Joined the Golf Moose group on Monday out at Dove Canyon. Outing was well run and we started on time. I have learned that these outings that are well attended have miserable pace of play and this fell... Continue »

Joined the Golf Moose group on Monday out at Dove Canyon. Outing was well run and we started on time. I have learned that these outings that are well attended have miserable pace of play and this fell into that category. Round was about 5 hours and with the warmer temperatures it made for a long afternoon.

Conditions were okay, but far from pristine in my opinion. Tee boxes generally acceptable with some divot damage and mostly level. Fairways were very nice to hit from with decent roll-out. Greens were medium fast in my opinion, but I was disappointed in the large number of poorly or unrepaired ball marks. If I was a Member here I would be irate that folks can't do a better job repairing their ball marks. Bunkers with excellent with lots of fluffy sand.

I really enjoy the layout of Dove - LOTS of elevation changes and only a couple of holes felt funky. For a private course I was not wowed by the condition of the course, but maybe that is due to lack of water and summertime heat.

Definitely recommended, just would like to play it at a normal pace.

It has been a few years since we have visited this course. Brings back good memories as the course is as much fun as it was it was challenging.

Located inside a gated community, we went thru sec... Continue »

It has been a few years since we have visited this course. Brings back good memories as the course is as much fun as it was it was challenging.

Located inside a gated community, we went thru security check. Once cleared, headed to course and passed the driving range as you enter the parking lot. Carts come roaring by asking if we wanted our bags taken to the staging area or if we wanted to hit the driving range first. Staff had a couple of carts shuttling players back and forth the range. Was a bit underwhelm with the driving range as it was mats and there was no decent way to put tees for drivers.

Snack bar called Jack;s den was pretty nice and certainly a unique feature for this course. Hint - on the designer of the course...

The layout of the course is fantastic. Every hole is a unique experience. Lots of elevation changes. Most memorable are the par 3 (10 and 17) for me.

Conditions. Greens were perfect. Green and smooth. No blemishes and the best I've seen in awhile. Such a challenge as well.
Fairways are brown winter conditions but plays well.
Bunkers were hit and miss. There were a few with very thin layer of sand, while others have enough to get a splash out.

Carts are comfortable and has interactive GPS in them which is quite a treat.

Overall, such a fun course and highly recommended. Thank you GK for setting this up.

Played the GK/Golf Moose event yesterday, Monday the 24th. Was paired with my buddy and two nice gentlemen on what was an essentially perfect day with a little 5-10mph breeze to keep things interesti... Continue »

Played the GK/Golf Moose event yesterday, Monday the 24th. Was paired with my buddy and two nice gentlemen on what was an essentially perfect day with a little 5-10mph breeze to keep things interesting. Staff was excellent all the way around, and what a nice facility it is. I don't have to much to add to the conditions from the previous reviews but will point out two things. 1) These were the nicest, purest greens I have had a chance to putt on in some time. Triple tiered but by no means unfair. 2) The layout is truly awesome, and at some points in the canyon quite remote and peaceful. Seems like a course you could play every day and never tire of. The par 3's get all the shine, but for me some of the plateau top par-4s with no houses in sight were even better. Would recommend to anyone that can get on or is considering joining. Thanks Johnny for setting this up!

Teed it up with GK Gurus Tuesday at Dove Canyon GC. Cloudy on the chilly side teeing off at 12:21pm… the golf course was very busy. I immediately understood why they could only reserve one tee time fo... Continue »

Teed it up with GK Gurus Tuesday at Dove Canyon GC. Cloudy on the chilly side teeing off at 12:21pm… the golf course was very busy. I immediately understood why they could only reserve one tee time for us. Normally a GK Guru visit is 8 reviewers or more. Great day with sparky14, gary00 and dconnally.

This was my first time visiting the club. Wow, this place is impressive. Clubhouse was gorgeous and seemingly tucked on to the edge of a canyon ravine. Fantastic views from the clubhouse including the dramatic 18th hole. Big driving range on the opposite side of the parking lot away from the clubhouse. Got to admit, I was kinda nervous driving in as there are NO NETS – LOL .

The golf course is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and the layout was awesome. It reminded me at times of many golf courses I really like(d) such as: Lost Canyons GC(d), Moorpark CC, Maderas GC and Tijeras Creek GC. It gave an opportunity to play driver on all the par 4's and 5's without feeling unfair tight (well the par 5 brutal tough hole 11 is an exception … yes I took a snow man on it.) The greens were nuts. Big slender designs for the most part with at least 3 tiers on every hole. Jack made sure to install a bunch of trouble for short side approach misses and some false fronts thrown in for laughs. But wow are those green complexes fun to look at and play. Of course there are lots and lots of bunkers … some with big oak trees growing in them. Joy, in the bunker behind a huge tree. Gorgeous views on just about every hole. Every par 3 fantastic with Hole 17 the show stopper … at least 75 feet of drop to the green.
(Check out the photos I just posted!)

As far as conditions, dormant winter bermunda in the fairways and rough with a mix of some cool weather turf to give it color. Full coverage with lots of run that was good to hit off with exception to some thin areas. Rough was difficult from the perspective you could be sitting down in 3 inches of dormant bermuda or on a very thin spot. Tee boxes more green/lush than the fairways and rough, level with some divot damage (played the blue tees). Bunkers in good shape, some with new sand, mostly firm and groomed. But forget all that winter condition stuff, the greens are fantastic. Holding shots making them fun to go after those tough pin placements. Smooth and Medium/Fast.

Love on the first date for me with this course. Can’t wait to play it again. Hopefully in Spring/Summer/Fall when it’s peak shape.

Highly Recommended.

Played 1/20/22 with JohnnyGK and Guru's David & Gary. I've always been a fan of this course, it is a really fun layout. Not too tight, but still a pretty tough track to make pars.

Greens were excel... Continue »

Played 1/20/22 with JohnnyGK and Guru's David & Gary. I've always been a fan of this course, it is a really fun layout. Not too tight, but still a pretty tough track to make pars.

Greens were excellent. Softer than I would have expected, but still quick. Fairways are dormant right now, so the lies were thin but very playable and some of the collection areas were divot heavy. Sand was generally nice, but I did get to the gathering spots in a couple that had a thin layer over the hard base and came out too far. But that is what I get for being in 10-12 bunkers.

The only negative is some fringe/collars around the greens are close to bare, but still have clumps of grass mixed in. The result being a lie that is too bare to chip off of, but you can't putt either because it is going to bounce randomly off the clumps. I've seen some courses have to do complete turf replacement of collars before, Dove may need to consider that on several holes here.

Course was busy, but we still moved around well. Staff is always great at DCCC. Be sure to take some time to look out over the course in the canyon, some great views here. Highly recommended.

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!