Golf Course Review Wilson Golf Course Los Angeles, CA
Reviewed by: weber, coto de caza
Golf Playing Conditions 5.32 GOOD
Drove up to Griffith Park fully expecting to play Harding, because Wilson always seems to be so much more popular, but I was able to get out without any problem. Has been a while since I last played Wilson, so was thrilled to get back out there. Wilson has always played difficult for me, maybe because I still play it from the “tips”. Too many holes which I no longer can reach in regulation, so for me to score, the short game needs to be sharpe.
Greens rolled well, or maybe because I actually made a few putts, it seemed that way. Not fast, but reasonable speed. Most of the fairways were in good condition, with some areas which could use some attention. Both bunkers I found were well maintained with plenty of sand.
I like the two Griffith Park courses because neither come in after nine, so I don’t have to deal with “back nine play”. Enjoy the course, although it is rarely kind to me, but the beautiful setting with all the trees somehow makes the boogies a little easier to accept.
Rancho Solano Golf Course Fairfield California Hole 5
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Golf Playing Conditions 8.08 GREAT
Played Rancho Solano on 9/12 with the GK crew. This was my first time playing here and What a fun course! Track has elevation changes, water features and great conditions throughout!! Course design offers the option of grip it and rip it without too much risk of being heavily punished. Yet it has enough trees and water hazards to keep you honest and make less than driver a viable option at times.
The Review
Greens are HUGE and have several big undulations throughout. Three putts are easy to do on these greens. All but a couple of greens were in fantastic shape rolling smooth at a medium-slow pace. Just a couple of greens had some brown spots on the edges but again the greens are so big the brown spots were 40-50 feet away from the pins
Green side bunkers had excellent soft fluffy sand. Tee boxes were flat and lush and the cart gal came around a number of times.
Golf Course Review for The Links at Bodega Harbour Bodega Bay, CA
Reviewed by: leef2020, Huntington Beach, CA
ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens 10/22 & 10/23 – thanks for update leef2020.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Playing Conditions
7.03
Great
Was able to grab a deal plus $20 off coupon via teeoff.com @ $39 net pre-paid fee. Great deal for this course. Was paired with a friendly H/W couple. Golf Director held us back from our 11:10am tee time to wait for a speedy foursome coming through playing in a shot-gun tournament, so eventually teed off at 11:30am. Good thing, as there was such a huge blanket of fog/marine layer, you couldn’t even see beyond 100 yards.
Skies cleared up just before we teed off, and was an absolute stunner of a sunny day after that! Playing this Robert Trent Jr. designed course on a sunny day is a treat. POP ended up slow for whatever reasons ahead of us, finishing in 4hrs, 50mins.
Course overall was in the best condition I’ve seen it over the past 3 years. Absolutely gorgeous. Greens were certainly a highlight, as the bent-grass greens were nearly perfect looking. They were firm, fast and smooth and putted very well. Was able to implement my recent AimPoint Express green reading class techniques with good results, to pick up slope that I would otherwise not have been able to detect. Rolled very true, with no bumps along the way.
Fairways were really nice, mostly a lush green, with some lighter, thinner areas that were firm. Rough was a good, but a mix of lush, penal 2″ grass and some thin/burned out areas.
Was in about 4 bunkers, and they were pretty well groomed, with soft-ish damp sand, about 1 – 1/2″ layer over a medium-firm base. Pretty nice to play out of, actually. Tees were OK, but could use some leveling.
Highly recommended right now. Their website says they are aerating Oct. 22/23rd.
Corica Park Golf Complex SOUTH Alameda California Hole 11
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Squeezed in one more round on the NorCal trip teeing it up around 3:00pm at Corica Park Golf Complex South Course on Thursday. This was my second time playing the course and I enjoyed the layout even more. Great variety of fun holes with not one letdown. Last time teed it up for a shotgun start on the 13th hole during its grand opening. This time starting on hole 1 playing as it was designed felt better. The front nine is pretty open allowing you to grip and rip. The back nine quickly contrasts the front with tighter layout bringing many trees and at times OB in play. The closing stretch 15-18 is fantastic. Two signature Par 5’s (15 & 17) reachable in two with a tough final hole Par 4.
The Review
As for the conditions, it’s in great shape.
Greens, bent, were smooth, fast and firm. The only bumps you run into are not properly repaired ball marks but due to how firm the greens are the ball marks are not deep. These are huge greens with many undulations and very challenging. They were a blast to play.
Fairways, santa ana bermuda (does not go dormant) mostly lush, full coverage, except some spots in front the greens that are being worked on, firm and tight. Exactly how they should be for this Australian links design.
Rough, just adjacent to the fairway, santa ana bermuda as well, lush and tight like the fairways. Secondary rough is either 4 inches to foot tall fescue or California wild bent grass. Looks beautiful and is very challenging to escape from. Was in great shape. Although many of the California wild bent grass around the green complexes since I first played it have been cut down a little or been trampled down. This is actually a good thing from a pace of play standpoint. The times I hit my ball into the wild bent grass during my first round it was very difficult to find.
Bunkers, great shape with quality sand. Better quality sand on the back nine than front nine.
