I was looking for a non-kikuyu location that hadn’t yet aerified their greens for a relaxed round on Tuesday, 9/11/18, and Glen Ivy fit the bill. [They are punching this coming weekend.] I found a GN ... Continue »

I was looking for a non-kikuyu location that hadn’t yet aerified their greens for a relaxed round on Tuesday, 9/11/18, and Glen Ivy fit the bill. [They are punching this coming weekend.] I found a GN deal at 2:04pm for $25. I had played here a few times in the past, and it’s a fun play that seems shorter than the yardage card from the Blue tees, perhaps because a lot of the longer holes have downhill tee shots. The clubhouse area was very busy when I arrived with many players, a couple of high school women’s teams getting ready to go out, and quite a bit of construction activity. Weather was sunny and warm with an unusual(?) NE breeze.

Greens here are generally small; some were firm, some were very receptive – you were never sure coming in how to play approaches to the greens. A couple greens had scattered bare spots along the edges. They rolled with some bumpiness at medium+ speed. Fairway lies were good – the turf was almost fluffy and could use a tightening with a mower. In most cases you won’t have a level lie, with the ball above or below your feet and/or being uphill or downhill, due to the course being pushed up against the hills to the west and interior gentle mounding. Rough condition ranged from thick/fluffy to thin/dry. Sand had good quantity, but greenside bunkers were all damp and fairly well-compacted. Many of the Blue tees were sloping, most behind a right handed golfer. Just for fun, the tee on the par-3 #5 sloped away in front of me!

There’s a big expansion underway at the clubhouse – a two-story banquet area is being added, so there’s lots of construction activity around the clubhouse and some traffic rerouting is in effect on the course around hole #9. The driving range is getting a solar roof over hitting area and they are adding access to parking right at the range. No yardage book is currently available, but many holes have colored yardage posts, and some sprinklers are marked. No GPS on the carts. The staff is friendly.

I played as a single as no one else was going out at that time. I played through a twosome on #5 and then breezed through the rest of the front nine in 1:30. But, oops, they were putting late players and golf teams out off BOTH tees at 3pm, so I ran up against the back of several groups on #10, and wasn’t waved up, so I poked around the back in 2:20, waiting on every shot. Overall pace just under 4 hours.

While the course was generally fairly dry and firm, there were many areas along cart paths and on road under-crossings where water had pooled and needed to be avoided. Ball washers are located on white tee boxes, so Black/Blue players are stuck with dirty balls. Brush growing tall in front of the #14 tee boxes needs to be trimmed down. The lake at the clubhouse on Hole #16 is still dry and ugly.

The course uses a Red-White-Blue pin rotation. Because of where they fall in the hole order, all 4 of the par-5s had blue flags today, and 3 of the 4 par-3s had red flags– the course needs to use some imagination to break up that pattern and provide better variety.

The tee shot on #18 is still a lot of fun on that “Ray Guy”-like driving opportunity. Where else can an old low-ball hitter like me move one out there 330 yards!!

Recommended for a casual, fun round.

Played 8/31. As usual the staff was great. There was still the smell of smoke from the recent fires, but the course did not show signs of damage. You can see from the hillside how close the fires ca... Continue »

Played 8/31. As usual the staff was great. There was still the smell of smoke from the recent fires, but the course did not show signs of damage. You can see from the hillside how close the fires came to the course.

The course is in good condition. The greens rolled fast in the morning but as the heat increased they became slower.

The only negative I can say about the course right now is that the driving range and practice green is still out of commission. It appears that the construction is coming to an end and the practice facilities will re-open soon.

Played Saturday, 8/4, with a fairly early start. Small shotgun starting over 6 or 7 holes on the back nine. Pace of play was a little over 5 hours. We were playing match play which should have mad... Continue »

Played Saturday, 8/4, with a fairly early start. Small shotgun starting over 6 or 7 holes on the back nine. Pace of play was a little over 5 hours. We were playing match play which should have made the pace faster, but alas not.

I had never played the course before. I liked it. Interesting elevation changes especially on the back nine. The course conditions were pretty good. I liked the bermuda fairways and did not have a bad lie in them. The rough was mixed. I had one gnarly bermuda rough lie where advancing the ball was all I could do, and other places with other grass that was lush but one could get a club on it. The sand traps were mixed. One greenside bunker had too little sand at the bottom, others were fine. The fairway bunkers were very firm.

