I had the opportunity to play Grayhawk Talon for a $35 rate due to a coworker having the White Tee card. Heck of a deal... » More

I had the opportunity to play Grayhawk Talon for a $35 rate due to a coworker having the White Tee card. Heck of a deal given the quality of course.
We teed off around 1006 with both courses fairly busy on a Saturday morning. Raptor seemed to have more playing going on than Talon. Only one range was open and it was packed before the round.
Talon is a bit tighter off the tee than Raptor. Still fun, playable and challenging. Talon has some fun holes including the last three holes to finish. Conditions were good but the course had a number of areas marked as GUR. I also noticed a large number of turf replacement throughout the course. A few bunkers were also marked as GUR with free drops. Tee boxes were good with a couple uneven lies and bare spots. Fairways had a number of bare spots but the "summer preferred lie" was invoked by the club. I didn't really have to take advantage of that today but my playing partners did. Bunkers were ok and a bit dried out. Greens were in very good shape and consistent through the round. They were a joy to putt on because of the speed and consistency through the day.
Beverage cart was around quite often and they do have a number of water stations throughout the course.
Grayhawk is the type of course I don't play very often but it's definitely worth it go give Talon a try with current conditions.
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Played a twilight Friday round at Montebello this week for $32 with a cart with three friends for our 30-year high schoo... » More

Played a twilight Friday round at Montebello this week for $32 with a cart with three friends for our 30-year high school reunion weekend. POP was actually pretty good as we found a sweet spot between groups and didn't get held up at all until the 12th hole.

Overall conditions at Montebello are quite playable but far from lush. The greens are running at med-fast speed and are in pretty good shape all things considered. Nothing too tricky about these greens but you do have to dial in the varying speeds based on some bumps here or there. Held shots well though.

Fairways were mostly okay in majority of areas but definitely some thin lies to contend with and lots of dirt/GUR areas that you'll want to avoid. Rough is of varied height but nothing too difficult to contend with at all. Tee boxes were in good shape for the most part, but the bunkers remain very thin and grainy like the first and only other time I visited Montebello two years prior. That's fine in the fairways but not so much near the greens.

It's very serviceable golf right now with some pretty cool holes that will challenge your game, some really long par 4s that will require more than one good shot per hole and a few elevations and water features that keep things interesting throughout the round. I'd come back again in a pinch.
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Played here at 7:12 Tuesday morning, 8/14 with rob1563. Great fun and thanks to Rob for getting me the OB Sports rate! W... » More

Played here at 7:12 Tuesday morning, 8/14 with rob1563. Great fun and thanks to Rob for getting me the OB Sports rate! We got sent to the tee early but a few groups were stacked up waiting to start, so we began right on time. Hot temps but tolerable. Service was good and beverage cart came around a couple times. Pace was good at just over 4:00.

I found the conditions to be surprisingly good for mid-August. I'll get the bad out of the way first: A few greens are starting to dry out, resulting in some occasional dead spots. Fairways are a little spotty sometimes and browned out in some areas. But otherwise, I thought things were quite good considering the time of year. Greens held full shots well and rolled mostly smooth about medium speed. Fairways and rough had good coverage. I wasn't in any greenside bunkers but the fairway bunkers I was in were good. Tee boxes were decent, a little inconsistent but fine.

Design-wise, I felt the course felt similar to nearby Badlands (RIP) and TPC Las Vegas, but lacking some of the drama those courses deliver(ed). Like those courses, it offers some great mountain views. The desert areas at Angel Park aren't too severe, and it seems you can often find your ball and play it. Overall, it's a decent mid-range option in the Vegas area, but not a "destination"-type layout you'll remember vividly.

I made a Flickr photo album of 35 photos that can be viewed by copying and pasting this URL: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmounAhx
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Amazing that the South course is adjacent to the North course and the conditions of the two course could not be more dif... » More

Amazing that the South course is adjacent to the North course and the conditions of the two course could not be more different. Greens on the South are fair at best, thin, patchy, bare spots, etc. In fact holes #2 and #5 are temporary greens and in truth there should be at least two others used as temps. Many of the tee boxes are thin and bare are well. I elevation on the South is lower than the North course, but hard to accept that would account for the difference in their condition.

