Our foursome teed off today (1/20/20) at 9am on a chilly and breezy morning. By mid morning, the breeze stopped and had some sunshine late morning and early afternoon. The course is in full winter con... Continue »

Our foursome teed off today (1/20/20) at 9am on a chilly and breezy morning. By mid morning, the breeze stopped and had some sunshine late morning and early afternoon. The course is in full winter condition right now. It is quite playable but not aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

TEE BOXES - A little shaggy, but overall is good shape. 6/10

FAIRWAYS - Mostly brown/yellow with some green. However, they have enough coverage and cushion to provide decent lies. Some areas are thin and spotty, but mostly they are decent to hit from. 6/10

BUNKERS - Was in one greenside bunker. It had great sand in it. Very nice to hit from. 8/10

ROUGH - The rough was a hodge podge of mixed grasses and bare areas. Some of the rough right around the holes was lush and about 1-2 inches high. Most of the rough off the fairways was non-existent and very spotty.

GREENS - The greens were disappointing. They were in need of a cut; shaggy, and medium slow. The worst part was that many of them were quite bumpy. They were soft and held approach shots well.

I've seen this course in far better shape - even in the winter. Right now it's just OK and wouldn't pay full rack rate.

Played here yesterday (1.16.20) with the Gold Coast Golf Association for the annual Shamble tournament on a cool day with threat of rain that thankfully didn't arrive during our round. This was my fir... Continue »

Played here yesterday (1.16.20) with the Gold Coast Golf Association for the annual Shamble tournament on a cool day with threat of rain that thankfully didn't arrive during our round. This was my first time playing Buena and I had heard mixed things about it. For what it is, it's not a bad course; sure it's a muni-style course that can't even touch 6000 yards from the tips, but there is a good mix of holes and even some water comes into play more than once. Conditions today were pretty decent, especially the greens so on to more detail.

Tee boxes: Nothing major to report here. For the amount of play I'm certain this place gets, they were about average; no major damage or un-level turf. I have a suspicion most guys try and max out the yardage from black, but for this tournament and my review, I am speaking about the blue tee boxes.

Fairways: Perhaps not the prettiest visually, but I don't remember a bad lie all day. The ball doesn't necessarily sit up for you on perfect blades of grass, but the fairways also aren't minefields so you can drive with confidence knowing a good one will get rewarded fairly. I also felt that roll was more than adequate here today.

Rough: I can't distinctly remember it being overly penal, but perhaps that's because our team played well today. It does play like your average muni in that respect (much like Balboa) and can hide your ball, however the trees seem to play a much bigger factor than the length of rough does.

Sand: Was only in one bunker (that I actually had to hit out of) all day and it had more than enough fluffy sand, and it most have been in good shape as I managed a great shot out of there. They were fairly well raked in most cases, although I do remember seeing only one where the under-layer material (burlap-like) was making it's way through the sparse sand.

Greens: The highlight of the round for me. They seemed to be running at slower to medium speeds. I don't remember a single putt running well past the hole. Some tricky green complexes, especially on the par 3's! They held shots well and played fairly. A handful of the fringe/aprons around certain greens weren't as smooth, as my playing partner Charlie had two putts from just off the green pop up into the air.

ETC: Everything about this property is no frills. Carts basic with no GPS (though I understand why you don't need it here). Routing can be a bit tricky if not careful in this parkland-style course; follow the signs with caution as many holes seems to intersect. Staff was friendly and I did see the cart attendant and her helper once during the round; great customer service from them. Had our banquet after the round at the hall and again, very basic no frills building/amenities. Conditions are probably never country club here, but worth a visit if around and can land a deal for less than $50.

I played here yesterday; paid $50 to ride. We had an 8:03 tee time, but got out early around 7:35. I purchased a breakfast burrito at the snack bar; it was decent. Good pace of play and the course was... Continue »

I played here yesterday; paid $50 to ride. We had an 8:03 tee time, but got out early around 7:35. I purchased a breakfast burrito at the snack bar; it was decent. Good pace of play and the course was in overall nice condition.

Good turf in the fairways and around the greens. Some areas were a little wet in the morning, but the they were watering the back nine as we pulled into the parking lot. Tees were good; they were level and had lots of good turf to hit from. Probably could have used some mowing, though. Bunkers had good sand; I was in the green-side bunker on hole 7 and there was ample, white sand. The greens were in decent shape. Somewhat soft and rolling medium fast and speeding up as the morning progressed. There was some discernable bumpiness on a couple of greens early on, but not terrible. I would say they all rolled true and were consistent.

Pace of play was about 4 hours. The group in front of us seemed to tire out on the back nine and fell off the pace by one hole as we approached Hole 15. At least we were almost done by then.

The course has been good to me in many ways and I will continue to come back here.

