Played yesterday as a part of the #GKMatchPlay with Criley4way. It was a tough match for me. Course is just coming out of aeration. You can still see the holes with a thin layer of silicate dressin... Continue »

Played yesterday as a part of the #GKMatchPlay with Criley4way. It was a tough match for me. Course is just coming out of aeration. You can still see the holes with a thin layer of silicate dressing the greens. Should be fine in a few more weeks. Fairways has shown the most improvement. There are still loads of bare spots but not to what I remember. Good shots could be favoured with grass or dirt still so it's hit or miss but chances are you will land on grass or grassy weeds to give you at least a chance. So much for playing it where it lies.

I like the course. Great bones but the dirt in the fairways still bother me. What is the situation going on with the driving range? What is the situation with the fairways are what I want to know. This course could be great but given the still work in process I am really questioning their effectiveness to bring back the course to it's former glory after the redesign. Have they not considered gypsum to amend the soil for those areas still not grassy? I am not a superintendent but I would think they would have done something more by now. Or is it a combination of reclaimed water with clay soil that prevents the grass from growing properly?

It's a shame really. Tee and greens are in good shape for the most part just give the greens a little more time to heal. Sand in bunkers is OK for both fairway and greenside bunkers. It's what in between the tee to green that matters to me. Play here again? Probably not for a while but a quick round of 18 at $19 twilight is not a bad deal.

The greens are so good that they are better than those at many private courses. The fairways were bad but better than I thought. The guy I was playing with said that the new management is putting mone... Continue »

The greens are so good that they are better than those at many private courses. The fairways were bad but better than I thought. The guy I was playing with said that the new management is putting money into the course. Of course, given this courses' past I will not get my hopes up high on any long lasting good quality turf. I played on a Monday. It was not crowded. But the round took too long due to a few slow groups. Slow play reminds me as to why I don't play not nearly as much as I used to. It has ruined the game. But the greens...they were so nice!!!

Victoria is technically one of my home courses but I rarely play here. Today was a SCGA match play event.

The highlight of this course is always the layout and the greens. As usual the greens were ... Continue »

Victoria is technically one of my home courses but I rarely play here. Today was a SCGA match play event.

The highlight of this course is always the layout and the greens. As usual the greens were firm and running true and moderately fast. Not sure if it was all the recent rain or better maintenance or an amazing Epiphany that there were few if any pitch marks on these greens. The greens rolled true and required a good touch on anything down hill.

The layout is always fun with 3 reachable par 5s, a drivable par 4 and a good mix of par 3 from 130-190. I especially like the 14-18 stretch for a good layout.

The tees were thin and had obviously recently been over-seeded. The new grass was thin and a bit long making for a bit of challenge finding a good spot to tee from. The tees were fairly level.

Even in teach competition we were able to play in under 5 hrs.

Now the problems. The fairways still are spotty with areas of nice coverage, large and small dirt patches, some areas that could best described as cement, and even muddy areas. It is always a fun topic of what the problem is and what the solution is. Bottom line is that something needs to be done and I believe that to make the course into what the layout could be would require stripping the course bare and replacing several feet of top soil with something loamy that drains well. Maybe we should just move into the land proposed for the NFL.

I will keep playing an occasional 9 and regular tournaments at Victoria but I would be hard pressed to choose this course for anything but a quick 9.

I was told by a good friend, that Victoria was in "reasonable to good" playing condition. Well I had to go confirm that for myself. I did today and have to say," it is not ready for prime time play" a... Continue »

I was told by a good friend, that Victoria was in "reasonable to good" playing condition. Well I had to go confirm that for myself. I did today and have to say," it is not ready for prime time play" at all. The staff (of course) will ask you "when was the last time you were here" and then based on your answer will tell you "you are going to really see a difference." Personally I think the reason some feel it is better, is that a lot of rough has grown in on all fairways and has been cut down, giving a "visual" look of more grass than there really is. But once you get moving through the fairways, you will see many bare areas in addition to grass areas growing in. OK, I am not here to take the place down. I see a lot of work and improvement since I was there many months ago and hope S CA gets a lot of rain this winter to bring the place back in the spring, which will be when I would attempt to go back then? The tee boxes all seemed in good shape and tee friendly (no issues). Greens have never been an issue on this course and that is still the case (excellent shape). The driving range is still in repair mode and not opened. I classify this course at present as one that will not overly impress you at present, if you are looking for a good playable round of golf. But that is my own personal opinion and you will have to judge it for yourself, should you decide to play here.

