Took part in a charity scramble on Monday 8/24 and with two, extensive, prior reviews, not much to add. Very nice conditions, facilities, views and layout. If you have the opportunity to play here in an event or otherwise, it is definitely worth checking off the list.

This will be late, short, and supplemental to earlier reviews. Course was a halfway point to meet a buddy coming up from Oceanside and me from Montrose. Nice enough course conditions and layout with nothing standing out as exotic. All grass areas from tees through greens were in good shape. Greens ran medium and the bunkers were groomed with sand a little more firm than soft.

Golf carts were current. We rode but it's a good walking course with some contour and no significant elevation. Pace @ 4.5 hrs with another twosome who walked. It served our purposes exactly so not much to complain about and we had a good outing.

I went out a little after noon with a buddy 8/13. It's been a long time since I've been here or this place has had review so I figured it was overdue. A little while back I tweaked my shoulder on the range at Scholl Canyon with what I believe is a rotator cuff injury. Playing was aggravating it so I laid off golf to rest/rehab on my own. Other than a little chipping, Arroyo Seco was my first step easing back into playing and testing a full swing, albeit with short irons. The arroyo is a nice setting for a par-3 outing and this place has been here for a good while. Mats for tees, small greens, no bunkers, well grown in as to grass quality, plenty of trees and a stream running through it. Holes average mostly @90 yards with a few in the 120 range and the single longest @145. Most of the greens were in decent shape for the use they get with at least one exception that had some hard/bare patches. They were soft and took deep pitch marks but ran at a deceptively quicker pace. Fairways and surrounds were mostly good for short game with some scruffy exceptions.

There is a miniature golf section, putting green that allows chipping, and regular driving range. The range mats tend to be off from level but the best/flat matts are at the far right end of the range. The restaurant/bar has been closed for a while and water/beer, balls, etc. can be purchased at the starter window.

It worked out perfectly for me as an appropriate and low stress change of pace. I was happy with my ball striking, I didn't have any serious discomfort and, the day after, healing continues. I don't seem to have worsened anything. All positive and I'll be trying a real 18 middle next week.

My buddy and I played Friday 7/3 teeing off@12:020 and joining another twosome. They played blues and we the whites. I hadn't played this course in years and I think the overall conditions are pretty solid by most muni standards. Generally good coverage on the tees and fairways with good lies. Rough could get thicker and costly at times but was generally green and maintained. Bunkers were pretty clean, firm-ish, and rakes were being used. The greens were pretty clean and running a quick medium but not too quick. Minimal pitch marks. Pace varied but wasn't too bad overall — a little over 4.5 if I recall. If you like the course or want to try it out, I can recommend it.

On a totally personal note, I have only played it a very few times over the years and I find it tediously long for my game, even from the whites. A lot of long, mostly straight, fours that seem like short fives to me and frequently narrow windows in the tree lined fairways to make offline shots that much more costly. Too often I needed to hit perfect drive and long second shots to have chance at par and I'm not that consistent. It wore on me at some point. I think it is noteworthy that in roarksown1's review, being required to play from the reds seemed to make it a more enjoyable experience. If I go back, I will have to try that. But conditions are good, mine is a subjective opinion, and it is worth judging for yourself. It is the more popular of the two courses so that says something about me and the course. Enjoy.

Tuesday, 5/19 I booked a last minute 2:10 start online as a single and ran over in time for most of a small bucket and teed off, playing the whites. The overall course is in solid shape. Tee boxes are pretty consistently level with good coverage. Fairways offered good lies and I don't recall any bad patches. Rough could vary, being mostly recoverable but with some thicker sections. Missed all the bunkers but stepped in one to check the sand and it was good. Not exactly groomed, but not bad overall as far as footprints, etc. Green surrounds tended to more often be on the lush side vs. thin. The greens themselves are still exhibiting the residual waffle pattern from the last aeration. Medium speed on the quick side (don't let the pattern suggest you need to putt harder) the rolls were true enough and I didn't notice any bouncing or deflection but, aesthetically, it will probably be a couple of weeks before the pattern has smoothed out. They putt better than they look and after a couple of holes, I settled into it and the visual was a not factor. As long as you know what you might be looking at, I still recommend it for play.

