Got a GolfNow tee time before noon at less than $30 for a Wed. $7.50 for medium bucket to warm up. Fairways were muddy in spots, with damage from tire tracks. Greens were mostly rolling pure. There are some very quick greens: 3, 5 (2-tier), 7, 8, and 16 stand out. If above the hole, a mere touch will send the ball 10 feet past. Also, these greens are surrounded by bunkers. Must account for the 130 slope from the blue tees. If you're a short hitter off the tee, like me, it's tough to avoid a very challenging 3rd shot out of the sand when hitting a 2nd shot wih a 3-hybrid from 180+ yds. It might be better to lay-up short of the green, chip on, and try to make par with a 1-putt. A tap-in bogey will also suffice for those of us who struggle to break 90. Some of the greens aren't so heavily sloped e.g, 1, 2, 6, 12-15, so lag putting is much easier. There are some well-placed trees, 8 & 9, which block out approach shots if on the wrong side of the fairway.

I play bogey golf, but almost never do it here. Just too many lost balls and penalty strokes. Layout is too difficult for high handicappers. Here is my typical round from white tees: 1: fairly easy hole, can make par sometimes, no tough hazards, large landing areas. 2: shortish par 4. with good tee shot, can reach green in 2. But, 2nd shot easy to go long, then tough chip downhill from sticky rough. 3: long par 4, can't reach green in 2, but normal hazards. Par is rare. 4: keep tee shot away from lake on right. 2nd shot from 150ish yds aim left to stay dry, then downhill chip to green. Usually bogey. 5: bigger green`now. Tee shot about 155 yds. if take more club to ensure clear water, wind up way long in street behind green with penalty. If hit 5 or 6 iron heavy, in water. Or, bail out left, chip on, try to make bogey. 6: long par 4. Drive in rough, can't reach green on approach. chip on, 2-putt bogey. 7: very tough 175-180 yd tee shot with lake on left side. either go right & face traps, overhanging trees, &/or thick rough, or go for green, & if drift left, get wet. easy to make double. 8: Par 5, good drive and 2nd shot puts you in range of reaching green in 3. Bogey is OK. 9: large landing area to left. right is in street. narrow 2nd shot. Go left and OB. 10: need good drive, stay right away from lake, to have shorter iron to fly water and stay on green. tough approach. Lay-up in front of water is option for safe bogey. 11: drive is not problem if stay left. 2nd shot nearly impossible to stay in play. narrows, blind view over ridge to fairway. lost ball & double is standard. 12: tee shot is a puzzle. short/long, nothing seems to work, with narrow landing area. usually OB, head for drop area. Likely double. 13: landing area wide for tee shot. Narrows on 2nd and 3rd shots. Bogey is good. 14: hit it straight, with good contact or lost ball. Risky hole, can make from par to double. 15: good drive down middle kicks left, can be OB. short par 4, so can make bogey if 2nd shot close to green. 16: good contact with long iron usually results in at worst a bogey. Short, and in junk/unplayable. 17: very tough hole. drive has to stay right of fwy trap. if go for elevated green on approach, likely short & in hazard. Or, lay-up with wedge, then middle of green from about 100 yds, hope for 2-putt bogey. 18: stay right of lake with drive. short of huge green, can chip on, make safe bogey. If I lose less than 1/2 dozen balls during round, I've done well.

Been several years since I last played here. POP was good, no more than 4 1/2 hours for our 4some. Course is interesting, with a variety of holes - short, uphill, par 4s, or long downhill par 4s and 5s, that play shorter than distance. There is a bail out option on most approach shots, e.g., stay right to avoid deep greenside traps on left. Although there are lots of OB areas, it's easier to keep ball in play than say the back 9 at Tijeras Creek (see holes 11, 12, 14). The fairways were cut very short, so lots of roll out. Sand in traps was deep enough to be fair. My difficulty was with the slow speed of the greens. I had just played on some fast greens last week. I couldn't hit my lag putts hard enough to get close to the hole. Left myself lots of 6-8 fters for par, which I mostly missed. From what I heard, the greens were a mess this past year due to poor conditions. They are finally on the mend. Only 1 green, either 11 or 13, still looked very patchy and in bad shape. #18 has been leveled so a tee shot doesn't roll right to left across the fairway into the lake. Weekday senior rate (age 60+) for $55 plus $7 for bucket of 50 range balls not too pricey for a more upscale round than the typical muni course. Easy drive as it's just off the 5, Avery Pkway exit. Will return soon.

The driving range is closed for remodeling for at least 3 more weeks. I wish Greenskeeper or the RSJ GC website had posted this info so I could have stopped elsewhere to warm-up before my round. The course was in better condition. Some of the fairways had deeper, greener grass than I've seen in the past. The traps were hardpan, so hit down at steeper angle. Greens were fairly quick and not too marked up. Pin placement in the front on 15 makes it very tricky. Very tough to keep first putt from rolling off green. POP kinda slow, but still finished in about 4:40 hours. Carts allowed on 1, 3 & 18 fariways in attempt to speed up play.