Posted: 10/8/19
By: pedro7170

Finally, I got some free time from all kids activities and got a few hours to play a round of my favorite game. This passed Sunday I played Buenaventura with my budd... Continue »

Posted: 10/8/19
By: pedro7170

Finally, I got some free time from all kids activities and got a few hours to play a round of my favorite game. This passed Sunday I played Buenaventura with my buddies Sherwin and Carlos. Golf course is in great shape. Fairways are in great conditions except a few of them had to much water around the greens (I just wish that golfers take time to fix their ball marks and be respectful to others golfers. There were to many ball marks to fix) tees were in good shape, sand traps in perfect conditions and well kept. Our tee time was 11:27am and finished by 4:00pm. If you haven’t played Buenaventura’s golf course you have to visit as it’s a good conditions to play.

Played here last Sunday, Sept. 15th at around noon. Weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. A little overcast but the sun did come out here and there. The greens are still healing so I can see... Continue »

Played here last Sunday, Sept. 15th at around noon. Weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. A little overcast but the sun did come out here and there. The greens are still healing so I can see these greens being perfect by next weekend. With that said, the greens are bumpy but playable. Lots of ballmarks/divots not being fixed on the greens, hopefully players will start fixing their divots. Fairways were in good condition, same with the rough. Sand traps were also in good condition, there were some spots where you can tell there's standing water so the sand was a little compact. Pace of play was fine for a beautiful Sunday afternoon, what do you expect right? Overall great experience as always, would definitely play here again - total confidence booster course :)

Played yesterday (Thursday) morning. It's nice to get out of the inland heat and play in 75 degree weather in Ventura! I joined my old boss and his buddies. They got a senior discount, but I paid full... Continue »

Played yesterday (Thursday) morning. It's nice to get out of the inland heat and play in 75 degree weather in Ventura! I joined my old boss and his buddies. They got a senior discount, but I paid full freight: $57 riding. Ouch!

I turned out to be a good call because the course is in really good shape right now. Good turf in the fairways and around the greens. Some areas of the rough were a little scrappy, but mostly it was good, too. Tees were great; they were level and had lots of good turf to hit from. Bunkers had good sand; I was in the green-side bunker on hole 7 and there was ample, white sand. Just like the beach. The greens were in excellent shape. Somewhat soft and rolling medium fast without any bumpiness.

I recommend this course right now. It's in great overall shape. The summer weather here is hard to beat!

Played 8-5-19 a little before noon, joining a twosome and finishing in a little over 3 1/2 hours. Tee boxes were in okay condition, decent coverage and mostly level. Fairways were very nice, good roll... Continue »

Played 8-5-19 a little before noon, joining a twosome and finishing in a little over 3 1/2 hours. Tee boxes were in okay condition, decent coverage and mostly level. Fairways were very nice, good roll out, great lies with nice padding. Rough was a mixed bag, mostly in decent shape with some bare thin areas thrown in. Was in two greenside bunkers that both had an ample amount of nice white sand. Greens were rolling medium pace and mostly smooth and were a little on the soft side. Overall conditions were pretty decent and I would recommend playing.

I played Saturday, 2-18-19. I had a Hot deal for 12:38 tee time. Check in was easy and friendly as always.I was paired with 2 friendly guys who have been playing only a year or so. It was really fun b... Continue »

I played Saturday, 2-18-19. I had a Hot deal for 12:38 tee time. Check in was easy and friendly as always.I was paired with 2 friendly guys who have been playing only a year or so. It was really fun being the most consistent hitter in my group for a change lol.
I always enjoy this course as it's short enough for my game but still challenging with the many greenside bunkers and very undulating greens. I really like the par 3s here.
The tee boxes were good as were the bunkers which had plenty of soft clean sand. The fairways were really ugly- all brown speckled with small clumps of green sprouts- but overall not a problem to play from. The greens were excellent- smooth, medium fast and hardly a ball mark to be seen. There were only a few wet areas but it was CPO on the front 9. Carts were then allowed on the fairways when we got to the back.
The only bad part of the day was the weather. It was WINDY and COLD !!!
I know I'll be back but will wait for warmer weather and greener fairways.

Used the second portion of my "Black Friday" special. To my surprise did not have any problem getting out within 30 minutes of arrival. I rarely play here, because if I make the 125 mile drive from... Continue »

Used the second portion of my "Black Friday" special. To my surprise did not have any problem getting out within 30 minutes of arrival. I rarely play here, because if I make the 125 mile drive from Coto, I always play Olivas, but I was already here so figured I'd go for it.

Not a whole lot to the previous review by Kviser, except I found the fairways better than expected. Yes they are dormant, but not so tight that it was impossible, just "challenging" Greens were better than Olivas. (Maybe because they were cut?)

This is a fun course to play. If I lived near, I'd play here on occasion, but still prefer Olivas Links. Again, the people are first rate. Friendly and accommodating.