I was invited to play in a scramble last Saturday, 10/15 and drove out to play, unaware of the latest GK reports. My report first, exposition second. Report: Stay away as the greens are in full, punc... Continue »

I was invited to play in a scramble last Saturday, 10/15 and drove out to play, unaware of the latest GK reports. My report first, exposition second. Report: Stay away as the greens are in full, punched, post-aeration waffle iron mode and will probably need a few weeks to get close to normal. The rest of the course is in its usual, above average conditions and I have no complaint beyond the greens. Exposition: It was a wet morning when I arrived around 7:15 for an 8:00 start — diminishing light mist but no actual rain. The first hint of something amiss was the cluster of players checking in the for scramble being pretty much the only golfers in sight. One player on the chipping green, two on the practice green and none on the range. An odd sight and vibe. The practice green was punched consistent with the course and everything had a fine layer of moisture such that putts had to be hit firm and ran with rooster tails of water. As mentioned, the rest of the course was in nice condition with no conspicuous saturation of the fairways, so that part was fine and played well. Being a scramble, we never played out of a bunker. It was a small, seven group scramble so the pace was good at about 4.5 hours. I enjoyed the company, the course as a whole, and did the best with what we had on the greens. We were provided food and coffee upon arrival and a tri-tip BBQ afterward. I was a guest in the group and I didn't pay a dime, drove the ball well and had good time with no pressure and not playing for a personal score. For the rest of you, give it the three weeks.

Played here today with a 1:30 tee time with an acquaintance from another online golf community. Arrived about an hour early, checked in, paid, and informed them we were ready to start anytime. They sa... Continue »

Played here today with a 1:30 tee time with an acquaintance from another online golf community. Arrived about an hour early, checked in, paid, and informed them we were ready to start anytime. They said it was unlikely we could start early, but then a little after 1:00 a group must not have shown up because the starter was looking for us and sent us to join a twosome who'd already teed off. Turned out to be two really nice guys and we had a good time. POP was great. Minimal waiting and no pressure from the group behind. I think we finished a little under 4.5 hours. We all rode.

Conditions are good but aeration starts tomorrow. The greens were good, mostly smooth and running around medium speed. They accepted full shots well and even chip shots would often grab a bit. Fairways were probably the highlight. Gotta love that paspalum and the gorgeous carpet of fairway on many holes out there. Rough was mostly lush, a couple inches deep and not too penal. No complaints about the blue tee boxes. Bunkers were also good.

The sun only emerged sporadically throughout the afternoon and it was even a little chilly by the time we finished. Pretty good breeze most of the day. Always love this course and glad I was able to expose my out-of-towner playing partner to it.

I'm on vacation with the family in Ventura this week, and I got out to play Olivas Links twice, teeing off right on time at 7:20 Tuesday the 23rd and 7:10 Thursday the 25th. The first round I walked w... Continue »

I'm on vacation with the family in Ventura this week, and I got out to play Olivas Links twice, teeing off right on time at 7:20 Tuesday the 23rd and 7:10 Thursday the 25th. The first round I walked with 3 other singles, 1 walking and 2 riding and for the second round I walked with 1 other walking single. Pace was great both days, finishing in just under 4 hours.

Conditions here are really nice, greens are a bit soft but roll pretty well. I was expecting a few more bumps then I got, as many of them don't look very good with all of the old pitch marks that they have. I did find myself fixing 2 or 3 extras on most greens. Pace was medium, although downhill putts ran out a bit more than I expected. They're soft enough to hold most shots very well. Fairways are awesome, every time I was on short grass I had a perfect lie to hit from. There were a few spots that looked very sketchy, but they never came in to play for me, and most of them were actually marked as ground under repair (I never see that in the northwest). Rough isn't too long and not very punishing, but if you get really wild and end up in the native areas you might get a great lie, or lose a ball. Tee boxes were a bit uneven here and there, but not bad at all. Markers had been moved away from the worst of the divots as well. Over the 2 rounds I only found 1 bunker (greenside #3) and it was a bit thin but not too bad.

