Golf Course Review San Juan Hills Golf Club San Juan Capistrano California
Reviewed by: sparky14, San Clemente
Golf Playing Conditions 6.17 GOOD
Played 3/13. After looking at my tracker spreadsheet and how I have done here, something dawned on me….this is a tough course to score on. Lots of elevation to deal with, Lots of odd lies even in fairways, and the tee boxes evens add some lie challenges. The greens are usually in good shape, but I don’t see lots of putts made here.
No complaints about condition today, although everything was really soft. No roll on drives, and even long shots into the greens barely move upon landing. I did not lots of soft sand in the two bunkers that I was in, so it looks like they have been taking good care of them.
Thumbs up for SJH. And let me know if you score well here, I sure don’t, and I don’t recall playing with anyone here that scored well.
ALERT:Aeration Will be aerating the greens 4/16 & 4/17. * Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Golf Course Review Carlton Oaks Golf Resort Santee California
Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey In the middle of a crazy busy work week down here in San Diego. Managed to find some very early morning hours to play at Carlton Oaks this morning ahead of more work tomorrow. Original plan was to play Coronado for the first time, but since it was completely booked, found an online GolfNow deal for Carlton Oaks at $44 with an early am tee time.
The Review
Golf Playing Conditions 5.80 GOOD
First off, let me be the first to let you know, in case you haven’t noticed, that the SoCal winter of our discontent is not yet over. When I arrived to the course, the temperature was still around 47 degrees and there was mist and moisture all over the place. Decided to walk instead of ride to try and get warm, but it was miserable the first hour. It was tough-going when your shoes get soaking wet walking through the deep rough in areas. Later in the round though it turned glorious, maybe mid-60s.
As for the course itself, I was struck by how Pete Dye-like it felt throughout. The rail ties in the bunkers. The pinpoint angles required to see greens at their best approach opportunity, and the mounding and trees to thwart anything remotely easy. It wasn’t of course until the par 3 17th that my two playing partners (thanks Gus and Fred for the fun round!) actually let me know this was indeed a Pete Dye classic. Who knew?
Overall Course Thoughts
The layout is super. Even though I was terrible thanks to the cold start and general poor play of late. Seriously though, this track just begs to be played again under better conditions. The reason the course is in rough shape right now is because so much of it was recently under water. The fairways are thin with sloppy and muddy areas all over the place. Bunkers are far too firm thanks to the saturation, and the rough is brutal long and damp – not a great combo. However, the greens were actually in great shape, but not as crazy tiered or tricky as I would have expected from a Dye. The breaks are subtle for sure, and there are many different sized greens to work with, but outside of a few, they’re not too crazy at all in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
So, in truth, it’s tough to judge this course by the ratings it’ll probably have when I’m done because I can’t lie about the conditions, even if they’re out of the club’s control in many ways. I do think when the weather finally becomes bearable again and the grass gets back into good shape, this is a must-play for me if and when I’m back in the area. 18 is a great closing hole and the rest are all simply super fun and challenging. Can’t wait for May.
Know Before You Go™ with Greenskeeper.Org – 2019 Season
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Golf Course Review Paradise Knolls Golf Club Riverside California
Reviewed by: JSpin, Redlands, Ca
Golf Playing Conditions 5.37 GOOD
Despite this course being relatively close to home we have never played here mainly due to folks over the years telling us it wasn’t worth our time. After sneaking in a morning round, I’m annoyed we’ve never tried this track. Lots of positives, nice smooth if smallish greens, fairways in decent shape. Great value at $27 which includes lunch or breakfast for the price.
Old school flat and very walk-able course. Tee boxes are probably the worst feature as they are all chewed up and not very level at times. Play was a little slow-ish due to the 5 some of regulars we were behind, but not too bad. Not the most challenging course, but sometimes you need to play a simple straight forward course to tighten up the screws in your game. Not going to be on the regular rotation but we’ll be back.
Golf Course Review Oak Quarry Golf Club Riverside California
Editor’s Note: Check out the previous review. Click HERE.
Reviewed by: t8fish, Altadena
This is late, but I wanted to back up and point you to Caligolfer1031’s 3/10 review of the course from our match play there vs. Greg and Alex on Sunday.
The Review
Golf Playing Conditions 6.40 GOOD
I generally agree with all his observations with only a couple of minor additions. He mentioned minor issues with uneven tees. The 14th definitely required you to find the peak of the hump to tee your ball but, otherwise I wasn’t conscious of any issues with the other teeing grounds, so that may be different levels of discrimination. Maybe I was preoccupied with how badly I was driving the ball, but that was all me.
