Had an opportunity to play this exclusive private course Saturday afternoon thanks to fellow GKer Ben. Arrived about an hour ahead of 1 pm tee time to take advantage of practice facilities. The drivi... Continue »

Had an opportunity to play this exclusive private course Saturday afternoon thanks to fellow GKer Ben. Arrived about an hour ahead of 1 pm tee time to take advantage of practice facilities. The driving range was as expected from a facility of this stature, grass only with balls stacked in pyramids at every stall. Two practice putting greens surrounded by beautiful landscaping and flowers accenting the meticulous masonry.
The tee boxes were very nice, plenty of coverage, didn't have a single uneven stance the entire round on the tee box. 8.5/10
Fairways had very nice coverage throughout. There were areas where the grass was a little browned, but very playable. I didn't have a thin or unfavorable lie in the fairway the entire round, though I played terrible and only hit 7-9 of them. 8.5/10
As badly as I played on this day, I only found 2 bunkers. They weren't fantastic, but they weren't bad either. 7/10
The greens were very speedy! I didn't know before hand what the stimp was, but if I had to guess, I would put that number above an 11, but lower than a 12, seriously lol. Took me the majority of the round to adjust. Also a bit firm in the way that well struck shots would stay on the green with a substantive amount of back spin and landing in the proper spots. Ben and I had several shots that hit the green from distances and in places we thought would leave us with a decent putt, only to find we would be chipping just off the green for our next shot. The one thing I was quite surprised about, was the number of unrepaired divots. 9.5/10
Pace of play was very nice, don't remember exactly, but I believe our round was under 4 hours! Even as we waited on several holes until the twosome in front of us left after playing 9 holes.
Overall a great experience. All staff I encountered were helpful and welcoming. The members I happened to interact with were friendly and seemingly happy to have us. I played terrible, so the round itself wasn't great, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly! Highly recommended, if the opportunity presents itself.

Played in the afternoon on May 17th. A colleague of mine is a member here, and I was his guest. This is the oldest private golf club in Riverside and has a beautiful clubhouse and golf shop. The st... Continue »

Played in the afternoon on May 17th. A colleague of mine is a member here, and I was his guest. This is the oldest private golf club in Riverside and has a beautiful clubhouse and golf shop. The staff are all very friendly and the food is great.

If you ever have a chance to play here, I recommend it.

The layout of the course has many fun and challenging holes. The back 9 plays much more difficult than the front. The tee boxes were perfect. They were level and had plenty of grass. The fairways and rough were as good as you can ask for. I found a few greenside bunkers and they were relatively soft, but there were a few spots that were firm. The greens were very quick and always rolled true.

Played in an SCGA outing and was paired with GK’ers kassper7, sbarajasjr and sixpez. Had a fun day which included a BBQ lunch. The two previous reviews from sbarajasjr and sixpez pretty much cover m... Continue »

Played in an SCGA outing and was paired with GK’ers kassper7, sbarajasjr and sixpez. Had a fun day which included a BBQ lunch. The two previous reviews from sbarajasjr and sixpez pretty much cover my thoughts on this course. Overall the course was fun to play and I liked it but it does have its quirks. I immediately noticed on the scorecard that 4 of the last 5 holes (holes 15-18) are par 5’s. Never seen that before. Also, #15 (par 5) fooled us all trying to figure out where to hit our second and third shots. We had no idea where the green was. We finally figured it out but it certainly is a bizarre hole. Also, on a couple of holes, you are driving over a public street. Lastly, the tee boxes didn’t seem to be lined up correctly. Seemed like they were at an angle and not pointed directly at the hole. For a private club, I was thinking the fairways would be lush green. Not really. They were a brown/yellow tint. This is not a big deal as the fairways were in good shape. Nice lies throughout. In contrast however, the greens were lush. They rolled very nicely and held good shots. An old style course that had trees bordering the fairways giving it a lot of character. It was nice to play a private course for a change but not sure I’d make it a point to go back.

Played here 5/8 as part of the same SCGA outing, with sixpez as my partner. A pleasure to finally tee it up together, as well as meet Larry and Perry. As Keith mentioned in the previous review, Victor... Continue »

Played here 5/8 as part of the same SCGA outing, with sixpez as my partner. A pleasure to finally tee it up together, as well as meet Larry and Perry. As Keith mentioned in the previous review, Victoria Club definitely has a mid-level private course feel; the layout being very reminiscent of Mission Trails in San Diego (muni with a decent mix of interesting holes). There is nothing here that would warrant a visit from anywhere further than say a 30 minute drive but alas, a private course from 1903 checked off the list. On to the conditions:

Tee boxes: Plenty of coverage but no box was in great condition, often being uneven and because everything at this course is smaller in size, it took an extra couple of seconds to find level ground. Other than that, good conditions.

Fairways: Even hitting ground though the color really varied from semi-green to yellow brown. Aesthetics aside, I never landed in a bad lie and the roll seemed more than fair. It was nice to see divots filled.

Rough: Not very penal and really a non factor here. The course is so tight that most of the time you are either OB or on the next hole. The trees lining the fairways are far more brutal than the rough.

Bunkers: Was only in two today and as Keith alluded to, the new sand led to many fried eggs. Nevertheless, the bunkers with soft sand are far more welcoming to hit from than the hard pan dirt most courses seem to allow. Ample rakes too.

Greens: The highlight of the round for me; great color, good roll, challenging breaks, and excellent condition. They were a pleasure to putt from.

ETC: Pace of play was roughly 4.25 hours and it moved much faster, a real blessing at an SCGA outing. The locker room was a real throwback, as is much of this course. The barbecue lunch was excellent. Shotgun start that could have gotten off to a cleaner start. All in all, a good outing at a decent private course.