I played yesterday in the Guru outing with Gary, Marvin and Steve It was great seeing everyone else too. What a nice day. The staff was friendly and welcoming. I hit a few on the range and putting gre... Continue »

I played yesterday in the Guru outing with Gary, Marvin and Steve It was great seeing everyone else too. What a nice day. The staff was friendly and welcoming. I hit a few on the range and putting green. If the on-course greens were to be that slick, I knew I’d be in for an adventure. I definitely should have tried the practice bunker….

The short, dry dormant grass of the fairways isn’t my favorite, but the extra roll out is always helpful. I found a few bunkers. The beautiful white, heavy sand here really gave me some trouble. The greens were great- smooth and fast.

I played from the red tees. There were several holes where the tee boxes were just small mounds with the markers only about 5 or 6 feet apart. They were not all level and had lots of divots. Being so small there wasn’t much choice of where to place the tee. It wasn’t really a problem, but I thought it was odd.

I enjoyed the layout very much. Such a variety of holes and there were so many really fun ones. I would love to play here again when the grass is green. I bet it would be just beautiful. Thank you, Johnny and Bear Creek for a wonderful time.

Played yesterday with the gurus on what was a delightfully pleasant day with the winds gusting between 1-2 clubs and enough to crack your lips by the end of the round. Played with John, Jim and Ron w... Continue »

Played yesterday with the gurus on what was a delightfully pleasant day with the winds gusting between 1-2 clubs and enough to crack your lips by the end of the round. Played with John, Jim and Ron which made for an excellent all around day. Staff was excellent at all points, and the facilities are pretty nice especially the ease of the practice facility layout in relation to the clubhouse. I thought the conditions were good for the area and winter, with the greens being the highlight and the fairways the lowlight. To be quite honest, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of overseed at a private facility such as this but what do I know. Not too much to add to the previous reviews, other than I found the green complexes to be very unique with some crazy possible pin locations. The layout is interesting and varied, with the majority of my favorite holes coming on the back with 16 being the standout. They also have a statue of Jack high above the 9th fairway on the left which is preposterous as Jack played a fade. Would love to return when lush in the spring/summer. Recommended if you can snag an invite or play in an event.

2/9 guru outing playing with Wendy Steve and Marvin very enjoyable and compatible partners. Warm sunny breezy afternoon with 420 POP. Fairways are currently dormant and thin but are expected to grow... Continue »

2/9 guru outing playing with Wendy Steve and Marvin very enjoyable and compatible partners. Warm sunny breezy afternoon with 420 POP. Fairways are currently dormant and thin but are expected to grow with the onset of warm weather. Rough mostly dry and whispy. Tees level and playable. Bunkers have really white sand mostly fine and somewhat varied in consistency as some groomed areas seemed heavier and less forgiving. Bunkers are large and often require a significant carry to reach the green. I found 7-8 of them and struggled.
Greens are firm and fast seemingly from all directions with plenty of slope humps and tiers. I had 8 1 putts of 4-5 feet and one in from the rough by the fringe. Unfortunetly or fortunetly they were mostly for bogey or on occasion double--shot 100 even with those heroics which also included a couple of 3 putts.
Staff very friendly. Large putting green small driving rancge and an additional practice area including a bunker.

Played with the GK Guru’s which is always a pleasure! These people take golf serious but not themselves, always lots of chuckles and laughing at our bad shots. Of course along with oohs and ahs for th... Continue »

Played with the GK Guru’s which is always a pleasure! These people take golf serious but not themselves, always lots of chuckles and laughing at our bad shots. Of course along with oohs and ahs for the good stuff! The course is in winter condition as Marvin said. Not much rough, lots of roll and some areas in the process of being repaired. Tees: level, thinly covered with some divots on the 3 pars as to be expected Rough: dormant, minimal and thin. I can see how nice (and would play more difficult) the course would look with nice full, green rough. Of course it would catch some errant shots as well! Fairways: again thin but playable for full shots but delicate pitches and chips were very difficult (at least for me) from what was described as painted hard pan. Lots of run which can be both good and bad depending on shot direction! Lol! Bunkers: mostly deep nice sand, some thinner spots, I played a few shots from both green side and fairway bunkers and found the conditions consistent in both. Precise contact was essential in the fairway bunkers and a good assessment of depth was necessary in the greenside traps Greens: the highlight of the course right now. Fast, true and mostly smooth, did I say fast? Exceptionally so! I liked them cuz I made a lot of long puts! :) Layout: the layout was mostly varied, only once did we get that “didn’t we already play this hole?” Fun tract with plenty of challenges POP: was our own pace and we finished at around 4 1/2 hours I think? Customer service: I gave it a perfect because I only encountered one member of staff and she was friendly, courteous and helpful. Facilities: snack bar closed before we made the turn? Grass range, putting green, short game area with a bunker and spot on the side of the range where flags were position at 10 yard intervals to dial in pitch lengths. From the outside the clubhouse ain’t much but it’s gorgeous on the inside. Nice setting, houses aren’t really in play and a fun round!

