I'm not sure why I rated this lower this week over last week, but conditions are about the same. I played here again today after work. I got to the course at about 4:50 p.m. and teed off seven minutes... Continue »

I'm not sure why I rated this lower this week over last week, but conditions are about the same. I played here again today after work. I got to the course at about 4:50 p.m. and teed off seven minutes later by myself, riding for $14.50, plus a $5 key deposit (really). The price also included a beer from the snack shop. They have been spot watering with hoses many fairways and despite drought restrictions, the course is looking fairly good. I moved up to the white tees today to patch up my bruised ego from the last GK event at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West. You would have thought a shark took several bites from my a$$ after that round. Today at Vista, a couple of tees were all bunched together to get the rest of the tee box recovered from over use. It was interesting to play either all the way up or all the way back on those holes. The greens were medium fast and rolled true. There were a few ball marks to fix, but not as many as in the past. A little poa late in the day gave the slow rollers a nice wiggle, but mostly I found putts to stay on line. Tees, fairways, and rough all had pretty good grass coverage. Bunker sand was nice except for the fairway bunkers, which tended to be thin and hard packed plaster sand. After jumping past a slow threesome on hole 5, I finished the round in 2:45, joining another single on hole 8. We followed the pack all the way home to 18, finishing at dusk.

Just played a scramble event here on Friday. If the greens were aerified in early April, there is no sign of it now. They rolled smooth, medium fast, and true. Not too many ball marks, but there were ... Continue »

Just played a scramble event here on Friday. If the greens were aerified in early April, there is no sign of it now. They rolled smooth, medium fast, and true. Not too many ball marks, but there were a few to fix from our morning group of occasional golfers. The grounds crew was busy moving around temporary sprinklers that they have attached to hoses to water hot spots throughout the course. This appears to be a necessity due to restricted watering during the ongoing drought. That said, the fairways and rough were in nice condition with good lies if you kept it towards the middle. As you get further away from center, the conditions can get a little spotty, but not terrible. The course is as good as I have seen it in a while. Not in any bunkers today, but they all looked good with clean, light-colored sand that was well raked. I guess it is good to get out early here, because in my experience the later in the day it gets, the more golfers tend to not rake, fill divots, and fix ball marks here. All said, I would golf here again.

Played today, Saturday afternoon. Paid $21.50 to walk. The starter tried to hard sell me on a recurring $29/mo. Players Club membership. That includes 1) Free green fees after 2:00 with an $8 cart ren... Continue »

Played today, Saturday afternoon. Paid $21.50 to walk. The starter tried to hard sell me on a recurring $29/mo. Players Club membership. That includes 1) Free green fees after 2:00 with an $8 cart rental; 2) Green fee/cart fee $15 after 12:00 daily; 3) Free green fees for the Chica course; 4) Free lesson clinics; 5) Free daily large bucket of range balls. Seems like a decent deal if Vista is your course of choice. Just a few buckets of range balls and a couple of discount rounds and you will have made your money back.

That said, I found the course to be in somewhat mediocre condition with many areas of dormant grass. The tees were a little chewed up. Fairways and rough about the same: dormant grass of about 1/2" tall. Greens were nice enough (medium fast, soft) with the exception of number 9, which was damaged: big repair area roped off, bumpy, and many repairs to hit through. Many of the greens had lots of leaves and bird droppings (geese and mud hens) to deal with as well. The sand was good and plentiful; however, there were a lot of footprints that were not raked. I expect things will not improve greatly until spring.

Played Thursday 9/17 in the afternoon. Just wanted to provide a course condition update. Vista has been spot watering their fairways due to drought conditions and the results are fantastic. Fairways h... Continue »

Played Thursday 9/17 in the afternoon. Just wanted to provide a course condition update. Vista has been spot watering their fairways due to drought conditions and the results are fantastic. Fairways have full coverage with only minimal divot imperfections. Best i have seen these fairways in a long time and they are a pleasure to play from. Areas outside the first cut of rough is dry and mostly hard packed. Greens are a little spongy and soft with a fair amount of un repaired ball marks and the only critique that could be found. Hopefully some work on the greens is planned for the near future. Glad to see the work being put into this course as it remains IMHO the best executive course in the LA area.

