Round 4 on our short stay in So Cal was at Olivas Links (played 11/23). From the little research that I did it seems that this course gets a lot of love from the local golf community. Personally, I fe... Continue »

Round 4 on our short stay in So Cal was at Olivas Links (played 11/23). From the little research that I did it seems that this course gets a lot of love from the local golf community. Personally, I fell in love with the course from its website before ever playing it. Turns out, I probably had too high of expectations.

Olivas Links is near the coast in Ventura and as soon as I got out of the car I noticed the pleasant ocean breeze. The area where the course is located reminds me a lot of Watsonville up in Northern California. Make sure to factor in the heavy air! As the name indicates, the course is links style with very few trees coming into play. It is an open layout with wide fairways too. Some could knock the fact that a good drive isn't needed to score, and I wouldn't argue. No matter, I found all this a nice change from the tree lined courses in Virginia!

We played the Champion (blue) tees and someone could put together a good round here. There is just some minor undulation in the fairways and as I mentioned it is an easy driving course. The biggest challenge is going to be trying to get a handle on the severely sloping greens, both from the fairways and around the green complexes. I wasn't sharp with my irons so I made quite a few bogeys, but I always felt like I had a chance to make a birdie standing on the tees. Some greens slope off towards the back so I struggled to stop my share of chips. With some rounds under my belt here I would know the easier spots to chip from. You can putt from off the greens too which is nice. One other challenge could be the wind, but we only had a club max.

The conditions were decent. Not great, but not terrible either. The fairways were soft and the greens had a bunch of ball marks. That's not surprising because it appears the course gets a lot of play. They rolled fine, just didn't look as pretty as a couple other places we played. It is an easy walking course which is what we chose to do. The final thing I'll say is that the course lacked the "wow" features of a coastal links course. I expected a ton of slope in the fairways, random pot bunkers, deeper bunkers, more native grass, and more chipping areas. Even that considered, I don't see any reason to avoid Olivas Links. For the price we paid ($29) I don't think the course can be beat, especially in So Cal.

Played on Vets day this afternoon 11/11/2015. Thanks to all who served our great country including the very nice starter we met this afternoon. Walked the blues on a very windy afternoon with Pedro an... Continue »

Played on Vets day this afternoon 11/11/2015. Thanks to all who served our great country including the very nice starter we met this afternoon. Walked the blues on a very windy afternoon with Pedro and his buddies Carlos and Ryan. POP was 4 hours 40 minutes teeing off a little early on an EZlinks Promo special for 23 bucks a person. The fairways have firmed up some since my last round at Olivas but still provide just enough padding at this time. Would not call them lush or firm but just in between and in overall nice shape without too many divots. The greens have firmed up. Its seems that the first two greens were super rock hard and quick along with the 7th green. Beautiful putting surfaces--did my share of fixing some ballmarks especially on the front of 10 green. I thought the greens were the highlight of the course. The tees were mostly level with the exception of where they had the tees on #17. Was in two sand bunkers that were on the firmer side for Olivas's standards but still contained enough sand. Overall a really fun and in the afternoon challenging course. Staff in the shop are great by the way. Recommended.

Played here on 10/17 on a very breezy Saturday afternoon. The course is in absolute pristine condition, from the almost perfect tee boxes to the tightly mown fairways, it looks very,very nice. Howev... Continue »

Played here on 10/17 on a very breezy Saturday afternoon. The course is in absolute pristine condition, from the almost perfect tee boxes to the tightly mown fairways, it looks very,very nice. However, the greens were a little slow and sand still exist from recent aerification however, it was still a enjoyable round. We teed off at 11;45 but I was playing with two very nice guys who had no clue what they were doing(and they were not sure what tees to play from) so they played with me from the blues, and it took us 3 hours to play the front.. I then politely said adios to them and we played back nine in a little under 2 hours. The greenside bunkers were a little thin in places but overall not bad. In my opinion, Olivas is a gem and I will be back to play again real soon..

Played the Blues (6530/71.6/127) as a single twilight on an excellent discounted deal through Teeoff.com for $17.99 with a cart in 3H. The weather was overcast in the 70's with little breeze. I have... Continue »

