Played here 7/31/23. This is not a 2.1 course as previously reviewed. I get the impression last review was based on bar service rather than the course itself. Overall, very good condition, albeit a l... Continue »

Played here 7/31/23. This is not a 2.1 course as previously reviewed. I get the impression last review was based on bar service rather than the course itself. Overall, very good condition, albeit a little soft and soggy in spots. Tees were a little long but lush. Fairways were excellent. Medium soft Bermuda but very lush condition. All bunkers visited had plenty of soft sand and were raked / maintained well. Greens also on soft with medium pace, but minimal ball marks, smooth. A little bit of a tricky layout in spots, but a decent value for OC. POP was good, at 4 hours and friendly service at check in, pro shop, and courteous grounds crew who stopped mowing / working when ever we approached or were in the area.

Been playing Talega since ~ 2010. Place has gone to way downhill the past few years. Price is ridiculously high and no longer worth it.
Service is also horrible. Went to bar for a beer and asked... Continue »

Been playing Talega since ~ 2010. Place has gone to way downhill the past few years. Price is ridiculously high and no longer worth it.
Service is also horrible. Went to bar for a beer and asked if the could top it with a splash of Bloody Mary mix. They wanted $14. I asked how much for the beer itself, $6 but because it would be considered a mixed drink, they wanted $14. Do a splash of Bloody Mary mix was $8.
This was just the tip of the iceberg of why I will never go back to Talega.
Course stinks, service stinks and everything is ridiculously overpriced.

Out to Talega with a high school friend for my first full round in 3 months. We were going to ease in at Oso Creek but I waited too long to book, and the only times available were like 3:30pm. Got a t... Continue »

Out to Talega with a high school friend for my first full round in 3 months. We were going to ease in at Oso Creek but I waited too long to book, and the only times available were like 3:30pm. Got a twilight 2:40 time on GolfNow at Talega on 10/13/22– the same time slot listed on the TGC website was $25 more! We joined a couple of easy-going younger guys in the 2:30 slot and the two groups in front of us played blast golf and we didn’t see them after #4, so we set our own pace and finished #17 just after 6pm, when I had to leave.

I’ve always liked the layout at Talega but conditions have generally continued to deteriorate over the past few years. The infrastructure is showing signs of obvious neglect and deferral, like collapsed rotted fencing, broken and overgrown sprinkler control boxes, alternating lushly overgrown and clearcut vegetation surrounds, etc. The bag drop is no longer manned so it’s a hump in and back out; the shop is pretty bare except for taking your money, and amenities like ball washers, hole signage, and cart features are lacking.

Overall the course was very soft, which can’t be attributed to the rain showers over the past couple days but to what looks like directed watering. Many fairway areas show signs of scattered fertilizer/mulch application and were pretty wet. Greens were very soft and held shots while rolling at only medium speed. Fairways were a collage of green/gray/brown lush or dormant all mixed together – lies were generally fairly tight. The course uses the entry/exit gate system but it looks like the ingress/egress points have not changed in several days and those areas are pretty beat up (and wet!). Rough was as variable as the fairways. Tees were mostly pretty bushy and needed to be cut; some tees were pushed well forward of card distances (we played White). A longtime bugaboo here, the sand traps, have become a feature as all that I saw (and my buddy played from) had ample groomed sand.

Fun layout, sad conditions. Still hoping for a turnaround.

Played here today with a 2:10 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. It was $71 minus 20% promo code, so around $57. Checked in easily around 1:40 and the outside attendant then offered for me to join the next group... Continue »

Played here today with a 2:10 TeeOff.com "Deal" time. It was $71 minus 20% promo code, so around $57. Checked in easily around 1:40 and the outside attendant then offered for me to join the next group. Played with three nice guys who play together regularly. The group in front of us was very quick and we barely saw them after the first few holes. Total POP was around 4:40.

Conditions are mixed but mostly good. I feel like two different players could possibly have two completely different ratings based on where their balls came to rest. Greens were in good condition but very soft and spongy. The further into the round we got, the bumpier they became. They rolled around medium speed and were often a little wobbly en route to the hole. As expected due to the softness, they accepted full shots very well. Almost seemed like new cups weren't cut today, with a little bit of rounded-ness in the putting surface around each hole. Fairways were mostly nice with good coverage of either green, light green or brownish grass. I did get a few fairway lies that weren't great. Rough varied from thick in spots to very thin and/or bare spots, but mostly pretty good. Blue tee boxes were decent; sometimes it was hard to find a spot to stand without standing in divots. Bunkers were nice filled with good sand. Overall, conditions were better than I expected, but still a little rough around the edges.

It was my second time here. Unfortunately it was cloudy most of the day, so the course didn't really come alive visually today. The layout reminded me quite a bit of CrossCreek today, and also Strawberry Farms in spots. Recommended at value prices but I wouldn't be happy to pay rack rate here. Even $57 feels a bit steep but considering I only had to drive about 15 minutes from home, it makes it more palatable.

Played last wed. First time playing since they closed for maintenance. Greens are in very good condition, rolled true. They put sand in all the greenside bunkers. Fairways were green and not a lot ... Continue »

Played last wed. First time playing since they closed for maintenance. Greens are in very good condition, rolled true. They put sand in all the greenside bunkers. Fairways were green and not a lot of bare spots. POP was under 4 hours.