I went to Victoria with my son for the first time everrrrrr today.
First, it's a bit ragged - patchy fairways BUT......they have the best greens I've played on in Southern California for AGES. They ... Continue »

I went to Victoria with my son for the first time everrrrrr today.
First, it's a bit ragged - patchy fairways BUT......they have the best greens I've played on in Southern California for AGES. They are firm, true, fast and tricky. They are superb. Greens you would expect on a $100+ course. If you can get over the muni like rest of it, you have a treat in store. Quite amazed. Also, it's quite windy there so there's a good challenge getting to the greens. Go give it a shot. You will be surprised.

09-26-2015. First time playing a link style course. Wishes there were more mature trees to shield us from the hot sun. Like most posted member stated, the Green is excellent and rolls true. tee box gr... Continue »

09-26-2015. First time playing a link style course. Wishes there were more mature trees to shield us from the hot sun. Like most posted member stated, the Green is excellent and rolls true. tee box grass is a bit longer than preferred but overall in good condition. Fairway truly is a mix bag with dirt, grass, dried mud tracks in middle of the fairway, long rough, patches of bare and grass area.

Overall i enjoy this course even with all the issues mentioned from other posters.

i give the maintenance crew a lot of props for the green. Wish they have the support needed to do better on the fairways!...

Played 9-17-15 with Nickesquire and Stickboy teeing off a little before noon and finishing in a little under four hours. Tee boxes were in ok shape and mostly level. Fairways had some real nice grass,... Continue »

Played 9-17-15 with Nickesquire and Stickboy teeing off a little before noon and finishing in a little under four hours. Tee boxes were in ok shape and mostly level. Fairways had some real nice grass, and some dried out areas ,with a lot of dirt areas in between. Rough was a mix of everything from hard pan to real nice and long. Sandtraps were firm and thin. Greens are the best part of the course, rolling medium speed a very smooth. Overall course is not in that good of shape, except for the greens.

Walked the Blues (71.8/123/6804) on 9/17 with Stickboy & RGM2525 in 3H, 50M on their standard afternoon walking rate of $29 on a hot, breezy day. First time I had played here in at least 25 years, alw... Continue »

Walked the Blues (71.8/123/6804) on 9/17 with Stickboy & RGM2525 in 3H, 50M on their standard afternoon walking rate of $29 on a hot, breezy day. First time I had played here in at least 25 years, always enjoyed the layout. The tees were decent, mostly level, good coverage with only a few areas of unrepaired divot damage. The fairways were as advertized in prior reviews, hit and miss. Many had significant, fairly lush areas. However, there were way too many thin or hardpan areas for them to be considered close to good. Same for the rough. It was often lush near the fairway, then in the areas they were not concentrating as much watering it was thin, weeds or hardpan. The traps were poor overall. I was in several, seemed like a Palm Springs course in the wind mill section where the fine sand had blown away and there was only hard packed sand left. OK along the fairways for full shots, not so good around the greens however. Speaking of the greens... they were excellent! Smooth, firm, medium fast with few ball marks. Some of the best greens I have putted on recently. Easily the best part of the course. The course layout has always been good. The course conditions from tee to green are below average in almost every regard. However, the greens are well above average, they far exceeded expectations. The customer service from the Pro Shop to the Starter to the Marshall coming by with cold water was excellent. Enjoyed the trip down memory lane as I played here often back in the 1980's when I lived closeby. However, until they get more consistent grass on the fairways, I would only play here on a deal even with excellent greens if I lived closer.

I played a second round Thursday, teeing off at around noon with noted gkers rgm2525 and Nickesquire. It was the first time I had walked 36 holes in a day since several years BEFORE the famous dog "He... Continue »

I played a second round Thursday, teeing off at around noon with noted gkers rgm2525 and Nickesquire. It was the first time I had walked 36 holes in a day since several years BEFORE the famous dog "Hector" was born. Customer service was great, as always. Sadly, course conditions have gotten significantly worse since my positive review of only three weeks ago. Large sections of grass on several fairways are recently dead or dying. It's like a recurring nightmare that won't go away. The greens were very nice ... that's part of the torture of this place. In a way, I guess it helps to see The Links at Victoria as more than just a golf course. Maybe Victoria's greater purpose is to forever remind us of the permanent damage we humans can do when we are careless and stupid with the only planet we've got.