played the rare away round here in early november on a week day through a reciprocal website agreement. had long at the saticoy club on my radar and finally took the long ride up from LA to play it. played the tips (~7k or so in yards, the scorecard for this course on GK is not current, should be updated) which are 74.6/138. i came away very impressed with the saticoy club. if i were looking to join a different club right now, it would be top of my list. they have a great deal for under 40 members where the monthly dues are 600 a month, and the monthly dues are also in that range if you live 65+ miles from the club because you're considered a national member. and no initiation right now. as far as the course goes, you can see it's a billy bell and after 7 holes i turned to one of the members i was playing with and called it soule park on steroids. or it has the feel if you mixed soule park wtih say hacienda GC. very interesting contoured greens with speed. there are some nasty false fronts and other holes where missing to a certain spot around the green is absolutely crucial. had i not been w/ members, i would have been a bit surprised by some of this just by observing the approach shots from yards out. however, every tee shot was out in front of you, nothing too gimmicky or tricked up. routing wise, only odd thing is that both 9 & 10 are par 3s, which is rare and a bit weird... about the par 3s, there are 4 of them and from the tips they are 225, 190, 170 (way downhill) & 205. the 170 hole plays 150-160 with the downhill but into the wind, and it's over water, that's the 10th hole. that's the only quasi-tricked up hole / one i didn't really like. maybe b/c i made double there by not judging yardage right off tee and hitting 1st ball into the pond. still i would say the knock on the par 3 set at the course is that from the back, you're hitting 3 long irons into the greens and one mid-iron, so the course lacks a great short par 3. of the four par 5s, the first one of them (6th hole) is gettable in two, the other 3 are not. and with the 10 par 4s, none are set up where you can drive the green because the few in the sub 360 yard range play uphill. however, this doesn't make the course boring or repetitive. it's a very strong golf course, one where i'd say no single hole would be rated higher than 8 on a scale of 1-10, but also none related lower than a 4. just 18 good, solid, very good holes. in that case i think it's akin to Oakmont CC in glendale in how it lacks weak holes but different than say Hacienda GC which has 1-2 reasonably weak holes but also 3-4 fantastic ones. net net, if you have the chance to play saticoy, take it. and if you're under 40 or regularly drive long distances to play, look into joining. you would not get bored playing saticoy day in day out, not to mention they're part of the "championship collection" meaning you'd probably get some good reciprocity if that amenity is open to all of their members.

played here 10/22 before 8 am as a walking single. caught up to a group on 8 & went through. thus finishing around 10:45. for $32, there may not be a better deal in golf. played the back tees & although the card says par 72, i'd say its more like a par 70, even arguably a 69. 4/5/18 are par 5s a single digit should hit in 2 in today's game. regardless, it's a great experience and much fun, call all 3 those holes par 4.5's if you will. additionally the 6th hole is a great 230+ par 3 and they even have a grown over tee box that would make the hole 285-300, and in that case it'd be a great short par 4. although 9 isn't too long, that's 1 thing this course lacks in comparison to rustic canyon is a good short par 4. yes 9 says 333 from back, but playing uphill, it plays longer to an awesome green. overall, you have well designed memorable holes here. 10's a strong downhill par 3, 14-16 is a very challenging stretch and in totality you can see the great work gil hanse did here on billy bell course bones. i see why it's called the "sister" course to rustic canyon. although i was staying over at OVI, i came here to play instead. cant say enough good things about my soule park experience.

was lucky enough to get on here through some reciprocity & Thus paid standard guest fee. what an awesome track, even though greens were aerated about 10 days before i played it. greens were still a 9 or so if not more on the stimp, but man i can see how hard this place is when they are rolling 12 or so. the greens make the course, as it features little to no out of bounds and you can hit it really anywhere off the tee. uniquely shaped and faced bunkers, but perfect sands with perfect lies. if this place pops up on a SCGA play day or you ever get the chance, it is worth it.

