Walked the Greens (6417/71.3/130) in 4H twilight. Paired with Tyler, no one in front of us, never waited a shot. The weather was clear, fairly calm and around 75. $37 to walk twilight is steep. This ... Continue »

Walked the Greens (6417/71.3/130) in 4H twilight. Paired with Tyler, no one in front of us, never waited a shot. The weather was clear, fairly calm and around 75. $37 to walk twilight is steep. This may be the toughest course to walk I have ever encountered. On numerous holes the next tee is a hike from the last green and especially the back 9 is severely up/down hills. Enjoyed the tough, target oriented layout. Wish I had seen several holes beforehand, would play them differently next time. Hardly a straight hole to be found, tough driving course from the Green tees with numerous mature trees to shape shots around to get in prime position. Numerous blind shots down hills or around doglegs where course knowledge is essential. Glad I was playing with a regular, or several shots I would have had to walk a good hundred yards past my ball to get proper perspective on where the next shot needed to go. The Bermuda tees were mediocre. Par 3's were overly chewed up. Par 4/5 tees were lush... TOO lush. maintained so high I had a hard time getting a long tee to stick and allow me to tee drivers within an inch of my preferred height. The Bermuda fairways were lush and nice to play from, but also maintained a little high for my taste. The rough had Bermuda, kukuyu and fescue. Thick and generally nasty, at least a half shot penalty. On most of the holes I missed the fairway, a GIR was out of the question from the lies I had. The sand traps had a decent amount of brown dirt/sand and were decently maintained. I thought they played alot better than they looked. The large bent greens putted medium speed and were smooth. I do not think I had a putt the entire round I played more than 1' of break on and saw the lines well. I made more than my share of putts in the 6' to 15' range, loved the greens! My first impression was that the 71.3/130 ratings for the Greens was probably low? #1 is a 447 yard par 4 that plays straight uphill. My playing partners scope indicated that it played 480 with the elevation change, and it was playing into a 1 club wind? I have played MANY par 5's that I would be on in 2 more often than this par 4. A good drive in the fairway and a well struck 3W got me almost pin high left? I would vote for this hole as the toughest opening hole I have ever played. Longer and more uphill than #1 @ Knollwood. The customer service was good. Saw the drink cart once. My advice would be that if you are thinking about walking and are not familiar with the layout beforehand, DON'T. Some nice views, 16 tee in particular had a great view of Santa Barbara all the way to the Channel Islands. Recommened, good playing conditions and a stern test.