I played Black Gold at 8:50 on Sunday morning and it was in pretty decent shape. The tee boxes were a little beat up but for the most part you can find a flat spot with decent grass. Fairways were goo... Continue »

I played Black Gold at 8:50 on Sunday morning and it was in pretty decent shape. The tee boxes were a little beat up but for the most part you can find a flat spot with decent grass. Fairways were good to very good. The course was a little damp so there wan't much roll-out. The rough was fairly decent to thick in some areas. There are some places that are burned out but I would call that minor. I was in a few bunkers that had really good sand. It was still early so it was fluffy and easy to hit from. The greens are good but a little slow. They'll probably play a little slow for a while. Staff is always great and if you can find a discount coupon it is worth the green fee. One thing to note if you haven't played here before is the front nine and back nine play quite different. For bogey golfers the front nine is much easier than the back so be prepared for an increase in scores on the back. The blues have a 128 rating on the front and 134 on the back.

Decided to play Sat. twilight and found a great internet deal at Black Gold (course website) so I jumped on it. Ended up with a $30! green fee, teed off at 3:30PM as a three-ball and finished in a bi... Continue »

Decided to play Sat. twilight and found a great internet deal at Black Gold (course website) so I jumped on it. Ended up with a $30! green fee, teed off at 3:30PM as a three-ball and finished in a bit over 4 hrs. Glad I did. Course conditions are good fairways, mostly green and playable lies all day. Rough can be difficult to play with a mixture of Bermuda and Kikuyu, so you had to be Johnny-on-the-spot to get the ball to your target. Bunkers a tad thin & crusty but very playable with lots of unrakiness going on. Greens were soft Poa with plenty of afternoon foot marks to kick your ball off-line but that's expected when playing late in the day. Speed somewhat slow-ish for the time of day, which was surprising cuz last time I was here they were really firm and quick. In fine shape otherwise, looking real nice, holding approach shots like velcro. Semi-bummer: a few too many unrepaired ball marks for such nice looking putting surfaces. As stated in previous reviews, very challenging back nine where wayward tee ball are simply gone. You need to be precise on most holes to score here. Recommended, for sure.

Finally getting around to doing this review for BG. Was invited out to play with leef2020 on a very warm afternoon and not very crowded. $39 beat the heat special. That’s the best price I have ever... Continue »

Finally getting around to doing this review for BG. Was invited out to play with leef2020 on a very warm afternoon and not very crowded. $39 beat the heat special. That’s the best price I have ever seen here and thanks Lee for setting this one up. Also, thanks for your kind words. A very relaxing pace, about 4 hours following a couple of twosomes but the heat got to us. We were pretty beat up when we finished. The course is in very nice condition. Very green which is impressive considering the heat. Wish other courses could do as well. Fairways were cut down but were soft so limited roll out. Bunkers were in good shape as well. Firm and not real damp underneath. Greens were soft, holding shots and rolling true. They were pretty damp. Guess with all of the heat, heavy watering appears to be the answer to keep from losing them. The course is a lot of fun to play but the back 9 is pretty challenging. I have never seen it in bad shape. The price tag is a bit high but there are specials and if you find one, take it! Recommend!

First off on a beautiful, warm Monday morning at 5:59am. We were asked to not play too quickly so as to not bother maintenance, which made our pace of just under three hours a very easy, slower paced... Continue »

First off on a beautiful, warm Monday morning at 5:59am. We were asked to not play too quickly so as to not bother maintenance, which made our pace of just under three hours a very easy, slower paced round, but very enjoyable.

I was impressed with the overall condition of the course, which seems to have withstood the recent heat very well. Greens rolled very nicely, but because they we had to wait on most of the holes for the sprinklers to finish, they were on the slow side. Greenside bunkers had plenty of very wet sand ? Fairways were green and lush.

I'd forgotten just how nice the views are from many of the holes. Wish it could have been a little clearer though. A very enjoyable round of golf. Staff was great as usual. Looking forward to my return here.

Played Black Gold on a hot Thursday afternoon, 26 July, taking advantage of a special $39 'beat the heat' e-mail deal they sent out a few days earlier. Teed off about 2pm w/Larryq2001, following a few... Continue »

Played Black Gold on a hot Thursday afternoon, 26 July, taking advantage of a special $39 'beat the heat' e-mail deal they sent out a few days earlier. Teed off about 2pm w/Larryq2001, following a few other twosomes. POP was just at 4hrs, with a bit of waiting on the group in front. Seemed like a lighter day of play than usual, surely due to the heat.

The course was in pretty good overall condition, surviving the heat a lot better than I did!

Footing on and around the greens was soft from a lot of watering. But, it seemed to be the right amount, and did not find any spots where water was pooling/bubbling up when walking.

Course was mostly green and cut well, but the rough is of course suffering from a bit less water. Tees were pretty firm, though fairways did not provide the most roll due to softness/watering, but did provide good lies and decent footing. Even with an abundance of watering, there were some small burnt-out areas in a few fairways, including #9 and #13, and a few areas around several greens. Minor issue, given the challenges of the heat they are dealing with, and slopes/contours of the course.