played LRG for the first time weekend of 11/3 in an early morning (b/t 7:30 and 8:30) tee time, walking the blacks. i had heard strong things about the course since it's renovation and wanted to check it out, and felt $58 to walk was pretty reasonable. coming from near hollywood, it's a pretty easy ride to the track since it's right off the freeway and a bit closer than the moorpark courses. needless to say, LRG likely exceeded my expectations. the greens could've been faster, but were smooth. fairways were good, much better than the LA muni's. the overall look of the place was awesome with the turf reduction and retro looking (though its now a modern thing) traps. we played the blacks as the course is short, but its so funny to see a front 9 around 2800 and a back nine around 3500. id say overall the course played its distance and was mostly out in front of you. wasn't too crazy about the 15th hole and not having a clue that missing the green right was dead. we also found judging the downhill for the par 3 16th harder than judging the downhill for the par 3 6th hole. overall, i really liked the course though left a few shots out there, particularly on the 12th & 14th holes. also for what it's worth, and i know par is just a number, but calling the 1st and 12th holes par 5s is silly. i had 185-210 yards into each of them, and the 8th hole played longer than both. i suppose they do it b/c the look of a par 70 is more enticing than a par 68, but what this course really is a solid challenging par 68 from ~6300 yards. given how hard prime tee times are to come by, my review isn't exactly spoiling a hidden gem here. net net, i was very happy w/ los robles and would come back. it's an easy walk (minus gap between 9 & 10) and it makes you think. you could conceivably hit driver on all 13 non par 3s, but it's certainly optional, almost not preferred, on 3-5, 9 & 13. as for these new bunkers, lots of sand, fluffy and somewhat moist, but the ball doesnt get hung up in the fingers. they are tough, but fair. if you catch a lie in the high grass surrounding the bunkers, good luck. caught 1 on 11 and moved the ball 5 yards into the trap in front of me, but hey thats what gives the course its teeth and that is fine. net net, you get what you pay for @ LRG and i'd say $58 to walk it or $74 to ride is preferable to $92 at tierra rejada and comparable to river ridge victoria lakes given location for a LA resident. olivas/rustic still preferable, provided you can play in under 5 hours. but the combo of cost/course/condition/proximity makes LRG a top play right now for a LA resident.

this review is a few weeks overdue but i played SC CC for the first time since the ownership/name change (well really the first time since 2011) on saturday 9/14 or thereabouts 1st thing in the AM. got paired with 2 guys from the local christian university and we flew around teeing off some time between 6:30 and 7. i had really been looking forward to coming back here b/c i loved the rob ranch valley course, was always a great challenge. the pictures on social media of sand canyon were good, better than the reviews here. unfortunately, i think they've overdone it in making the place too green so to speak. for $90, the greens were way too slow and way too many of the tee boxes from the back tees were unplayable. especially the 16th hole, that was unacceptable. there was a hole on the front 9, i believe 6, that used to be a hole where you could only hit a 200 yard club off the tee from the tips b/c the ball would run out. now the ball doesn't run out, so got duped a bit there. i thought the bunkers were fine and fairways were good enough. rough is rough, i never grade the rough to be frank. its called rough for a reason, it doesn't need to be consistent. nevertheless, for $90 i did not like the value. to be totally fair, as the day went on and the moisture evaporated a bit, the greens did speed up. yet, they were never fast enough for that price. i really think they've gone overboard with the watering. for context, i played valley/desert, so the original valley course. back to some of the tee boxes, the grass was just way too thick. on a couple holes you would've needed a mega-gigantic tee to hit off of them. my recommendation for sand canyon is to get those tee boxes in order and stop over watering for the sake of having green grass. brown is beautiful. better boxes and ever so slightly quicker greens and this place goes back to the top of LA area daily fee spots in my view.

