Played Oak Valley on 2/6/18 (after I played Oak Quarry). Arrived at the course to find out that a pre-qualifier for the Genesis Open was on the course. I figured we were in for a tough test that aft... Continue »

Played Oak Valley on 2/6/18 (after I played Oak Quarry). Arrived at the course to find out that a pre-qualifier for the Genesis Open was on the course. I figured we were in for a tough test that afternoon.

The greens and tees were excellent. Greens were smooth and quick. My playing partners were commenting how fast they were, but I expected faster given the pre-qualifier tournament. Fairways were generally nice, but there are some weeds encroaching which can give some spotty lies. Rough was varied. Sand was good. The wind was wacky, sometimes no wind, sometimes a 3 club wind.

They only had tee markers out for the tournament, so we got to play the same tees. 65 won the pre-qualifier. If I would have had only 19 putts, I could have tied him. I didn't.

Got a chance to finally play this course on Nov 20th, and I really do love the layout. In general, the course was in pretty good shape. The greens were a bit of an issue for our group as it was like p... Continue »

Got a chance to finally play this course on Nov 20th, and I really do love the layout. In general, the course was in pretty good shape. The greens were a bit of an issue for our group as it was like putting on a lattice surface. Most putts would travel 99% straight, but the bumps would throw the ball off course a bit or simply bump the speed off the putt. The greens were not recently aerated, so we determined there might be a bit too much water on some greens and a need to roll the surfaces more often. Either that or someone with some very odd shoes decided to perform a dance around the hole on each green.

Sand for the most part was consistent, but there were a couple of situations where large (1 inch) rocks were found around the ball and throughout the bunker. This came into play on the 8th hole where I proceeded to turn a simple up and down from the bunker for par into a 7 (ball unplayable as I refuse to damage a club in a rock field, then still had a smaller rock behind the ball which led to flying into the other bunker, then up and down).

I would love to play this one again with smooth greens and once the overseeding takes hold. I don't mind "thin" fairways, but when some portions are thin and others are growing in at a much better rate it becomes hard to determine how to attack the pin (i.e. will the grass get caught in the face and lead to a flyer). Great track and definitely plays shorter than yardage when you catch it without wind. I'm betting with a howling afternoon gale my 77 would have been closer to 82 or 83.

Saturday 11/04/17: I was joined by a local resident here in the back nine as I caught up with the groups in front. It was a breezy when I started about 11:45 and I expected the wind to pick up even m... Continue »

Saturday 11/04/17: I was joined by a local resident here in the back nine as I caught up with the groups in front. It was a breezy when I started about 11:45 and I expected the wind to pick up even more but instead the weather was even more calm which made for a real nice day.

What a difference since I was there last- the grass grew back and the rough are taller making it almost difficult to find the ball- you really have to keep an eye on it. The fairways are in good shape- running and not so much divots unfilled but nice and tightly mowed. The greens are so receptive, making it easier to get close (if I could only make shots- lol). The bunkers I was in were fine and the the teeing grounds were okay/ not so chewed up late in the weekend day- you’ll have to find a spot. I’m just glad the grass came back alive oh and the greens rolled nice.

Always a pleasure to play here... love it.

Finally made my first trip out to Oak Valley this week and loved it, despite a terrible round after almost two weeks off from playing. The course was surprisingly in very nice shape with some exceptio... Continue »

Finally made my first trip out to Oak Valley this week and loved it, despite a terrible round after almost two weeks off from playing. The course was surprisingly in very nice shape with some exception to some dried out areas on the front nine, but the back nine was very lush and green.

Super fun layout and fantastic greens were the highlight of the round for me. Greens were running at almost an 11 and were straight and true and in optimal shape - well done to the staff on those.

Bunkers were in good shape - nothing to complain about there, and the tee boxes had a little bit of wear and tear on various holes but totally playable. The rough was very thick and penal in places around the greens, but mostly hittable around the fairways.