The greens were great. They were not as fast as they looked and they were pretty soft. Footprints were quite evident on them. That said, they ran mostly true at medium speed and held all shots.

If you could keep the ball in the fairway, the course was there to be had. I will definitely be back.

In a continuing quest to find a decent affordable course halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles so I can play with my LA friends, I stumbled across a recent review on here for Glen Ivy and it said ... Continue »

In a continuing quest to find a decent affordable course halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles so I can play with my LA friends, I stumbled across a recent review on here for Glen Ivy and it said that the course was in excellent condition. I was worried at first because the last time I played at this course it was scorched but today it was really awesome! It is a totally different course and had changed for the better!

Tee-Time: 940ish
POP: 4:15 (1:30 front 9, 2:45 back 9)

Greens:
The greens rolled pretty true with the exception of a lot of fresh un-repaired ball marks and footprints near the pin. They were pretty wet and soft through the first 5 holes but they dried out and started to pick up speed after that. The practice green was not reflective of their course greens at all as it was much slower.


Fairways:
Fairways were mostly lush and well groomed with the exception of few bare spots in random areas that were a little outside of the optimum landing areas. There were some parts on the front 9 that did not drain too well which resulted in plugged tee shots and casual water, but overall they were in great shape and pretty firm.

Bunkers:
Bunkers were awesome; greenside and fairway. Unfortunately I found a few of both today so I got firsthand experience with them. Fairway bunkers were a little firm (which I like) so they were easier to pick the balls out of. Greenside bunkers were lush with enough sand to play whatever shot was required for the pin placement.

Rough:
The rough was about 1-2" long varying by location with the longer rough typically near the bunkers. The rough was easy to get a club through and tended to be a bit more forgiving than the grass I am used to playing in San Diego. Both my buddy and I kept getting "flyer" lies in this rough which was pretty fun.


Overall:
I definitely will be back to this course, especially with the golfmoose deal offered on this site. One thing to note was that the driving range is under construction for them to add shade structures and solar so dont plan on hitting balls beforehand.

Played Thursday 6/28, first out at 0630. Been awhile since I've played here but after missing the GK Play and reading all the positive reviews I decided it was time for a visit. Used a Groupon promoti... Continue »

Played Thursday 6/28, first out at 0630. Been awhile since I've played here but after missing the GK Play and reading all the positive reviews I decided it was time for a visit. Used a Groupon promotion, 2 player special for $79. Good deal. Customer service was outstanding during check in. Only negative was the driving range is closed for upgrades and only a small putting greens is available for a warm up. Played as a twosum with my brother and was paired up with another brother twosum. POP was right at 4 hrs. Men's Club had a shotgun gun start at 0730 starting at holes 11-18. They were never an issue. Marshall and cart girl made their rounds and even a visit from the pro shop just checking to make sure we had no issue and enjoying our round.

The course was in very good condition from tee box to greens, rough and bunkers very well maintained. Only a few thin lies and brown patches. Nothing that impacted negative conditions. I still like the back nine better. The par 3s are a formidable challenge and don't forget the picturesque #18. If you haven't been there in awhile, maybe it's worth a visit. I think you'll enjoy it.

Played Glen Ivy for the first time Tuesday, as part of the GK Guru group. Great time with the guys during and after the round. POP was just 3.5 hrs, and really, the time went by too fast - I wanted to... Continue »

Played Glen Ivy for the first time Tuesday, as part of the GK Guru group. Great time with the guys during and after the round. POP was just 3.5 hrs, and really, the time went by too fast - I wanted to keep playing the course! Really enjoyed the course overall, and playing from the white tees, felt it was a good, but fair challenge for a short-hitter.

White tees were mostly very good - level and nicely cut and green. Only exception were 3 of 4 par threes with mounds and bumps to deal with in the entire teeing area. I find this to be a common problem at a few courses. Really needs to be addressed here.

Fairways were pretty good overall, getting very good lies and very good roll. Caught a few tight/thin downhill lies on approaches and did not play those well.

Rough around the greens was nice and easy enough to get a wedge through it and on line.