took adv of the promo code and brought a friend, so we split one greens fee. the greens were really quick and challenging. the layout stinks, especially the front 9. the back 9 was somewhat enjoyable. also, they had tees moved up on a number of holes, like the blues inside the red "stones" at times (aka the plates on the tee boxes where the yardage is in the color of the tee box) which was awfully annoying. other teeboxes weren't maintained. fairways way too narrow in certain spots. i should've known it wasn't my day when on the 1st hole, i hit a PW that pitched 15 feet past the pin and then spun back off the green. truly, that back & forth front 9 is tough to tolerate. they could also use a combo/gold set of tees that mixes the blues and the blacks. i recommend taking advantage of the free round, but don't do much else. i wouldn't come back if i had to give them another nickel. also worth noting that there are errant balls flying at your head on numerous holes b/c of all the blind fores that get yelled out. i mean blind fores as in when someone hits a shot way off line but can't see where it's going exactly and you can't look up and see where it's coming from b/c of all the brush and small trees that separate holes. will be interesting to see how much longer this course stays open. they got a nice crowd for their sunday brunch i saw, but in my foursome, we had 1 paid greens fee. raking in $250 for a foursome isn't sustainable for them if they attempt to keep up their conditions as they are. would truly love to see the front 9 become a dog run / public park for youth sports / better range & practice area while the back 9 remains an elite 9 hole.

rolled up to rancho b/t 3:45 and 4 on the longest day of the year and joined 2 single walkers who were on way to the 1st green as a 3 some was waiting for them. much props to that 3 some for letting me hit quickly on 1 and catch these guys. played as a 3 some until 12 before catching a 2 some and finishing as 5. rancho's greens were slower than my 2 prior experiences and felt like i was burning edges all day. wasn't my best round, but man we flew. we barely waited to hit shots, it was excellent. played in under 3.5 hours, idk if it was the nba draft or overcast weather, but rancho was stunningly empty. with rancho, you know what you are going to get, there are going to be some squirly lies in the fairways that should be GUR, but i actually like and appreciate how inconsistent the rough is. it lives up to the definition of rough. when you miss the fairway, chance comes into play and that's fine. sometimes the ball nestles, sometimes you catch a flier, sometimes you catch a bare lie. i wish i would have played better (4 fairways & 7 greens is really poor for me) but b/t the PoP and walking twilight rate of $22, can't be disappointing.

having played the north 2x, i had my first foray on LS south this past saturday for a 6:45 ish tee time as a single. was supposed to go with another 2 some, but when i saw they were running late, i joined the 3 some that was supposed to tee around 6:30 and didn't get off until 6:45 instead, w/out notifying the starter. starter seemed a bit out of sorts to begin with. also worth noting that i had to remind the shop guy that it's $45 to walk when he tried to charge me $60, which felt a bit disingenuous even though i paid $45 as i walked. nevertheless, after some deliberation i decided to give those monster black tees a try, and the course does not play 7600 w/ all the run out and elevation changes. given i played LS north in early may, the conditions were rather dissapointing. the greens were okay, but the fairways were really lousy. the rough i had no issue with b/c its rough and its supposed to be inconsistent. but again, the fairways were a letdown and the PoP for a pre 7 am TT was also suspect, finishing in about 4:15. feel like at that hour it should be sub 4 and you should never wait to hit a shot, and we waited maybe a dozen times. as for the layout, i heard some people call the north quirky or gimmicky, which i've disagreed with. i just think the south is kind of boring and monotonous. nearly all greens were elevated with a bunker or two around it. even some of the memorable holes, which were about half or 2/3 of them, were kind of blah. net net, i'd rather play the north from the back tees than the south from the blacks or blues if had the choice, it just requires more golf shots and decisions to make around the course. but really, the conditions were just such a let down even for the reasonable greens fee. i can't grasp why the maintenance staff can't just go out there with a gallon of spray paint and mark off GUR areas in the fairways that are clearly ground under repair. not sure i'll be back to the south.