Golf Course Review Sycuan Golf Resort WILLOW GLEN El Cajon, CA
Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego
Golf Playing Conditions 6.01 GOOD
Played here yesterday (9/9/18) with fellow GK member molebio (Natalio) on a GN Hot Deal for $38 on a hot Sunday afternoon (12:07pm scheduled tee time). Showed up and it was about 95 degrees with a parking lot only 60% filled, so I licked my chops at the prospect of a quick round. Hadn’t been out here in a few months at least and it was great to see Willow in better condition than last time. Even the brutal summer months couldn’t drain the green and good conditions from this great property.
Tee boxes: Overall okay condition. It’s hard to really mess up a tee-box for me unless it is bare dirt and/or completely unlevel. Neither was the case today, although the turf density did vary a bit (it was harder to drive the tee into the ground on some holes). Boxes were a bit patchy too, but that is to be expected after noon.
Fairways: Good condition. They were all green, had excellent roll with just enough crisp in the grass to skid smashed drives along, and most fairways had excellent grass coverage. Nice to see the summer heat didn’t destroy the turf too much out here.
Rough: Where it existed at its thickest, it was penal. I distinctly remember hole 2 and 8 as ones where I got completely lost trying to find a wayward drive, so it is out there and can swallow up any missed shot.
Bunkers: I was only in one and was able to get out no problem. The sand here is more beach than Augusta, however it appeared that most bunkers were raked and fairly playable.
Greens: Good condition overall (except for hole 2). The speed was not insane, the breaks were a bit tricky at times, but overall the condition was better than expected.
Final Thoughts
ETC: Pace of play due to heat and start of football season was only 3 hours! Staff was friendly and useful. Carts are newer with good GPS, however, ours had a breaking issue (thankfully the course is not terribly hilly outside of hole 4). Course layout is fun and for $38 it was a complete steal. Recommended especially as the weather cools and they keep watering the course.
Golf Course Review River Ridge Golf Course LAKES Oxnard, CA
Reviewed by: t8fish, Altadena
Golf Playing Conditions 7.76 GREAT
Went out walking Sunday morning, 9/9, with an 11:07 tee time combined with three other players into a foursome. RGM 2525 wrote a review after playing here a few days earlier and there is little I can add to it, so I will point you there since he describes pretty much the exact conditions I experienced.
The differences that come to mind are that it took us 4.5 hrs. to play with no one in front slowing us down (ouch), and the one fairway bunker I was in was perfect for executing a recovery. I also used the Greenskeeper coupon, so it was a great deal for a nice course. My dog also had a good time, although he got around with fewer strokes.
River Ridge Golf Club Oxnard California GK Coupon & Golf Tee Time Special
Golf Course Review Primm Valley Golf Club LAKES Primm, California
Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey
ALERT: Overseeding
Will be overseeding 10/1 – 10/8, reopening 10/9 and likely cart path only through 10/28.
Playing Conditions 6.42 GOOD
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Played Primm Valley (Lakes) for the second time this past Friday when driving home from a work trip in Las Vegas. Got out a bit early as the guy in the pro shop gave me the twilight rate with cart of $55, which is totally worth it for this fun course, even with re-seeding just a week or so away so they’re letting it dry out a bit.
Just an FYI, but the Desert course (which I wanted to play since I hadn’t before) is currently closed during re-seeding. Should be open in a few weeks when they close down the Lakes course.
As for the course itself, well you can imagine that just a week or so before major maintenance that they’ve let it go a good bit, but it’s still remarkably playable. There are a lot of dried out areas in the fairways and they’re certainly not a dark, lush green, but most lies were more than okay and not a problem to hit from at any time. The rough is a little thicker and greener right now and not penal. Bunkers were okay at this point and the tee boxes are a little bit beat up but nothing too terrible.
Greens were actually still in good shape for the most part, but there were many with large sections cut out of them ahead of the maintenance. They ran a bit slower than usual according to my local playing partner that I paired up with at the first tee, but I still found that they rolled quite true and held shots predominantly well. Good enough for the circumstances for sure.
Additional Thoughts
Layout is a super cool one with many interesting holes, lots of risk-reward opportunities and no two holes exactly alike. I like the variety of the par 3s and the par 5s are quite fun to play as well. You can score well here for sure, but you can also get in a lot of trouble. Oh hey, that sounds like golf.
I would definitely call ahead though to make sure that this or the other course are in play right now as aeration season begins. But if you do make it out, it’s still a fun day under the sun. And one last thing if Johnny is reading this review – Primm is in California, not Nevada!
Golf Course Review Carlton Oaks Golf Resort Santee, CA
Reviewed by: sparky14, San Clemente
ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens 9/11 & 9/12.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.
Golf Playing Conditions 5.82 GOOD
Played Carlton Oaks on 9/9. I see from the GK page that aeration is scheduled for the next two days. I would say the prior weeks players got an early aeration start by not fixing a single ball mark on any green. I have never seen so many unfixed ball marks. That being said, the grass still had good coverage, and I was shocked that most of my putts rolled well with no bouncing.
Fairways are in good shape. Tee boxes are generally fine, some uneven ground here and there, but playable. Rough is very much so. Lots of bare ground off the fairways.
So, while I have berated the course on the conditions here, I will say this is a great course and quite a bargain these days. If you keep it on the grass, you are rewarded with a very fun and challenging course. I would have loved to have played here in the early days, as I suspect this place was amazing at the start.
Recommended – just know that you will get some bad lies off the fairways and greens.
ALERT: Aeration
ALERT: Aeration
