One of the worst courses I have played in a long time. Definitely not worth the $42

One of the worst courses I have played in a long time. Definitely not worth the $42

I played CA Oaks yesterday for the first time in about 10 years. I remember enjoying it back then but I haven’t read much favorable about it since. I drove by it last week to take a look. What I could... Continue »

I played CA Oaks yesterday for the first time in about 10 years. I remember enjoying it back then but I haven’t read much favorable about it since. I drove by it last week to take a look. What I could see from the road seemed ok so I took a chance and booked a 7:50 am tee time. Other than masks in the pro shop and foam in the cups, there were no Covid-19 precautions in place. Players were riding 2 per cart, rakes were in the bunkers and ball washers were available on the course.

The fairways varied from nice to completely bare. The better ones are in the area closer to the road. Maybe it’s because they get more sun than the holes that are back in the narrow woodsy part of the course. The rough was very deep, hiding the extremely bumpy, uneven ground. A twisted ankle was a real risk. The greens were slow but in good shape other than unfixed ball marks. Tee boxes were uneven and in need of mowing. The bunkers had a playable amount of sand.

Even with all the negatives, I have to say I enjoyed the round. It’s target golf and there are some really fun holes. POP was good at 3.5 hours. If they can make some big improvements in the conditions, I would play there again.

Early morning Saturday round in four hours without a mask! The course was busy but the pro shop was getting the groups out fairly quickly. The tee boxes were mostly level but needed a trim. The rou... Continue »

Early morning Saturday round in four hours without a mask! The course was busy but the pro shop was getting the groups out fairly quickly. The tee boxes were mostly level but needed a trim. The rough was the most brutal I've ever seen during a round of golf. Most area along the fairways was a minimum of six inches and nearly impossible to find a ball in. The fairways were mostly in good condition with a couple being a little dry but with good coverage. The traps all had rakes and were extremely damp/wet so not easy to play from. The greens were very good and held shots well. They were not very quick but held a line and most had very few ball marks. This was the first time back here in about seven years and it was in much better condition than I had expected.

Hey! Its been a while since I played California Oaks. I use to avoid the place because of the terrible conditions and rude staff to be honest. My friend's convinced me to come out last weekend for so... Continue »

Hey! Its been a while since I played California Oaks. I use to avoid the place because of the terrible conditions and rude staff to be honest. My friend's convinced me to come out last weekend for some specials they were having, and i thought "Why not." I had a talk with the Pro in the shop (Ryan), and he was telling me how the conditions have improved. He did say the fairways are not perfect, and the back nine does have some bare areas. Honestly I did not believe him at first (this course used to be a complete wreck). He said we have been trying real hard to improve customer satisfaction and the quality of the greens. After playing a few holes I noticed a vast improvement from last time. It seems he was telling the truth. The greens were smooth (on the slow side), but they looked really good! For the specials they are offering, I will be back. This course is right down the street, and its good they have gotten there act together. Check it out people, not bad for the price.

Played here Jan 8-14. 1st time visit! As members of my reg 4some said--ok to play once
every 5 yrs...
Tight kinda quirky short course. Executive course designed by Rainville. Not fun golf.
Scored w... Continue »

Played here Jan 8-14. 1st time visit! As members of my reg 4some said--ok to play once
every 5 yrs...
Tight kinda quirky short course. Executive course designed by Rainville. Not fun golf.
Scored well (76) for a par 70 layout. Surprises here and there. Need to play a few times
to get the angles down-(know where to hit it)!
Fay likes having us seasoned citizens around here. Casual attention throughout............
and it shows on the course.....

Where to begin? I have signed up for Greenskeeper just because of this place. Golfed here 03/29/2013 and will never go back.

Groupon for round and lunch, three balls. Seemed like a good deal. G... Continue »

Where to begin? I have signed up for Greenskeeper just because of this place. Golfed here 03/29/2013 and will never go back.

Groupon for round and lunch, three balls. Seemed like a good deal. Get to the course and it just went down hill from there. I will list in the order I was faced with:

1- show up for my tee time, an old large man and short woman (Fey is her name?) arguing over some rules issue. Ignored me for 5 or so minutes as they argued between each other.

2- Fey finally came over (I asked the bartender upstairs for her name to complain, but found out she is the manager) and was absolutely the rudest person I have ever met. This is a GOLF COURSE! Walmart has better customer service. Horrible Horrible.

3- Balls were old pond balls, not a big deal, but still ....

4- Clubhouse is falling apart, no gloves any size but small. Everything over priced.

5- Beer price was unreal! 6 cans of coors for $30.00..... really?? And then on the 2nd tee opened one and it was OLD, nasty, expired (two years old???) Coors.... WTH???? Really??