came out afternoon of 6/10 for a free birthday round. walked the blacks with my trusty dog with me and my wife tagged along too as it was my birthday. been a long time since i had played victoria lakes and its black tees, and its as challenging as i recalled. a good test of golf, you use all 14 clubs over the course of the round. some of the black tee boxes were in poor shape, but i've found that throughout socal. greens were great, fairways fair and the rough thick. traps were consistent though i was only in 1-2 all day. POP could have been better but then again we teed off right around noon on a sunday. nevertheless, i felt the group in front of us was a bit slow and unaware of those behind them especially late in the round. i forgot how hard of a walk this course is, especially the back 9. i was wiped after. despite being far from hollywood, the ride wasn't too bad without traffic. next time i come out this ways i may give myself a break and play the blues, though the course doesn't play all too long because of how firm and fast it plays. however, if you miss the fairway it can play very long from the tips. the greens are the best feature of this course, fast but not too firm and they roll true. you can play a variety of short shots around the greens which is fun too. even for the rack rate, this is one of the better values related to challenge and conditions in greater LA area. i think the layout is good, a bit bland, so not as strong as rustic canyon or olivas links in my eyes. then again those were done by hanse and forrest richardson respectively, so. great place for a b-day round though i will say that.

played skylinks for 1st time 6/3 with a couple other GK'ers. given reviews here and that it's a AGC course, i was expecting a 5+ hour slog with multiple groups on holes since we were teeing around noon. i was pleasantly surprised. i guess given the course's rack rate they're able to space out tee times but also invest properly into the course. i was really impressed by the greens, speed and condition. i paid $54 or so to walk and felt that's very nice value. decent challenge, had it going okay on the front 9 and hit all 9 GIR, but no birdies. shakier on the back 9 which also felt a bit tighter. finished w/ 80. the black teeboxes weren't the best maintained, but they never are so i have found out here in socal. the travel to & from the course from essentially hollywood also was better than i anticipated. net net, 75 & under for greens of this quality is totally fair. i dont know what the staff does at skylinks compared to other AGC places, but it's commendable.

was fortunate enough to get on Hacienda GC on sunday of MDW for a TT b/t 10:30 and 11 for the first time. played the tips. i've scoured their website before and read about the place, so i had some pretty solid expectations for this restored william watson club. needless to say, my expectations were met if not surpassed. i haven't played all 18 of too many courses in California (25 total maybe?) but it's the best course i've been on. better than spyglass, sandpiper, oak quarry or Brentwood CC. what a challenging, penal, but fair golf course. the greens were running at 10 and the place was in great shape. it's truly a hidden gem in SoCal that gets overlooked because of it's location, in my opinion. the architect willie watson is credited with doing the original lakes & ocean courses up at olympic in SF, which i've experienced from watching USGA events on TV. needless to say, i see the similarities. this hilly treelined layout with small undulating greens checks all the boxes. the only hole i did not care for was 11, which is a 320 yard SHARP dogleg that requires a 215 yard layup and then a 100-120 yard approach shot. you can't the corner. almost feels like the hole would have been better designed as a long par 3 to the plateau or a short plateau from the plateau to the green. il also add the 7th hole is one of the harder but fairer par 5s i've ever played at 580 from all the way back. should you ever get the chance to play Hacienda for a reasonable rate (say sub $300) do not hesitate. it is fantastic.

had Memorial day afternoon to myself on Monday but no car access so ubered over to rancho and got right out, sometime b/t 1:30 and 1:45. our first few holes were as a 5, as 2 guys had finished 18 all square and were in a match play competition that needed a winner. their match was settled on #3, so we were then a 3 some until the 8th hole when a single joined us. to my astonishment, on a beautiful day off for all in the afternoon, the pace of play was very reasonable, a shade under 4.5 hours. we had to wait to hit often, but i was expecting 5+ hours for sure. greens were okay, a few putts stayed out that stunned me but also made a couple down the stretch. played the black tees once again, those tee boxes could use a bit more care. wasn't in any traps, but sand looked okay from a distance. the rough is spotty, but it's rough so it should be. fairways were okay, but like most muni's, you really ought to be playing winter rules. enjoyed the fellas i was paired up with and was an enjoyable round. still say rancho is gem of LA muni system over wilson all things considered.