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Golf Course Review Cypress Ridge Golf Course Arroyo Grande California

Cypress Ridge Golf Course

Golf Course Review Cypress Ridge Golf Course Arroyo Grande California

Reviewed by: Nickesquire, Cambria, CA
Rode the Blues (6443/71.3/128) mid day in 4H, 15M with Mneilson and Sal. Sunny, fairly calm in the mid 60’s.

Golf Playing Conditions 7.34 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.34 GREAT

COVID-19: 1 rider to a cart. Doodles in the bottom of the cups. No on course services.

Tees were the weak link. Okay coverage but far too many unfixed divots.

Fairways have lots of undulation. Usually good to play from with occasional brown patches.

Rough close to the fairways was mowed down and maintained in the 2-3″ range. Usually good to play out of. Rough farther from the fairways was 1-2′ tall straw like that was a probable lost ball.

Sand was okay to play from. More fine dirt than sand.

Large greens were firm and medium speed. They looked quicker than they were. I like the greens here, the ball rolled very well.

Customer service was good from all encountered. Busy driving range and they have a putting and chipping practice area. Carts are basic, no GPS. Nice layout, fun course to play in good condition. Recommended.

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Golf Course Review Marshall Canyon Golf Course La Verne California

Marshall Canyon Golf Course

Golf Course Review Marshall Canyon Golf Course La Verne California

Reviewed by: abbacat, Trabuco Canyon

Golf Playing Conditions 6.45 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.45 GOOD

Teed it up this morning with Kassper7. It’s been a couple of years since I last played here. Although they don’t offer a senior rate on weekends, it’s still very reasonable at $38.50. I walked the front nine but took it easier on the back with a cart.

The conditions were disappointing. Visually, it was very nice- green and lush. The bad part was that there was some serious over-watering happening. The fairways were good other than several deep muddy areas, but the greens were downright spongy. There were many spots of water pooled under the grass creating big bubbles that moved to the side when stepped on. I got the feeling they would erupt if punctured with a repair tool. The tee boxes were uneven and the bunkers thin on sand, but considering how poorly I was playing, it really didn’t matter.

The good part was this is a challenging and really fun course. When it dries out a bit, I’d like to give it another go.

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Golf Course Review Strawberry Farms Golf Club Irvine California

Strawberry Farms Golf Club

Golf Course Review Strawberry Farms Golf Club Irvine California

Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego
Played here today (6/26) on a 9:00AM tee time with GK member Jon P. on what turned out to be a warm but very comfortable Chamber of Commerce day in Irvine. First time playing here and I’m glad I did. I had been dissuaded by some to try and play here as either the layout wasn’t to their liking or 6 hour round horror stories, but what I found was a great course with some quirk to it, though nothing you’d shake your head at. Pace today was also dictated entirely by our playing partners (members at Strawberry Farms) who played as fast as I have ever seen in my life and forced our way past an incredibly slow foursome ahead of us.

The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 6.86 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.86 GOOD

Tees: Played the whites and got lucky as most people played the blues and I’m sure those tees were more worn than ours. No real bad lies and even on par 3’s I was able to find a nice spot to hit from.

Fairways: I’d say good shape overall with ample coverage (carts did have divot mix) and fair roll all day. Visually it was nice to have the colors easily indicate good/bad shots.

Rough: I can’t recall it being overtly penal, however I attribute good play today to my lack of further information about the rough.

Bunkers: The ones I was in all had good fluffy sand and even limited footprints! It was a nice change of pace from others courses that seemed to let the bunkers go.

Greens: Wonderful, albeit a bit slow especially early on; left plenty of putts short today. No major trickery on the breaks and I found the roll to be true.

Final Thoughts

ETC: Staff today was friendly, check-in a breeze with the prepayment online. Carts have good GPS and enough giddy up. Pace as mentioned today was good due to our partners (got around in 3.5 hours!) however outside of that I’m sure it would have been closer to 4-4.25. Conditions are good, and the course IS overpriced but on a good deal (>100) you should come out!

