Got a chance to head out to Redhawk on 7/2/17. There is something about this course that I cannot get my brain around. It doesn't matter how bad I have been playing on 6400 yard courses, when I step u... Continue »

Got a chance to head out to Redhawk on 7/2/17. There is something about this course that I cannot get my brain around. It doesn't matter how bad I have been playing on 6400 yard courses, when I step up to the gold tees (7000 yards) all of a sudden I start scoring. I think this course just fits my eye.

Check-in is quick and efficient. One of these days I am going to grab a shirt or some other trinket, but not on this day. Bypassed the driving range and headed over to the chipping area to work on the short game. This decision would save my bacon all day long (hit 11/14 fairways, but only 5 greens and 25 total putts).

Once out on the course, the general overview is great conditions. HOWEVER, there are a couple of concerns I see with regards to conditions. First, there is some intrusion of an unknown (to me) broad leaf weed-like flowering plant on a few holes on the back 9 (10, 11, 14, 15, and 16 if memory serves me). This isn't a major issue right now, but it does appear there will be some maintenance coming up to remove this before the fairways are infested with whatever it it. Second, the bunkers... I cannot come up with a positive thing to say about bunkers layered with rocks and "concrete" sand. I was in two fairway bunkers and in both cases the ball was in a rut (runoff caused groove) in what would best be considered hard dark sand. I had one "good" bunker shot from a bunker with sand in it, but it was a "secondary" green side bunker. Very nice where there is sand, and the rest needs a lot of work. Perhaps the staff need to get out to the bunkers with a very strong rake or a tiller and get the sand turned over a bit to loosen it up. Sure couldn't hurt at this point.

Greens were very nice with the exception of a couple of nearly bare spots on 2 greens. Everything else was nearly perfect and the ball rolled true (see: 25 putts) and medium-fast (maybe as much as 10-11 in the afternoon on the Stimpmeter?). The rough around the greens mimics that of the rest of the course. If you are in swale or grass bunker, you could be in 3-5 inches of grass, or you could be in 1-3 inches if in a less contoured area.

Of note: There looked to be a couple of sprinkler issues (2 flooded bunkers and 3-5 spots with flooded areas in the rough).

Beyond that, the course is in amazing shape, and once they fix the bunkers and get the rocks out (I'm not about to damage my clubs on rocks, so if I was in those bunkers in a tourney I would end up with a declaration of "unplayable" rather than damage my gear) the course will be one of the best conditioned in SoCal I have played in the past year.