Pretty much ditto what everyone has already mentioned. Last year I gave it a 10/10. This time around is 9/10 which is of course still spectacular! Just some minor things here and there that I noticed yesterday such as the tees being a little long and a good amount of footprints on the greens but as such, these are just minor nitpicks and really nothing that affects play at all. The greens still rolled beautifully. Fairways and bunkers look like something straight out of a magazine! Can't wait to go back and try out the golf bikes.

Monarch Beach yesterday 1:30pm. So is this the new Champions Club at the Retreat? Not so much the course itself, but more so the recent reviews/ratings along with the wide array of opinions. Here's my long detailed version of it:

Pre-Round: Complimentary valet took our bags (after standing around for 5 minutes with no help even though they weren't that busy at our time of arrival) and loaded them up onto our carts/golf boards (more on that later). We had a discounted pre-paid tee time and went to check in with the very friendly pro shop staff. Had to watch the golf board safety video and sign the waiver & pay the advanced reservation fee of $50 which seems high considering other courses are charging around $20-30 to try the golf board. The odd thing is, if you don't reserve the golf board ahead of time, MB only charges $30 if they're available. After some back and forth, the pro shop ended up giving us the $30 rate. Thank you for that!

Since we arrived well ahead of our tee time, we had lunch at the grill overlooking the course and Pacific Ocean. Food was delicious and the views were spectacular! After that we rolled some putts on the tiny putting green and hit some balls in the 3 bay stall. I know space is limited but for a high end course, it's honestly pretty pathetic. For those that haven't been, the hitting bays at your local golf shop are the equivalent.

After that, was some practice time on the golf boards to get used to them. Of note, if you rent one, there is no space for GPS so bring your own.

Round:

Tees- Pretty lush with the expected divots on some of the Par 3's and shorter layup holes.

Fairways- Definitely good in spots and TERRIBLE in others (#12 comes to mind immediately as it was LCP rules for us). As dconnally mentioned, the upper course holes are having their issues right now. Most of the time if you hit the fairway, you can see a puff of sand come up when your ball contacts the surface.

Bunkers- By far the highlight of the course and lord knows I was in enough of them to get an accurate gauge. I was in no less than 10 bunkers today and all were consistently great and awesome to play from! Some unraked ones but that's not any fault of the course.

Rough- Anything from patchy/bare/dry to muddy/calf high kiss your ball goodbye.

Greens- Started out quick and true but by late afternoon they were a bumpy, heavy trafficked, Poa mess! Quick and true is great. Bumpy and fast? Not so much.

Layout is really solid with a good variety of holes. You get just about everything here. Long, short, wide, narrow, doglegs in both directions, ocean breezes, blind tee shots, uphill, downhill, etc. A lot of fun to play!

POP was weekend slow at 5 hours with a lot of "resort" duffers today.

Overall I had a good time. I'll say it's not as bad as some may think nor is the conditioning anywhere near great at the moment. Somewhere in between is probably the most realistic. Maybe 5.5-6.0/10? Take it for what it is but for the OC premium price you're paying, I'd say it's disappointing. Temper your expectations and I think it's ok. Will I come back? Perhaps for special occasions with a deal but at full rack, no thanks.

Was privileged to be part of the GK Guru/GK Cup Finals at Black Gold yesterday. Not much else to add to everyone else's reviews. Course was in pretty good shape and other than a few areas of patchy/spotty rough, I found it to be very enjoyable and playable. Since conditions have already been covered in the previous reviews I'll just add that while I really like the layout, it can be punishing if you're even slightly off. With many hazards, ESA, or OB on just about every hole, you'd better be straight or else you're in for a long day! Customer service has always been nice here and yesterday was no exception. I'll be back as soon as the greens heal from aeration. Thanks GK and BGGC!

Played today in the GK Guru Play with Johnny, Steve, & Nick. Super fun group to play with and if today was a scramble, we would've annihilated the competition with the amount of quality shots that were struck today lol!

Just about everything in weeman's review is spot on conditions wise with the only exception being that on the back 9 our group found that the greens were rolling faster than they looked. I won't go into too much detail on the course conditions since they are well covered in the previous review and still hold true. I will say that it's quite obvious that the management is putting the effort into revitalizing this course and I can only hope that they can bring it back somewhere near it's peak in its glory days!