The price for a midweek afternoon round was just around $45 which is a definite steal for this really great course. A lot of memorable holes and challenging angles to play, but totally fair and again, super fun.

Grass driving range is nice but you must purchase balls to practice. Right now this is a really fun track to play.

I was happy to join GKer itslikeimsayin when he posted a Meet-Play for Oak Valley at 1:52 on Sunday, 10/15/17, as I really like this track and wish it was a little closer to me so I could play it more... Continue »

I was happy to join GKer itslikeimsayin when he posted a Meet-Play for Oak Valley at 1:52 on Sunday, 10/15/17, as I really like this track and wish it was a little closer to me so I could play it more often. As I found from my ongoing head-scratching at trying to hit these greens and get putts near the hole, repeated plays here are necessary to better appreciate the correct sides of the fairway from which to approach the greens, and to get more familiar with all the subtle movement on the greens and the best way to approach various pin positions. I generally like Schmidt-Curley designs, as I think their green complexes “make sense”, but there was definitely a lot more movement and green segmentation at OV than I remembered – just because you are “on the green” doesn’t mean you have a putt at the hole. Combined with this is the abundance of uneven lies throughout the course, as it plays out into shallow washes and back – a level lie, even in the middle of the fairway, is pretty rare here, so this also must be factored into shotmaking. It was hot and windy, but not that crowded as we queued up behind a couple of foursomes. We waited only a little bit on the first few holes, then play stretched out after about hole #5 and we rarely even saw the group in front again, and weren’t pushed from behind. Early on we were concerned about the amount of wind we were seeing around the clubhouse, but once on the course it wasn’t as bad as we feared, and the Santa Ana condition made many of the longer holes play downwind. You had to factor in the wind in club selection, but it wasn’t punishing at all. The humidity was so low that I think the ball was flying better than normal – we had several instances where balls flew much longer than we anticipated. Greens were in very good shape (subtle movement and all – LOL!); I thought they were smooth and rolled well at medium+ speeds. I did notice some differences in firmness between greens – some were very receptive (Mark’s approach plugged in place on the elevated #4 green), but others were firmer and you could get a stiff bounce. This pattern continued throughout the round, and you were never quite sure what kind of reception approaches would get. Green speeds were fairly consistent, I thought. These greens also have some pretty steep runoffs into collection areas that generally were filled with deep lush grass, making recovery chips challenging. The course uses a red-white-blue flag rotation, but they weren’t slaves to it today – the par-5s into the wind today all had red flags, making landing on those small green-front areas challenging. Fairways and rough were generally in good shape, and could vary from dry/firm to lush/soft, depending on the vagaries of the irrigation system. We generally got quite a bit of runout in the fairways, especially downwind. Sand looked to be in good shape everywhere. I was in 2 fairway bunkers where the sand was fairly firm, though depth varied. The greenside bunker behind #15 was also pretty firm and could use more playing depth, but anyone who knows my sand game may be skeptical of any comments. Tees were the most questionable part of the conditioning. We immediately noticed areas of distinct uneveness and/or sloping on the first few holes – they generally got better further into the round. The recent maintenance had left the tees with obvious post-punch patchiness, but finding a good spot was dictated by terrain, not foliage. Many of the par-3 tees had no divot mix boxes, and were pretty torn up, with #14 being especially bad. Some tees with divot mix boxes had no mix in them. And some off the shorter par-4s, where players might use an iron or a hybrid, could also use divot mix boxes. And just to add to the mix, many of the tee box surrounds appear to be the favorite hangouts of the local gopher population. Carts are basic – no GPS (a yardage book is offered; some sprinklers are marked; and there are colored monuments in the fairways) or ball-washer, but there is a cooler. Restrooms on the course are very basic, and they had capped the sink in the men’s restroom on tee #6. There are no sand refills available at the turn or elsewhere, so many divots went unfilled. Water jugs on tee #6 and tee #8 were empty. The clubhouse was closed when we finished just after 6pm, so no bathroom or water before the trip home. GKer Andrew1 had made some comments about this being a Dye track – I knew it was Schmidt-Curley, but Mark says he thinks they were both once Dye associates, so the bulkheaded lakes, mounding and deep runoffs, and inscrutable greens at OV make more sense if that’s true and they brought some Dye influence to the ambiance. Sorry to doubt you, Andrew! Thanks to Mark and Wendy for a very enjoyable round, and I definitely need to plan on getting back here sooner rather than later.

