Joined Johnny and a familiar cast of characters to resurrect (hopefully) GK Plays outings at Mountain View on Saturday morning, 12/20/25, in perfect golf weather – warm, sunny, and almost no wind, playing on a course in wonderful condition. Tee times ranged from 9:30 to 10:30am and we went out on time with few groups in front of us and without anyone close enough behind the final group to cause any waiting.

Conditions were very good throughout the course, which presented as a shimmering green against the muted tones of the surrounding desert environment. Fairways had wall-to-wall coverage of firm turf that gave excellent lies. Coverage in the rough adjacent to fairways was 1-2 inches deep and somewhat wet at the start of the round, but was very playable; if you got too wide there were scraped dirt areas and scattered rock fields to navigate. I was not in any bunkers, but playing partners looked like they had good lies with sand having a fairly shallow playing layer of firm sand. Tees were well-marked and all level and provided good peg opportunities. I hit from the turf on the par-3s and had perfect lies available.

Greens were challenging from the standpoint of firmness and quickness. Most ballmarks were very small and full shots released significantly. Downhill putts had significant rollout and all greens have many subtle small breaks that surprised all of us through the day. Coverage on the greens was excellent and speeds were consistent throughout the day.

Saw the cart girl once on the front and several times on the back side. Restrooms are well-marked and clean and all have water/ice stations. Carts with good-quality GPS, comfortable with ice chest and ball/club washer. Staff was very helpful from bag drop to coordinating the start to receiving golfers after the round.

Great to see old friends again and meet new GKers. I’m hopeful that the GK Plays can take off and be well-received by the SoCal GK community. Playing fun, well-conditioned courses like Mountain View helps to enhance the experience and increase anticipation for future events. Thanks to Johnny for all he does.

Played all 3 nines over the past two weeks, including my first full 18 holes in 6 months on the 1-2 combo on Wednesday, 12/10/25, trying to get better prepared for the GK Plays Desert Willow on 12/20. With the cooler weather and no rain in 2+ weeks, the courses are dry, fairly firm, and play fast across the close-cut fairways. Lies in the fairways are not lush but generally good. Rough has thinned out with the dry spell and is generally easy to hit from. Greens are dry and pretty firm – approach shots generally leave only small ballmarks. Greens roll well at medium+ speed and are dangerous downhill as speed must be controlled. Some greens have scattered bare spots/damaged turf. Traps are in only OK condition with firm, thin playing layers being the norm. Tees can be spongy and somewhat uneven, but are generally OK to hit from. Ongoing issues include no on-course monitors to move play (although generally 9s are completed in just over 2 hours); unrepaired ballmarks and sand raking (common everywhere, I guess); and questionable playing etiquette from too many members.

Course 3 again on a beautiful, pleasant day. Time change has pushed everyone to start earlier, and the Club Championship was finishing up so many fivesomes packed across courses 1 and 2.

Conditions are similar to previous reviews. However, several greens on course 3 had scattered bare spots. Greens are pretty firm and quick despite the recent aerification in late September – beware the downhill putt or the extended rollout. Tees look like they’ve recently been thatched or whatever – many areas of ruffled grasses. The short par-3 4th had a hitting mat set up to one side for all tees as the main teebox was being worked on. Fairways and rough are pretty short and tight – both have many/scattered thin/bare spots that make for tight/difficult lies. Traps continue to be very firm with only a very shallow surface layer.

Generally, always a good pace and amenable to a relaxed play.

Back out to LWV, this time to Course 3 (the shortest 9) at 3pm on Wednesday, 10/29/25. We managed to pick the hottest day of this week when mild Santa Ana conditions sent temperatures into the low 90s. As a result, many fewer players and we fell behind a quick twosome and were occasionally pushed by a single playing multiple balls (I think).

Course conditions remain similar to those described previously, but with the hot weather period making the fairways (and rough) thinner and drier. Traps remain a challenge with most having a very thin playing layer over a firm base. Greenside bunkers with high lips are especially challenging. Tees are fine. In the warm weather and hot breeze greens are firmer and faster – a lot of shots release over the back, and downhill putts are WHA??!!

Challenging mainly from the standpoint that my short game continues to be ghastly!

Back out to LWV after a month away from the clubs, playing Course 1 (the longest 9; 3 par 5s, 3 par-3s) at 1:15pm on Thursday, 10/23/25, on a pleasant sunny day with surprising afternoon breezes. This course usually beats me up with the combination of length, kikuyu turf, bunkers fronting greens, and my general lack of skill, especially the short game. The first tee was crowded ahead of us and we got off a few minutes late, but few groups behind us. These courses usually move play along fairly well, and POP today was just over 2 hours for 9 holes. We waited only occasionally for a few minutes on some tees and in fairways.

