I saw GKer larryq2001’s review of the Member for a Day outing at YLCC – I was also part of this day, joining a Meetup Group of OC Golfers for the first time. This was my first time playing YLCC and I ... Continue »

I saw GKer larryq2001’s review of the Member for a Day outing at YLCC – I was also part of this day, joining a Meetup Group of OC Golfers for the first time. This was my first time playing YLCC and I was looking forward to ‘country club’ conditions. The facility is a semi-modern clubhouse set in heavily-wooded hills – the vibe is semi-formal and very Republican (two of the combo tee sets are named after Republican presidents; I didn’t see any Dem-named features). We had good weather with sunny, hazy conditions and a light NW wind. The box lunch we got as part of the package was uninspiring – also, mine contained an orange! Tell me what I’m supposed to do with an orange during a round of golf, with no knife and a big, sticky mess!

My monthly club plays at California Country Club in Whittier every year, and the layout at YLCC is similar, with long par-4s, fairways lined by large pine, eucalyptus, and other trees, and large, fairly flat greens. However, YLCC is frequently much narrower, with tee lines mostly requiring good control of distance and flight. Bunkers pinch the fairways on many holes at the end of the driving area, and where there is no sand there is most often a dogleg with trees in the elbow to influence your teeball placement. Also at YLCC there is much more elevation change across the course and within holes, with many holes having significantly elevated tees playing down to angled fairways. Many greens are elevated and there are many greenside bunkers. Only 3 or 4 holes have water hazards, but OB stakes are seen throughout the course.

The shop guy said greens were all redone last summer and they were very firm. Only very high shots held without significant rollout. Greens were smooth and only about medium fast (told that stimp was ~10), except downslope especially near the front of greens (#13!!). A few greens have defined tiers, but nothing too crazy. Fairways were the biggest disappointment to me – I was hoping for more lush conditions and good lies, but fairways, while having good coverage, were generally fairly thin and clumpy, resulting in the ball frequently sitting down even in the MOF. Rough was cut short and very playable, but with all the trees you have to be mindful of roots everywhere. Tees were level and good. Sand was very good quality both in fairways (fairly firm) and around greens (very playable).

The course offers a driving range, practice putting green, and short game area. The range is small and not really conducive to the larger shotgun groups like we had Monday (120+ golfers) – the range has only about 16 hitting stations, and most of those were marked ‘irons only’ on Monday. The putting green is not overly large and has none of the slopes or contours/tiering encountered on the course. I didn’t use the short game area, but I saw that you could hit shots of 100+ yards into a full-sized green fronted by large bunkers. Carts were in good condition and had an ice chest provided, with an ice/water machine by the pro shop. Carts do not have GPS and there is no yardage book available, but many sprinkler heads are marked and there are 100/150/200 plates in many fairways.

Plenty of water available. Rest rooms on course were adequate. Many of the ball washers were located up at the red tees – not really a placement conducive to most players cleaning their ball. We played in 4.5+ hours – not too bad for an event of this type.

Recommended if you get a chance to play it.