Customer service was friendly on all levels and the GM was nice enough to provide us with some ice cold drinks on the 9th hole which was really a nice gesture and greatly appreciated on a warm day. Not much wind today which is rare for this area. We got a nice view of the nearby brush fire as well which made for some interesting backdrops and at times, added an orange filter to the sky.

As always thank you Johnny for setting us up and thank you Eagle Glen for your hospitality. I'll definitely be back and can only see the conditions getting better and better as we head into the fall!

Really enjoyed my round with Sixpez and mpisarski01. Thank you fellas for a great time even if we never did get those Jack in the Box tacos behind the 6th hole! Ditto everything Matt & Keith already mentioned. Only thing I'll add is that the layout has a couple of surprises (considering the land the property sits on) in the form of some demanding uphill approaches on the front 9 and play most often into the prevailing wind. Had never seen the course other than on TV when the Big Break was shot here years ago. It was a fun time and really scenic and for an airplane geek and golf nut like myself, there may not be a better place to play except maybe Westchester ;)

Played Journey 8/13/16 with Osamabinhacking and 2 other friends using an UP voucher for 2 players for $183 good anytime including replay. Our tee time was 8:50am. Arrived around 8am and we were met at the car by a friendly attendant who took our bags and loaded them onto the carts for us. Check in with the pro shop was smooth and efficient. Proceeded to the massive all grass range with new-ish balls to lubricate the swings. After about 15 min, we headed to the short game area to hit some chips and bunker shots. Lastly, we hit some putts for a few minutes before heading off to the 1st hole. The putting greens were almost EXACTLY representative of what we found on the course which was nice. POP was 4h20m with not much waiting.

Tees- Flat with full coverage and minimal damage. Never an issue

Fairways- Some minor areas of brown/thin but mostly great with nice lies all day long!

Rough- Grassy areas were consistent in coverage and length with a couple of longer areas that could really grab your club. But for the most part, it was not too difficult to escape. The areas that were pretty gnarly were the areas under some of the many oak trees on the course. MANY burrowing animal homes and if your ball was near any of these areas there was the possibility of losing your ball down one of the holes as OBH found out on # 10.

Bunkers- Our group didn't experience any issues with fluffy white stuff. A real treat although not as nice as Black Gold the other day!

Greens- As mentioned in the prior review, they still show signs of recent maintenance including a light top dressing of sand. HOWEVER unlike the previous review, we didn't find that it affected play that much. They were pretty firm but still held a well struck shot. Rolled pretty true and very quick!

Overall course conditions were very nice considering it's the middle of summer and it gets quite toasty in the Temecula Valley around this time of year.

For those that have played previously, not much else needs to said about the layout. I really like how the first few holes on either side play relatively easy on flat terrain closer to the clubhouse & resort. Then you climb into the hills for some spectacular views! Most notably the signature 6th hole.

Service was amazing on all levels from arrival, check in, starter, cart girl (4-5 times), snack bar at the turn, free bottled waters, well stocked locker room, etc...first class all the way around. Unfortunately we didn't take advantage of the free replay as we had prior commitments (casino! lol) but it was over 100 degrees by the time we finished so we didn't mind one bit. Still a good deal with the UP voucher especially on the weekends. Will be back sooner than later!

Just returned from the GK Guru Plays with Itslikeimsayin, Stickboy, & Nickesquire. Thank you fellas for a great time today!

Tees had good coverage with some divot damage on shorter holes but nothing unexpected or problematic. #8 had the whites and blues being re-done so they were closed off and the blues were back where to normal black markers are.

Fairways also mostly green and lush with a few areas that were thin and a couple GUR that were marked. I found a couple of squirrely lies in between patches of kikuyu that had not fully grown in. But those were few and far between.

Rough was most the same as the fairways just longer but not too difficult to play from.

Greens were looking kinda frumpy with some old ball marks that had not healed completely but they rolled surprisingly well and didn't affect our putting much. Plenty of putts outside of 10 feet were holed in our group today. They were rolling a medium-quick pace and quite healthy.

Bunkers. WOW! 10/10. Was in 3 bunkers today and all of them were absolutely perfect to play from. Wish all courses had sand this nice!

Layout is a hilly track with a good variety of short, medium, & long holes. Front 9 is more forgiving as the back 9 really tightens up off the tee. Wind can really swirl here but it wasn't bad at all today. Customer service was excellent in the pro shop and from the friendly starter. Saw the beverage cart once on #14. POP was a little over 4 hours and no waiting on any shots. I love this course and can't wait to come back again! Go play!