Pace was very good on the front nine and slowed into the back nine but the net was a surprisingly speedy 3.75 hrs. The other mentionable was early in the back nine the wind came up and brought the smoke from the Simi fires. Otherwise, I was initially paired with a young couple who were unsettled they would not be playing alone. They went back the starter while I teed off but he sent them back to join me. She supposedly being a beginner, piped her drive down the middle. It was wide open ahead, so halfway down the first fairway after my second shot, I told them I'd go ahead so they could play alone, which they appreciated. Single through nine, I was joined by a twosome on the tenth and finished as a threesome, probably smelling of smoke.

Went out as a twosome joining a couple of college guys, all playing the whites and teeing off @2:00. My buddy made the rez before inviting me and I didn't check until a day or two later to see the aeration warning on GK. So we were teeing off about 10 days after the punch. I knew before I went but didn't know exactly what to expect. Greens had been punched with regular holes and sanded (vs. smaller tines or verticutting) and while the only sand left was in the holes, the holes were still conspicuous. Performance-wise, they actually played decently, certainly better than they looked and I thought they were well recovered given the short time. They were a reasonable speed, quicker than you would expect. Bumps were minimal and the thing we did notice as group was the ball seemed to run much straighter than the breaks we were reading. Given another week, they will still have visual traces but should perform quite well. Otherwise, the course was in nice shape and green. Bunkers were inconsistent and one I was in was on the hard side. Green surrounds tended to be tighter lies and I struggled a bit in my short game with that. Pace was sluggish at something over 4.5 hrs. Know before you go, but it is playable and trending towards good greens in a week or two.

Following on Weber's recent review, I was out Friday 3/27 as a threesome plus one, all riding, three of four playing the whites. I'll differ only slightly with his review so check his first. I have to say the course seemed about as lush as it gets here. Could even use a touch of mowing on some fairways, but good lies and no complaints. I was in two bunkers and I think it was less about lack of sand than lack of grooming and surface anomalies. Some rake time smoothing things out and I think the actual sand quality would work fine. But somebody has to actually do that. Rough was good, not overly thick or penalizing. Surrounds were good enough for short game and the greens were as green as I see them here. For what it was worth, some in our group were complaining about the speed (slow). I thought they were a lazy medium and while I might like them quicker, I thought they were still an acceptable pace. The key being they seem to match the practice green and were fairly consistent on the course. After an introduction to the pace, the challenge is to adjust. I played recently when the greens were much quicker, and I like that, but I adjusted for the difference and enjoyed myself. It's a muni guys.

Being Friday probably didn't help the pace and it seemed longer than usual at about 5.25hrs. I'm pretty chill about getting along with whomever I'm paired with on the course, but it was day when I definitely enjoyed the course more than my companions — and the ambiguity of that statement works both ways.

Out Tuesday 3/24 at 11:40 as single riding with a single, joining a riding twosome who played blues while we played whites. Road testing some swing adjustments and so wanted to take advantage of Woodley's open forgiveness. Teeing grounds never a problem here. Fairways were mostly good but I did experience some hardpan/bare lies as they are firming up and getting thinner in spots. As a result, more than average rollout. With a few slightly thicker exceptions, rough here is not punitive and adds to the expansiveness. I was in one bunker, the sand was good, but it needed some cleanup and grooming. The green surrounds were good. I had good day with my short game and frequently having a nice lie for chipping contributed to giving confidence there. I enjoyed the greens and they were the highlight — clean, mostly true and at a nice speed on the quick side. I recall the ninth green had some scarring issues in spots but that was unusual. Pace was good @ 4.25 hours. While not all aspects of my game were strong, it was a better than average round for me and reinforced the adjustments I'm making. Good times.

Out Friday the 13th as a twosome joining two singles for a 1:20 start. Three out of four playing the whites and all riding. Summarizing first, I thought the overall conditions were very good. Decent and fairly consistent coverage on the tees with no real unlevel issues. Fairways were consistently good as to coverage and lies. Rough was mostly green and not punitive but with both bare and thicker lies occasionally in the mix. Bunker sand was a nice consistency but the state of the grooming, while mostly OK, varied subject to those who came before. Green surrounds were in generally good shape for short game. As munis go, the greens were pretty nice. Consistent with the practice green, they definitely had some quickness to them and required attention to the pace. Nicely challenging, they were clean and usually only gave up modest pitch marks.