Fairways are still good and all the bunkers are in great shape. Hoping that once this heat wave passes, conditions will return to normal ?
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It seems that a number of people have left Dove Canyon which is just next door to Coto and have joined here. As a resul... » More

It seems that a number of people have left Dove Canyon which is just next door to Coto and have joined here. As a result, the course is much busier in the early mornings. Lots of singles in carts. (Trying to get in before work? or just playing holes? ) Rather annoying.

Course is in nice shape right now, has held up to the recent heat wave very well. Greens rolling true. Fairways green & lush. Bunkers are near perfect. A few issues with the rough, but nothing of consequence.
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I played Aguila 8/18 around noon. Rate off the website was $20. Municipally run course with the bare essentials in rega... » More

I played Aguila 8/18 around noon. Rate off the website was $20. Municipally run course with the bare essentials in regards to customer service but the employees I encountered were friendly and welcoming.
My expectations were pretty low considering the rate and their tee sheet was wide open. They changed once I got to the practice range. Lots of new grass on the range and good targets.
The course was in the best shape tee to green of any I have played this summer. I understand I don’t play the high end courses consistently but man Aguila was in awesome shape.
Fairways had full coverage of grass with zero bare spots. I was amazed to see that this time of year. Greens had been punched recently but putted wonderful and were receptive of well struck shots. Sand traps were awesome. Soft fluffy sand in all the bunkers I was in. You could actually make a swing and not worry about the club bouncing off hard packed dirt.
Overall, this is a course to play given conditions. Not a fancy, high end course but man great conditions.
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Played Fri Aug 17th with the OFG group at 7.07 I live in Norco so this was a drive for me. Got there way too early for ... » More

Played Fri Aug 17th with the OFG group at 7.07 I live in Norco so this was a drive for me. Got there way too early for breakfast someplace else which was way too expensive, (typical O. C.) Check in was quick $34 walking rate and this is an easy course to walk. I haven't played here since 2010 so i only remembered 1 or 2 holes. This is a short course with 3 par 4s at 250 yards, but there are plenty of holes to hit drivers on. Water comes into play on many holes. Like all the courses now there were spots that were over watered. The greens were receptive and rolled faster than expected, traps appeared to have good sand. You need to know the course since there are dog legs, water and sand in front of many greens. The guys I played with helped me with that until 18, (they were off to the left in the trees) I didn't know how far the water on the right extended and after a good drive to center fairway I took too much on and put it in the water for a double on the hole, (dang I needed a par for 79, which would have been my 1st sub 80) oh well. POP was good at 343. Service in the restaurant was not good and we ended up getting up and not eating.
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The onslaught of triple digit weather in the valley is starting to show. The course is still in decent to nice shape bu... » More

The onslaught of triple digit weather in the valley is starting to show. The course is still in decent to nice shape but there are now some brown spots and thin lies in the fairways throughout the course. Greens have held up and still have plenty of life in them. Greens are receptive to approach shots and only a few had some bumpiness to them from ball marks.

Overall rating for the course is around a 7-7.5. As others have mentioned NO WATER on the course?!?! In two years they went from having bottled water in coolers stationed throughout the course to No Water at all.

Overall, it's a fun track with above average (for Muni courses) conditions.
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Played 8/17 at noon. 5:10 POP.

The course packed, waited on just about every hole, but that is to be expected ... » More

Played 8/17 at noon. 5:10 POP.

The course packed, waited on just about every hole, but that is to be expected at Rancho. The course was in pretty good shape. The tee boxes were level but had more than a few bare spots. There was always a decent spot to tee it up, par 3s were a little more sparse.

The fairways were thin in spots but were nice to play from. A few dirt patches on 3/4 holes in places where you want to be hitting from.

