Played afternoon 4/5/17 - after an earlier round at the Goat...Why not? :) Had an expired Golf Southern California coupon so basically played two courses today for what we would pay to play one...no... Continue »

Played afternoon 4/5/17 - after an earlier round at the Goat...Why not? :) Had an expired Golf Southern California coupon so basically played two courses today for what we would pay to play one...now that's my kind of golf deal. Was very happy to see the major storms we've had, and the damage they inflicted on so many courses, that The Boulder has rebounded quite well. Still some areas needing attention from water damage drainage issues, but the course overall is in great playable condition. Tee time availability was pretty much wide open. We were greeted in the parking lot with a cart delivered to our car - nice! Thank you!! Pro shop Staff was pleasant and got us right out. With a paid round you get a nice discount ticket for a renowned gourmet Boulder Burger, fries, and domestic brew for only $10 (can't verify the greatness of it as neither of us have stayed afterwards to taste test the clubhouse's claim to fame burger). A couple of the greens were showing signs of a disease or something?? One was really bad with a patchwork hodge podge looking attempt to repair/heal it. Most were in pretty good shape though. Soft, some firm, minimal ball damage, rolled pretty true, at times a little bumpy, but very good for an afternoon round. Slow/Medium speeds. Hole 18 green was pretty marked up. Fairways rolled out nicely, sometimes too nice...a lot of sloping from side to side, and with the bare areas (i.e. turf reduction/birancas), can keep on rolling. Beautiful blooms and scenary take the sting out of errant shots ;) okay, maybe that's a girl thing ;) Tee boxes are good - the majority were lush & level...typical par 3s having majority of divot damage. Some were hard to place a tee down into/very firm. Bunkers were not consistent, except for consistency that some looked good, some looked thin/crusty from storms, and some folks just simply didn't rake. Nice white sand though. Rough is a good length. Some thin/bare areas, as mentioned above. Cart paths a mix of nice concrete, and others bumpy/rutted gravel. Note: This course only has a putting area, no driving range/net or chipping/bunker practice areas, so plan on going out cold. I see discount coupons for this course quite frequently and we had a $45 for 2 w/cart and same day replay (day/time restrictions apply); but week rates reasonable. Weekends tend to get pretty crowded and back up. POP today was great, enjoyed our 2fer day and will certainly be on the lookout for future Boulder Oaks deals...another pleasant (Par 70) track with plenty of challenging holes for all skill levels. Just this novice golfin gals opinion.

Boulder Oak is a fun and challenging course that is in really good condition. The course is very short for a par 70, looking at the card you would think that it would be to easy, but it's not. They ... Continue »

Boulder Oak is a fun and challenging course that is in really good condition. The course is very short for a par 70, looking at the card you would think that it would be to easy, but it's not. They key is hitting the fairway, leave your driver in the bag, there's no need to use it. from the fairway the approach isn't too difficult, but the greens can be a challenge. Make sure that you stay below the hole. The clubhouse and bar is nothing fancy, but the service is good and the people are friendly.

Played 3/8/17. My review is going to point out some negatives - but let me say up front that I wish I had this course in my neighborhood. It is a fun track, very good condition, a good variance of hol... Continue »

Played 3/8/17. My review is going to point out some negatives - but let me say up front that I wish I had this course in my neighborhood. It is a fun track, very good condition, a good variance of holes and great views. If the owners continue the work they are doing, this is going to be as good a short course as any I have ever played.

That being said, there are some strange things to discuss. But please, don't take this as a negative review - I really enjoyed the round once I realized what this course is like now. This is not a tournament ready course - this is a nice neighborhood short course for you to go out and practice your game.

The turf reduction program is in full effect here, done to extremes. The rough is almost completely gone, replaced for the most part with stripped bare dirt. There are plants to make it more visually pleasing, but if you miss the fairway, the ball will roll for days and eventually be lost. Most curious, many greens have about 5 paces between the green edge and where the bare dirt begins. A slight miss, and your ball is bounding far away. There was a 310 yard hole that required a 210 yard carry off the tee - odd. You will have shots that should have been fine that go missing. There just isn't enough width in the fairways for most golfers to hit drivers - but there are many long holes that you need a driver. Don't use your new ProV1s here.

The front nine is hard as a parking lot. Could barely get a tee in the ground. One tee imploded when I tried to push it in, going further into my finger than the ground. Took a few holes to stop the bleeding. Could not get a ball to stop on a green except on one hole where maintenance had just flooded the green. It was shockingly hard considering how plush the grass is. The back 9 was much softer.

