DeepSea14 and I met up at the newly redesigned Poppy Ridge. Gone are the three separate 9 hole layouts used in rotation to create 18 holes for the day, and in place is one standard 18 hole layout with a separate Par 3 course. This is obviously my first time playing the new layout, and I will admit that I only played the old course twice, so I didn’t have a huge sample to ... » More

DeepSea14 and I met up at the newly redesigned Poppy Ridge. Gone are the three separate 9 hole layouts used in rotation to create 18 holes for the day, and in place is one standard 18 hole layout with a separate Par 3 course. This is obviously my first time playing the new layout, and I will admit that I only played the old course twice, so I didn’t have a huge sample to compare it with.

Before I go into the layout, I will give you the down and dirty only the conditions. Overall, very nice. Nothing below an 8. Greens rolled smooth and fast. Fairways had complete coverage throughout the entire course. Fairways presented tight lies but the trade off is good roll out.

Sand traps were an 8-9 in that they had deep fluffy sand. Only 1 was damp and a little compacted. tee boxes were level and divot free. There isn’t any rough to speak of here. Just lush fairway and dirt. Maybe Peter can recall something different.

Onto the layout. It’s a hilly course with WIDE open fairways. Probably the widest fairways I’ve seen in a long time. Much much issue off the tee. A bombers dream for sure. I struggled with the driver all day, yet I finished with the same ball I started with and didn’t have a single double bogey. Like I said WIDE open. Not a tree in sight. There is now only one water hazard on the entire course. That’s a bummer in my opinion. I’d say it was a water conservation thing but they have a ton of excess grass on tee boxes that are 100+ yards long and tightly mowed
“Fairway” grass from tee to green on a 200 yard par 3. If they needed to conserve water there are plenty of areas they could change that would save water yet not affect the playability of the course.

Greens were very large with modest undulations. Some of the greens rivaled those at Rancho Solano in nearby Fairfield, CA. BTW all flags are blue at Poppy Ridge we walked so we didn’t have access to the GPS in the carts and my golf app hadn’t updated the system to the new layout yet. We were often guessing at the pin location in relation to the overall layout of the green.

As mentioned before, the tee boxes while level and lush were. Huge. Sometimes a 100 yards long. We walked the course and for the most part it’s a fairly walkable course. There were only two real back breakers of a transfer. One was actually on a par 3 from the tee to the green which was across the gully. You had to retrace your path from the tee box back to the cart path and walk around the ditch then either walk all the way around the Side of the hill or hike through the barren land with rocks. A little bridge and path would have been nice.

Overall, I preferred the old layout to the new one. Not sure what the motivation was behind it as they didn’t make it any easier to walk nor did they insert any water conservation measures.

Am I disappointed? No, I’d play here again. The conditions coupled with the (NCGA) price is worth it alone. And it’s not that it’s a bad layout. I just preferred the old one.
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The Saticoy was again a Dream Boat! Unfortunately, my golf game was E.L. Dog Vomito… Thank goodness I had most excellent playing partners Johnny and Mark!


As with past reviews, I don’t have enough positive things to say about this incredible course, it is such a great course and a true test of golf, especially on this day with the rough grown juicy and iron play ... » More

The Saticoy was again a Dream Boat! Unfortunately, my golf game was E.L. Dog Vomito… Thank goodness I had most excellent playing partners Johnny and Mark!


As with past reviews, I don’t have enough positive things to say about this incredible course, it is such a great course and a true test of golf, especially on this day with the rough grown juicy and iron play being back to expansionism status.


There are very few courses in Southern California I can think of as far as layout, conditions, and environment that would be better. The course played its yardage, and fairways offered limited roll out on drives and approaches. The course is very well maintained and in excellent condition. The course layout is rated a 5 out of 5, conditions are rated a 4.8 out of 5.


I note the following:

Tee Boxes: Level, and always green, no damage. Condition excellent.

Fairways: Green, lush, and defined from rough. Grabby with limited rollout. Condition excellent.

Greens: Green, fast in speed, on the medium to firm side, and very tricky to read at times. Speed about a 10.5 - 11. Condition excellent.

Sand: Maintained with excellent consistency. Condition excellent.

Rough: Maintained and defined, and juicy! About 3 – 6 inches. Condition excellent.

Waste Areas: Noted to be more overgrown than in the past with nature that offered little to no recovery potential. Balls were not found in these areas on this day. Conditions excellent.