6- Get to the tee box and there are 5-6 groups ahead of me, now I have a tee time and am on time. No starter, No Marshal. groups have 3, 4, 6 (six? In one group?). Tee box in terrible shape as golfer after golfer swings mulitple times as they loose balls left, right ect. Sitting at #1 took 30 min to tee off.

7- Greens under repair, not bad, Sand traps are more like hard pack cement.

8- 5 hours to play a round on a Par 70, 5,000 yard course. Again, no marshall seen in 5 hours.

9- Golf Cart is in terrible condition and very slow. Starts to die out at 4th hole. I called the club house and talked to a girl (Fey again?) who was rude, if it was somthing I did i would be responsible.... blah blah... REALLY? A younger guy came out two holes later with a new cart (still in terrible shape) while I was on the green. I said my cart was over there, and he starts tossing my stuff from old cart to new cart, and asking me what was wrong, as there was a full charge and seem fine to him. Then drives away with old cart, WITH THE KEY TO THE CART HE LEFT ME! Had to have one of the other players go chase him down.

10- At the end of the round, went to go redeem my free lunch and was told that they were out of this, or that. When I started to complain I received a shrug and was told that the management didn't care, they only worried about the bottom line and did not know what they were doing.

So, this was a terrible experience, I have been golfing for 20 + years and have never seen such incompetence, disrespectful staff and a sense that once I paid i was on my own.

Horrible Horrible Horrible.

Played out here this morning. Had a 7:07 tee time, but showed up a little early. The pro shop was a bit disorganized with one poor kid running the whole show (checking in players, getting carts out an... Continue »

Played out here this morning. Had a 7:07 tee time, but showed up a little early. The pro shop was a bit disorganized with one poor kid running the whole show (checking in players, getting carts out and ready, taking phone calls for tee times, etc.). Luckily, it wasn't busy at all, so I just went out right away to the first tee by myself around 6:45. Played through a twosome on the 2nd hole and then cruised around after that. Only about a 2 hour round, which was nice.

The course was greener than I expected this late in summer, which was a pleasant surprise. It was very soggy out there this morning. The tee boxes weren't too beat up, but they were kind of lumpy so it wasn't always easy to find a good stance. The fairways were lush and green for the most part with some scattered bare/muddy areas throughout. They did seem to be doing some work on the 12 fairway, so it was quite shaggy and cart path only. The rough was a mixed bag with some very deep parts and some big bare/muddy areas, too. I was in one fairway bunker and it was super wet and super packed down, so just tried to pick it as clean as possible. The greens were extremely soft, spongy and SLOW. There were some burnt out (dead or diseased?) spots on all the greens, but they had the pins in places that mostly took those areas out of play. The greens rolled very smooth, just very slow. Despite the soft conditions, there weren't hardly any unrepaired ball marks. Surprising since all my shots left huge muddy craters I had to fix up as well as possible.

This is a fun and funky little course. I wouldn't go too far out of my way to play it again, but a good place for a tune-up round to work on your accuracy and irons. It's a short and tight course with trouble in play on every hole. Most guys will just want to leave their drivers at home. All the par-4s are short and the two par-5s are both short (but not easy). When they lengthened this course to make it a par-70, you can definitely tell they had to push the envelope a bit on a few holes (especially the par-5s). Both par-5s feature blind tee shots from the tees and the 7th hole is one of the most maniacal little holes I've ever played. Blind tee shot to a very narrow fairway. Trees and OB up left side, creek/hazard along right side. The next shot is down a super skinny fairway with a big eucalyptus tree right in the middle. This is one hole (and there are quite a few others here) where a little local knowledge can go a long way. Otherwise, as long as you keep the ball in play, the greens are very accessible and you can post a low score because you're hitting nothing but short irons and wedges into the very receptive greens. This course is probably too short and funky to be taken too seriously by low handicappers, but it is what it is and I kind of had fun trying to figure it out on the fly with very mixed results and several lost balls.

California Oaks Golf Course Review
Murrieta California Golf Course Reviews

This is my home course as I live across the street. The staff can be rude, pace of play is hit or miss and the fairway tight as hell! You will need to bring extra balls because if not a good shot yo... Continue »

This is my home course as I live across the street. The staff can be rude, pace of play is hit or miss and the fairway tight as hell! You will need to bring extra balls because if not a good shot you have lost your ball. But it is a great value, and playing here really helps my game on the longer courses as you will need an accurate drive and good short game to score well.

California Oaks Golf Course Review
Murrieta California Golf Course Reviews

Great walking promo rate advertised - but you have to purchase the cart fee at course? Greens are in poor condition for this time of the year. The lengthened redo of this short course requires a rou... Continue »

Great walking promo rate advertised - but you have to purchase the cart fee at course? Greens are in poor condition for this time of the year. The lengthened redo of this short course requires a rounnd or two before you know what/where to hit your tee shots. Fairways are poor to good depending on the hole. We won't be back anytime soon.