The Links at Summerly

Lake Elsinore, CA

Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks
After all these years I finally played The Links at Summerly on Saturday 3/10.

It was a scramble format, in the rain, and we teed off around 8:30am. Finished in 4 ½ hours.

tbone127’s review from 3/2 was spot on so please read it as well. Thanks!

I never got to play this course in its glory days, I meant to then Lake Elsinore flooded the track and shortly after that the course came on hard times. It’s a long drive for me from Thousand Oaks and I wanted to experience the course when it was at least decent shape, well it’s in decent shape, certainly not great shape, but definitely playable. I really liked the layout with all the risk/reward shots and surroundings. It features some super fun greens which are the highlight of the course. I was fortunate to play with someone that knew the course very well so I was given the correct lines off the tee and what to look out for. I think had I not had that insight, and had it not been a scramble, I would have got in some big trouble off the tee, it’s not a grip and rip track.

What to Expect

They are doing a lot of work still on the golf course and they will be planting a bunch of new sod to bare areas of the fairways. On the perimeters of the fairways/rough they are cleaning them up more but it will likely be some time before those bare areas are addressed fully so make sure to keep your ball in play off the tee because a shot off the fairway can take some big hops into the hazards. They are going to plant new sod to some of the tee boxes that were previously closed. Not the way back tees although. As for the greens they rolled smooth, fast and held shots,You will find some invasive grass here and there on the greens but they are addressing it and it hardly effects play. Most bunkers I was retrieving my ball from were in good shape. But being a scramble I never got to hit a shot from them so don’t have good info for us there.

After golf had some very good food and service in the clubhouse. They brought back the previous chef and are going to be utilizing their high-end smoker more. I was impressed with the tri-tip sandwich, had cold beer to go with it, watched a little golf in the clubhouse, excellent service, great 19th hole.

Something to Consider

I’m going to make a prediction that THIS is The Links at Summerly’s come back year. I see the commitment with the staff, the resources are there, the place has great bones, I can’t wait to get back out there later this year to see the progress, catch a sunny day, and snap a bunch of pictures.