I played 2 full rounds of 18 at this course on Monday 10/19. I rode a cart, as a single, and finished the 36 holes in under 8 hours - first round went nearly 5 hours, while second round was completed... Continue »

I played 2 full rounds of 18 at this course on Monday 10/19. I rode a cart, as a single, and finished the 36 holes in under 8 hours - first round went nearly 5 hours, while second round was completed in 3 hours. Weather was pleasant, with mostly cloudy skies and modest breezes. As usual, course staff were friendly and efficient. Drink cart service was around multiple times, even as late as 4:00PM. Both rounds, I played from the blue tees (6568 yards/124 slope rating/71.3 course rating).

Tee boxes were mostly level, however almost every tee position was very worn. Strange that the par-4 and par-5 holes were just as worn as the par-3 holes. However, the worn areas were not so much from divots as with the grass being clipped low, but not from a mower cut pattern - almost like players had taken lots of swipes with irons without digging into the turf.

Fairways ranged from excellent, lush turf on which the ball would sit up perfectly, to some thin spots with still acceptable turf, to completely bare dirt. Since I was fortunate not to find any of these bare dirt areas, my playing experience wasn't affected.

Rough mirrored the condition of the fairways, except that where it was lush it was thick and penal. Balls that found the thick rough were sometimes difficult to locate, as they would nestle down. Some of the deepest and most penal rough was around the greens and the bunkers. In other areas, mostly off the fairways, rough was thinner and less penal. Bare dirt existed in some areas as well.

Bunkers were in generally poor condition. Those that I played from were hard pan, with at best a very thin layer of sand (quarter inch?), and many had grass encroaching beyond their rims. However, it should be noted that maintenance was actively working on trimming grass from the rims of several bunkers. Golfers would hope that the condition of sand in the bunkers could be improved.

As usual, the best part of the course was the greens. They generally looked good, and felt firm underfoot. Well hit shots were well received - I had a wedge shot plug, and several shots that cratered the green and stopped within inches of impact. There were many unrepaired ball marks. The greens for the most part rolled well, at medium speed. There were a few putts that bumped and turned a bit from the lines read, but overall they were pretty true.

It seems much busier with the unlimited play promotion each Monday. I am curious to see how/if this changes in a few weeks. For a value course, this is always worthy of consideration.

Played the Blues (6568/71.3/124) in 4.5 hours as part of an "All you can play" promotion for $20. Enjoyed a very fun afternoon round with Hermgolfs, Grantar2 and 2 different non GKers during parts of ... Continue »

Played the Blues (6568/71.3/124) in 4.5 hours as part of an "All you can play" promotion for $20. Enjoyed a very fun afternoon round with Hermgolfs, Grantar2 and 2 different non GKers during parts of the round. Weather was 90ish and breezy, frequently a 1-2 club wind in the afternoon. The tees had adequate coverage but many needed divot repair. The fairways had fairly large areas that were lush. However, they also have way too many large areas that were thin or hard pan. You can be penalized after a drive straight down the middle with a lie that could be comparable to 25 yards off the fairway. The rough has some lush areas, especially around the greens. However, much of it is thin or hard pan. The traps I was in were thin, with a hard bottom barely below the surface that both times made my SW bounce. Chipping rather than blasting would be the prudent play where possible. There is not alot of slope on these medium size green complexes. The greens look nice and putted medium speed. They were reasonably smooth in the a.m., much bumpier in the p.m. & held shots well. Our group was routinely fixing a dozen plus ball marks on every green. The Hamburger combo including a drink I had between rounds in the snack shop was excellent for $7. The customer service was very good with every person I encountered. Quick & efficient check-in. Here you can grip it & rip it and usually not get in too much trouble even if you stray well off the fairways. No frills with no holes that make you go wow. However, not any horrible designs either. Mediocre course conditions, but a fun course.

Monday 9/14/15 - Played Butterfield Stage as the second half of a golf double header all you can play golf Monday. We started on the Chino Creek Course (read separate review) and then stopped for brea... Continue »

Monday 9/14/15 - Played Butterfield Stage as the second half of a golf double header all you can play golf Monday. We started on the Chino Creek Course (read separate review) and then stopped for break and headed out to play Butterfield Stage. There was no wait, and virtually no hold up in front or push from behind us. 1Rudedog who played Chino Creek with us wasn't able to play Butterfield, as a result we ended up having a couple of other players join us one on the front 9, the other for the last 5 holes of the back 9. Both were outstanding players, and we got to share Greenskeepers with them. All three of us Nicksquire, Hermgolfs, and I had our Greenskeeper headgear on.

The Butterfield course isn't nearly as nice a condition as Chino Creek. The greens are very good, but whereas there were few ball marks on the Chino Creek course, there were numerous marks on the Butterfield Stage side. Still the greens were very good by muni standards. Rough was lush around the greens and good with bare areas elsewhere. The fairways were a combination of lush and bare/thin. The course superintendent seems to be applying the limited water where it does the most good. If you hit the shots the course demands there is always good grass there.