Fairways generally have decent coverage, although you might find a variety of grasses in close proximity. Rough is much more of a crapshoot, ranging from lush kikuyu, thick-stemmed kikuyu that’s been roughed up by equipment or chance evil, thinner/shorter grasses, or even bare spots. Especially in the kikuyus the ball can sit down or get into holes/slots within the grass, challenging recoveries. Many rough areas fronting greens can be thin-to bare, making for tough chip/pitch lies. Weirdly, rough beside/behind greens is mostly pretty lush. Tees are level and set wide, affording ample area to put your peg.

Overall, greens had good coverage and rolled consistently. In the afternoon breeze and bright sunshine, greens that were more exposed to sun/wind or on crowns were noticeably firmer and faster than other greens, especially on downhill putts! – our group was left with a number of 5-8 foot comebackers. Traps continue to be firm with only a shallow playing layer, OK in fairway traps but more difficult around the greens.

Overall still solid conditions, fairly low stress with few holes on property having OB in play and almost no marked penalty areas. Good for a relaxed play if you have access.

Played 9 holes on Course 2 yesterday at 3pm, joining a local for a relaxed round on a pleasant, breezy, sunny day. LWV is in their maintenance cycle right now – Course 1 is closed this week and we could see some of the sanded greens during our round. Course 2 will be closed for punch/sand next week, and the greens on 2 today were pretty firm and released most shots. Lots of ballmarks on the greens as it appears players are letting next week’s maintenance take care of their damage. Course 3 will be punched the week of 9/22, and the par-3 course the following week.

A blustery wind made things more challenging yesterday as many of the lower-handicap holes play uphill and/or into the wind. Decent pace of a little over 2 hours for the nine – Course 2 is the most spread-out of the 3 nines. Overall conditions were consistent with earlier reviews.

Finally got out to the par-3 course at LWV on Wednesday, 8/20/25, around 10am. Never been here before and was expecting a crowd, with all the golfers in LWV. But it was sunny, hot, and muggy, and there were only a few scattered groups on the course. It's walking only here - carts are not allowed, except for pull carts, so I'm sure that contributed to the light useage that morning. There’s a small clubhouse with a starter shack – there are no tee times, you just show up and get in line to play.

The course is set in a multi-fingered drainage area in the midst of scattered housing, with a central pond and the holes playing down toward or up away from the pond. Distances range from 80 to 130 yards. Some of the elevation changes are surprising. 2 holes have forced carries over fingers of the pond. Greens are small and don't have any real undulation; a couple are fairly slopy. But if you are on the green you have a chance to make a putt.

Tees are small and showed a lot of divot damage; sand bottles are not available. No real fairways and the grass is lush, thick kikuyu, so chipping and pitching can be challenging. A few of the greens are fronted by surprisingly large sand traps - I was in one, with a very firm base under a thin playing layer. Greens had been punched recently with small holes and partially sanded, but rolls were good and speeds consistent.

I’m guessing the course gets more play when the weather gets cooler.

Back out to LWGC on Friday, 8/15/25, for 9 holes joined by local GKer Itslikeimsayin, on a sunny, warm day with a cooling southwest breeze to take the edge off. [Also out last week in 90+ degree temps that reduced me to a barely active pillar of sweat – not conducive to any good golf on my part.] We got to start a little early and had a fun, relaxed round in well less than 2 hours.

The course was relatively uncrowded for what I’ve seen in the past, as the group ahead was playing fairly quickly, and the group behind us was up close on only a couple holes. Conditions were similar to my previous reviews – smallish greens were receptive and rolling well at medium speed. Lots of unfixed ballmarks today. Fairway coverage was generally good although I wound up in dry/thin spots a couple times. White tee boxes were pretty level and grassed except for the par 3s which have very narrow, small boxes. I was in one greenside trap with a thin sand layer over a firm underbase and I bounced the clubhead into the ball – at least some operator error there. Rough can be variable, from short/dry to deep/juicy where you have to really search for your ball. Both fairway and rough grasses are sticky and cut down roll and swallow offline shots. And in general don’t try to bounce your shots onto the greens.

It was great seeing Mark again and I hope to connect with other GKers as I try to re-find my swing and build back my stamina and enthusiasm.

Played 9 holes on Friday afternoon, 7/18/25, on a sunny, warm day with little wind. Very surprised to find the course almost empty – teed off as a single at 2:30pm and never saw anyone behind me. Several twosomes stretched out in front of me, but with the combination of my shaky play and sometimes hitting two balls I never really waited on anyone, finishing in just under 2 hours. Conditions continue to be good – good fairway coverage, variable rough height but good coverage, greens consistent in being somewhat soft on the surface but releasing approach shots a few yards. Speeds are medium+; a couple greens can fool you with very slow uphill putts and breaks around the cup. Tee boxes generally pretty firm and dry. Greenside traps could use a deep raking and some additional sand. All the kikuyu cuts down on roll, eats your ball up in the rough, and gobbles up pitch shots short of the green.

