Early am four hour round on Sunday. The staff is great even with the issues they have to deal with from time to time.
The tee boxes were great with only a few a little thin. The fairways were a little damp in the low lying areas but the coverage was very good front and back. The short Bermuda is forgiving on some shots if you can keep your misses online. The rough was fairly thick and pretty damp in places but you could advance the ball. The traps were thin, wet and ugly. The traps were well groomed for the most part but not on par with the rest of the course. The greens were in good shape and not real quick today – some were actually pretty slow compared to what I remember. There were a few greens with quite a few marks in need of repair. Some of the greens are also very large compared to most courses. The wildlife and somewhat rural setting of this course are great.
Booked a round on that ‘necessary evil website’ we all know for 8:28 on Sunday morning for Brookside E.O. Nay (Course#2) for $42. Arrived about 45 minutes prior to tee time with designs on hitting a few range balls before the round. Range was mats only, which I understand is absolutely necessary due to the incredible volume of patrons of this facility. With about 20 stalls, I was lucky to find a spot. Two practice putting greens, one of which was open.
I don’t know whether it was the high number of walking golfers, more here than any other place I’ve seen before, or the close quarters within the practice area, or what, but there seemed to be a very communal atmosphere among the golfers here. It’s likely attributable to the gracious staff that seemed to handle the high volume of players very effectively. My group teed off about 25 minutes after our scheduled time, but shout out to Wendi, the starter who managed to keep everyone in good spirits despite the late start and informing us that a 5 1/2 hour round was the norm. She was spot on. Wendi performed her job well, in managing the first tee and answering any and all questions we had about the course, and eager to do it.
The Review
Now to the course, fairways lush in most areas, a few dried up areas in some places. 7/10
Tee boxes were mostly level, there were a hand full that forced me to hunt a little bit for a good spot due to excessive divot damage. 7.5/10
Bunkers, which I found a few, some were good sand, with others seemingly more soft dirt than actual sand, but all were playable. The first bunker I found early in my round was kinda fluffy thick moist sand, very playable. Later in the round I found one that was pretty thin. 6.5/10
The rough on this course varies greatly. Between holes within the course, where the sprinklers get to, the rough can be very thick and penal. In some cases you won’t see your ball outside of 15 feet, lol. On the outer edges of the course you can expect lots of very thin lies and dirt. 5/10
The greens on this course were a pleasant surprise actually. Of the high volume of players here, only a very small percentage struggle with not preparing their divots. There was always a few to repair on each green, but not nearly enough to be annoyed about. My guess would put them between 10 and 11 on the Stimp meter, deceptively quick even with plenty of moisture. Not overly undulated, but plenty of slope and breaks to play (best be beneath the hole always).
Final Thought
Overall, a great deal for the price. Be prepared for a long round on a crowded park like setting course, but a very enjoyable place to play. Will return very soon to play the more highly regarded C.W.Koiner (course #1).
Santa Anita Golf Course Arcadia California Senior GK Coupon
Played Westridge Golf Club in La Habra, Friday 8/24/2018, 1:30 pm tee time on a Underpar deal at $35 per player with cart. (Restrictions on deal were a tee time after 10am Mon-Friday).
Arrived early checked in at the pro shop. Staff was nice, but the attendant on duty was not familiar with Underpar or the deal being offered and tried to tell me we could only play the morning even though she confirmed we were scheduled for 1:30pm until corrected by her co-worker, who then showed her how the voucher worked. Fortunately, we were checked in, went downstairs and checked in with the starter (very nice) got our cart and headed for the driving range. Medium bucket 80 balls was $8 dollars (The Underpar deal did not come with range balls).
We were sent out about ten minutes early with a note we might be joined by twosome either at the tee or as we played. The twosome showed up as we were teeing up and I am glad they did. Two guys who regularly play this course Tony and Glenn were among the nicest guys I have played with. My buddy is a single digit handicap so it was nice that both of these guys were competitive with him. I had a tough day with a two-way miss.
The Review
The course is beautiful, located in the hills of La Habra not far form Beach Blvd, off of Imperial. It’s not as majestic as Black Gold, but I think I like it even better layout wise. The fairways are very narrow and slope hard to one side. There is little in the way of rough, errant shots are most likely to find native area that is protected both by rule, and rattle snake as a result, I donated about three sleeves of balls. Where there was rough it was deep and very penal.
Carts are basic, no GPS, clean functional.
The tee boxes were lush but could have been more level, and compact. There were some irregularities not quite holes, soft or very hard areas. The tee boxes aren’t terrible and aren’t too uneven, just lumpy however given the overall condition of the course they are the noticeable let down.
Rough, most rough is around the green, and in thin strips along the fairway. If the ball stops in the rough it will require all your attention as it is thick and sticky, but given the slope of the fairways the ball is as likely to go out of bounds.
The fairways are narrow and feature very good coverage of mostly green grass. If you control your ball find the fairway, don’t get an unlucky bounce you will still most likely find yourself with a uphill, side-hill, downhill, uneven lie.
The narrow undulating fairways pockmarked with fairway bunkers seem to be the courses main defense. This is target golf.
Bunkers – The course features numerous fairway and green-side bunkers. The fairway bunkers are a fair test but deeper than many I have seen on other courses, and the green-side bunkers look like they were dug by marines defending the area. The use of Bunkers around some greens present almost a moat surrounding the putting surface.
The greens are beautiful, fast with more breaks than TV show. I loved the greens, if you holed a one putt on these greens of more than four feet you feel accomplished.
