Played here on Monday in group 1B of the Golf Moose / Vivid Golf / GK event. Great times with Johnny, Ron, and Steve. Seemed like a large contingent of people from the Southern California Golf Community FB group were in attendance, who all brought a great energy. Overall it feels like five years in, Johnny’s Golf Moose events have fostered a joyous, grateful community of their own – much like GK has – and it’s really nice to see so many familiar faces at each outing! POP was pretty good for an event like this at just under 5 hours. Enjoyed a tasty hot dog special at the turn that included chips, a soda, and a banana.

Course conditions were very nice! Greens were smooth, medium-fast, and accepting of full shots. Fairways and rough were both very healthy with the fairways providing great lies and the rough potentially presenting difficulties in some spots, and sitting up in others. Black tee boxes were fantastic. I was in one bunker and it was very good – a thin crusty layer on top of a soft sand base.

I had played here once about two years ago. The course begins with two straightforward holes somewhat out of character with the rest of the design. Overall, I much prefer the back nine to the front. Holes 10-14 are excellent, with 14 being my favorite on the course. Nice facilities with the range and large practice green all conveniently located right outside the clubhouse. Beautiful weather, great people, and a fun day on the course! Thank you Johnny for organizing these events, and thanks to Alta Vista for hosting for their first time.

Had a super time walking the blues this afternoon 6/21/26 with my buddy Mark joined by a couple of his work colleagues who were a pleasure to play with. Our Pop was 4 hrs 45 minutes under beautiful golf weather. Swirling 1-2 club wind on the front dying down on the back nine and around 78 degrees as a high. Met by friendly staff this afternoon in the shop. Had dinner at the course after the round..Great food.

The course just finished green maintenance and the greens were in great shape with the perfect combination of being soft and receptive on approach shots and rolling medium speed on putts. Green rating 8.5/10

The fringes were soft and were just about done completely with a topsand project. Fringes were in great shape. Best I have ever seen them.

Fairways had been plugged recently and I must say they looked and played fabulous[13 fairway still has mini irrigation plugs]. Very lush with not alot of rollout on drives and very well manicured. Great shape close to a 9/10.

Rough lining the fairways was cut just a bit higher than the lush Fairways and was in great shape. Rustic has really improved their fairway rough and fringes in the last year or so. Rough rating 9/10

Tees were all level and in great shape. Rated 9/10

Was only in greenside bunker on 13 after a nice drive and 3 metal. It was compact and firm and contained just enough sand to splash out of. Most bunkers here are on the firmer side. Rated 6.5/10

Always great to be out at Rustic. This is lush city? What was built as a links bump and run course is now lush city which makes iron ball striking and chipping easier but adds extra length with limited roll on drives, whether you like the former or the present get out and play Rustic if you can get a tee time as it's in fabulous shape!!!

Highly recommended!

Played 6/22/26 2:15 POP 3:20. Course is still in really good shape. Greens great, receptive w/ good roll. Not too many afternoon foot prints. Fairways have great coverage, green and very good to great shape. They have fixed one of their weak spots. The traps. They all have new sand and are in really good shape and consistent. Now they need to work on their tees.

Played early this AM to beat the heat and the Mon crowds. Nice living so close to a course.

Found the course in somewhat different shape then previous rounds.

Tee boxes good.

Fairways wide and giving "decent" roll but not as good as past weeks. Seems like a lot of water has been put on the course with past and coming heat. But the lies were excellent.

Rough was much higher as well and needs cutting so fairly difficult to advance w/o a powerful swing.

Traps were all ok and had been raked so not an issue.

Greens were the big mistery. In the past they have been firm and fast. But no doubt they too have been heavily watered as they were soft w/o much release and did not putt with there normal speed. Even downhill putts were not as dangerous.

Always good customer service from the Monday AM pro shop. You can tell they like their work.

Played with Rob1563 on Sat at 7:30 AM for the nice local rate of $115, which they complain about, but it's much better than the $220 for visitors. I have played here once before and remember that the layout is all over the place, which we believe was because they picked the best holes for the members' course, which left the arroyo all over the place.

The course was in great shape for early summer. I think the fairways were some of the best I have ever played on. Very good cushion and green, they did have a few soggy areas from overwatering, but I be they were fine by the afternoon in 105° heat. Greens were firm and medium pace for about an hour, then fast after the sun dried them out. I had my worst putting day in a while there. Sand traps need some help as they were in poor shape in the fairways and a little better around the greens.

Nice carts with GPS and a cool one with no free water. I would like to see more water coolers on the course, especially with the heat, but they did have some every 4 holes. Staff were friendly, and I would play here again given a deal can be found.

Review from over a month ago, but I wanted to post it anyway. I was fortunate to be able to play here while on vacation. I was not planning on it due to the major storms that had just happened, but I am sure glad I did. Everyone said you have to play the emerald course for the elevation, views, and layout. They were not wrong. The Views are worth it alone.