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ROUNDUP: GK Guru Visit Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda California

Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda Hole 10

Black Gold Golf Club

ROUNDUP: GK Guru Visit Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda California

Reviewed by: Rat-Patrol, San Diego
Out with the GK group, 6/25, on a warm day with some swirling winds coming up through the canyons. First time here and my initial impression was a good one. Seems like a nice facility, smallish range, putting green behind the clubhouse, nice clubhouse/restaurant area.

Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT

Once on the course conditions were good with the greens being the highlight. Big contoured greens that rolled smooth, on the fast side, a bit firm in spots and tricky. Loved the way the greens rolled but could not read them well enough to make anything from any distance. Bunkers were in good shape with a nice playable surface, fairways were great to play from, rough varied I did find a few thick spots, layout is fun, interesting and certainly makes you think (although IMHO the design was a bit ambitious making some areas difficult for the grounds crew to maintain and most likley in some areas a major undertaking), my cart had no GPS others did, but when everyone gets their own cart they needed to pull out the extras (mine had a logo from a Palm Springs area GC on it). Staff seemed accommodating, friendly and saw the snack cart multiple times. Upstairs snack bar was open and looked busy.

Overall a fun track with nice facilities in good condition worth a play.

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Golf Course Review TPC Harding Park San Francisco California

TPC Harding Park

Golf Course Review TPC Harding Park San Francisco California

Reviewed by: cbisjr, SSF

Golf Playing Conditions 7.36 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.36 GREAT

The rough and fairways are setup for the PGA. If you cant keep it straight then expect a long day. The rough is at least 4 inches thick and will grab your club from advancing forward. It humbles me how good PGA tour players are in this stuff.

Tee boxes were fair. Fairways were in good condition but much narrow than usual. Mix in the damp air and wind, your ball flight will barely fly to your normal length.

If you play before August 2020, bring your “A” game. If you don’t have one or unsure, wait until after the PGA tourney.

For the prices the residents pay, I think its a bit high but in comparison to non-residents, I’m sure glad I live in SF.

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ROUNDUP: GK Guru Visit Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda California

Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda California GK Guru Visit-Hole-10 & Clubhouse

Black Gold Golf Club

GK Guru Visit Black Gold Golf Club Yorba Linda California

Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks
Played Black Gold yesterday with fellow GK Gurus 6/25 as well as a GK Cup Match. Been about a year since playing this course. I normally don’t like to space it out that far apart given how much I like it. Felt great to be out there. My foursome was dconnally, gary00 and aakes90278.

The Review

From the onset this place was busy as you could tell the local community of Yorba Linda was happy to have the full facilities open again. Driving range was spaced for COVID-19 precautions and face masks were required while in the

Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT

Pro-shop.

As sparky14 noted in his review and I agree, the fairways were as lush as I’ve ever seen them and I have been playing Black Gold Golf Club since 2003. I have to applaud Black Gold once again for making the decision years ago to go through the painful long transition from a Bermuda/rye grass fairway turf to an all Kikuyu as it has certainly paid off in the long run.

Greens in very good shape as expected however not as firm and fast as I normally experience. Most golfers probably like that as these greens are very challenging and your short game has to be spot on to negotiate difficult bunkers and most of all tough lies out of the Kikuyu rough. I was green-side in two on hole 4. Had a tough delicate in Kikuyu downhill lie, thinned it a little, ran through the green, another difficult pitch, two putts, walked away with a 6.

Rough, lush and my comment above pretty much sums it up. Hit the greens in regulation to avoid the super tough Kikuyu pitch shots is a premium.

Bunkers, greens side sand, fluffy white and beautiful. Fairways bunkers, little firm and in good shape. This is exactly how I like a golf course bunkers to be. I need the soft stuff around the greens and the more firm stuff in the fairways.

Tee boxes, we played the white tees, my first time playing the white tees there, they are certainly the most popular tees at Black Gold. They were in good shape, not great, mostly lush and level. However when I glanced at the blue tees while driving by they were more lush and level.

Final Note

18 is simply one of the best finishing holes around. Not just because of its risk/reward par 5 design and beauty but because you finish with a gallery from the clubhouse patio looking on. Gary00 got an applause when his shot from the fairway looked like it was going to roll into the hole. Loved that. Its not every day daily fee golfers can get that rush of hitting shots with onlookers cheering. Heck we got more fans watching us than the PGA Tour now! – LOL

Check out the photos I posted.