The rough was typical, mostly around 2 inches. Some spots were dirt and some had grown out to about 6 inches. Where it was long as typically spots you shouldn’t be hitting from.

The greens, aside from unfixed ball marks, were pretty good. I’d say 3 greens had some issues with dead grass. The other greens were rolling true, but at a medium pace.
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Finally got a chance to play Rustic after years of seeing enthusiastic reviews on GK. I was in Ventura for the SCGA Seni... » More

Finally got a chance to play Rustic after years of seeing enthusiastic reviews on GK. I was in Ventura for the SCGA Senior 4-Ball Net Championship M/TU, 8/13-14/18, and decided to stop at Rustic on my way back to Orange County on Tuesday afternoon. Because of the distance from OC, the need to drive across Los Angeles and back (always best avoided!), my family situation, etc., I rarely if ever get up into that area anymore, and likely won't in future, so I decided this might be my last chance. Drove over from Ventura and booked for a twilight rate at 2pm, playing with a local who had only played here once. He had very little recollection of the course – I had looked at the course on Google Earth and I bought the yardage book, so at least I had a “map”. No GPS on the cart, but many sprinklers are marked and there are some yardage plates out there. The yardage book was most helpful. Repeated plays here are a must to know where to hit it off the tee and how best to approach the greens, depending on pin position. The course was not crowded on this hot Tuesday afternoon and we finished in just over 3 hours.

Course layout and topography at Rustic reminded me of Arroyo Trabuco/Talega/Black Gold in Orange County. On the recommendation of some GK friends I played Blue (6,628/71.6/128), which brought many more forced carries and difficult sightlines from the tees into play, compared to the White tees. I was glad I had the yardage book on several holes to help determine best playing lines, but after 3 par-5s on the front, the back nine has several tough par-4s that require long, precise tee shots and strong approaches. And after conditions at Olivas I had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to the green/apron design setup at Rustic. The aprons right now are almost indistinguishable from the greens both in color and texture, but the greens are firm and the aprons are soft after recent verticutting. You can easily putt across them, but apron speeds there are different from those on the greens.

Greens generally had good coverage and rolled well. Some are pretty small, and some are very deep and/or wide. Some greens are almost dead flat, and others have significant mounds, swales, and ridges. Knowing where to miss around the greens is important. The canyon effect on putts must always be considered, as putts consistently broke sharply down the canyon axis, along with the effects of wind and the canyon sidewalls. It’s hot and dry here, and fairways are thin but coverage overall is good and we generally had good lies. Rough along the fairways is thin to bare to sand. The native areas can quickly get “lost ball” and should be avoided. (“Snakes” signs were out!) I was in a couple of bunkers and sand was dry, small-grained, and easy to play from, but some of those narrow “slit-trench” bunkers look evil! Tees are large and generally fine. No sand refill boxes on the par-3 tees.

I loved the design and challenges of the course, but don’t know if I’ll ever have an opportunity to get back here. Recommended.
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Played in the Thursday night twilight shotgun. Next Thursday 8/23/18 is the last evening. Course is really in fantastic ... » More

Played in the Thursday night twilight shotgun. Next Thursday 8/23/18 is the last evening. Course is really in fantastic shape for summer. Fairway's are mostly in great shape. Greens can get a little bumpy in the afternoon, but are soft with good pace. My favorite twilight course in SD by far.
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Played the back nine on 8/5/18 Summer has taken a pretty big bite. Fairway's are mostly green with many dry/brown areas ... » More

Played the back nine on 8/5/18 Summer has taken a pretty big bite. Fairway's are mostly green with many dry/brown areas mixed through out. The green areas are great. The dry areas are hard pan. I'd say it's somewhere around a 65/35 that you find the good grass from Tee.
Green at SVR have always been very slow. This day they were berber carpet slow and very bumpy. Nothing a good mow and roll wouldn't solve! Were very receptive and mostly in green lush shape. Bunkers were very firm, but looked consistent. If you can find a deal fun can be had.
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