Played the Blues (6530/71.6/127) as a single twilight on an excellent discounted deal through Teeoff.com for $17.99 with a cart in 3H. The weather was overcast in the 70's with little breeze. I have never played @ Olivas when there were fewer people out than this afternoon, parking lot over 1/2 empty. Teeing off on #10, I was never within a hole of anyone the entire round, often playing 2 balls. I had planned on avoiding Olivas for awhile, then read the GK update that said only yellow alert vericutting, not red alert punching. Perhaps the general public did not get the memo? While the greens were lightly sanded and vericut, they still putted decently. Better than the Brookside greens a month after aeration that I played yesterday. Give them 7 days and they should be excellent. Medium speed, a little bumpy at times, but better than expected. While the greens were not as good as normal, the rest of the course was outstanding. We are talking PGA West or Indian Wells in high season immaculate conditions. Nicest tee boxes I have played on this golf season. Lush, immaculately maintained. All the par 3 tee divots had been recently sanded/filled. I almost never rate anything a 10 on GK, but these were a 10. The fairways were excellent overall. VERY lush, firm, mowed down, most shots in the fairway sat up like they were on a tee. Anything close to questionable was marked as GUR. The only bad place was where it looked like there had been a water leak on #1 which had produced a flood, so much of #1 fairway was marked off. The rough around the fairway is mostly lush and in spots is lost ball thick/tall. Farther off the fairway is mostly hardpan with patches of lost ball rough. The traps were very nice, well maintained with good quality sand. The customer service is always good here, they sent me out 15 minutes early. Excellent grass driving range complete with a good chipping and sand practice area. Huge putting green that is usually very comparable to the course. NO GPS on carts, usually no drink cart. Exceptional value, especially for the conditions.

This course is in magnificent shape. The fairways are like carpet in the sand is smooth as sand in an hourglass. The greens are smooth they had just been aerated last week there is sand on the gree... Continue »

This course is in magnificent shape. The fairways are like carpet in the sand is smooth as sand in an hourglass. The greens are smooth they had just been aerated last week there is sand on the green it is very lightly and have very little effect on your putting.

Played 9/27 with Queen of Wedgewoods , Clutch and sniper1. This is the best condition I have seen Olivas since they reopen with the links style.

Tee boxes are level and lush these boxes are some o... Continue »

Played 9/27 with Queen of Wedgewoods , Clutch and sniper1. This is the best condition I have seen Olivas since they reopen with the links style.

Tee boxes are level and lush these boxes are some of the best that I have seen anywhere.

Fairways are very lush no bare spots ball sits up very well giving you perfect lie, felt like I was down in desert.

Rough is down with bare spots but still was penal if you were in it.

Greens were fair with some holes having many ballmarks that were not repaired and slow rolling around six or seven. ( Please repair your ballmark +1)

Was in one bunker and it was firm.

Overall great condition for this year with drought conditions.

If you get chance come here and have great time well worth the green fees.

Today, early this afternoon I played Olivas Links with my buddy and GK member. Out Tee Time was at 2:28 PM and finish 18 holes under 4 hours. The course was empty and we didn't wait at all. If you... Continue »

Today, early this afternoon I played Olivas Links with my buddy and GK member. Out Tee Time was at 2:28 PM and finish 18 holes under 4 hours. The course was empty and we didn't wait at all. If you haven't played Olivas, now is the time. The fair ways are in great shape and rough around the fair ways is cut under 3 inches. The greens were rolling great, the only thing that I noticed that there was lots of divots around the pin. Tee were clean of divots and balanced. If you have not played Olivas lately, you have to visit and play. It's in great shape and you will enjoy it. Customer services was excellent and friendly.

Out this afternoon 9/14/2015 on a promo special 18 dollar teeoff.com rate. I play here a lot in the summer and have never seen the course this nice. They must have really been putting a lot of effort ... Continue »

Out this afternoon 9/14/2015 on a promo special 18 dollar teeoff.com rate. I play here a lot in the summer and have never seen the course this nice. They must have really been putting a lot of effort before the Ventura County Championships earlier this month. PGA tour perfectly cut lush fairways--ball sitting up perfectly. Some wet spots here and there but fairways are in great shape. 8.5/10 . Tees are in fantastic shape cut lush and all level 9/10. Was not in any bunkers but they looked great. Greens were medium speed for Olivas standards maybe a 9 on the stimp and super soft on approach. You know if I am backing some of my irons up they are super soft and receptive. We played position 1 pins today and they had some awesome challenging pin locations. Rough was cut 1-2 inches around fairways and in great shape. POP was 3 hours 35 minutes riding at a nice pace. Think the scare of rain might have kept some people away--did not wait a shot all day. Nice practice facilities and great kick back staff in pro-shop. For 18 bucks this is the best deal in the county if you can get an online special. Highly recommended.

Played 9-10-15 afternoon on a TeeOff deal for $20 including cart. Course was playing very slow , waiting on every shot and finishing in just under 5 hours. Tee boxes were in really good shape, lush an... Continue »

Played 9-10-15 afternoon on a TeeOff deal for $20 including cart. Course was playing very slow , waiting on every shot and finishing in just under 5 hours. Tee boxes were in really good shape, lush and mostly level with minor divot damage on the three pars. Fairways are in great shape, some of the best around. Rough for the most part is not that long and easy to hit from. Sandtraps have nice white fluffy sand. Greens were rolling medium slow, mostly soft with a few that were a bit firmer. Pro shop always very nice here.