My monthly golf group got together on Saturday at Talega this past weekend and the prior reviews about this course's declining conditions were pretty spot on, but not so bad that it wasn't worth the t... Continue »

My monthly golf group got together on Saturday at Talega this past weekend and the prior reviews about this course's declining conditions were pretty spot on, but not so bad that it wasn't worth the trip. The price ($109) was definitely too steep for the current state of the place.

There are a lot of burned out and thin areas across the property so even premium tee shots are going to land you in places that will have you wondering how you got so unlucky. It's certainly not terrible, but I've been to Talega once or twice in prime shape and it's an entirely different experience. It's a tough layout (especially on the back nine) so making it even more difficult with mediocre conditions is not as much fun as it should be.

Greens were in pretty good shape so that's to be recognized, and the bunkers were alright as well as I found myself in plenty of them on that back nine. The rough was once again a mixed bag of either deep or dirt - and pretty much everything in between. Tee boxes were a little beat up (our group plays from the white tees), especially the one on the par 3 12th hole.

POP was a mess with a very casual twosome in front of us moving so slowly and not keeping up with the foursome in front of them (how does that even happen?), so by the time we reached the fifth hole we needed to contact the golf shop and have them send out a marshal. It went better after he moved them along.

I think this course is a whole lot of fun when it's back in 'country club' shape, but for now that's not what you're going to find. I hope they get it back to its best shape soon.

Played Sunday, 2/20, teeing off at 6:50. Cold and wet when we started, warmed up on the back nine. Finished right at 4 hours for our fousome, with no waiting and not really seeing the group behind u... Continue »

Played Sunday, 2/20, teeing off at 6:50. Cold and wet when we started, warmed up on the back nine. Finished right at 4 hours for our fousome, with no waiting and not really seeing the group behind us.
I don't get to play that often, so when the invite came and I was actually free, I decided to play even though based on the prior review I knew the course was not in the greatest shape. Prior review was pretty accurate, only thing I'd change is the greens were pretty good when we played. Tee boxes were fine, par 3s a bit chewed up but that's normal for most courses. Fairways were thin for the most part, some better than others, a few were very thin.
I enjoyed the round despite the less than ideal conditions. There are signs they are working to fix some of the issues - new sod in places, some GUR areas where they are working on getting the course back to normal standards.
Not sure I can recommend based on conditions right now relative to price. It's a fun layout, and if you can get a deal maybe worth it. Hopefully by late spring the work they're doing will show and conditions will improve.

Hadn't played this course in a few years and was severely disappointed with how the conditions have deteriorated and price has skyrocketed. Paid $80 for a round at 1:20pm and due to packed condition... Continue »

Hadn't played this course in a few years and was severely disappointed with how the conditions have deteriorated and price has skyrocketed. Paid $80 for a round at 1:20pm and due to packed conditions and slow POP, we finished in darkness around 6pm. No marshals or beverage carts were seen during our round. This course needs lot of work to justify the premium prices and would be overall rated as poor-> average at best.

Tee boxes: Generally good condition. Mostly covered with minor divot damage. Probably the best part of the course.

Greens: Greens were in what appeared to be great condition, but speed was inconsistent and a little lumpy bumpy. Some pin locations were in just ridiculously stupid positions.

Fairways: This is links style fairways with super hard pan and very inconsistent coverage. Fairways were very thin and some areas ok,, while others were barely covered with different grasses

Bunkers: Talega absolutely has the worst bunkers in Southern California. First of all, there are a crap ton of bunkers everywhere. But they are so inconsistent that you never know what kind of bunker sand you'll be in. It ranges to straight up concrete all the way down to beach sand. It made playing out of bunkers way more difficult than it should be. Some greenside bunkers were straight up dirt and impossible to get under the ball. Needs a complete overall and refurbishment.

Talega is in a great area and should be a premium course. They charge like it is, but what they offer is quality less than the muni (or even shorecliffs). The layout on the front nine isn't bad, but some really bad laid out holes on the back nine make it frustrating. There are some really long par 3's, and blind tee shots with forced carries. Unless the conditions improve dramatically, I won't be back anytime soon.

First time back to my home course in 18 months, played 6/30/21. Not impressed. It's playable, but conditions aren't close to the SC Muni which costs much less.

Greens bumpy. Grass coverage is good... Continue »

First time back to my home course in 18 months, played 6/30/21. Not impressed. It's playable, but conditions aren't close to the SC Muni which costs much less.

Greens bumpy. Grass coverage is good, so I was surprised they were not rolling well. Fairways and rough are ok, overall decent but there are some areas not good.

Bunkers are not good. Half are hard as a cart path, obviously have not been maintained. Some have a thin layer of sand. One was completely closed off as it looked like it was being completely rebuilt. I can only hope that is a sign that they are redoing bunkers, because as they are it is an embarrassment.

Tee boxes are indicative of a course getting heavy play. Divots fill the tee boxes on Par 3s.

Talega drops off my "recommended" list at this time. Great layout, sub-muni conditions. There are much better options out there.