Customer service was excellent in the shop both days, as well as from the beverage cart on Tuesday (I didn't see the cart out on Thursday). Range is off of mats, and the ones I used were in good shape. They've got a really nice chipping green here, as well as a very good putting green to warm up on as well. Both of these greens felt like a pretty accurate reflection of what you got out on the course. Tuesday is their maintenance day, so play was starting from #10. I thought that would feel weird, but it didn't really bother me at all. The 18th hole here is a much better finisher than the 9th, but it actually felt relaxing to get some of the tougher holes after the turn out of the way early.

There's a lot to like about Ventura county and I'm so happy I got down here for this vacation. This course especially makes me wish I lived down here, if I did I would be playing here all of the time.

I played here on Sunday, August 14, as part of a small tournament. Good overall conditions and wonderful weather. Add in the early afternoon breeze and it almost felt a little cool with low 70 temps. ... Continue »

I played here on Sunday, August 14, as part of a small tournament. Good overall conditions and wonderful weather. Add in the early afternoon breeze and it almost felt a little cool with low 70 temps. There's not a lot to add to Gary's review as conditions remain very good. There were some areas of the fairways that seemed to be overly wet, but most likely it was due to overnight irrigation as we were off early in the morning. Greens: Smooth and rolling at a medium pace, but picking up pace later in the round. Occasional ball marks, most notably on the front half of Hole 7. The greens were soft and fixing ball marks was very easy; I'm just not sure why some people just don't seem to bother. Fairways: Good amount of roll, but still very lush. There were a couple of areas that were roped off and the occasional thin area. It was fairly easy to take a divot and I did fill many with the sand bottle provided on the cart. Rough: There's not a lot of rough. Mostly you will find a small amount of rough, then immediately it changes to deep, unmowed, "natural" areas. It ranged from 1"-2" where it was mowed to deep and forget about finding your ball in the unmowed areas. Once you get into the "natural" areas it was really a crap shoot. You might find your ball and it might have a good lie or be completely unplayable. Good times, right? You can only blame yourself if you end up there. There are a couple of dried up lakes that you could play out of if you find your ball, so that can be nice. Tees: We played the white tees and they all were level and lush. Par threes had a fair amount of divots, but the teeing ground is rather large so it was easy to find a good place to tee up. Sand: Good overall sand quality. There were some damp areas but they remained playable. Olivas is always a good choice in the summer to escape the inland heat. I really like the layout of the course and people here are friendly.

This review spans previous month conditions as I have played multiple rounds with buddies the last month. Fairways right now are in perfect shape. Lush padded surfaces where you feel bad compressing ... Continue »

This review spans previous month conditions as I have played multiple rounds with buddies the last month. Fairways right now are in perfect shape. Lush padded surfaces where you feel bad compressing the beautiful turf and taking a divot. Rated 9/10. Tees are super lush, thick and mostly level. Tees might be the star of the show here. Rated 9/10. Rough just along the edges of fairways are super green even greener than the fairways and in perfect condition. Rated 9/10 Sand is in good shape mostly raked. Some of the bunkers are firmer than usual but in good shape. Rated 8/10. Greens are healthy. Probably a 10 on the stimp. They are very soft and receptive. The greens are huge here and you need to be a good lag putter here. Rated 7.5/10. Usual afternoon 1-2 club breeze makes things cooler temp wise and challenging on holes 6, 8 and 12-14 into the wind. Friendly staff, great practice facility. Awesome summer temps, great layout and great prices. Gem of a course right now. Recommended

Played Olivas on Friday 8/5. 8:30 tee time, last group of a small tourney. We started at least 20 mins behind. Which means with 10 minute tee times, they snuck 2-3 groups out before our tourney. It sh... Continue »