Course is recovering from soggy fairways marked by ugly electric cart tracks as it dries out after rains in December-January. For example, on #2, the gully about 100 yards from the green was a mess a month ago. Looked a lot better. Greens were mostly smooth, quick but not too much. Pace of play about the same, still slower than it should be. Today, however, finished in under 5 hours, so improvement. Great course to walk as mostly flat. Easy to get out mid-morning as walk-on single.

Free birthday round. Wonderful deal - everything is provided, including range balls and lunch. Your partners get 1/2 off green fee. Overnight rain stopped, so conditions were ideal. Course was empty, fairways dried up during the day, greens were still fast, no casual water to speak of. Several greens are 2 or 3 tiered. If back pin and you are on lower tier, don't leave it short or else your ball will return. Sand in bunkers was soft despite earlier rain. We walked, to avoid running back and forth across the fairways from a cart path only day. Flat course so walking wasn't strenuous. Layout on most holes allows for recovery from short or sprayed shots. However, on 9 and 18, the water in front and to the sides of the greens swallows less than well-struck/aimed balls. Outstanding day.

Tustin Ranch Golf Club Review
Southern California Golf Course Reviews

I went off as a single walk-on on a Wed. about 11:30. A tournament was ahead, playing very slow. No starter, so I was on my own. I let a foursome play through, then combined with a twosome behind me. Every tee box was a 10-20 minute wait. I could see the players in the groups ahead sitting in their carts as they waited for a group that was 250 yds. ahead of them. Then, after the green cleared, they got out of their carts, found their club, took several pratice swings, hit, and didn't reach the green. This went on agonizingly slow, hole after hole. I finally had enough and walked off on #16. I've played here many times, like the track, great to walk, greens are fast, and challenging from the blues or whites. But, the pace problem will keep me away for some time.

Navy Golf Course Review
Cypress California Golf Course Reviews

played here many times. disappointed at lack of honesty from pro shop on status of greens. When we booked our tee time on Monday, We were told greens were good, recovered from aeratiom earlier this month. I should have been alerted by small crowd on range as I warmed up. Guy who checked me in sais it was slow all week so far, but wanted to play himself cuz conditions were good. Also fooled by practice green that was smooth, very quick. When we got to the first green, it was filled with sand. What a surprise. 2nd and 3rd greens were the same. Sandy with some holes from punching at unknown earlier date. Then, we noticed that some greens were more recovered from sanding than others. the back 9 was slightly better. On 16, I could see a line down the middle of the green: the left half was pretty good where the pin was located, but the right half was still showing sand. The fairways were also looking beat up. Lots of big divots that hadn't been filled in. The aeration alert on greenskeeper.org can't be right with the conditions I saw today.

had 12 noon tee time @ senior rate on a Thursday. Starter rushed me to catch up to twosome already in #1 fairway, 10minutes early. no time on practice green. then it was wait behind slow 4somes ahead of us. we were now a 4some, too. what was the big hurry if we were going to wait anyway? at #10 teebox waited nearly 30 mins. for 2 groups backed up. fairways were brown and #1, for example, was recently fertilized. greens were super fast. traps were very hard pan, with 1-2 inches of soft sand. layout was interesting, with lots of elevation changes. par 3s were surprisingly short. snack bar only had white bread for sandwiches at 11:15 am. at $69 not worth the price for thin fairways and slow play.

The Crossing at Carlsbad Review
Carlsbad California Golf Course Reviews

Decided to go out yesterday as walk-on single after morning rain stopped. Got twilight rate when sent out at 1:30 pm. Fairways were a bit wet, but not too soggy. Some bunkers still had water in them. Others had wet and hard sand. Course played very long, esp. into wind. Ball did not roll as wet grass acted as a brake. Greens were pure and smooth. Played as a twosome on the front. We were joined by another single on back 9. Front 9 took less than 2 hours. Total round was 4 hours, great for usually slow Mile Square pace.

Mile Square Golf Club Review
Fountain Valley Golf Course Reviews

Sanded and punched half of greens on back 9 on 4-9. Front 9 was ok. By half of green means either right or left half - flag is on other half. Fairways were very ragged, chewed up. Although course looked very busy, pace was not bad - our 3some took less than 5 hours. Sand in bunkers mostly wet and heavy. Enjoyed walking, rather than riding, cuz could get closer to my ball on the cart path only holes with my entire set of clubs. Some tee boxes were "domed," so need to be careful to find a good spot to tee it up. Will return when the aeration is finally completed.

Rancho San Joaquin Golf Course Review
Irvine California Golf Course Reviews

Enjoyed my free birthday round. Booked it 3+ weeks in advance. Good thing as tournament took up lotta morning tee times. My partner got a 50% discount on his green & cart fee. Didn't have time to use up free large bucket on range. The bermuda fairways were cut short so my drives seemed to roll an extra 40-50 yards. Bunkers were filled w/ good quality sand. Greens were super fast, so took awhile to adjust to the speed. Grouped with another birthday player. Everyone was very nice to us......got a free lunch from the snack bar after the round. Will return for any other reasonable discount on green fees.

Tustin Ranch Golf Club Course Review
Tustin California Golf Course Reviews