Mid morning round in slightly over four hours. The staff is always great and friendly. The carts are great and have pr... » More

Mid morning round in slightly over four hours. The staff is always great and friendly. The carts are great and have pretty accurate GPS. The driving range is closed on Thursday mornings for those who don't know. The tee boxes were all level with real good coverage and level. The lush green rough was cut in the morning at the perfect height to keep shots in play and allow for a decent swing if you found it. The fairways all have total coverage with the warmer weather starting to make the Bermuda come alive. Good lies from start to finish and good roll if you found the middle of them. The traps all have enough sand but a few I found had small to large size pebbles and small rocks. There are many traps on the course and often very deep. The greens had just been punched within the last two days and rates discounted for those playing today. The greens are usually really quick with a lot of break and today they were surprisingly quick even with the sand and holes. I would give it a couple of weeks and the entire course should be in prime condition. The course has a nice layout and water comes into play on a few holes. The rates are reasonable during the week but a little high on weekends. Always easy to recommend
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Played in the Vivid Golf/GK outing on Wednesday, March 19. It was a fun group with John, Ron and Andrew. My family is fr... » More

Played in the Vivid Golf/GK outing on Wednesday, March 19. It was a fun group with John, Ron and Andrew. My family is from the area but I have never played in the city. Santa Maria Country Club is a nice facility. Smallish driving range and practice green. Nice snack bar near the 7th tee with a good selection of grilled items and sundry. The day was gorgeous but the wind kicked up mid-round and it was an added layer of difficulty.

I really liked the course. The layout was interesting. It had a good mix of short and long par fours and varied par 3 distance. Half the course on the other side of the railroad tracks to the northwest of the clubhouse. I preferred the layout of the part of the course on the clubhouse side but the conditioning was equally superb on both sides so it was a matter of personal preference. The fairways were lush with some runout. The rough was also lush and we had to look hard for balls several times. We lost a couple even though we knew the general area they ended up. Great shining white sand. The greens were lush and had decent speed but were not what I would term fast. They were firm but my ball was generally near the divot after good contact from the fairway. The greens were contoured enough that there was runout on some aggressive putts. They were challenging.

I would play this course again any time. It was a long drive but I got a good rate at the local historic hotel (my parent's wedding reception was held there). If I lived in the area, I would consider joining the club. I can't wait to get back.
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Played this morning. Course is in great shape at the moment. All clean and repaired tee boxes. Traps all raked and ready... » More

Played this morning. Course is in great shape at the moment. All clean and repaired tee boxes. Traps all raked and ready for play. Fairways have good coverage after the rains and good roll out. Rough is not thick but it is sticky in the early AM but playable. Greens are in terrific shape and chip/putt with good speed. As always great customer service in the shop (thx Mateo and Christian) and from all other staff members. Restaurant opened Wed - Friday and the menu is good, prices are great as well as the service from Dolores and her staff.
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Made it up to Santa Maria for the Vivid Golf/GK Outing.... Thank you Mr. GK, this was a real treat. Not only was the wea... » More

Made it up to Santa Maria for the Vivid Golf/GK Outing.... Thank you Mr. GK, this was a real treat. Not only was the weather ideal the traffic was not bad at all. Santa Maria CC is a sneaky private course that really should be on your bucket list. The course is not particularly long, just under 6500 yards from the tips. It looks open but provides many challenges throughout. The sand is new, the rough was cut but lets be honest it was still sticky and tough. If these keepers wanted to they could make this course really a lot more challenging. The putting greens are in excellent condition as are the tee boxes. The greens are Poa Annua and if you don't putt a lot on those, it can provide an extra challenge.

As I always do I snuck around the clubhouse and pro shop. The locker room was great but parts where being renovated. Their was a restaurant that looked good and a good sized bar that had both indoor and outdoor seating. The pro-shop was small, but had some good items on sale. I got the sense that if you lived up this way and where interested in joining a private club, this would definitely be on the list. If Moose/GK run it back, you should go, I really would like another crack at this place.
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9:30 tee time moved back to 9:50 Tuesday (my "day" to play 14+ years of league play) with perfect conditions weather wis... » More

9:30 tee time moved back to 9:50 Tuesday (my "day" to play 14+ years of league play) with perfect conditions weather wise, maybe add 5 degrees to the 55 and sunny light breeze, and 40 yards to my drives!?