Departing from some other views, I did not enjoy the sand in the traps. It was a thin, crispy dried clay/sand combo and I air-mailed two shots back/back. Hmmm... wonder why i didn't care for it!?! These were just different enough so that my poor sand-skills were amplified. :)

Found the greens to roll very nicely, not many bumps and bobbles. Held shots decently. Green and well-watered, they were a bit slower than I expected, and left a few too many short. Very good overall.

Burger and service in the bar afterwards was great. And, wandered over to the pro shop later and scored a great deal on a rare 100% cotton golf shirt in my size for $19.99. Got two! Gent in there was very friendly and helpful.

Don't know when the putting greens and/or driving range will be open, but it looks to be well off into the future months, imho. They do have a small, but good-looking bit of putting green turf in place, so perhaps they will have that open sooner? Thanks to Johnny for setting it up! Hope to be back soon!

Had a wonderful time with the GK Gurus yesterday.

Been over 8 years since I visited Glen Ivy's Golf Course. New Ownership took over 2 years ago and the improvements are very apparently once you pu... Continue »

Had a wonderful time with the GK Gurus yesterday.

Been over 8 years since I visited Glen Ivy's Golf Course. New Ownership took over 2 years ago and the improvements are very apparently once you pull up to the parking lot. Spoke to the cart attendant, who was very happy with the new ownership. Customer service was good through everyone I interacted with. The facility was as I remembered, nice clubhouse with a separate dining bar area with reasonably priced food, free tap water with lemon and $1 bottle waters!

Now to the course.

The tee boxes need leveling on most of the blue tees and divot repair. The fairways and rough were in good summer shape and the highlight of the course were the greens, smooth for the most part, running around 9/10 and quicker as the day got hotter. The layout was exceptional. I forgot the unique variety of holes here. The sand traps (fairway and greenside) were raked and had decent coverage as I was in them almost 6 times. Had the wonderful pleasure of finally playing with JohnnyGK himself and Steve and Rich!

In the glory days, the course was very scenic between the vistas and the various ponds and running fountains. Obviously, because of the drought, many of the water elements have dried up. There is still water on Hole 18.

Look forward to returning in the near future.

Was my first time playing Glen Ivy Golf Club yesterday 6/12 in Corona, CA. Good times with GK Gurus!

I loved the layout the way it trailed through hills, elevation changes, doglegs, scenery, challe... Continue »

Was my first time playing Glen Ivy Golf Club yesterday 6/12 in Corona, CA. Good times with GK Gurus!

I loved the layout the way it trailed through hills, elevation changes, doglegs, scenery, challenging yet fair, fun greens, exciting approach shots. Was a fun blend. I thought the conditions were great with beautiful healthy greens (medium speed, smooth and holding shots), excellent coverage in the fairways, quality sand in the bunkers, nice tee boxes, the only aspect of the golf course that was mostly lush but dry and thin at times was the rough. Overall, considering how dry that region is, they are doing an excellent job keeping it watered. I agree with sparky14 that you can see some of the region heat effects with browning areas. But every lie had plenty of grass cushion. My guess given their commitment to keeping it lush (their owner plays the course himself virtually everyday) they will probably just water it more to combat the heat. POP yesterday was only 4 hrs. Just an FYI, right now they are doing a major upgrade to the driving range so it will be closed for some time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this golf course, I can't believe it took me over 15 years since launching Greenskeeper.org to finally play it! Highly Recommended.

Played Glen Ivy on 6/12 with the Gk Gurus. I haven't been to GI since 2010, interesting to see how the course has matured. Visually, growth in the native areas has blocked the view of landing areas on... Continue »

Played Glen Ivy on 6/12 with the Gk Gurus. I haven't been to GI since 2010, interesting to see how the course has matured. Visually, growth in the native areas has blocked the view of landing areas on a few holes - so course knowledge will help. I recommend a yardage book if you are not familiar with the course as several holes are difficult to see where the proper line should be.

GI appears to be one of the few SoCal courses actually putting money into the course. Things are better than I remember from a decade ago. Even in June, when the hot season is in full bloom in Corona, the greens are green, plush and soft. Fairways and rough are good, but you can see the start of the heat effects as things are getting crusty. Sand was good, but again the top level is getting baked by the heat.

I enjoyed the course more than I have in the past. Lots of elevation changes, so many holes play much shorter than their posted yardages. If you get the ball in play, there are birdies to be made, and even more birdie putts that will lip out at the last second. Dang it.

Highly recommended.