Walked the blues today early afternoon 6/30/25 with my buddy Pedro out from Ohio. We were joined by a nice twosome. We had beautiful breezy weather around 70 degrees with up to a 2 club wind at times. Pop was 5 hrs 30 minutes which is one of the longer rounds I have played out here but when you are with friends, playing well and the weather is perfect we didn't mind much. Hit a couple range balls and we were off just about 5 minutes past our 12:10pm tee time.

Olivas continues to thrive conditions wise.

Fairways in really nice shape mostly all lush, padded and your ball sitting up nicely. The first two Fairways there are a couple spots they are still sanding/sodding but those are marked gur. Fairway rating 8/10

Tees also in really nice shape level and lush. Rated 8/10

Rough rating 8.5/10 beautiful thicker lush just off the fairways.

Was not in any bunkers today.

Greens were in really nice shape rolling around a 10.5 on the stimp. Very receptive to well struck irons.

If you can negotiate the afternoon winds and the undulations in the greens there are some nice scoring holes and several hang on to your hat holes into the afternoon sea breeze.

Recommended.

Played here on June 29th 2025 early morning. POP was good compared to other courses in the area. Overall the course conditions were good. Fairway was in good shape the putting greens seem also in very good shape and very receptive to chip shots.

Played yesterday early AM to avoid the heat. Tee boxes were good. Fairways are drying out in some areas but they all had good rollout. Bunkers were all clean at that time so no issues. Greens are all in good shape for chipping and putting. Good service in shop as usual.

The course is very nice. It's a mountain course so it is also very tough. Every hole has trouble on both sides and it's a little tight. Overall its a very good course, but if you're looking for an easy course you might want to look somewhere else.

played here for the first time on Sunday 6/29. 8:20 tee time, 4:45 hr round. Greens slow and bumpy, like a 8 on the stimp... someone in my group thinks they are still recovering from a punch a month ago and are struggling with healing. course in below average muni shape... Wide open layout with some interesting routings. I would like to come out in the future and give it another chance. It was super hot. Burger was excellent. Cart girl came around twice.

First time back out at Rustic Canyon in almost five years so needless to say I was quite excited to get back out on this Gil Hanse gem. It was supposed to be a crazy hot Friday afternoon but it turned out just perfect and not even too much wind careening down the canyon. Epic.

The prices at Rustic have definitely gone up since my last visit, but it was always likely underpriced if we're being honest, so I was okay with the new cost. You do get what you pay for and here it's nothing but golf goodness, especially when the conditions are so good.

Greens were just tremendous and it's always fun to navigate those massive complexes. Am I on the green or am I not? Can I chip from here? SHOULD I chip from here? It's wonderfully tense decision making at its finest but the payoffs are fabulous. Greens rolled really nice, not as super fast as expected, but still demanding of your full attention. Just wonderful.

Fairways were in very nice shape as well with superb coverage in just about every area. Sure, it's hot out there so a few hot spots are going to find your ball, but it's 100% the exception rather than the rule. The rough is only to be found in a few spots as you're either in the fairway or in a native area sprinkled with a playable (in many cases) fescue that draws in all errant shots. Tee boxes (played the blues) were flat and in very good shape, while the bunkers all had good sand in them but it's not of the super fluffy and light variety.

Course layout everyone knows but it's just so good and fun. Get your scoring in on the front nine as the back is going to give you a bit of a harder time, but they're both equally engaging and challenging routes. It was hot so we took a cart and they were nicely appointed but do have an annoying GPS trait where they show you a color-contoured green map on every approach and you can't simply turn that part off which is vexing. Seems an easy fix!

So yes, get out to Rustic as soon as you can and you won't be disappointed.

Great time at Valencia Country Club “BIG V” on Monday. We found out why Valencia CC was a recent sectional finals US OPEN qualifier. The bunkers, green complexes and pin placements played so tough. Missing the green, anywhere was going to seriously test your short game. My ball striking was solid off the tee, which you got to have out there, and I was hitting my irons mostly clean, but my iron game accuracy was off just enough to find a nasty greenside bunker on most holes (10 to 12 holes – lost count after 10). Some holes multiple bunkers and most of the time multiple shots to escape a bunker. But my sand game right now is so dialed in for my next round – LOL.

Super day playing with GDR23, rgm2525 and mark_6m. Valencia CC was in fantastic playing condition. Lush tee to green. Bunkers are well maintained, groomed with high quality sand. The sand was consistently soft, a little thick and a little heavy. It made for a great playing surface. Never was my ball plugged or fried egg. Greens were smooth, held shots (except hole 14) and medium/fast. Stay below the hole if possible and don’t short side yourself with tough pitch shots. Tee Boxes were lush, level and groomed. What stood out the most to me was the improvement of the fairways. Two years ago, Valencia CC reopened after a full new improved heat/drought tolerant turf replacement. There were complaints at first as you can see by reading some of the past reviews here on Greenskeeper.org. But now, the fairways look fully established, providing excellent lies and driver rollout. It’s a blast hitting tee shots on this track and being rewarded well for finding the fairway.

We had a fun Skill Challenge Putting Contest where we tried to replicate JJ’s Spaun’s winning US OPEN putt. L-R, 64 feet, 5 inches. Over 100 tries, no one drained it. Super job mark_6m running the contest. With over 120 players GDR23 and rgm2525 had their hands full at check in. We got a great friendly GKers staff running these :) Great job.