***Numerical rating should be closer to 7.5/10

Had some extra time today so decided to take advatange of San Dimas' email offer of $19.99 Mon-Fri after 11:00am. Got there at 12:30 and checked in with the friendly gentlemen in the pro shop and was off to the 1st tee by myself within a minute or two after a brief chat with the nice starter. Played the first 6 holes by myself before catching up with another single and twosome on #7 tee and we played as a foursome the rest of the way. Overall POP was 4 hours flat which is pretty good for SDCGC.

Course conditions haven't changed much from previous reviews. Greens are by far the highlight and it's so nice to putt on healthy greens that have some pace to them. It seems like in the summer, everywhere else is the standard medium-medium slow pace. Not here! Greens were soft, rolling true, and quick! Minimal ball marks which was nice as well.

Everything else was pretty standard So Cal summer muni shape. Fairways dry/thin. Mostly good lies but some areas that will definitely get your attention. Rough was thin and not penal. Was in 2 bunkers and had no issues. Tees had good coverage but most could use some leveling.

I've always loved the quirky layout. Didn't hit driver once all day and you really don't have to. Position is way more important than length. All par 5's are reachable for most and for longer hitters even with less than driver off the tee. Greens have some undulations and tricky breaks to them. Pay attention to the mountains as they tend to influence all putts here! Wind is always a factor at this canyon/foothill property as well. Most holes play either downwind or into. #1, 2, 10, & 18 were the only cross winds holes that we encountered today which is the norm here.

Not sure what the final rating came to, but I'd say the greens were 8-9 range and everthing else about average around 5-6. But for me, I'll take great greens over anything else so I was happy and for $20 you can't beat that! Go play!

Played in the GK Plays today and as usual it was a great time. Thanks Johnny for setting us up once again. Really good to see new and old faces alike. We were in the 3rd group and had an awesome time with Kevin, Tom, & David (thanks for taking on Jack's Blacks with me!).

Course conditions were good to very good across the board. Fairways were probably the highlight with lush green grass covering them and very few blemishes that I saw. Tees were for the most part level with good coverage other than #6. Was in a couple of bunkers and they were easy to play from so no complaints from me. Rough was more of a gamble ranging from lush, patchy, clumpy, or just bare. Greens were medium pace and bumpy on several holes. Might have been the late afternoon Poa buds coming out to play.

Course layout is so much fun with six par 5's! Didn't see the beverage cart out today and there were only a couple water fountains on the course but no coolers of any sort out there which would have been appreciated on a hot day like today. On the back 9 the wind really started blowing pretty good. I was able to launch a 333 yard 3-wood on #14 downwind but only able to hit driver about 225 on #15 playing back into it lol.

Do yourself a favor and play Jack's blacks at least once in your life but only if you can handle it!

Final round was Sunday 6/5 at LQ-Mountain Course. As others have noted, the layout and views are spectacular (except for #'s 10-13) which are basically crammed in between some neighborhoods. Front 9 is more wide open and flat. Back 9 starting with #14 is tighter and has more elevation changes. Greens are all on the small side here. Conditions have been covered in previous reviews so I won't re-hash them. So yesterday at Rams was 118 with lots of wind. Today was 112 with ZERO wind. NOT FUN! It was like standing in a sauna for 3.5 hours. Must have gone through 5 gloves during the round!

BUT, in the end the golf and camaraderie was great! Scores were like the temps. HIGH!

Round 2 was Saturday 6/4 @ Rams Hill. Big shout out to Mike Setchell for helping set up our mini group. As always, the customer service here is second to none. Everyone encountered was uber-friendly and accommodating. Conditions are exactly as described in previous reviews. While not Augusta green (like it is in winter), it's still 99% amazing with only a couple of small brown dry spots in a couple fairways. But hey, it was 118 that day with a 25mph wind blowing all day! We were basically the only idiots to tee off after the early morning that day. We had tee times starting at 11:10 and we paid the price lol. Beverage cart could not sell alcohol to us due to excessive heat which was actually appreciated! Glad to see they're looking out for guest safety! Can't wait to get back here when they re-open after summer.

Late review incoming. Played Eagle Falls on Friday 6/3 as the first round of a guys golf weekend. Not much to add to Tim's review except that the day we played the greens were really slow. Not sure if it was the mini heat wave last weekend but other than that the course was great! Some tighter holes on the front 9 and if your ball ended up in the native areas, kiss it goodbye. Was a cool 112 degrees by the time we were done at noon. POP was right at 3.5 hours.