Was in a greenside bunker on #3, and the sand was medium-weight. In a fairway bunker on #11, and sand was OK, albeit softer than I'd like in a fairway bunker.

Greens were nice and green, receptive, and mostly smooth putting. Ball rolled at medium speed for the most part. Great service in the bar/restaurant afterwards. No cart lady on the day, but fortunately we were prepared. It is nice that they load the cart cooler with ice when they queue them up. Really enjoy the course, and watching Larry hit the ball so consistently well is a treat.

Played today in a nice 3.5 POP. Customer service was excellent at all levels. Starter said the greens were at 10, but he did not do his homework? If they got to 7 all round, I would have been surprise... Continue »

Played today in a nice 3.5 POP. Customer service was excellent at all levels. Starter said the greens were at 10, but he did not do his homework? If they got to 7 all round, I would have been surprised. So needless to say, we had 10 in our head and were frustrated all round with the greens (which looked great) but chipped/putted SLOW. Even the fairways did not provide any roll all round, though they did provide good lies. They were soft and spongy, so if you could drive it long, you had an advantage (no doubt keeping it wet, to avoid burning with recent hot weather?). Tee boxes were all level/clean with no issues. Bunkers were all clean and very playable. Rough was about 1/2" and sticky (needed to be avoided). No issues with the carts, as they are fast and comfortable. Hope the greens are at 10 and the fairways faster, my next round. Truly a good golf course.

Ran the GK Cup Final last Sunday at Black Gold Golf Club. Teed it up in the final group with lotrgolfer48 and I watching the excitement unfold between AndrewZ28 and Itslikeimsayin. Was great match goi... Continue »

Ran the GK Cup Final last Sunday at Black Gold Golf Club. Teed it up in the final group with lotrgolfer48 and I watching the excitement unfold between AndrewZ28 and Itslikeimsayin. Was great match going extra holes with AndrewZ28 coming out on top. Congrats Andrew!

Black Gold Golf Club is the only course to have now hosted 3 GK Cup Finals and all of them have been a great experience. It’s a tough yet fair track. You can be a player with a great short game and do very well or a player with good ball striking and very do well. All players need to be accurate off the tee yet not overly dead on or long. All players need to putt well. The layout is very interesting where bombers benefit on the Par 5’s with eagle chances yet be punished significantly on the back nine when off line. It has one of the best finishing holes in Southern California. Demanding par 5 with a water guarded green complex making it an exceptional risk/reward hole. Was a blast seeing the clubhouse patio balcony cheering on the finals group at the end. Super course for competitive golf.

It’s also a golf course consistently in great shape. Sunday was no exception. Being a Sunday afternoon round on weekend with heavy play the greens were not as smooth and fast as my previous Black Gold rounds but they looked very healthy, were medium/fast and held shots. The fairways were mostly lush kikuyu as was the rough. The rough was hit and miss as far as having a difficult escape or not. I had a couple greenside pitch shots just buried in the kikuyu I had to chop a lob wedge out. Puts a premium on your approach shots for sure. Tee boxes in good shape. Bunkers all containing quality sand and well cared for. Some dry thin areas out there in the fairways and rough but not bad enough to impact play. Again overall great shape.

Thank you Black Gold for hosting our GK Cup 11 championship and everyone that came out for the fun!

Played in the GK Cup final in one of the secondary groups with Mattias, Rob and Perry. Had a blast as always when playing with other GK'ers. Thank you to Johnny for scoring us a great deal at a premiu... Continue »

Played in the GK Cup final in one of the secondary groups with Mattias, Rob and Perry. Had a blast as always when playing with other GK'ers. Thank you to Johnny for scoring us a great deal at a premium course and Black Gold for having us. Great views, challenging and fun layout in a peaceful setting. Lots of forced carries off the tee with narrow fairways and elevated greens. Conditions were as others have stated on this day with some thin fairway lies and somewhat slow maybe a little bumpy at times greens. Overall I felt the greens were consistent and easy to putt on and conditions better then expected for this time of year.

Played in the GK Cup final match this past Sunday.

This is the second time that I've played Black Gold and I really love the layout. I think there's a good mix of holes with changing terrain, strat... Continue »

Played in the GK Cup final match this past Sunday.

This is the second time that I've played Black Gold and I really love the layout. I think there's a good mix of holes with changing terrain, strategic options and a good balance of being fair and challenging.

I really thought the condition of the course was overall really good. The greens were super healthy albeit a bit slow because it was later in the day and there just seemed to be too much grass, if that makes sense. I think with a mow and roll they would firm up a bit and with a little extra speed (just a little!) they would be perfect.

As for the tees and fairways, I never had a bad lie all die. I'm a huge fan of kikuya fairways in SoCal, especially on courses with as much slope as Black Gold as it tends to remain a little more lush in the dry climate.

I was in a couple bunkers the sand was great, no complaints at all.

Everything about Black Gold really provides an awesome golf experience. The views, the facilities (great range, cool chipping and putting area by the first tee, the bar/restaurant) and the staff do a great job. In Orange County I have to rank Black Gold up there as one of my favorites. Looking forward to getting back out soon!