A warm day, but not unpleasant, it would have been more of a factor if we had been walking. As it was, we kept hydrated and especially by the last few holes, it was a nice day with modest to minimal breezes. Pace was good at right around 4.5 hours. I had not been out on Harding for a good while. I find tee times at Wilson and Harding hard to come by and was surprised to find some options while checking the day before we played. I saw no active aeration on GK and was a tad suspicious there might be some issues to explain my good luck. In the end, no problems, nice conditions and I really enjoyed the day on a venue I enjoyed revisiting. Recommended.

Out last Friday the 13th with a foursome, all riding and playing the whites. Not really a walking course for most people and not sure it's even an option. Last time I played here was about a year ago and about 25 yrs before that. Conditions on the day were solid all around. Last time, the greens were unexpectedly punched and sanded while this time around they were fine — running the quick side of medium and pretty clean.

Minor quips: the cart was a bit sluggish and the range has a touch of sidehill to it. Otherwise, perfect weather, some great views, the pace was good, drink cart came around numerous times. An interesting layout that can require specific placement and course knowledge to best maneuver some of the doglegs.

Got an 11:00 start as single joining another single and a twosome, all playing the whites. Probably 20-something years since I've played here, I was favorably impressed and it felt a step above average my average muni experiences. Teeing grounds were level with consistent, tight coverage that was worn close to more of a suggestion of coverage at times in the hitting zone. As these are teeing areas, i.e. using a tee to set up the ball, I saw no issues with them. The ground is firm and sometimes required a little extra to get the tee set. Fairways were nice: good hitting surface, a little on the tight side with good roll, visually clean and generally consistent. Rough varied greatly. Usually playable fairway adjacent, but also extensive areas of chips/dirt a little beyond that. There are also areas around the property with trees, foliage and weedy undergrowth that has become lush with the rain and it can be easy to lose balls there. I was in way too many bunkers so I can vouch for the condition which is generally pretty clean, firm-ish with good sand on which the ball sat up more than not. Green surrounds were clean and good for short game, albeit frequently more on the tight than lush side. Greens were firm and ran at a good quick speed that was not excessive. Where repaired, they tend to show ball mark scars even though those visual traces don't impact the roll. There is a firm, sandy quality to the soil that requires a little more attention and effort with the tool to repair pitch marks. Most greens had some element of contour and I enjoyed putting on them.

I'd had my eye out to catch a round here with my regular golf buddy, but I never saw availability late in the week when we play. As it was a Tuesday (my birthday) and I was going single, I was able to score the booking on short notice. In addition to the nice overall conditions, the group ahead pulled away while the trailing group was usually about a hole behind, so we had a sense (illusion) of an uncrowded course and our own pace (4.5 hrs). There were a couple of negatives to mention. First is the proximity of the freeway and that noise, especially for holes closer to it. Because it is constant, I treat it as white noise and it really doesn't bother or faze me, but for some it would definitely be a consideration. The other issue was odors, at least on that day. They were patching the clubhouse roof, so there was the tar smell in that vicinity. Closer to the freeway and the construction areas that are still active was a smell somewhere between sulfurous and sewage wafting about. It was somewhat localized but not insignificant, and in the vein of "know before you go" be forewarned. Again, I observed it, but it wasn't going to ruin my round nor would it keep me away. Bottom line, I was impressed with the improvements and conditions and will definitely look forward to playing here again.

Out Friday 1/16 @12:30 as twosome with another twosome, they playing blues and us whites. Overall conditions are pretty decent, predominantly green and minimal lingering wetness issues from the rains. The teeing grounds here are generally level and, with a few spotty exceptions, the coverage is good enough. Fairways were in good shape and I can't think of any issues when I was hitting from them. The rough was mostly green and the length usually not overly punitive. I was only in one bunker and while the sand was OK, it needed some grooming. I happen to be in the exact place in that bunker in a previous round and the lie was a little better this time. Green surrounds were grown in, varied in length, but were usually good for short game — some exceptions where the grass was a touch thinner and the underlying soil was sticky damp could trip you up for a chunk. You can compensate for this if you are paying attention. The greens definitely had quickness to them. I p'd away numerous good par opportunities by letting the first putt get away from me and did not sufficiently adjust. So atypical 3-putts were my nemesis of the day. Too bad because the speed was good. I've noticed here that greens don't necessarily look great when they are actually performing pretty well, so don't let it distract you.

It was a sunny, warm afternoon, unusually devoid of any noticeable breeze throughout. A couple of choke points made for a sluggish round at about 4.75 hrs. Beautiful sunset. We pushed through and finished 18 in the gloom but we weren't the last ones in. The other twosome were pleasant and it was a good time.