Played for the first time on Easter Sunday. Put my name on the twilight wait list at 6AM and then played a dawn round on the North Course. They didn't expect it to be very busy, and I was actually sent out early for my round on the South Course about 15 minutes before twilight officially began at 2PM.

This course is a beast, over 7,000 yards from the Blues. 500 yard par 4s are no joke. Overall condition was magnificent, and a couple of the regulars I played with said it's the best they've seen in a long time. Fairways are almost flawless and a pleasure to hit from. The rough is a challenge — thick, tall, and sticky. Was usually able to play approaches without much trouble, but sometimes you'll be buried in it near the green, so at any given time it can cause all sorts of issues. Not every time, but any time.

Greens were a little slow in the morning, then picked up once the breeze kicked up in the late morning. They're fast, roll quite true, and were a pleasure to putt on. Iron shots would usually stop unless you were hitting out of the rough and losing spin.

The greenside bunkers were inconsistent, as others have mentioned. Sometimes they're a good mix of soft on top and firm beneath, but sometimes that top layer is too thin, and good luck if that's the case. You'll either launch it way past your target or catch it thin and blast it back into the lip. Or maybe I just don't know how to play that shot...

The views, with all the paragliders flying around, can be beautifully distracting. Late afternoons are amazing.

This was a bucket list course and did not disappoint. But let's be real: At $139 for an out-of-town twilight rate it's great, but at the full $229+$43 booking fee? That's a bit nuts. The service is great, but the amenities don't live up to the prices. Carts cost $40 but don't have GPS, driving range is mats and not grass, everything is overpriced (Gatorade+Banana=$7 are you kidding me???). Even my no frills pull cart cost $10 (better ones at the LA municipals cost $3).

If money's no object, or you're up for the challenge, TP South is a thrill. It's very cool to test yourself against a US Open course. But, personally, I'll probably play the North next time. The conditions and views are as good if not better, it's more playable, faster, and about $100 less on the weekend.

Teed it up this morning as Group #1. First out at 5:32AM. On the shortest day of the year. Sunrise was not till 6:55 today, so when we started it was literally still black out, with only the stars to light the course for us. Like, you'd never have continued playing a twilight round when it was this dark. But Los Verdes is always so slow and crowded, this was the only way I could be sure we'd finish the round. The starter was kind enough to give us each a light-up ball, which was necessary to use for the first 6 holes.

Once we were able to start playing with real balls on the 7th hole, it was beautiful. The rains have helped but there's still some patchy areas. The fairways were good, the rough is pretty inconsistent but usually not too penal. The greens were in great shape, quick and sometimes tricky to read but never "unfair." #11 and #15 are always a treat, particularly in the low light of winter.

Here's my beef: like I said, we were first out. Made the turn in about 90 minutes, mostly in the dark. When we got to #10 there were now 3 or 4 earlybird groups ahead of us, and the back 9 took close to 3 hours. The starter said they only send off the earlybirds playing the back 9 at sunup. Well then don't let people start in the pitch black on the front but not put people on the back for another hour and a half! Sorry, but when I wake up at 4 to be the first group out I don't expect to have to wait EVER.

It by no means ruined the day, and $36 for this course with these views is a good deal any way you slice it. But it was disappointing to learn that there is seemingly no way to get around Los Verdes' well-deserved reputation of being one of the slowest courses in all of golf. Not even starting in unplayable dark will get you around here in under 4 hours.