Posted on April 10, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Golf Course Review Auburn Valley Golf Club Auburn California

Auburn Valley Golf Club

Auburn, CA

Reviewed by: Deepsea14, Granite Bay
Played 2pm 3/31/18 got out early and played in 4:15 but it felt a bit slower as a twosome. Front had good pace; slowed on the back 9 on a perfect weather for afternoon round. Had the “Masters” special booked on the website $29 w/cart beer and hot dog we enjoyed making the turn.

Conditions:

Greens slower than normal, compared to my last review in February. Not scary to be above the hole like they can normally be. A couple blotchy spots but OK and relatively smooth. Poa Annua is making a comeback. Warmer temps (80’s sunny this week and plenty of rain before) the grass is greening up & growing fast and thick. US open style rough that had been cut but ankle plus deep made it penal to get in it. Fairways your friend this day for sure. Tees OK and bunkers OK but could use dragging. Just too much growth everywhere with the warm weather for the Superintendent to stay up with the grass length I think. Should get better soon. Deep rough did help errant shots stay out of trees but it took some looking to find it and a courageous hack to get it back in play.

Great service from attentive staff from golf shop to 19th hole and Bev cart out and saw it three times.

Posted on April 9, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Championship Golf Course Albuquerque New Mexico

The Championship Golf Course

Albuquerque, NM

Reviewed by: tesuquegolfer, Santa Fe

I played here on 3/31 and it has really greened up nicely. The greens were pretty slow but in pretty good shape considering they aerated about 2 weeks ago.

It is always a fun course to play as you can, and usually need to, hit driver on all par 4s and par 5s with mostly elevated tee boxes. In fact, on the par 3 #8 hole I have had to hit driver a couple of times when it played 260+ into a head wind.

The big greens, with a fair amount of undulation, can be tough especially with some tough pin placements.

I really enjoy playing here, it is one of my favorites. Oh, and another thing, they have some of the best prices on shirts you will find. I just bought a Cutter Buck shirt for $36, and it wasn’t even on sale!

Posted on April 8, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Costa Mesa Country Club LOS LAGOS Costa Mesa California

Costa Mesa CC (Los Lagos)

Costa Mesa, CA

ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens 4/23.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.

Reviewed by: roarksown1, Playa del Rey

Finally played one of the two Costa Mesa GC 18s this past weekend and it was quite a fun day out with an old friend and two of his buddies. Paid $61 with a cart to play from the blue tees on the Los Lagos 18. Apparently it’s a little bit longer than the other one, but they’re both equally challenging.

And I did find the course challenging. There are a lot of water features that come into play, some mounding and funky angles in the fairways, long par 3s to test your accuracy, and a few well-placed bunkers that make you plan ahead before every shot. I enjoyed the layout more than I thought I would having studied it a bit the night before.

Conditions were pretty darn good across the board. I found the greens to be in very nice shape and they were very fun to putt from all day. They were definitely fast and firm though so holding shots wasn’t always super easy. But no complaints on the roll.

Fairways are in nice overall shape, with the exception of just a few holes on the back nine. But even where it was a bit thinner, it was mostly playable except for a few of the exposed patches that crept in here and there. The rough was a healthy mix of short and playable to some areas where it was tough to find your ball.

Sand traps were unfortunately either just watered or still soaked a bit from last week’s rain, but they were not optimal for the day. They may play just fine now, but on that particular day, they were best avoided altogether. And the tee boxes were all mostly good but I’ve never seen tee box markers so far apart. Easy to find a flat lie when you’ve got 20-30 feet of room to work with. That was interesting.

It was a busy Saturday so we certainly did some waiting around on many holes, especially the par 3s. I think we came in a just around five hours even. Cart service showed up once or twice as well. Overall, a very nice day out and I look forward to playing the other 18 there to complete the circle. But if asked to play Los Lagos again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Posted on April 7, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Rustic Canyon Golf Course Moorpark California

Rustic Canyon Golf Course

Moorpark, CA

Reviewed by: GDR23, Thousand Oaks

Out this afternoon 4/2/2018 walking the Blues with buddies Mack and Brian joined by a nice single John. POP 4 hrs. Weather was epic scoring weather–other than a strong breeze the first 3 holes the remaining 15 holes were postcard–mid 60’s with hardly any wind. Paid $22.00 walking–super deal. Nice staff in clubhouse let us go 10 minutes early at 2:20pm.

The fairways are making a comeback. The last couple times I have played here they were very dry. Today I saw a lot more green than in previous rounds. Sure they contain some different tuffs of grass and the fairways are not super lush but they are getting into their green spring state. This course historically has great fairways from April usually through August. Current rating is a 6/10.

The greens were in good shape–maybe a 10.5 on the stimp. Downhillers still need to be touched with precision. Not a ton of ball marks and rolling medium to quick speed. They hold high irons and chips with spin nicely. Rated 7.5/10.

I thought the tees were the highlight of the course. Super lush and mostly level. In very good shape–rated 8/10.

Greenside rough super green and lush and in great shape. Rated 8/10.

The poorest part of the course remains the rough just outside many of the fairways. Its very dry and hardpan in most areas. Rated 4.5/10.

With the fairways starting to grow in nicely and the current shape of the tees and greens I would recommend this course to anyone.

Great challenging layout that is a blast to play.