Butterfield stage plays much flatter than Chino Creek, but has more sever dog legs, and presents more complex site lines and fairway contours well appearing more open.

At the $20 green fee with cart this course on it's own would be a good value. As part of an all you can play including Chino Creek it's a must play.

With Nicksquire, and Hermgolfs, as playing partners it was a pure delight. Pace of play was excellent. We finished at dark (20 minutes late turning in the carts) The marshal met us coming down the 18th fairway, but despite the fact that we were 11 minutes late at that time they let us play out. Great staff, fun time, great facility.

First time I have played here in over 20 years. Played the front 9 Blues (6568/124/71.3) in 1.5 hours on a GN Hot Deal for $13.49 with RGM2525. A freak thunderstorm came through the area and they clos... Continue »

First time I have played here in over 20 years. Played the front 9 Blues (6568/124/71.3) in 1.5 hours on a GN Hot Deal for $13.49 with RGM2525. A freak thunderstorm came through the area and they closed the course due to flooding & lightning, so we did not get to play the back 9 today. Every part of this course is not nearly in as good of condition as it's sister Chino Creek course that I played last week. The tees had good coverage but many needed divot repair. One was so unlevel I used all the divot repair mix on our cart to at least partially fill in 2 large sink holes right between the blue tee markers. The fairways looked to be about 55% lush, 30% thin and 15% hardpan. I can't comment on the actual lies because I never managed to get my ball in one even though they are generous in size. The rough was about 1/3 lush, 1/3 thin and 1/3 hardpan. Not very penal, very playable. I managed to hit 4/7 of the par 4 & par 5 greens out of it. I was not in any traps. They looked adequate and reasonably well maintained. There is not alot of slope on these medium size green complexes. The greens look nice, reasonably smooth and hold shots well, but putt medium slow. Many have kikuyu creeping in around the outer edges. The customer service was excellent. Quick & efficient check-in. We were provided with a "rain check" to come back and play the back 9 because they closed the course. Completely the opposite golf experience of Champions @ the Retreat where I played this morning. There, on many shots you had to be precise with your distance and accuracy or your ball was gone... here you can grip it & rip it and usually not get in too much trouble even if you stray well off the fairways. I remembered most of the holes and it's a fun layout. The layout reminds me of the Woodley/Encino type courses in the SF Valley. No frills with no holes that make you go wow. But not any horrible designs either, with many straight holes. If the Butterfield course conditions matched the Chino Creek conditions, I would work this course in once in awhile for some variety. However, based on what I experienced today, I would not drive far to come play Butterfield.

Played holiday weekend afternoon golf on Sunday 9/6 as a twosome with my buddy Rolf - POP right at 4 hours, playing from the blue tees (6568 yards/71.3 rating/124 slope).
Course conditions surprising... Continue »

Played holiday weekend afternoon golf on Sunday 9/6 as a twosome with my buddy Rolf - POP right at 4 hours, playing from the blue tees (6568 yards/71.3 rating/124 slope).
Course conditions surprisingly good (Nickesquire's pictures from Chino Creek Course on 8/31 accurately portray conditions on both of the courses). As my buddy noted, in this period of drought, superintentendents getting the water where it needs to be, thus "framing" the areas where your ball should be hit to and from. Tees generally level and lush, with minimal divot damage - most notable exception was tee box on hole 6, where there was some uneven ground on left side of tee blocks. Fairways in generally good shape, with all shots in fairway having good lies. Rough was the usual mixed bag - variable, from bare dirt, to thin, to lush near fairways, but generally lush and thick around greens. Bunkers were crusty, with firm raked sand - best to play as a chip instead of a blast. As usual, the greens were in very nice shape - firm but accepting of well hit shots, smooth and true to roll, at medium speeds.
For $20 as a weekend walker, couldn't ask for much more.

Hey GK'ers, good news (if you care about either of the El Prado courses) - Maintenance Alert can probably be cancelled.
Today (Monday 8/17), I paid a visit to El Prado to evaluate the condition of at... Continue »