Played LWV on 6/6/25 and 6/13/25 – 9 holes each time, as I’m not yet strong enough to finish 18 holes without staggering. Three nines here offer a variety of lengths, while conditions are similar across all. Generally good conditions – level tees, fairways in good condition with very few thin/bare spots, rough that is generally fairly short and playable. Greens are small, and don’t have much tiering, but can be slopy with unexpected breaks around the hole. The weather has been mild this winter and temps haven’t gotten hot yet, so greens have been fairly moist and accepting of shots. Surprise – a lot of members don’t fix ball marks! Most traps are fairly open and flat with okay-to-good coarse sand, but a few are pretty deep. More slope across many holes than you might expect from looking from a distance. The courses are always busy with lots of members, but play on all nines generally comes in at around 2 hours.

Played my first 18-hole round in more than 14 months at Laguna Woods Village GC on Thursday, May 1 at 1:08pm, then got out again around 2pm on Thursday, May 15. Sunny days with steady and occasionally blustery winds and shirt-sleeve temperatures. We sold our house in Mission Viejo last year and moved to this gated senior community, but this was my first chance to get out as we finally think we have stabilized my wife’s health issues. The course is within the confines of the Village and is thereby quick to get to and back.

There’s a total of 27 holes over 3 nine-hole courses – various combinations of 2 nines can be played. The course dates back to 1964 and is a David Rainville design. [There’s also a walking-only 9-hole par-3 course I haven’t seen yet.] Blue tee distances on the nines range from 2,626 to 3,110. It’s all kikuyu all the time for turf, which right now means less runout in fairway areas and quicker stops in the rough areas. However, most fairways are wide and the rough is currently cut fairly short. Greens on the 3 nines were aerated over the last half of April – depending on which 9 you were playing, you would encounter greens with visible hole indentations and a light scattering of sand, up to almost fully-recovered greens that showed little evidence of the maintenance.

Fairway coverage was generally good. Tees were generally set pretty wide, except on a few of the shorter par-3s where the box was small, but all tee boxes could be dry, patchy, and hard to put a peg into in some places. Most of the greens have sand bunkers in front or along the sides; fairway bunkers are fewer and frequently not really in play. Sand in the greenside bunkers was pretty firm but generally adequate for good escapes, although one of the ones I found had almost no playing layer.

Distances on the card are not long, but the turf conditions and many holes playing uphill and/or into the wind dictate greater distance requirements. There is some elevation change across the course and occasionally within holes. All par-4 and -5 holes have a striped post at 150 yards COG, as well as plates at 100 and 200 yards COG. Par-3 tees usually feature SCGA yardage plates at the card distances.

Greens are mostly pretty flat without much tiering. Speeds were maybe medium-slow, likely as the aftermath of recent aeration. We’ll see if they get faster as summer comes on. As a result of the punching the greens were pretty soft, and so easily accepted most shots.

I was surprised that the course was not listed on GK and no reviews have been posted. There aren’t that many listed GK members in the LWV zip code, but the surrounding codes in South OC have a combined hundreds of members. The fact that it’s a private layout (all residents are members) contributes, but guest play with a member is allowed.

After a long layoff. My game was very inconsistent, especially my iron play. I hit a few good drives, escaped well from the sand a couple times (shocker!), but I didn’t make any putts, carding a 44-48=92 and then a 44=46=90 and really being exhausted from this unusual activity. Need to build my endurance back up while I work on re-finding my swing.

Played Oak Quarry on Wednesday, 2/28/24, at 12:08 in a GK Cup 20 match with Cup newcomer Kramnetto2. Course was apparently pretty busy that morning as the shop had no range balls at 11:30am, so no warm-up. Carts are nice but it looks like they’ve removed the ball washer/club cleaner from the carts – too bad.

The course was in decent shape with obvious question marks. After all the rain we had there are still large swaths of fairway that are thin/brown/tight – great for rollout but not so much for lie and playability. Greens had good coverage but needed to be cut and rolled – they looked fuzzy and rolled at just medium pace with a lot of bumpiness. They were fairly firm but held full shots. Most traps were in good shape but on some holes a bunker renovation is underway and you can only chip out or drop outside the bunker – we did the latter.

Most of the lakes are now full and there were no bird problems. Pace of play was slow and we finished in just under 5 hours – I don’t recall seeing any course employees out on the course. The interactive GPS message wants you to use the drop zones on the tough par-3 7th hole, but there were no marked drop zones anywhere on the hole. I went into the shop just before tee-off and again when we finished with questions/comments, but no one was around either time.

Love OQ but would like to see a tighter ship and improved conditions.