Played the Golf Club of California Friday 8/12/2017 on GK Guru outing. Arrived at 10:15am for an 11:30am tee time. Applied sun screen on a beautiful sunny 84 degree afternoon. Checked in at the pro sh... Continue »

Played the Golf Club of California Friday 8/12/2017 on GK Guru outing. Arrived at 10:15am for an 11:30am tee time. Applied sun screen on a beautiful sunny 84 degree afternoon. Checked in at the pro shop, very welcoming, picked up my cart key, range ball number, and was given a copy of the guide book. The guide book, essentially a yardage book with playing tips for each hole, it was very helpful. The Golf Club of California was originally built as a member’s only club and it shows in the elegant design of the club house, pro shop and cozy parking lot. In addition to members guests, the club now allows a limited number of non-member players the opportunity to enjoy this visually appealing layout. The carts for the visiting golfer are very basic; they are equipped with ice chests which were pre-filled with ice. The carts are not equipped with GPS or ball washers. Member carts feature great seating, trash container, ice chests, ball washers. This is apparently why there is no ball washers on the course, and few trash cans. The driving range is out near the entrance to the club on the way from the second to the third hole. The range features grass hitting areas that were a little drier and sandier than the tee boxes I found on the course. However the grass in the range has dried out much like some areas of the course, and provided a good feel for roll-out. The practice green is next to the starter for the first tee, and at first I was surprised to see the surface of the practice green with some burned out, and dry areas. The green features a number of contours, levels, and are ringed by deep rough on undulating hills very representative of what you will find around the greens. Despite featuring dry spots and brown patches, the greens roll true and quick. The starter and I talked for a while well I waited to see if any other Guru’s would join me. Wonderful guy, so much so that I teed off 10 minutes late going off at 11:40, as a single following a threesome that had tee’s off at 11:10. Course was very quiet although I was told there would be a large group arriving at 2pm and the course would be full. Having been struggling with my game as I learn the distances of my new clubs out of different lies I chose to play the white tee’s. From the whites the course plays 6082 (6256 adjusted) vs. 6502 yards (6668 adjusted) from the blues. Built on a hillside and canyon complex the course features numerous elevation changes, often from a high tee box, to a low sloping fairways back to an elevated green, often with a false front, tiered surface, at times into gusting winds. Tee boxes were lush, level, but appear to have been recently aerated, which was noticeable only when placing my tee into the ground. There was very little divot damage. Many of the tees feature narrow chutes that have to be negotiated, well carrying waste areas. OB in some directions and protected wild life areas in others. There are numerous fairway bunkers looking to gobble up errant drives. I found my laser range finder invaluable off the tee. The view of the surrounding hillsides, orchards, and vineyards from the 7th tee are beautiful. Fairways were a mixture of various hues of brown and gold grass, almost as they were reflecting the adjacent hill sides, along with deep green. The greens crew was active around the course spot watering and hand trimming. They were very good at making way for me as I played. Well I was not told of any cart restrictions on the fairways, entry and exit areas were well marked and large sections roped off to minimize impact of carts on the fairways. I had cart access in every area where my ball was so this was not an issue. The fairways were dry leading to better than average rollout on shots, and I took advantage to scare several bunkers I thought were out of range. The golfer has to account for clubbing up or down for slope, as well as run out from the dry fairways. The exception was hole 6 which featured a very swampy section of fairway. As noted earlier many fairways slope from one direction to the other. Trees and terrain make the second shot from a misplaced tee shot even in the fairway difficult. This is where the tips in the guide book are very helpful. [The guide book is free, ask for one]. The fairway on #9 is a perfect example of the complexities of the course. The tee faces an area out of bounds in range to most golfers off the tee, turning right the fairway narrows, and then widens. For a second shot to the hole, the ball needs to be dead center between 100 and 150 out. There is a small narrow corridor between very tall trees right and left that guard the green. The hole is on an elevated green which requires an extra club, shots hit short will roll off the green down to the valley requiring as much as 35 yard pitch up hill. Shots that aren’t in line with the opening will be blind, and need to be highly elevated, low shots will disappear in the trees and bramble. Fairway bunkers play a big role on this course, and vary in design from flat with low lips that offer a chance to recover, to deep bunkers with steep faces, blocked by trees or hill from advancing the ball, or that require a wedge to get out of. Sand was firm, good quality, well raked, and very playable. Rough. The first cut was of rough was very uniform, I would estimate 1 inch, and lush, green frequently even where the fairway was not. The second cut was far deeper, and invariably growing against me whenever I was there especially if downhill. Greenside bunkers were dry, fluffy, frequently steep faces filled with quality sand. Overall prior golfers had left the bunkers well raked. Greenside bunkers are the courses second layer of defense after the unusual angles and narrowness of the greens with some pin placements. The exception is the par 3 seventh hole which after greeting the golfer with a beautiful hill top view give him/her a steep downhill shot into a green protected with a tree and brush lined hill immediately behind, and a large pot bunker dead in the middle of the green. Pucker factor is high on this one if the wind is blowing. Greens look like they are struggling, however they are playing pure and true. Roll is excellent. The greens feature irregular shapes, narrow constrictions, tiers, false fronts, and edges that will send a ball into the rough. For my round there were a number of forward or tucked flag locations that made going for the flag or slightly past necessary to have a chance to putt out. The greens on the front nine played fast, the back nine was medium fast. As has been noted by other reviews at different courses there seems to be a dearth of green care by our fellow golfers. The 5th hole and 16th seemed to have suffered a little more than the rest. It’s a shame that anyone would treat a course in this way. Pace of play was right around 4.5 hours. I caught the threesome I was playing behind by the 8th hole; they were playing behind a foursome. I ended up joining them on the 12th hole, as I was being chased by twosome behind me from the 10th hole on. Well I had waited to tee off on several holes; I never felt the pace was slow. This may have been a factor of the heat, that required pacing myself. Amenities - The club house features a water and ice dispenser, with large Styrofoam cups for the golfer before heading out. The on course comfort stations were well placed, clean and featured drinking fountains. I saw one drink jug with cups. The beverage cart came by three times during my round, each time personally stopping to see if there was anything I wanted, very pleasant, very course aware. The snack bar (Grill) is available at the turn as would be expected. I chose to have a hot dog. My server was very nice. Price was $6 for a dog and chips. The Dog was OK; I typically take onions and relish. There was no onion available. As my round concluded the starter who was now preparing to go out and play inquired about my round, again really enjoyed talking with him. As is common for a private club, there were attendants at the conclusion of play to clean your clubs and take your bag if you wanted. This is a truly fun course to play, and everyone I encountered was gracious. Despite the drive from Mission Viejo, I love playing this course. Given a choice between the three San Diego area courses I have played recently this would be my first choice, nestled in a residential area there is very little highway noise, little aircraft noise, though there was the occasional music emanating from the homes surrounding the course. I played 3 and 4 to a praise and worship song, 11 and 12 to soft jazz, 17 and 18 to an instrumental version of Sounds of Silence. Fortunately there are often coupons in the GK Store for this course. Look forward to bring my best friend out here play. I very much hope you will give it a chance as well.