Hey GK'ers, good news (if you care about either of the El Prado courses) - Maintenance Alert can probably be cancelled.
Today (Monday 8/17), I paid a visit to El Prado to evaluate the condition of at least one of their two courses. I parked my car in their lot, and while still in my Birkenstock sandals, I walked across Pine Avenue to get a quick look at the second and eighteenth greens on the Butterfield Stage Course. To my eye, both greens appeared smooth, recently mowed, and ready for play.
I went back to my car, where I switched into my golf shoes, and then went to the pro shop. The attendant said that the greens on Butterfield Stage were indeed healed from recent aeration (2 weeks ago - August 3 & 4). After warming up with a small bucket of balls, I went to the first tee alone as a single, teeing off at 11:30AM. Though I did have to wait on a few shots, POP was good, and I finished in about 3 hours and 15 minutes, walking.
Tees were level, lush and generally free of damage (some divots, but nothing beyond acceptable). Rough was a veritable mixed bag, ranging from dry/dead grass, to bare dirt, to thick, lush and penal. Rough was thickest near the greens - that zone 10 feet or more from the fringe was in places as much as 5 inches thick. Fairways too were a mixed bag; in some non-critical areas, grass was dry/dead, while in others there was bare dirt, but in the critical landing areas it was mostly lush turf. Bunkers seemed much improved, with their edges recently sculpted, and the sand generally soft, but thin - a marked improvement over recent conditions. All of the several shots that I had to play from bunkers had acceptable lies in sand from which shallow blasts could be played. Generally, from tee to green, if you keep the ball in play, you will be OK.
Now for the best part. The greens have always been the best thing about the El Prado courses. Just 2 weeks earlier, the greens on Butterfield Stage were aerated over the period of a few days. Amazingly, they have recovered well from that procedure, and in my opinion are better than they were in May and June. Surfaces seemed quite receptive, neither too hard nor too soft. Well hit full shots held, and chips/pitches rolled out as expected (I had 11 holes on which I was putting from inside 8 feet). The greens were smooth and rolled true at medium to at times fast speeds.
What a pleasant surprise.
According to the pro shop attendant, the greens on the Chino Creek course, having been aerated 2 weeks prior to Butterfield Stage, are in even better condition.
Now, if golfers would just take the time to repair their ball marks on the greens!

Played Chino Creek about a month ago and was pleasanrly surprised - so decided to give Butterfield a chane. WHAT A MISTAKE. Fairways had many dead spots, rough was totally bare around the greens, bun... Continue »

Played Chino Creek about a month ago and was pleasanrly surprised - so decided to give Butterfield a chane. WHAT A MISTAKE. Fairways had many dead spots, rough was totally bare around the greens, bunkers had no loose sand and tee boxes were all chewed up. This is a truly awful course and wasn't worth the $15 green fee that I paid through teeoff.com.

Played an afternoon round, 12:20PM on Wednesday 5/6/15, as a solo walker, finishing in 3 hours 30 minutes. As usual, check in without a reservation was easy, and the gentleman who handled the transac... Continue »

Played an afternoon round, 12:20PM on Wednesday 5/6/15, as a solo walker, finishing in 3 hours 30 minutes. As usual, check in without a reservation was easy, and the gentleman who handled the transaction complimented me for my intention to walk. It cost just $10 - what a deal! I was sent straight to the first tee, and teed off without anyone to accompany me.

Tee boxes were all generally lush, level and had only minimal divot damage.

I did not find any bunkers during this round, but those that I saw appeared to be playable, with thin, maintained sand.

On a few holes, I had to play from the rough, which varied from thin to lush. Balls generally sat "up" in the rough, making it easy to make solid contact for good shots. Turf ranged from ~1-3 inches thich, and there were some bare spots.

Fairways were in generally good condition, and looked to have been recently mowed. Most of my shots played from the fairway had very good lies. However, there were some thin/bare spots starting to show where water delivery is sparse. Likely, these thin/bare spots will expand as the summer season approaches, unless beneficial rains fall. In transition areas between tee boxes and fairways, it was evident that a lack of water was leading to turf left to die - but these were areas easy to avoid with decent shots from the tees.

Greens were in better condition than they appeared. They looked bumpy, due to different grasses growing together on same green complexes, and "scars" from late March aeration giving a spotty pattern. However, the greens held well struck approaches, and rolled quite well, at medium to fast speeds, depending on location above or below the hole. As usual, there were far too many ball marks on the greens, but I did my part (on one green alone, I fixed my ball mark and 5 others).

Especially if you enjoy walking, El Prado presents a wonderful value golf opportunity, with 2 courses to choose from.

Played El Prado Butterfield Stage yesterday afternoon. Conditions aren't horrible, but without some rain, they could definitely shift that way this summer. Most of the areas that sit above the fairway... Continue »

Played El Prado Butterfield Stage yesterday afternoon. Conditions aren't horrible, but without some rain, they could definitely shift that way this summer. Most of the areas that sit above the fairways are not being watered, so you're either hitting off dead grass or dirt. Any areas that sit below the fairways, especially near any ditch, have some pretty heavy rough since those areas collect any water runoff from the fairways, so pick your poison. Tee boxes were decent, not perfectly flat, but very playable. Bunkers were either dirt or hard pan with exception to #8 which had good sand but the lining was coming up. Greens haven't recovered as well as I would have thought even though aeration was over a month ago. Some were still bumpy, some had bare spots, and some were actually decent. Fairways were on the firm side, but were green, so they are getting just enough water. PoP was good, 4 hours, walking. Considering the rate to walk, I would return. It will be interesting to see how they get through this summer.