordering the holes on the front nine that don't come in too tight.

Course conditions as far as the fairways, rough and bunkers go were pretty standard for most courses in orange county in the winter. Firm and dormant fairways, some clumpy areas of rough, bunkers were good on some holes, a little thin on others. Where the course separates itself were the greens. There's alot of slope out here on the greens and they were firm and FAST. Took a while to get use to the speeds (never really got there). Would be a great course to practice your short game and putting at. Design was fun, they have some interesting par 5s. Nothing overly narrow out here but not wide-open either. Would really like to come back in the early summer and see what the course looks like when its a little greener.

Played DCGC on 10/29/18. One of my playing partners described it as 18 holes like the back 9 at Tijeras Creek - which is a good description. It has all the wow factor of the Tijeras back 9, but with a... Continue »

Played DCGC on 10/29/18. One of my playing partners described it as 18 holes like the back 9 at Tijeras Creek - which is a good description. It has all the wow factor of the Tijeras back 9, but with a little less danger. Really fun and challenging layout. Several greens have little fingers of the green with severe elevation changes, and if the pins are there it is a nightmare.

Conditions are really nice. Greens are great shape and really fast. Fairways and rough are 95% great, with some rare rough patches. Tee boxes are mostly great, but a few have some uneven footing.

Excellent practice facilities. One of the few 18 hole country clubs that I would consider joining if I lived closer - nice course, but not insanely difficult.

Highly recommended!

Thanks to a fortuitous work meeting with a member at Dove Canyon on Friday, I got the chance to play this terrific Jack Nicklaus designed private course near Trabuco Canyon. It's a memorable layout th... Continue »

Thanks to a fortuitous work meeting with a member at Dove Canyon on Friday, I got the chance to play this terrific Jack Nicklaus designed private course near Trabuco Canyon. It's a memorable layout that's loads of fun and very, very challenging - no room for error here with many very tight fairways, loads of long and intimidating sand traps, and elevations, mounding and super tricky greens to torment you all day long. We started on the grass driving range which is very nice and wide open. From there, we got to the first tee and played the blue/white combo. Unfortunately the fairways were not the lush, deep green that one would expect from a high-end private course, but they were very playable despite that flaw, with the one exception being some thin areas around the greens which made chipping an adventure a few times. Not a lot of room here for rough on a lot of holes, but it was certainly not cut at a daunting height to create fear if you were a bit off on your drives. The course also had some punch marks in the fairways on the back nine, but nothing too bad. Still, one doesn't expect that at a place like this. Another thing I noticed was how soft the fairways were, almost like playing in Hawaii. If you chunked, you brought up around 100 pounds of dirt. My friend told me it's because the base is clay but they're apparently working on fixing that and changing a lot about the ground conditions there, but I can't speak too much about that. In start contrast to that, the greens were wonderful. Very fast, very tricky and a joy to play on throughout the round. If you weren't pitching straight up and down though, they had a tendency to push chips right off the fairway. They held iron shots much better. But super fun. Sand traps were in good shape (was only in two all day), and the tee boxes (and tee box options) were immense. You get some really awesome tee box views here and each hole seems to have its own charm outside of a rare few. It's just a lot of fun to play this course, but you most certainly can't afford to be off or you will get punished. My main troubles on the front nine were of the chipping sort and that cost me big time, but cleaned up on the back nine after getting a better feel for the conditions. Great closing hole at Dove Canyon as well to really finish strong. And the 17th hole is one of the more wild par 3s you will ever play, dropping down around 250 feet with a wildly shelved green that looks so much different from ground level than it does from the tee box. The rest of the property and its corresponding clubhouse and restaurants/snack shops is great. It's a very laid back private club as well and there's not much hint of stuffiness or high-brow attitudes around the place. That's always a nice feeling. I'm hoping to get a chance to play the course again thanks to my business contact there and it will be even more fun with a little more course knowledge to work out the tricky parts. But even for a first time visit, it was a great time and I highly recommend getting out there if you ever get the opportunity.

Played Dove Canyon -
Monday Morning 10/17 -

First - I just want to say that the GPS took me to Coto De Caza which is right around the corner from Dove Canyon. So be careful.

It rained in Ora... Continue »

Played Dove Canyon -
Monday Morning 10/17 -

First - I just want to say that the GPS took me to Coto De Caza which is right around the corner from Dove Canyon. So be careful.

It rained in Orange county on this particular day, and the entire course was cart path only. That made it more difficult because the cart paths are sometimes very far away from the course. However, the course was in magnificent condition.

Tee boxes were lush with little areas of concern. Fairways were lush and absolutely green. Greens were in fantastic condition, not to fast but you can tell they can be much faster without the rain. The rough was tough and very deep in several areas throughout the course.

The course played tough with the rain and the cart path only. There were times when I had the wrong club and wasn't trekking back to the cart. The course is no good for walking with several areas that would make walking difficult. However, the secret to this course???? (Keep it in the fairway) - obviously but if you want to score fairway is the key.

It is a great course to play and challenging, I would recommend it to anyone that gets a chance to play. Enjoy.

RobStretch

Hello, played in the SCGA event at Dove Canyon today; local knowledge is a must out here, where to aim and place tee shots is of great importance, especially when trying to play to the proper areas of... Continue »

Hello, played in the SCGA event at Dove Canyon today; local knowledge is a must out here, where to aim and place tee shots is of great importance, especially when trying to play to the proper areas of the greens to have decent chances for birdies; greens where in good shape, not overly fast, very fair, fairways a little thin in areas, did get some shaky lies, rough kind of inconsistent, which should be expected, bunkers in nice shape. tees mostly level, with little divot damage; now, the tricky part, they have a GPS system, the good, it showed the hole layouts which should be studied before each shot, lots of hidden bunkers off of the tees; the bad, their yardages on the GPS where at time 10-15 yard off, luckily, I had my Bushnell which had to be checked on each shot just to be sure on proper yardages. a number of elevation changes also must be figured in, example. #17 played 25 shorter due to a big downhill. a good time, did learn a lot for the next time here. Stay healthy, drive safe, CGG...