Have been wanting to get back here again since reading RDD's review in January. Lots of hint$ there good info.
Alex326 invited me 3 weeks ago and joined by a couple friends Justin and Bob for a scratch bogey or better team play friendly match. Was watching the weather since the long range ten day was forecast and it held with a great day for golf.
Monday a different story but wouldn't know it now. The course was cleaned of any debris through the green, the waste areas with runoff trenches packed sand the only indication of day before storm. Don't go there. I took a few GUR's from these obstructions.
The greens punched earlier 3-4th are healed fully but rolling slowly for here, less break than the normal slick pool table surfaces. Make the adjustment and roll 'em in.
Fairways great as good as I get to play and a treat offering roll out for my ground game. Again not as tight lie as usual but 8/10 rated.
Bunkers fluffy from the fairway and green side.
Lot's to like here and at the NCGA rate $90 walking (20% off proshop goodies) at the home of the best golf association in NorCal!
The course appears ready to go for a great season of play.
Played it down and caught one bad fairway lie in a small divot.
Hit ok hybrid knuckle ball straight and short followed by a 5 wood from LS rough 190 to front of green. PW left 8' straight in par to finish the round.
Fun had by all and if we didn't get all we wanted from it, we got what we needed.
Finished smiling wider than when we started.
Recommend 4.5 POP not pushed ideal
**Add sunrise arrival at Carmel Beach, and checking out Hays Place @ PB and the 9 hole course (not play) on the way out made the 15 1/2 hour 440 mile day trip a winner for me.
Not the match dominated by the opponent especially on the front side.
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First time back in over close to a year. The major problem with this course is the POP. Another grueling round over 5 h... » More

First time back in over close to a year. The major problem with this course is the POP. Another grueling round over 5 hours. Waited in almost every hole. There was a starter but we were already 20 minutes behind our start time by the time we teed off. There was no Marshall to keep the groups on pace. They increased their green fees by approximately 25%, in my opinion not worth the increase.
The greens were extremely bumpy and slow. They are scheduled to do aeration in the end of the month. This course has barely any flat ground, lots of ups and downs. Fairways were decent. Some tee boxes were being re-soded.
One of the pros about this place are the staff and the on course restaurant.
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Our experience today at Lakewood 3/18 was about as expected for a course that was doing a major punch and sanding of the... » More

Our experience today at Lakewood 3/18 was about as expected for a course that was doing a major punch and sanding of the greens. Communication was great. We were aware last week when we booked so we took it in stride. We received a small bucket and a free beverage as compensation for dealing with the maintenance. That said, there were large punch holes and they were heavily sanded. Was it awesome? No. Was it communicated? Yes. Will it make the course much more enjoyable for the summer? Heck yeah. Can't wait to come back once the greens have healed.
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Played on Sunday in a Rancho Park Men's Club event at Brookside #1 and thankfully the weather played along for a very fu... » More

Played on Sunday in a Rancho Park Men's Club event at Brookside #1 and thankfully the weather played along for a very fun round in Pasadena. The rate was pre-paid for the tournament of course, but still had to pay an additional $18 for the cart and unfortunately the driving range is currently closed so don't do what I did and get there an hour early.

Right now the greens at Brookside are devilishly quick and running really nicely. That is far and away the best part of the course right now as the bunkers were definitely heavy after the recent rains, the tee boxes were good but not great, and the fairways had some good coverage in some spots, but very thin and beat up in others. Rough was nice and thick but playable.

POP was dreadfully slow though as my group was the very last one for the tournament so all complaints only directed to RPGC players who for whatever reason weren't moving quite as quickly as they always seem to do at Rancho Park. It was definitely tough to keep any rhythm going throughout the round but it was a beautiful day again finally so we managed it.

Brookside #1 is always a great layout and very tough in terms of length (even from the whites which I was assigned) and tricky trees everywhere that keep narrowing a decent number of the fairways. There are some wide open ones as well though to keep you honest.