Played in GK Guru outing today with fellow gurus Wendy, Gary, and Steve. Weather was beautiful 85 degrees with a little wind here and there. Saw Johnny and Ron and said hi, talked to Blake and Jim t... Continue »

Played in GK Guru outing today with fellow gurus Wendy, Gary, and Steve. Weather was beautiful 85 degrees with a little wind here and there. Saw Johnny and Ron and said hi, talked to Blake and Jim to see things were going and it was off to the first tee. Steve and I choose the blues and one of the things I like about this course is that the fairways are wide and generous hit a good tee shot then you can take a rip at your second shot because the homes on the course don’t really come into play unless you really pull or push your shot. The course is in winter shape right now with fairways green while everything outside of fairways was dormant. The dry or dormant grass is easy to play from so no problem there. The tee boxes were even and level. Wasn’t too much rough to speak of and sand was very easy to play from. The greens were the star of the show they weren’t too quick and weren’t on the slow side either. Our POP was around 4 1/2 so that was a plus. I like this course and I would like to play more often if it were a little closer. I had great time seeing everyone and although my play wasn’t so good today, I keep telling myself there’s no where to go but up. Staff is always friendly and helpful and I definitely recommend this course if you get a chance to play here…

Played there for the first time today under blue skies and no wind….and enjoyed every hole in terms of playability (wide fairways—thank you, Jack Nicklaus!), beauty, and challenge (primarily because o... Continue »

Played there for the first time today under blue skies and no wind….and enjoyed every hole in terms of playability (wide fairways—thank you, Jack Nicklaus!), beauty, and challenge (primarily because of WELL-bunkered greens that require your BEST green-reading abilities). Practice facilities are excellent, and are right outside the pro shop door. You can pretty much choose your challenge level, with tee boxes ranging from rating/slope of 62.8/108 (green tees—4506 yds) all the way up to 75.9/146 (black tees—7188 yds). I can hardly wait to return!

First time out at Bear Creek today. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming out, but really enjoyed the course. I’m not a big fan of Jacks designs, but I would say this one was one of my favorites I’ve pl... Continue »

First time out at Bear Creek today. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming out, but really enjoyed the course. I’m not a big fan of Jacks designs, but I would say this one was one of my favorites I’ve played. The course is fair, with plenty of tough holes but some birdie holes as well. The greens were amazing. Extremely smooth and fast yet held shots very well. Fairways were great, rough was good but not too penal. Bunkers around the greens had nice sand. Played in under 3 hours which is always a bonus. From a conditioning stand point there really is nothing to complain about. Good driving range, putting green and short game area.

Played today, in an SCGA event. POP was a great 4 hours, given the heat (high 90's). And before I forget, this course needs more water stations (3 is not enough). And 1 (yes 1) bathroom? What the hell... Continue »

Played today, in an SCGA event. POP was a great 4 hours, given the heat (high 90's). And before I forget, this course needs more water stations (3 is not enough). And 1 (yes 1) bathroom? What the hell (good thing there a lot of big trees). Never saw the beverage cart once??. Course is set in a beautiful valley, nestled up against some beautiful (though brown) foothills. The first thing that jumped out today, was that the fairways (while great/green lush) provided no (absolutely none) roll. Tee boxes were immaculate. Rough outside of fairways was thick and difficult. Bunkers were the largest/deepest I have ever encountered playing golf (how I escaped them, I do not know but bought lotto ticket on way home). I heard no complaints from playing partners who did. Greens (wow are they large) were very good. They chipped/putted great all round. Having checked in with SCGA rep, I cannot comment on customer service. Two holes (11 par 5 18 par 4) have water which is playable and are just spectacular. Not saying the rest of the course is lacking. They do have great par 3's on the course. And many great par 4's. I would say, that if you do have the opportunity to play this course, do not pass it up. But pick a cooler day.

Played in a SCPGA event on May 3rd on a hot and windy day.

This was my first time out at Bear Creek and I absolutely loved the place. I really didn't know what to expect going in as I hadn't done ... Continue »

Played in a SCPGA event on May 3rd on a hot and windy day.

This was my first time out at Bear Creek and I absolutely loved the place. I really didn't know what to expect going in as I hadn't done much research on it. Driving in you wouldn't know what a high end neighborhood it is. There are some serious homes on this course!

They have a pretty big clubhouse and awesome practice area. Obviously this course was designed to host tournaments and it really set up great for that. The range was perfect with great grass and tons of targets, practice greens were perfect and provided all sorts of putts you get on the course and plenty of great short game shots. Kind of practice area you'd love to hang out all day at.

I absolutely loved this layout. There are a great variety of holes that lets you work every club in the bag. Off the tee there's pretty ample room but the greens were pretty severe with some tough bunkering so in my opinion its where the course gets its teeth.

I felt the course was definitely in good shape. The tee boxes were absolutely perfect. Lush, tight grass and always level. The greens had probably been punched and sanded somewhat recently but rolled pretty well. Towards the end of the day they became a bit bumpy but you can tell that they are going to be awesome soon. The fairways were an interesting type of bermuda, but provided great lies to hit from. You can take some massive divots out there!

I really felt it was a treat to be able to play this course. If you get a chance definitely get out there, just a really cool golf experience.