A few greens suffered from some vandalism recently, so you'll be questioning the greens at the start. Don't worry, the rest are in excellent condition. Visually, the course is excellent - very pretty course and more work being done. The back 9 has some spectacular views. A few too many blind shots, play with a local if you can. It looks like they have added quite a few white sand bunkers which look great, but curiously are nowhere near being in play.

Understand that you will likely have a few decent shots that are going to end up nowhere near where you expect. Bad bounces will add up on the scorecard. But you are going to get to practice your game on an otherwise fun course in very nice condition. Ignore the scorecard and enjoy the fun course.

Played 12/29/16 on a whim to go golfing. Found a deal and booked for 12:52. Haven't played here for several years as our first experience with the prior manager was less than stellar and that's all ... Continue »

Played 12/29/16 on a whim to go golfing. Found a deal and booked for 12:52. Haven't played here for several years as our first experience with the prior manager was less than stellar and that's all it took for us not to return. However, upon prompting of my son's recommendation to give it another try; we did. We arrived early and the Check in staff were a definate improvement. Pleasant and welcoming. Walked back down to check in with the starter and 'wait' for a cart. We had arrived early and probably a good thing. This date they had booked tee times going off every FIVE minutes, resulting in a 30+ minute backlog; and not enough carts. A hurry and wait scenario. Only practice area I saw was the putting green (in very good shape). Starter kept his cool and did his utmost to keep everyone moving to the best of his ability. We were sent off to the 1st tee box and met our other twosome and waited as the group in front waited to tee off once the group in front of them cleared the fairway. This 2 to 3 group back-up on every hole lasted for the front nine and finally started to clear either by groups ahead of us leaving or??? All, for the most part, were patient and friendly knowing there was nothing we could do, but wait and enjoy the round best we could. Delays typical at the Par 3s and the blind holes (several) you had to send someone ahead to report when the coast was clear to fire away. Beautiful warm sunny day so was grateful just to be out on a course. DEFINITELY MAJOR course improvements under the new ownership so BIG KUDOS there. Still a work in progress obviously, but Wow, when things mature and fill in and these crazy winter rain storms quit pounding the beautiful white bunkers and landscaping to oblivion, it'll have a chance to recover and become a very nice local course to hone your game. As others have mentioned there are some quirky holes. I for one can do without that big boulder right in the vicinity of where I'm teeing off. Grrrr. (Directly in line of sight/shot from the Blues/Blacks); Q u i r k y & unique. Tee boxes are newly rennovated, very nice size, well grown in/good length (some black tee boxes are still growing in/closed), some divot damage on the Par 3s as typical. Fairways were in Great shape. You really need to factor in all the ups/downs/side to side slopes to keep from rolling all the way off (Note: Don't hit ball out of the bark; they want you to move it into play no closer to the hole without penalty) ...I think I managed to reap the benefit of 3 or 4 flat lies all day. Cart paths gravel / concrete mixed bag due to rennovations. Most fairways were adequately marked with exits. Rough was a healthy length, grass-wise, but with the econ layout; penalties a plenty if you rolled off the fairway and onto the dirt/granite/bark. Bunker I was in was in great shape with good quality sand. Others on the course were still dealing with some excess water accumulation. Greens were AWESOME!! Soft, and VERY receptive; minimal unrepaired ball marks, rolling medium/slow speeds; a tidge bumpy from all the foot traffic of prior rounds. Only ONE water jug on the entire course and that was empty as you can imagine with the packed course; made worse by no cart service or access to a 9th Hole turn to obtain additional drinks/snacks. Sign in parking lot indicated absolutely no outside drinks/food; so stock up in the pro shop (No onboard coolers). Also, No GPS on carts, and really didn't expect them; however, I would like to go on record saying if there was a GPS system on the carts that showed where groups were in front of you, it could certainly speed things up by alleviating delays in driving forward, waiting, and driving back to the tee box on those blind holes. Ball washers on each hole. Divot mix at the turn, most were empty (a good sign that folks were repairing fairway divots, so no gripe there from me). Due to the overly packed course, we were unable to finish our round as it simply got too dark to see. Beautiful views of the mountains and to see the ongoing hard work being put into this course is a wonderful positive in light of so many courses going by the wayside. Our hats are off to the owner for their efforts (it truly shows), and kudos to the course crews working hard to preserve what they've accomplished thus far, and their continued efforts with new improvements. Never thought I'd say it....., but I believe this novice golfin gal will be back to give it another go. (I played from the Whites as the course does play short). Note: They have not changed their signage (Still Hidden Meadows Golf Course), and your GPS may be of NO use either since the revision of the course layout. I was on hole 2 (Par 3) and it was showing as hole 14 (Par 4) on my GPS watch. So you'll probably need to rely on a rangefinder for accurate reads. I didn't feel the 100 yard markers were totally accurate, but I could be wrong there. If you need directions to the course (GPS for car), don't use Boulder Oaks as a destination to locate (for now). Again, just this novice golfin gals humble opinion. Fouuuuuuurrrrr!!! ;)