He also mentioned the bunkers and he was completely accurate. I would only add as someone who has played there numerous times before, that the lack of soft sand is, unfortunately, normal and expected at Oak Quarry once you’ve been there.
I actually made decent or better shots out of a couple of firm fairway bunkers and a good green side bunker shot on the 14th hole, which did have adequate sand in it. I seem to have a knack for picking the ball in the firmer ones so, again a subjective response and not a contradiction to Gregs review, which I thought was excellent.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I always love getting out to Oak Quarry and thought the conditions were very good with no surprises based on my previous experience there. Really stunk up the place with my game, but truly enjoyed the company of the the two Gregs and Alex. Everyone was fun to play with and on an even keel regardless of how their game was going, including the luckiest drive I’ve ever seen in my life. After the expectation of a rainy day didn’t come to fruition, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. Good times.
Golf Course Review Hunter Ranch Golf Course Paso Robles California
Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca
Golf Playing Conditions 7.73 GREAT
Played mid-day on a semi-busy day. Had a bit of an issue with the starter (inside the pro-shop). We were a twosome who naturally had been paired up on the tee sheet with two singles.
We get to the first tee and there is a 4-some practice putting getting ready to go. I ask them their tee time and they were behind us. So, I teed off and my buddy gets ready to do the same. Starter tells us to hold up until the other two arrived. 5 minutes later one of the guys shows up and we go off as a threesome.
Here’s my dilemma, Why hold up 6 people because 1 or 2 are LATE for their tee time. Why not send off the others first and then let the stragglers filter in being that no one was scheduled to go on after the foursome behind us. Just my thoughts.
The Review
Condition wise the course was in solid shape. Greens were perfectly smooth and rolling medium-fast+. I was surprised at how firm the greens were for as wet as its been this year.
Fairways were fairly lush with some thin/wet spots here and there. Rough was spotty after the first cut. Tee boxes were level, lush and divot free. I was only in one sand trap and it was very nice. POP was on the slow side but that was probably because the two other players in my group each shot triple digits and had a lot of lost balls which always slows things down. Plus it was cart path only which can be a bear if things are going awry.
This Reviewer’s Additional Thoughts
I always like the layout of Hunter with it’s elevation changes and water hazards plus some forced carries over gully’s. There are some annoying trees placed in the middle of the fairways. There are plenty of strategic holes demanding shot placement off the tee mixed in with grip it and rip holes. Wind is usually a factor at Hunter Ranch but most holes are north/south to the wind so there’s not too much crosswind.
Golf Course Review Rams Hill Golf Club Borrego Springs California
Reviewed by: 24hourgolf, Monterey Park
Golf Playing Conditions 8.77 GREAT
Play today in beautiful weather in 3.5 hours the course is in fantastic shape the greens were running at 11.5.
Tee boxes were spectacular.
The fairways like lush carpet. Never once had a bad lie and the fairways were generous with roll.
The bunkers were great and so playable.
The greens here are just wonderful and such a pleasure to be able to bring your ball in and use the slope to get close to the pins. Not too mention how true they putt.
Stayed at Casa del Zorro and this is a fantastic Resort Hotel. Great variety of rooms and many Casitas with 2,3,4 bedrooms. Minutes from Rams Hill. Customer service at Rams Hill was excellent at all levels as always.
Golf Course Review Castle Oaks Golf Course Ione California
ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens 3/25 & 3/26, weather permitting.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Reviewed by: Deepsea14, Granite Bay
Played 3/17/19 early out. Cool start with dew to a sunny warm finish in spring conditions. Previous review mentioned a few dry spots, which is accurate now.
The Review
Golf Playing Conditions 5.43 GOOD
But far more wet spots and the ground too wet to mow properly with the soil saturated. This made the rough thick in spots that were mown with left over grass clippings 4″+. You could find your ball after a search. Other areas up to and higher than 7″+. Rough around the greens was exceptionally thick. Good luck trying to hack out of there.
These conditions are what maintenance has to deal with considering the rainfall this year. Not something they can do much about until sunny weather. Then when it come the grass explodes in growth with ground very wet underneath, too wet to cut without leaving a bigger mess sometimes.
That said the greens freshly cut and serviced and rolling true. The best part of the course. Fairways good with a few wet Ground Under Repair (GUR) areas. The bunkers not so good. mostly red dirt and mud with a few loose impediments. I found a quarter racking my way out of the front one on short par 3 16th. Nasty and borderline unplayable compared to the day before at Silverado in Napa a PGA level course.
I like the layout, facility and the service and will make the annual trip here for that. An hour drive that warrants a comeback play in the summer when things dry out.
Recommend if your not fussy about the bunkers.
Corica Park Golf Complex SOUTH Course Alameda California GK Plays
