Played 07-02-2025

I’ve been playing Tilden my entire life and wanted to share current conditions of the course but also further thoughts on the design and operations as well.

Tilden is a truly unique layout unique to itself in the serenity that is Tilden Park. The course is beautifully placed in the redwoods with nothing except the Berkeley Hills as its backdrop. The course has an Parkland feel but with a NorCal flair. One of the most difficult courses you can walk on par with Presidio and maybe only bested by Lake Chabot.

The course is in dire need of a renovation as well as new management who can oversee a renovation of this magnitude and continue to maintain the course sufficiently post renovation. If the course were to be renovated properly with a new drainage system and money invested to modernize the layout and design, Tilden could be one of the best courses in the region if not the state due to its amazing setting. The sad thing is even though management has changed multiple times the investment from the East Bay regional park department most likely won’t come.

On to the course conditions. The Bay Area has been blessed with amazing weather again this year, with foggy mornings and evenings being commonplace across the East Bay. This wouldn’t be a problem if Tilden had proper drainage and a grass type that handled moisture better but due to this much of the fairways and rough was overgrown to the point where they were water logged and muddy. Balls hit in the fairway would hardly roll on some holes due to mud and the greens were very soggy considering the time of year.

Tee Boxes: mostly flat but some were over seeded and others are not large enough to move the blocks around to cycle the growth properly. This ends up in the blocks being moved to the front or back of many tee boxes

Fairways: some holes were dried out and had very little coverage, others had long grass and seemed like they hadn’t been mowed in 1-2 weeks. Strange confusing conditions as many good drives were not rolling out as they should. A few were in good shape as well but overall lacked consistency

Greens: most were soggy and slow but the occasional greens that received more sunlight were significantly quicker. They rolled mostly true and were very receptive to irons and wedges

Rough: lots of patchy spots on some holes, some didn’t have a clear cut between the rough and fairway. Overgrown in some areas and damaged by a mowing staff that doesn’t understand how to properly maintain rough.

Bunkers: had decent wet sand that you could play out of but they clearly hadn’t been raked by the maintenance staff in more than a day or longer.

Pace of play wasn’t terrible as I played 9 holes in 1:45 but due to the layout long waits are common on 3-9, 10-12 and 15-16. This round was in the middle of the week at 6PM so expected it to be faster but course was very busy.

Considering the conditions Tilden would be a great course to work on your game but it is seemingly always crowded so makes it difficult to really sell much about this course except for the scenery and the setting. Until the course gets renovated it will continue to struggle with these issues.

The practice facilities are excellent and probably what keeps this place afloat along with the new restaurant.

Camarillo Springs is under new ownership and improvements are already being made!
A renovated driving range is underway, and some tee boxes have been improved.
It needs just about everything maintenance wise except the greens have always been good, and for me that's really the only essential thing. You can play preferred lies if needed for any dirt patches you might encounter.
It was bought by a local farming family, let's support the course, we were lucky this one was saved!

Played June 26th and I'd say course in better shape then when Alex played in Feb. Tee boxes, fairways and greens all pretty good shape, we played blue/white combo. Teed off at 1030, no wind but it got a little breezy on B9 but not horribly windy. Keep in mind if you have not played here the wind can get howling in the afternoon. We waited on many holes but also we were a 2some behind a 2some behind a 4some and the 2 in front of us bailed after 6 holes so while we still waited a bit, I was really surprised to discover we finished in 4hr 10min. The track is links with a few repetitive layouts but still fun to play.

Value always remains a question for me when I play. Is $120 w/cart reasonable for a Thursday? I usually walk but haven't caught up with this friend in a long time so we shared a cart but still $100 for weekday feels a bit steep to me. Full disclosure, I have the Duke's membership for Monterey and NCGA which is an unfair comparison given savings at some great courses. So here I am comparing Poppy Hills, $95 walking to Baylands... it's an unfair compare since Poppy would never be in the same conversation as Baylands but then I just did that :). I would play here again but look for some discounted rate if it exists.

Course continues to be in decent condition even with most days over 100 recently. Set your own pace most times when I play. Tees and fairways well maintained but not nearly as lush as high season. Sand near immaculate. Bermuda rough mowed low with some hardpan spots. Bermuda greens slower than usual. Firm and medium speed. They roll smooth again after May maintenance. Almost no ball marks. Men's lounge nice place to have a meal or get a drink with numerous big screen TV's in a friendly atmosphere. Restaurant good for a golf course. Customer service excellent both inside/outside the club. Practice facilities and the GPS on the carts both excellent. Highly recommended.

Course in decent condition considering it has been above 100 nearly every day recently. But nothing close to the lush green of high season, it's a dryer brownish-green. Tees lush and well maintained. Fairways now firm and play fast with some brown patches here and there. Rough mostly thin with some hardpan. You actually want it to be thicker to stop balls that otherwise will end up in the cactus w/o it. Sand is excellently maintained. Greens are firm and putt medium speed with few ball marks. Carts have nice GPS. Customer service excellent from almost everyone on the staff. Excellent range and good restaurant on site. Highly recommended.

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.