I’ve wanted to play here for since I first heard about it as I enjoy many courses in this area. Thanks to Itslikeimsayin’s recent review I thought it would be just what I was looking for today. I love... Continue »

I’ve wanted to play here for since I first heard about it as I enjoy many courses in this area. Thanks to Itslikeimsayin’s recent review I thought it would be just what I was looking for today. I love a short course where I can hit from anything other than the forward tees and still score decently. I got an $18 Hot Deal with a tee time of 10:45am. Ditto everything Mark wrote in his review. The fairways were completely green and lush with no bare spots, just a few wet areas that were roped off. The tee boxes were all level, but, as expected , were a bit chewed up. The starter warned me the greens were very fast- he wasn’t kidding! Many had interesting slopes and hard to read breaks. There are plenty of the blind shots, doglegs and elevation changes that I like. Visually this is one of the prettiest courses in the area. It is very well manicured. The mature trees and large boulders are very appealing to me. The bright white sand in many of the bunkers looks like large patches of snow in the middle of the desertscape. I just loved it. There weren’t a lot of players out today. I played multiple balls on a few holes, and then played through 2 twosomes. I finished in about 2:45. I absolutely recommend the course and will definitely be back.

First time here today with an 11:22 GN Hot Deal time. Arrived around 10:40 and the guy behind the desk said I was too early and to check back in around 11:00. I went to hit a few putts and then overhe... Continue »

First time here today with an 11:22 GN Hot Deal time. Arrived around 10:40 and the guy behind the desk said I was too early and to check back in around 11:00. I went to hit a few putts and then overheard the starter asking people if they wanted to go off early, so I went back in the shop and a different guy agreed to check me in. Then the starter sent me right out by myself. I caught up to a twosome on the back nine but overall POP was still amazing at 2:53.

The course is in quite good condition. There are two types of green conditions, which I imagine is due to which holes pre-existed the renovation and name change from Meadow Lake to Boulder Oaks, and others that are new. Some of them were very smooth, soft and mature feeling, and they accepted full shots great. Those greens seemed to have the pattern of some sort of tool on them, but it didn't affect putts at all. Then the other greens were lighter in color and a little firmer, but also smooth. Speed was consistent throughout at medium-fast. Overall, greens are very nice. Fairways are nice, too, although they varied in length a bit from hole to hole. Good coverage and a lush, deep green color. Due to the turf reduction, there isn't a ton of rough here, but what there is is in good condition as well. The black tee boxes were good. I was in one bunker and it had great sand. Some of the bunkers have tan sand and others are bright white. Many of the bright white ones seem to exist on the extreme edges and are basically out of play for most people.

I had never played Meadow Lake, but something about this renovation intrigued me from the first time I heard about it a while back. I wouldn't normally be drawn to a course that maxes out at 5726 yards, but there's a very cool aesthetic here that was even better in person. I really loved the course. It definitely has some funky holes, but those only make it more fun. If it was straightforward and 5700 yards, I doubt I'd like it nearly as much. There are blind tee shots, some great elevation changes, doglegs, long par 3s, short par 5s, and lots of scoring opportunities. I don't know if this makes any sense, but the course almost looks like a Monterey Peninsula course in spots. Not sure what makes me feel that way; maybe it's similar to pictures I've seen of the Poppy Hills renovation, but anyway that was a feeling I got. This would be a fantastic match play course. I look forward to returning again.

If you want to view my Flickr album of 45 photos from today, copy and paste this url:
https://goo.gl/EI797m

(Perhaps the funkiest hole on the course is No. 1, but unfortunately my photo from the first tee box came out blurry. It's a 366-yard dogleg left par 4 with trees lining both sides of the fairway, meaning you basically have to lay up to the right side of the fairway to avoid the left-side trees.)

P.S. The black tee on No. 17 is also pretty weird, situated left and behind the forward boxes. This requires a shot over trees to reach the fairway, but it works. It's a challenging shot.

