Without question still best price round in Inland Empire. Fairway bunkers just hard pan, green side bunkers almost playable, Rest of course as good as you find at the price. Fairways about 85% playable lies without bump. Greens very good, speed average with uphill slow and down hill fast enough to get away. Very full tee sheets in the morning and 4 and half hour round regu... » More

Without question still best price round in Inland Empire. Fairway bunkers just hard pan, green side bunkers almost playable, Rest of course as good as you find at the price. Fairways about 85% playable lies without bump. Greens very good, speed average with uphill slow and down hill fast enough to get away. Very full tee sheets in the morning and 4 and half hour round regular. ;They have just cut rough so play has speeded up a bit and they have started trying to close and take care of a few tee boxes.
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Played 07-02-2025

I’ve been playing Tilden my entire life and wanted to share current conditions of the course but also further thoughts on the design and operations as well.

Tilden is a truly unique layout unique to itself in the serenity that is Tilden Park. The course is beautifully placed in the redwoods with nothing except the Berkeley Hills as its backd... » More

Played 07-02-2025

I’ve been playing Tilden my entire life and wanted to share current conditions of the course but also further thoughts on the design and operations as well.

Tilden is a truly unique layout unique to itself in the serenity that is Tilden Park. The course is beautifully placed in the redwoods with nothing except the Berkeley Hills as its backdrop. The course has an Parkland feel but with a NorCal flair. One of the most difficult courses you can walk on par with Presidio and maybe only bested by Lake Chabot.

The course is in dire need of a renovation as well as new management who can oversee a renovation of this magnitude and continue to maintain the course sufficiently post renovation. If the course were to be renovated properly with a new drainage system and money invested to modernize the layout and design, Tilden could be one of the best courses in the region if not the state due to its amazing setting. The sad thing is even though management has changed multiple times the investment from the East Bay regional park department most likely won’t come.

On to the course conditions. The Bay Area has been blessed with amazing weather again this year, with foggy mornings and evenings being commonplace across the East Bay. This wouldn’t be a problem if Tilden had proper drainage and a grass type that handled moisture better but due to this much of the fairways and rough was overgrown to the point where they were water logged and muddy. Balls hit in the fairway would hardly roll on some holes due to mud and the greens were very soggy considering the time of year.

Tee Boxes: mostly flat but some were over seeded and others are not large enough to move the blocks around to cycle the growth properly. This ends up in the blocks being moved to the front or back of many tee boxes

Fairways: some holes were dried out and had very little coverage, others had long grass and seemed like they hadn’t been mowed in 1-2 weeks. Strange confusing conditions as many good drives were not rolling out as they should. A few were in good shape as well but overall lacked consistency

Greens: most were soggy and slow but the occasional greens that received more sunlight were significantly quicker. They rolled mostly true and were very receptive to irons and wedges

Rough: lots of patchy spots on some holes, some didn’t have a clear cut between the rough and fairway. Overgrown in some areas and damaged by a mowing staff that doesn’t understand how to properly maintain rough.

Bunkers: had decent wet sand that you could play out of but they clearly hadn’t been raked by the maintenance staff in more than a day or longer.

Pace of play wasn’t terrible as I played 9 holes in 1:45 but due to the layout long waits are common on 3-9, 10-12 and 15-16. This round was in the middle of the week at 6PM so expected it to be faster but course was very busy.

Considering the conditions Tilden would be a great course to work on your game but it is seemingly always crowded so makes it difficult to really sell much about this course except for the scenery and the setting. Until the course gets renovated it will continue to struggle with these issues.

The practice facilities are excellent and probably what keeps this place afloat along with the new restaurant.
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Camarillo Springs is under new ownership and improvements are already being made!
A renovated driving range is underway, and some tee boxes have been improved.
It needs just about everything maintenance wise except the greens have always been good, and for me that's really the only essential thing. You can play preferred lies if needed for any dirt patches you might en... » More

Camarillo Springs is under new ownership and improvements are already being made!
A renovated driving range is underway, and some tee boxes have been improved.
It needs just about everything maintenance wise except the greens have always been good, and for me that's really the only essential thing. You can play preferred lies if needed for any dirt patches you might encounter.
It was bought by a local farming family, let's support the course, we were lucky this one was saved!
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Played June 26th and I'd say course in better shape then when Alex played in Feb. Tee boxes, fairways and greens all pretty good shape, we played blue/white combo. Teed off at 1030, no wind but it got a little breezy on B9 but not horribly windy. Keep in mind if you have not played here the wind can get howling in the afternoon. We waited on many holes but also we were a 2so... » More

Played June 26th and I'd say course in better shape then when Alex played in Feb. Tee boxes, fairways and greens all pretty good shape, we played blue/white combo. Teed off at 1030, no wind but it got a little breezy on B9 but not horribly windy. Keep in mind if you have not played here the wind can get howling in the afternoon. We waited on many holes but also we were a 2some behind a 2some behind a 4some and the 2 in front of us bailed after 6 holes so while we still waited a bit, I was really surprised to discover we finished in 4hr 10min. The track is links with a few repetitive layouts but still fun to play.

Value always remains a question for me when I play. Is $120 w/cart reasonable for a Thursday? I usually walk but haven't caught up with this friend in a long time so we shared a cart but still $100 for weekday feels a bit steep to me. Full disclosure, I have the Duke's membership for Monterey and NCGA which is an unfair comparison given savings at some great courses. So here I am comparing Poppy Hills, $95 walking to Baylands... it's an unfair compare since Poppy would never be in the same conversation as Baylands but then I just did that :). I would play here again but look for some discounted rate if it exists.
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Course continues to be in decent condition even with most days over 100 recently. Set your own pace most times when I play. Tees and fairways well maintained but not nearly as lush as high season. Sand near immaculate. Bermuda rough mowed low with some hardpan spots. Bermuda greens slower than usual. Firm and medium speed. They roll smooth again after May maintenance. Almost no... » More

Course continues to be in decent condition even with most days over 100 recently. Set your own pace most times when I play. Tees and fairways well maintained but not nearly as lush as high season. Sand near immaculate. Bermuda rough mowed low with some hardpan spots. Bermuda greens slower than usual. Firm and medium speed. They roll smooth again after May maintenance. Almost no ball marks. Men's lounge nice place to have a meal or get a drink with numerous big screen TV's in a friendly atmosphere. Restaurant good for a golf course. Customer service excellent both inside/outside the club. Practice facilities and the GPS on the carts both excellent. Highly recommended.
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