I played here Sunday, July 19, finishing just in front of another unseasonable tropical downpour. Conditions on the course continue to improve slightly. Fairways are mostly lush to thin, with good lie... Continue »

I played here Sunday, July 19, finishing just in front of another unseasonable tropical downpour. Conditions on the course continue to improve slightly. Fairways are mostly lush to thin, with good lies almost everywhere. The rough is not being watered as far as I can tell, leaving many areas dry, thin, and bare. However, the fairways are wide enough so it should not be too much of an issue. Tees tended to be a little beat up (we played the whites), but were mostly level and lush. The greens ran a little on the slow side and were medium fast and very soft due to all the rain. We rode for $29.50 each; they did offer us a deal: for $9 more, per player, add a medium bucket, two beers, and lunch (which, I assume is a dog or burger). Friendly service in pro shop and at bar. Pace of play was great on the front, but we caught all the groups at 8 tee and it was hit and wait until the last hole. Total pace of play was around 4 1/2 hours. We liked it so much, we jumped back onto the back nine between groups. We played through a slow twosome and finished in approximately one hour. I felt bad about getting another nine, but I did some extra raking, and fixed several more ball marks, so I think we're good. Don't tell the GM, though.

Played 7/10 twilight. Been playing here a lot lately for some reason, figured it was time to update my review. They have been going through a process of spot watering due to drought. Fairways are look... Continue »

Played 7/10 twilight. Been playing here a lot lately for some reason, figured it was time to update my review. They have been going through a process of spot watering due to drought. Fairways are looking and playing pretty well, lush with good coverage. Greens are soft and a little bumpy with a fair amount of ball marks and afternoon spike marks. Overall they are totally playable but appear to need a rolling. Bunkers are hit and miss with some still unraked with numerous footprints. Pace was great at about 3 hrs. Vista is a fun layout and you will use all the clubs in your bag with a variety of holes. You get what you pay for here and at the price of a bucket of balls in the afternoon, i will keep coming back. They also appear to be working on the course and its gets a little better each time I play lately.

Played this afternoon, walking for $10.50 at 3:45 p.m. Someone was filming a commercial on the front nine and only the back nine was open, so I walked it twice. I got around initially in about 1:20 an... Continue »

Played this afternoon, walking for $10.50 at 3:45 p.m. Someone was filming a commercial on the front nine and only the back nine was open, so I walked it twice. I got around initially in about 1:20 and was able to jump back onto 10 tee in front of several groups. Any groups going out at that time would be hitting a lot of traffic on the course, especially as they came around a second time. When I finished there were at least three groups waiting to tee off and it was 6:45 p.m. On course, the conditions were okay. They have basically stopped watering the rough, but the middle of the course was pretty green and nice from tee to green. Sand traps were a mix of good sand green side on most holes, with crappy sand and compacted dirt on most of the fairway bunkers. Many of the par three tees were beaten up with a lot of divot damage. Most of the par three greens were peppered with ball marks and every bunker had a lot of footprints, much like it was described in tonybarrett's review. All in all, for the price of a jumbo bucket of balls, I would do it again.

The greens are still recovering from aeration; maybe two more weeks and it should be good. Tees, fairways, and rough seemed a little on the dry and thin side. Good shots will roll forever. On the othe... Continue »

The greens are still recovering from aeration; maybe two more weeks and it should be good. Tees, fairways, and rough seemed a little on the dry and thin side. Good shots will roll forever. On the other hand, you probably will end up with a tight lie wherever you end up, be it in the fairway or rough. There were several areas that had temporary irrigation hoses set up to water hot spots. The greens were lush enough, though. Mostly healed from aeration, but still showing the holes. No top dressing of sand was evident on the course; however, the practice putting greens were more recently aerated and had some sand. Speaking of sand, the bunkers were all in just fair shape: thin, greyish/brown sand in all the bunkers. Looked a little hard, but noto too many footprints.

Played twilight on 4/17. Play here frequently due to proximity and low cost. Generally the course usually plays decent and usually walk away feeling satisfied considering the cost with their email spe... Continue »

Played twilight on 4/17. Play here frequently due to proximity and low cost. Generally the course usually plays decent and usually walk away feeling satisfied considering the cost with their email specials. On this day we payed $19 for the golf, cart, range balls, lunch and 2 beers. At that price the golf feels free. Unfortunately the course feels deteriorated to the point that the deal is questionable. The fairways are filled with divots, bad lies all day long. The greens were recently punch but are already littered with un repaired divots and the bunkers are mostly un raked with foot marks and large craters so bad, you can trip on the way to your ball. Maybe they should charge more as the new clientele appear to have no regard for the course and the course currently appears to have no desire to clean up the mess left behind. Maybe its temporary and the greens keeper is on vacation. I hope so as i have stated in prior reviews for an executive course, the layout is fantastic and when maintained Vista is fun to play and a challenge.