Decided to go and check out the renovated Boulder Oaks course this afternoon. Saw a $10 GN hot deal at 1:15 and that was good enough to try it out. A lot of the signage outside and the golf carts stil... Continue »

Decided to go and check out the renovated Boulder Oaks course this afternoon. Saw a $10 GN hot deal at 1:15 and that was good enough to try it out. A lot of the signage outside and the golf carts still have the Meadow Lake logo. Really, I think the new scorecards and some shirts in the pro shop are the only indications of the name change. It wasn't very busy at all, so I teed off a little early by myself. Played through a couple groups, but otherwise enjoyed a nice quick pace.

Conditions were interesting because it still feels very much like a work in progress. The tee boxes were generally pretty good (I tipped it out from the blacks at a whopping 5,726 yards). The fairways and minimal sections of rough looked nice and green from a distance. There was plenty of new grass growing in, which was good to see. However, the ground underneath is still lumpy, bumpy and inconsistent. The grass was very shaggy and scraggly and some sections are still being worked on with lots of fertilizer laid down (yum). Coming along, but definitely looked better afar than how it played up close. There isn't much rough. Anything beyond the grass is either sand or beauty bark as an extensive turf reduction has been done. They put in a number of white sand bunkers amidst several the turf-reduced areas. Breaks things up a little visually, but not sure how much purpose they actually serve. I was in one greenside bunker. The new sand was decent, but there were a ton of footprints and no signs of any smoothing out/fluffing up from maintenance. The older greens were generally good, soft and rolling well at medium speeds. Then there are a few new greens because of the reworked layout, they were very firm and fast.

As for the layout, they took an already short and quirky course and made it even shorter and quirkier. Let me see if I can get all the changes. The first hole is now what used to be part of the 13th and the driving range. It's an awkward opener. Then, holes 2-5 are what used to be holes 14-17 with no significant design alterations. What used to be the 18th hole par-5 has now been split into two short par-4s. The old hole 1 (par-5) was split to make up new holes 8 (par-4) and 9 (par-3). The old hole 2 (par-4) was split to make new holes 10 (shorter par-4) and 11 (par-3). What are now holes 12-18 are more or less what used to be holes 3-9 before. What used to be holes 10-12 on the other side of the clubhouse and across the street have been completely eradicated. Got it?

A majority of the course is the same with just a few holes split up to make up for the three longer holes they removed. The course is now a par-70 that is only 4,943 yards from the blue tees, so it is basically an easy executive track from there. From the blacks, it is extra funky. I believe several new tee boxes were added to stretch out the course as much as possible. There are some very unusual tee angles and basically blind shots to contend with from the tips, but at least it added a little bit of interest and challenge. Still, I'd almost see them admit that the course is now just an executive and dump the way-too-forced-in black tees.

It's good to see that they tried a renovation and are making positive progressions with the turf, but the layout is even funkier than it was before and that's saying something. I like the setting of the course and they kept the good par-3s they had intact while adding in a couple more decent ones. That said, I couldn't recommend this "newer" version of the course to anyone yet.

Great challenge and change from the old course. enjoyed the new course. some holes are the original holes with new greens mixed in. 1golfnerd

Great challenge and change from the old course. enjoyed the new course. some holes are the original holes with new greens mixed in. 1golfnerd

Well, went out to the new "Boulder Oaks" golf club, pretty much everything has been changed. They did a complete remodel of the course and the clubhouse. Customer service was great, Rex in the pro s... Continue »

Well, went out to the new "Boulder Oaks" golf club, pretty much everything has been changed. They did a complete remodel of the course and the clubhouse. Customer service was great, Rex in the pro shop was very nice. Bartenders were super sweet. No marshall and no beverage cart, but no big deal, not many people out there so POP was not a factor.

Course is very quirky now. I didn't much care for it. Didn't know where to hit shots and you'd hit great shots and get penalized. The new teeboxes are nice and level, but man they were rock hard, you couldn't put a tee in em, very frustrating. Greens were also rock hard, there are several new greens and even the old ones were hard, not receiving shots well at all. Fairways were half good and half bad, not much roll and had some pretty bad lies at times. Bunkers were a joke! my buddy was in one on the second hole and it was rock hard. I found two on the back and they were way too fluffy, too much sand.

I'd probably avoid the place right now, we got a golfnow deal for $34 and it really wasn't worth it. Maybe in a couple years when the fairways and greens grow in and can receive shots, I will give it another try, pretty awful right now, wouldn't recommend.