Played here yesterday at 1:52 with dconnally and abbacat. Hot day but consistent breezes kept it quite comfortable all day. It was very gusty when we arrived, so I chose to play the white tees (6,316 ... Continue »

Played here yesterday at 1:52 with dconnally and abbacat. Hot day but consistent breezes kept it quite comfortable all day. It was very gusty when we arrived, so I chose to play the white tees (6,316 yards). (They could use a tee option between the 6,316 whites and 6,829 blues.) POP was pretty good at about 4:20.

The course reopened from overseeding and aeration October 1 and is in pretty good condition. It wasn't a "Palm Desert"-type overseeding where the whole entire course is a dark green stripe show afterward, but overall the turf at Oak Valley is in good condition. Greens were mostly smooth, occasionally bumpy, medium fast and accepted full shots well. They seemed to get softer later in the afternoon. Tough to read with some subtle and not-so-subtle breaks. Fairways had good coverage, a few thin spots here and there but mostly nice lies all day. Rough was healthy with good coverage and was deep in some spots, mostly greenside. I wasn't in a bunker but they looked really nice. Tee boxes were the low point; not a big deal because you can tee it up, but several were domed and some had not grown back in all the way since maintenance. Overall conditions are quite nice, and once the sun got low, the course looked amazing in the late afternoon light.

I hadn't played out here for about 3.5 years, which is way too long of an absence. Interesting layout with lots of elevation changes, no housing on the course, great mountain views and a challenging and beautiful course.

I made a Flickr photo album of 52 photos that can be viewed here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4sbKxd

played this past Sunday. Course is in okay condition with greens running fast. Everything fine except for the fact that Pro shop attendee has a serious problem talking to customers. I have never had t... Continue »

played this past Sunday. Course is in okay condition with greens running fast. Everything fine except for the fact that Pro shop attendee has a serious problem talking to customers. I have never had this type of rudeness coming from Oak Valley. I say "PAT" behind the counter needs additional training on how to treat customers. Other than that bad experience the course and staff are fine.

It's always a treat for me to come and be able to get on on this course. I was here on September 4th. I don't always come here, maybe 3 months or so, but it was enough to notice some differences. I... Continue »

It's always a treat for me to come and be able to get on on this course. I was here on September 4th. I don't always come here, maybe 3 months or so, but it was enough to notice some differences. I think there's just been many dead areas of grass more than previous times I've been here although most of those areas that are dying/dead aren't in play there are some areas that are starting to die. The greens looks lush and green but have been bumpy and many ball marks that aren't fixed. The greens are so over watered that even in the late afternoon, hitting the greens could plug on in the greens. The bunkers' sand are thinning and much of the teeing grounds looks almost all used up and moved forward.

I am so very disappointed how this course is moving towards less care and less maintenance- I'd hate to see this course go to the dogs... pretty sad.

Played today with a buddy of mine. It surprises me that No one has written anything up on this course since the 4th of July. Course is in phenomenal Shape. Tee boxes level, fairways cut to perfection... Continue »

Played today with a buddy of mine. It surprises me that No one has written anything up on this course since the 4th of July. Course is in phenomenal Shape. Tee boxes level, fairways cut to perfection, there is sand in all bunkers (from what I could see) and greens absolutely perfect. Again not disappointed. I know this course is a ways for L.A and beyond players but this is a must play course. Senior rate for me was $45 bucks. Great Customer Service as always, Marshals on the course which is a plus. I just love this course and by the way this is a more tamed early Pete Dye design.