Played Olivas on Friday 8/5. 8:30 tee time, last group of a small tourney. We started at least 20 mins behind. Which means with 10 minute tee times, they snuck 2-3 groups out before our tourney. It showed with a backed up 2*45 min front 9. No grill or bar area here. They sell drinks in the golf shop/trailer. Drink cart is out & about. Olivas has a nice grass range & short game/sand area. Tee boxes are large & flat...BUT, with a huge range of tee placements available, they placed many in sanded areas. I guess who ever did it isn't a Golfer. Fairways are beautiful, like carpet. The few small bare spots were GUR clearly marked. The best I've played on a muni course. A couple buddies compared them to Palm Springs area fairways, a huge compliment. Rough is med short & gets spotty further from the fairway. Quite a bit of "Nature area", no carts but you can hit from it if you can find it. Again really well done. Greens med fast, again, really nice. Collars are mowed short, allowing bump & run or putting from off the green. Great condition. Bunkers, I was in one, adequate sand. All I saw were groomed nicely. POP; as I said earlier was very slow. We finished in about 5:15. Other than pace, a perfect day. Breeze off the Pacific always great. Course wonderful condition. I wish I could get good tee times more often here! Highly recommend.

Catching up on this review. Please check out the outing recap in the forums at the following link: https://www.greenskeeper.org/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=97&topicid=102429

Such a great time an... Continue »

Catching up on this review. Please check out the outing recap in the forums at the following link: https://www.greenskeeper.org/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=97&topicid=102429

Such a great time and experience at Olivas Links as expected. It was in the 90s in Thousand Oaks and even warmer in most other places in SoCal but in Ventura we were treated to low 70s, ocean breezes and a beautiful sunset. Kindof how it always is at Olivas Links in the Summer afternoons. I posted one photo here on the course page from the round to showcase how special late afternoon play is here. More photos posted in the outing recap link above.

Playing conditions got straight 8s across the board for me which is rare for me to do but everything was in very good to mostly great shape. They did a super friendly job hosting us with great service. They had a bathroom repair for the mens restroom which they quickly replaced with quality porta potties. Mary was super handling the Beverage Cart service. The whole team at Olivas Links delivered from booking to executing day of. Love these small yearly GK Plays outings we do here and can't wait for next year. Fantastic Course, GKers and Awesome Sponsors Linksoul, GolfMoose and OnCore Golf balls. Book It!

Played 6-26-22 afternoon in the GK outing with David, Matt and Steve for a very fun round, finishing in a little under 5 hours. Tee boxes were in really good condition, mostly level with great coverag... Continue »

Played 6-26-22 afternoon in the GK outing with David, Matt and Steve for a very fun round, finishing in a little under 5 hours. Tee boxes were in really good condition, mostly level with great coverage. Fairways were in nice shape with a few minor sanded bare spots, they were very lush with decent roll out and a real nice surface to hit from. Rough was in real nice condition 1-2 inches along fairways with some thicker areas the farther you got out. Was in a few bunkers that were in nice condition with soft white beach sand. Greens were in nice shape rolling medium pace and fairly smooth, and playing semi-soft. Overall course in real nice condition and well worth a trip to play.

Played in the GK Plays on 6/26, making the trek from Vegas with John_T. Would we win "GK'er who traveled the farthest award?" Nope, because our buddy Williebeamon14 flew down from Alaska to join us fo... Continue »

Played in the GK Plays on 6/26, making the trek from Vegas with John_T. Would we win "GK'er who traveled the farthest award?" Nope, because our buddy Williebeamon14 flew down from Alaska to join us for the golf weekend.

Olivas Links seemed to have a great "look at me" feel this weekend. Maybe it was the slightly cloudy skies, and ocean breeze which provided for a cool day, but made the par 5 2nd hole feel like it was a par 7. Fairways were pretty lush, with just a handful of brown/thinning areas which did not affect play. Rough was pretty consistent, with thicker 2-3 inches just off and fading away. Bunkers had some deep heavy sand. Greens were more on the fast side, I just could not get a read or feel of them.

Olivas has a large putting green (big enough to handle all the groups heading out) and a busy driving range. The pro shop, while small, did have some nice merchandise. No real grill, but they did have hot dogs and a nice cooler with some local beer selections.

Thanks to JohnnyGK, Linksoul, Golf Moose, and OnCore for a great event.