Thank you, Valencia CC, for once again hosting our group and providing an exceptional experience. Thank you, the MOST, to EVERYONE that comes to play the Private Course Monday outings and our coming GK PLAYS! GK is all about community. Love seeing us tee it up together.

6/25/25- Last round in Orlando, a slight delay in the review as it was a wild trip home including lost clubs and bags, thank you Southwest.

I was able to get out and take a drive to Orange County National and play the Panther Lake course. Tee time 7:10AM, hot, humid, and gators on the course. Orange County National is one of the largest golf facilities I have ever been to. The clubhouse is the size of a grocery store, the range can hold at least 100+ people when fully operational, and multiple large putting greens around the property. This place hosts a multitude of events including LIV tournaments and national level junior tournaments. The Crooked Cat course was under a full makeover, so I played the Panther Lake course, which is across the street.

What a course! We started off playing the back 9 first today, as there was some maintenance being done on the 9th fairway in the morning. Played the Green tees which registers at 71.2/132. The challenge was real but also fair. The course has some bunkers in tough spots, very deceiving greens, some water holes, and of course the fear of seeing a gator or two... I saw 1. Everything was great, GPS carts, water and ice on the carts, clean restrooms, a free lunch card for the turn, and a cart lady who found us at least 3 times. As the course goes, the tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers were about as good as you can ask for during this time of the year in central Florida. The greens were slightly sanded and that made it hard to read the breaks at times. Never caught the group ahead of us, and never even saw the group behind us. They run a tight ship here, the marshall's and starter's do not mess around. I spoke with the starter for a long time, this guy was like a drill sergeant. The Marshall watched a few holes we played, and he was nice as I was joking with him

If you ever make it out to this area, I would highly recommend coming to Orange County National. Even if just to practice, this is place.

Played on Saturday in the heat. Fairways were punched last week and in some spots were heavily soaked so we had to pay winter rules with the mud balls and standing water. Greens had also been worked on with small tines, sanding, and verticutting. Surprising speed was still pretty good and of course, balls were holding greens. Sand trap raking preparation is very consistent, however depth of sand is a mixed bag, and there is a certain group of players who just refuse to rake bunkers or repair ball marks. July thru October has historically been the worst conditioned months for this course as the cool season grass dies and the bermuda tries to regrow. Will be interesting to see if new superintendent can do better this summer. Still no sign of new owners after 18 months so of course no capital improvements to golf course. POP was 4 hours so very good.

Played Friday just before 7:00 am, walking for $13 with LA City Senior Card. Can't beat the price for nine holes. Seeing fivesomes go out was a little jarring but we played in less than two hours so no complaints with POP.

The course is in pretty good shape. Decent coverage in the fairways and nice coverage in general in the rough. The rough was not very long but it was still a factor. The tees were generally good although the ball was above my feet on a couple of them. The greens were nice. Medium speed and rolling true.

My friends play the course a couple of days a week. I would not make a regular habit of it but the price is right, it's close, and we were done by 9:00. I will likely be out there again this summer.

Played 6-19-25 as a foursome in carts, finishing in around 4 hours and forty five minutes on a crowded day. Each time I have played here recently the course seems to be in just a little better shape then the previous round. Tees, level, cut tight with good coverage. Fairways , real nice, great lies and decent roll out. Rough, 1-3 inches and semi-thick, great shape. Greenside bunkers, an ample amount of nice heavy white sand. Fairway bunkers, they seem to be letting some of them go, was told they might turn some of them into waste areas so you could grown your club, I think that's a good idea . Greens, rolling smooth at medium/fast pace and playing semi soft, in great shape. Love this course, highly recommend playing.

I played Castle Creek on 6/22, and saw a forum post after asking about it in general so here is a June 2025 review of it.

When you pull up to the parking lot on a Sunday and are one of 3 cars in the parking lot you know something is up. There's a note on the Clubhouse door that says "Back in 5 Minutes." It was really 10-15 minutes before someone came back. From what I could tell they only have one employee that goes between the "Pro Shop" and cart barn.

Positives: The tee time was only $22.50 per player which is unheard in San Diego county for a full-size course weekend rate. The pace of play for my twosome was around 3-3 1/2 hours on account of almost nobody being on the course. Also, the greens were shockingly nice compared to the rest of the course, although the green speed was still very slow.

Negatives: Besides the greens/greenside areas of each hole, the entire course has no grass whatsoever. The carts were the worst I have ever used and seem like they are at minimum from the 1980s. There are no playable bunkers on the course, you have to hit a chip or pitch shot instead if you land in one. There is a lot of overgrowth of trees that block out what probably used to be more open tee shots. Tee Boxes were mostly dirt and rocks, but were surprisingly still pretty level.

Layout: The course layout itself is pretty cool besides holes 10-12. There are around 8 forced carries off of tee shots, and if the trees and bushes were not overgrown, golfers would actually know where to aim to take on some of these risk/reward tee shots. Holes 10-12 are some of the narrowest I have ever played, excluding hole 18 at Balboa Park. Its a shame that the owner has let the course get this bad especially because of all the people who bought homes around the course. I hope that at some point they decide to sell and JC Golf or someone else could revive it like they did with Eagle Crest/Dos Osos Golf Club in Escondido.

If you're really desperate to play 18 holes and there is no availability ANYWHERE else on a weekend, then this is the course for you. For me though, this was definitely the worst course I've ever played, but I expected that going into it, so my expectations weren't too high.