Parting Thoughts
This course has a really nice playing layout, with majestic views of the surrounding community. The tee boxes need a little attention, the bunkers well hard packed are very playable. Pace of play is very good, we took around four hours. The course needs more water stations. The separation of the parking lot from the clubhouse, and the starters station do a good job of preventing you bringing a cooler of water, however there were only two water stations on the course (at least that we saw), there were two low output water fountains by the restrooms. The snack bar is such that you have to go off route to stop as you make the turn and with the pace of play we experienced on Friday that would have been a train wreck. There is no sign on course giving you a number to pre-order. We did not see a beverage cart on course at any time during the round.
Would I recommend this course, yes very much, and I would definitely play it again at this rate? It’s not easy, and I was physically sore for a couple of days after playing. The course overall is in good shape, and well worth testing your game against.
ALERT: Overseeding
Will be overseeding 9/25 – 10/28, reopening 10/29 and likely cart path only for 2-3 weeks.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Golf Playing Conditions 6.24 GOOD
Rode the Blacks (6782/71.6/122) as a single in 3H, 15M twilight. The weather was clear, windy and in the low 100’s.
The Bermuda tees, fairways and rough all have good coverage. Semi lush with a few brown/thin areas due to the heat. All are mowed down close.
The traps had decent sand, but contain too many rocks and unraked areas.
The Bermuda greens were firm and putted medium speed with few ball marks. A few are beginning to get crusty with the heat.
The customer service was good, quick efficient check-in. All grass driving range. Plenty of water stations on the course. No drink cart or Marshall, I only saw a few other groups playing this afternoon. GPS on the basic carts to the front/middle/back of the green and tips to hazards. Cimarron is reasonably wide open, flat with few forced carries and not overly tough for the average golfer. I enjoy this course as a change of pace, a solid mid level alternative for the Palm Springs area that is usually in decent shape. Recommended.
Played the Blues (6313/70.6/129) in 2.5H mid day as a single using Forelinx. I saw exactly 2 other groups playing total, almost like having your own private course. The weather was clear, fairly calm and around 105.
The Review
The Bermuda tees were lush and well maintained. Only a couple of par 3’s needed divot repair.
Both the Bermuda fairways and rough were lush, mowed down close with a few brown heat spots. Nicely maintained and good to play from.
The sand traps were in excellent condition with a generous amount of fine grain sand. These traps are tough to play from with large lips and potential long carries.
The Bermuda greens are still sub-par, recovering after a recent aerification. Decent amount of contour/slope on these large greens. They putted medium speed and were somewhat bumpy. They were firm but held shots well.
The customer service was excellent, especially from Nathan the clubhouse attendant. No drink cart out or Marshall today. SilverRock is easier after the redesign that shortened the back, but still a fun & pretty layout.
Definitely recommended.
Indian Wells Golf Resort Indian Wells California Eat & Play GK Coupon
We had a fun time on Grandview for the GK Plays. We had a really good turnout with a number of AZ GK’ers in attendance and a lot of new faces, as well. Good to see the Arizona GK crew growing each year. I was in the 9:30 group and it was a good overall pace of play around 4 hours total.
As others have already noted, the course was in good overall condition. For good value courses, they sure do a great job keeping these in really nice shape throughout the summer season. Tee boxes, fairways and rough were all good and consistent. The newly remodeled bunkers had really nice new sand. The greens were firm. Rolling way too slow for my tastes, but consistently conditioned and obviously kept longer to survive the heat.
This was my second time playing Grandview. It’s a solid course and will give you your money’s worth every time. Not a destination course in an area loaded with spectacular and dramatic layouts, but a good value pick. Always friendly people in this community and just a positive overall vibe.
Sun City West Grandview Golf Course Arizona GK Coupon
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ALERT: Overseeding
Will be overseeding 9/17 – 10/7, reopening 10/8 and likely cart path only for 2-3 weeks after reopening.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks
Golf Playing Conditions 6.70 GOOD
Great time on Friday teeing up with GK’ers Daveygolf123 and rjmart at The Boulders Resort North Course. Since there was very few golfers playing, we joined up at times to make a fivesome (not allowed) with GK’ers sixpez and mpisarski01. Tons of fun.
Regarding the golf course, I think we caught the perfect storm…at the wrong time. The place got absolutely slammed the night before by monsoon rains/micro bursts. It was very wet, there were busted branches, washed out bunkers, downed cactus, and areas being cleaned up after flooding. To the golf course’s credit the grounds crew members were hustling and all over the place. Also you could tell the fairways were being less tended to with overseeding approaching (not uniformly lush as expected). So I need to circle back and play this track again. It was however in very good shape. Greens being the highlight mostly smooth, firm and moderate speed. Something tells me had they been able to cut and roll the greens instead of dealing with storm damage they would have been much better.
I’ve seen photos of The Boulders for years, however those signature pictures are almost all taken of the South Course, not the North “members” Course we played. The North course is still a very good fun layout but does not have the “wow” effect of the South Course. I snapped a few pics anyway.
Service was excellent. The Clubhouse feels like a country club and they even have a separate looker room for The Boulders members. The breakfast burrito was outstanding, thank you GK’er rjmart for picking that up for me. I did not get a chance to use the driving range but it looked nice, all grass and lush. Word of advice, use the bag drop. The members parking takes up the majority for the front parking lot and the walk from the back lot to pro-shop is long (especially in the summer).
To repeat, I need to play this place again and catch it when it’s in its typical condition. I also need to play the signature South Course. Maybe 36 in one day? That would be a blast.
ALERT: Overseeding
Service was excellent. The Clubhouse feels like a country club and they even have a separate looker room for The Boulders members. The breakfast burrito was outstanding, thank you GK’er rjmart for picking that up for me. I did not get a chance to use the driving range but it looked nice, all grass and lush. Word of advice, use the bag drop. The members parking takes up the majority for the front parking lot and the walk from the back lot to pro-shop is long (especially in the summer).