While I have seen Brookside in fairer condition, I think it will look much better very soon and I would not hesitate playing here again and again.
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Played 3/15/25 2pm $65 twilight POP 4:30 Course is still in winter condition. Fairways have good coverage. Mostly thin ... » More

Played 3/15/25 2pm $65 twilight POP 4:30 Course is still in winter condition. Fairways have good coverage. Mostly thin dormant grass. Many signs of the grass starting to resprout. Another month and they should be mostly green. Greens were in very good shape. Receptive, but a little bouncy and ran on the slow side. The rain has cause a few issues around, but not much. Mostly in the bunkers that were wet firm sand. Overall in decent shape and should be improving.
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I ran my lucky #7 outing at Dove Canyon Golf Club Monday and man did we luck out with the weather system deciding to com... » More

I ran my lucky #7 outing at Dove Canyon Golf Club Monday and man did we luck out with the weather system deciding to come a day later than the original forecast. The day was beautiful and perfectly timed as it was the debut of the Vivid Golf tent, soon to be the Vivid Golf Fun Tent at our future private course outings and GK events. Rgm2323 and I drove down from Chatsworth, leaving at 5:30am, popped into McDonalds for quick breakfast ($16? what? – my delicious signature Nicklaus wrap at the club was only $7.5), arriving at 7:30am with no traffic. Met up with Itslikeimsayin to do some video for Vivid Golf’s new Rumble Speaker while rgm2525 and sparky14 took on a full showing 123 players check-in. Thanks!

In the 7 times I’ve play Dove Canyon Golf Club, the greens are always in great shape, the fairways / rough dormant in the Winter / Spring, lush in the Summer / Fall, excellent bunkers and well-maintained tee boxes.

As for the layout, Mr. Nicklaus nailed it with this one. It’s one of the few Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses in Southern California and it’s a blast to play. I put its back-9 in my top 10 I’ve played in SoCal.

From an outing organizer’s perspective, the service is top-notch, the facilities gorgeous, exceptional driving range, delicious food (Jack’s Grill), stunning views and again a golf course our group very much enjoys playing.

Thank you everyone that plays in Greenskeeper.org events! :)
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Played last weekend at Meadowlark with a buddy and pre-paid on GolfNow far too much but was treated very well by the gol... » More

Played last weekend at Meadowlark with a buddy and pre-paid on GolfNow far too much but was treated very well by the golf shop when one of our threesome couldn't make it last minute - appreciated that!

Still, even on a Saturday it's tough to justify an $89 rate here when we were walking anyway. I wish there was some way that GN reservations would be flexible when opting to walk and not take carts, but that's above my pay grade I suppose.

Course is in pretty decent shape right now as the greens are running pretty nicely with no major issues, while the fairways have good-decent coverage everywhere, however there are some big trouble spots middle of the fairways on the 9th and 10th holes - just big dirt areas after the rains that don't smell none too good at all.

Tee boxes (played from the blues) were okay with some TLC appreciated, but serviceable. The bunkers were not great but tough to judge fairly right after heavy rains when they're chunky and some still have water in them. It will get better once the sun comes out again for a few days.

POP was really great the first nine but then really came to a crawl on the back nine. The group in front of us let us past them at the turn but it really didn't do any good whatsoever in terms of the overall time, but you never really expect a super-fast round here anyway.

In summary, course is in pretty good condition right now overall but get a better deal than I did.
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Played in group 1B of yesterday’s Vivid Golf/GK private club outing here. Gorgeous weather and great times with Johnny, ... » More

Played in group 1B of yesterday’s Vivid Golf/GK private club outing here. Gorgeous weather and great times with Johnny, Steve, and Ron. Pace was pretty typical for these events, around 5 hours from first drive to final putt. We stopped at Jack’s Den to pick up lunch and the on-cart ordering system makes it quick and easy, and the food is good and affordable. All club staff I encountered were great.

Conditions are good, highlighted by fast, firm greens. They were very smooth and quick, and even well-struck full shots took a bounce before stopping, and shorter shots and chips were very difficult to get any bite. The 8th green had some bare spots and curiously, they opted to cut the hole very near those areas. Fairways had good coverage of dormant bermuda but were thin in many spots, providing very little cushion under the ball and putting a premium on a clean strike. Rough was a little longer but not overly penal. Tee boxes and bunkers were both good, not great.

I really like how the course layout gains momentum throughout the round. The first three holes are generic, housing-tract holes (although 2 & 3 are both really tough par 4s), then the interest level amps up for the rest of the front nine. I think the course shines brightest on the back nine, though, and the whole back nine is fun and beautiful — 10, 11, 16, 17, and 18 are all standouts. All in all, a really great day and definitely recommended anytime you get a chance to play here.
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