Posted on April 6, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Tijeras Creek Golf Club Rancho Santa Margarita California

Tijeras Creek Golf Club

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Reviewed by: leef2020, Huntington Beach, CA

Played Saturday, 3/31, teeing off 12 mins past our 2:48 tee time on a busy day. We made it to the middle of the 18th fairway in near-darkness when the marshal told us to pick up and head in. We got in several more holes than I expected, so a good afternoon in spite of the delay and overall slowish play.

Pretty similar condition overall from last week, as expected. However, the greens were cut nicely on the day and the cups were not so mangled. Pace of greens were still medium/medium-slow and provided for some bumps. Much better than last week, but need a good rolling.

Fairways still good and the rough was lush, dense and penal.

Was in two bunkers on the day, and they were somewhat improved, providing a thin layer of topsand. Did see several wet/crappy looking bunkers, though, including the front greenside bunker on #11, and front-left bunker on #15, which was as bad/worse than when I was in it last week.

Heard the staff telling a brand new 2018 Creek Card purchaser that TC has now taken away the ‘free birthday round’ from the former list of benefits. Confirms my previous decision to not renew, I guess. A good day overall at the Creek. Look forward to a return visit in six weeks or so.

Posted on April 5, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Angel Park Golf Club PALM Las Vegas Nevada

Angel Park Golf Club (Palm)

Las Vegas, NV

Reviewed by: evildrummerhb, La Habra, CA

Played this past Friday on a beautiful sunny day with hardly a breeze. This was my first time here, and I left satisfied, if a little disappointed.

The tee boxes were great, the fairways too, and the rough was barely over fairway height. The bunkers were very firm, which was great if you were in a fairway bunker; green-side, not so much. The greens here were my disappointment mainly lies. They were super firm, with balls not leaving a mark, which I can deal with. They were very fast, which I love. However, there were many, many random bumps and unseen irregularities which made it nearly impossible to choose a line and execute a good putt.

The course is beautiful, and the hundreds of funny little chipmunks running around made for some amusement, but the greens soured what could have been an epic day. I’m hoping they are able to smooth those greens out, I’d enjoy another crack at this one.

Posted on April 4, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club San Diego California

Carmel Mountain Ranch CC

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: Itslikeimsayin, Aliso Viejo

Joined sixpez here today to use an UnderPar voucher he bought a while ago. It was good for 10:30 or later and included a free replay. We booked a 10:30 tee time and started pretty much on time, although with a warning from the starter that the course was playing slow. He wasn’t kidding. Our first round took 5 hours 17 minutes and felt like we’d played 36 already. Fortunately, after that round we checked with the pro shop and they were able to send us right back out. In round 2 we played through a few groups and finished in around 3 hours, with only a little sunlight remaining. Mostly cloudy skies, a little wind, warm temps until the sun started to go down, at which point it got sorta chilly.

Course conditions are mixed. The greens are very good: Smooth, fast and accept full shots well. I debated between rating them a 7 or 8 but settled on 7. Fairways have good coverage but are a little thin, providing tight lies. What rough there is is quite good, a little fluffier than the fairways and sometimes easier to hit from. Not very penal at all. Then there’s also the absence of rough since the turf reduction a few years ago, which isn’t very attractive and oftentimes leads to balls rolling forever on hardpan or dirt. Tee boxes (we played blue both rounds) were the low point of conditions, with most/many pretty beat up and a few good ones. Bunkers were the high point of conditions, with very well maintained sand in sufficient quantity. Nice to see!

This is a fun layout with a number of great holes, but overall the course currently feels a bit neglected. It’s decent enough, but at one point many years ago it was really nice. I’d love to see it return to those standards. Still recommended.

Posted on April 3, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Eagle Glen Golf Club Corona California

Eagle Glen Golf Club

Corona, CA

Reviewed by: caligolfer1031, Paramount

Played on 4/1 Easter morning at 7:30 as a single. Course was pretty much empty except for a threesome I passed on hole 5. POP was a very relaxed 3:15. I haven’t played here in a couple of years and was looking forward to the round. There must have been an outing the afternoon before as there were some Styrofoam ice chests in the parking lot along with empty 12 pack boxes and numerous plastic cups. Staff was very friendly and got me out right away.

The Review

Tee Boxes – most were badly needing a good mowing. A few holes when teeing up for a 3 wood, the ball was still sitting sitting down in the grass. Tee boxes are level.

Fairways – Looks like they have punched the fairways and in the slots where the punching is done the grass is longer than a normal fairway, but still very playable. the non punched areas the ball sits nicely.

Greens – In perfect shape, was a blast putting on them. a little fast and holding well struck shots. A few divot marks here and there, but I have a feeling it’s from the same guys that left the trash in the parking lot. Too bad they are punching them this week, because of how great of shape they are in. There was puddling on several greens on the front nine, but the flags were not placed even close to those spots.

Rough – non-existent, just a slight bit longer than the fairway.

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Eagle Glen Golf Club Corona California. Hole 9

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Eagle Glen Golf Club Corona California. Hole 4 View From Tee Box

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Bunkers – the two that I was in had excellent sand. I did notice on trap, back left on nine looked like dirt and I’m not sure if it gets much play anyways. The front right bunker on 16 had a tremendous amount of sand in it. I noticed that one of the racks only the handle could be seen, so I placed my putting into the trap and with no pressure it sunk down about three inches. The trap was not very well racked, but I have a feeling its just too difficult to rake a trap that is that soft. They could have just added the sand and are still working on getting it set.

Overall I had a great time and enjoyed the course. Look forward to going back after the greens heal.