Highly Recommended.

Editor’s Note:  To become a guru is not only easy but it’s helpful.  Write reviews of the golf courses you play and post them on www.greenskeeper.org.  Get Noticed.  Then apply to become a GK Guru by asking our Staff in our forums.  You get to play some decent golf, with above average conditions AND you get to tell us about your experiences.  Influence avid golfers like yourself on where to play their next round of golf.  Simple enough?  Then get going!  Write your reviews and post them on GreensKeeper.org!

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Golf Course Review Eagle Falls Golf Course Indio California

Eagle Falls Golf Course

Golf Course Review Eagle Falls Golf Course Indio California

Reviewed by: cbubaseball9, Riverside, CA
My second round of my annual Palm Springs Father’s Day trip was to Eagle Falls. This is another course that I have never played in the PS area so I wanted to give it a try. It is always highly ranked on the GreensKeeper.org Top 25 so I figured it would not disappoint – and it did not.

Golf Playing Conditions 8.93 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.93 GREAT

I had read previous reviews that some golfers were a little scared when they arrived that Eagle Falls. The club house is a double wide trailer with an attached cart barn. It looks like something you would see at your local municipal but looks can be deceiving.

You are instructed to cross a large bridge and head out to the golf course. Once you get across that bridge, you see what the course really has to offer. There is a massive practice putting green and a very nice all grass diving range. You have views of the first and 10th holes which look immaculate. I was a little nervous when we first arrived but realized what everyone else was talking about when I got across that bridge.

A coworker of mine drove out from the Winchester area to play with me. We ended up being the first group at at 6:30am. We finished just before 8:30am so we were done in less that 2 hours! He was just as impressed with the layout and conditions of the course as I was.

The Review

Layout – The layout of the course is great. You do not feel like you are playing the same hole over and over even though this is a pretty flat course. Some of the holes are parallel but you do not get that feeling due to the native areas and the trees that border the holes. Both of us had nothing negative to say about the layout of the course. We really enjoyed it. Be aware of the snakes in the summer time though. We saw two groundskeepers picking up King snakes and moving them off the golf course! Careful where you step!

Fairways / Rough / Greens – I would put the condition of all three up against any course around. I had just come off a spectacular round at The Mountain course. I felt that the Mountain Course would really set the bar high and I felt that this course met or exceeded those expectations. The greens at Eagle Falls were 10 times better than the greens at The Mountain course. The fairways and rough were every bit as good as the higher priced Mountain course.

Bunkers – I was not actually in a bunker so I cannot comment on their condition.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I was spoiled on this trip. I got to play two great courses and both courses did not disappoint. I don’t really want to say this out loud but I feel that Eagle Falls is a steal at $59 on a Saturday morning. I do not think you will find a better deal in the desert. Going back to my normal IE rotation of courses is going to be rough after the weekend that I had in Palm Springs. Give Eagle Falls a shot. It is also at the Fantasy Springs hotel so, if you do not have a good day at the course, you can try your luck at the casino.

Thank you Eagle Falls for a great Saturday morning. We will be back!

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Golf Course Review Crossings at Carlsbad in Carlsbad California

The Crossings at Carlsbad

Golf Course Review Crossings at Carlsbad in Carlsbad California

Reviewed by: zgolfinman, Oceanside
Played on Thursday AM, 6/11.
They are very strict on the social distancing rules. DO NOT arrive earlier than 30 minutes before your T time. You must leave your clubs are the bag drop, pay your fee in the Pro Shop then walk around the building to pick up your clubs and carry them around the left side of the building (from the bag drop) to the starter who will assign you a cart. You can get a cart by yourself if you request one. Very friendly starter crew.

Golf Playing Conditions 8.64 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.64 GREAT

Greens: smooth, firm and medium speed.

Fairways: excellent condition.

Rough: mowed to 1-3″, minimum bare spots.

Traps: mixed conditions, some good sand, raked and other hard pan, no rakes.

POP: just over 4 1/2 hours.

No marshals or beverage cart service. Restaurant is open inside, snack bar also open.