Conditions were very good despite them losing 2 dozen trees, but you could hardly tell. There are a lot of trees, bushes, and nature on the course. Conditions were mostly in the 10s across the board, and there is not much more a golfer could ask for. Fairways were carpet-like, rough was not long but very thick, greens ran smooth at a medium pace with no issues at all. Sand was wet but seemed to play fine.

The rack rate is very high, and that is the only downside. I was able to snag a deal, but after renting clubs, it was still 300+, but we could easily spend that on drinks at the hotel pool so I wasn't going to skip treating myself.

Played in the Clash at Rams Hill two weeks ago. It was a two-day, two-man tournament run by Rams Hill. Friday we were invited to the very exclusive Borrego Springs yacht club for opening drinks. They hat the TGL LAGC simulator truck running a closest to the pin competition as well as drinks and snacks.

This is the first time I have played the course since they decided to be year-round, and man, the course still looked great. Temps were in the 100s, but the course was still lush and playing great.

Tees, Fairways, Rough, and sand were in great condition with only a small amount of browning locations scattered across the course, but those were few and far between. Greens were the highlight as usual, firm and fast yet healthy. Good roll with no bumps or divots despite having two full days of competition.

It's still a drive to play out here, but given the cheaper rate in the summmer its worth playing if you can handle the heat.

PS - The free tacos and Carmel Apple Cookie are the bomb.

RPGC event this weekend at Rancho Park and it hurts to say it but the course is not in its best shape. The greens are actually great right now and rolling true and medium-fast, but the rest of the property is feeling the heat.

The fairways have far too many thin or burned out/dirt areas for my liking, but the rough is good in most spots. The tee boxes are a bit beat up for sure (we played from the white tees this round), and the bunkers are just okay. There's just an overall 'meh' feeling about course conditions right now, with the notable exception of the greens.

Still no end in sight for the clubhouse remodel, either. So if you want to play some very fun and challenging greens right now, Rancho Park is a great choice. But if every other aspect of golf is also important to you, then give them a few weeks to somehow get this sorted out.

The Waikoloa Village golf course sits about 5 miles from the coast up the hill in the village of Waikoloa. A much cheaper option than courses down by the water. This where a lot of locals play. The course itself at times feels forgiving and open. The challenges are the wind, the sand traps, and the rough. The wind can change rapidly up on this hill so that was difficult to read. The sand is not sand at all but rather pebbles, that at times feel and play like normal sand and other times play like rocks. This is really the only downside to playing here. The rough, fairways, and greens don't get cut on the weekend, and since I played on a Sunday the challenge was on. The rough at times was playing at least 1 club more. The greens were in excellent condition, they were not as fast as you would think, but rolled pure and almost no marks on any green on the course.

The course truly rewards you for hitting the fairway. Thats what I did on the front, and was pumped to have one of my best rounds going, until the back 9 got me good. The front 9 is more scenic with some great views, especially holes 5 and 6. Everyone, who works there is very friendly and supportive, the locals gave me some excellent tips, and price is great. In the area and looking for a cheaper option with plenty of challenges, this is it.

Played 6/19. Course is in decent shape. Fairways do have some bare/thin/rough patches. Rough is spotty. Greens are still a little bumpy and slow. Many of the forward tee boxes are under repair, the rest were a little overgrown. Overall, not bad and seems to be improving.

A week in Waikoloa and I managed to find myself at the Beach course (9-holes) followed by the Kings 9. I will review both here. The Waikoloa mixed use community is now offering 3 nine-hole options for players. The Beach, Kings, and Lakes. Lets start with the Beach.

The Beach 9 is about as classic of a resort course as you can find. Some challenging holes and well placed bunkers, with most holes offering double wide fairways and forgiveness. Every hole I was thinking, why is this called the beach 9 when its not actually on or near the beach. Only one hole plays near the water. In terms of course conditions, everything was really great. The greens rolled pure and were quick, the fairways, rough, and tee boxes are 9/10, the sand however was lacking and was not soft. The bunkers were so hard to get out of, creating a real challenge if you got in one . Overall, I loved it and I want to play this side again, its what Hawaii resort golf should be... fun.

The Kings 9-

This side is much more challenging and requires some real shot shaping and creativity. Not sure why its called the Kings but I can tell you that there are feral goats all over the course. No I am not talking about great golfers or GK members/gurus, literally feral goats in the fairways, on the greens, and in the rough. They are peaceful and will not bother you. This did throw me off just slightly. The greens were dryer and faster on this side, the wind picked up, and the pin placements made the Kings 9 a good challenge. The rough, tee boxes, and fairway conditions mirrored the Beach side except for the wind. Overall, I loved it.

Waikoloa is a fun and cheaper option than those at the surrounding expensive resorts(Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Lani). If you stay anywhere on the property you get a discount. The people are helpful and friendly, and the course is not going to crush you. I recommend this course, mahalo!

Course continues to be in great condition. They are working on patching some of the areas adjacent to the cart paths which have bare spots due to cart traffic. Numerous areas in a few fairways have been resodded, to address some bare spots. Greens rolling well, but like the North Course, slower than normal? Otherwise, no issues. Enjoying these pleasant morning.