Driving Range: The range was scenic, hitting off an artificial turf surface. The range places you on a mountain top hitting into a valley with various greens and markers that are situated in an area that is fully grassed, with markers from 100 - 225 yards. Range balls were quality Callaway golf balls. Range runout was about 275 yards.


Practice Area: I noted a very nice chipping area on a lower tier away from the driving range. Conditions excellent.


Practice Putting Greens: Two mid / large-size practice putting greens were noted, both in excellent condition. Speed of the practice putting greens were consistent with course.


POP: 4.8 hours – no wait was encountered on any hole.


Other: Noted a beautiful clubhouse, restaurant, and golf shop, all were top tier. Customer service was top level. And the food at the Snack Shop was lights out good again!


Thank you, Johnny, GreensKeeper.org for this Vivid / GM Outing! This Outing and The Saticoy are simply stated, First Class!
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Played today. Not much change from last week. Course still being watered heavily against the heat. So lush fairways that need cutting so no roll and heavy lies. Tee boxes were cut so no issues. Traps playable but damp in early AM. Rough damp and high and needs cutting. Greens soft and showing wear and tear and divot damage due to softness. They all putted slow all round. But gr... » More

Played today. Not much change from last week. Course still being watered heavily against the heat. So lush fairways that need cutting so no roll and heavy lies. Tee boxes were cut so no issues. Traps playable but damp in early AM. Rough damp and high and needs cutting. Greens soft and showing wear and tear and divot damage due to softness. They all putted slow all round. But great customer service from Christian and Mateo in the shop.
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Played here in group 1B of Monday’s Golf Moose/Vivid Golf/GreensKeeper.org outing. Just a spectacular day all around! Huge thanks to Johnny for allowing us to gain access to places as special as The Saticoy Club.

Conditions are excellent. The greens were smooth, accepting of full shots, and medium-fast speed. I’ve seen them faster here in the past, but these were grea... » More

Played here in group 1B of Monday’s Golf Moose/Vivid Golf/GreensKeeper.org outing. Just a spectacular day all around! Huge thanks to Johnny for allowing us to gain access to places as special as The Saticoy Club.

Conditions are excellent. The greens were smooth, accepting of full shots, and medium-fast speed. I’ve seen them faster here in the past, but these were great. Fairways might be the highlight right now with a uniform smoothness to the turf that not only provided perfect lies all day, but looked fantastic to the eye and really accentuated the contours of the course. The rough varied from semi-penal to extremely penal in spots where it got really deep and juicy. Bunkers were well maintained and had sufficient sand. We played the blue/white combo tees and all tee boxes were in nice shape.

I fell in love with this course the first time I played it in 2014, and that love only grows each time I return. It’s an amazing place and I feel extremely fortunate to have spent the day there trying to capture its beauty with my camera and being challenged by the course. Thanks again to Johnny and Vivid Golf for providing exceptional opportunities like this!
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Had great pleasure to play this course as a member for day.

The communication with Rick Castillo, their director of golf was 1st class. He was thorough, patient and very inviting of our group of 4 players. We have very detailed instructions emailed to us ahead of time.

The course is built on the side of the mountain in the middle of Maui by the airport. You g... » More

Had great pleasure to play this course as a member for day.

The communication with Rick Castillo, their director of golf was 1st class. He was thorough, patient and very inviting of our group of 4 players. We have very detailed instructions emailed to us ahead of time.

The course is built on the side of the mountain in the middle of Maui by the airport. You get sweeping views of the East Bay and also the West Bay of Maui. You also see planes descending towards the airport. Very cool! The holes generally run east to west and west to east with a few par 3's going north south. Layout was unique and you definitely have the ocean pull on all your putts. Greens were immaculate, running at 10. (bear in mind, you cannot have them any faster because of winds). The holes had a good mix of water features and forced carries over streams and waterfalls. Sand traps were well maintained and rough was not too penal. However, if you are crooked, get ready to be 1 or even two holes over.

The clubhouse was dated, but very historical and designed by Frank Llyod Wright originally for Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe's home. Proshop was well stocked and the restuarant had a nice indoor and outdoor patio with sweeping views. All staff encountered was pleasant from snack shop to cart barn. Shoutout to John for making us feel especially welcomed! Driving range was nicely maintained with high quality balls. We will love to return again to play. Mahalo Mr. Castillo!
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