Finally played one of the two Costa Mesa GC 18s this past weekend and it was quite a fun day out with an old friend and two of his buddies. Paid $61 with a cart to play from the blue tees on the Los L... Continue »

Finally played one of the two Costa Mesa GC 18s this past weekend and it was quite a fun day out with an old friend and two of his buddies. Paid $61 with a cart to play from the blue tees on the Los Lagos 18. Apparently it's a little bit longer than the other one, but they're both equally challenging.

And I did find the course challenging. There are a lot of water features that come into play, some mounding and funky angles in the fairways, long par 3s to test your accuracy, and a few well-placed bunkers that make you plan ahead before every shot. I enjoyed the layout more than I thought I would having studied it a bit the night before.

Conditions were pretty darn good across the board. I found the greens to be in very nice shape and they were very fun to putt from all day. They were definitely fast and firm though so holding shots wasn't always super easy. But no complaints on the roll.

Fairways are in nice overall shape, with the exception of just a few holes on the back nine. But even where it was a bit thinner, it was mostly playable except for a few of the exposed patches that crept in here and there. The rough was a healthy mix of short and playable to some areas where it was tough to find your ball.

Sand traps were unfortunately either just watered or still soaked a bit from last week's rain, but they were not optimal for the day. They may play just fine now, but on that particular day, they were best avoided altogether. And the tee boxes were all mostly good but I've never seen tee box markers so far apart. Easy to find a flat lie when you've got 20-30 feet of room to work with. That was interesting.

It was a busy Saturday so we certainly did some waiting around on many holes, especially the par 3s. I think we came in a just around five hours even. Cart service showed up once or twice as well. Overall, a very nice day out and I look forward to playing the other 18 there to complete the circle. But if asked to play Los Lagos again, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Teed off Wednesday morning at 7:20 finishing in 4 hours. The greens were in good condition. They rolled with medium/fast speed and were smooth. The greens were a little firm so had to allow for some e... Continue »

Teed off Wednesday morning at 7:20 finishing in 4 hours. The greens were in good condition. They rolled with medium/fast speed and were smooth. The greens were a little firm so had to allow for some extra roll out with full shots and chips. The fairways were in decent winter condition with a few thin spots. The rough was majority good with some thin/bare spots. The two bunkers I was in were heavy, wet, and a little thin at the bottom but playable. The tee boxes were fair to good. It is an enjoyable course to play and the staff was friendly.

Played Monday, 3/12, teeing off about 1:30pm, first off for the new twilight time. Finished in 4hrs 40mins, with short waits on most holes, beginning on the par3 7th. May have been an outing earlier, ... Continue »

Played Monday, 3/12, teeing off about 1:30pm, first off for the new twilight time. Finished in 4hrs 40mins, with short waits on most holes, beginning on the par3 7th. May have been an outing earlier, as the 10th tee was packed w/6 carts when I drove in to the parking lot.

As for course conditions...oh, what a difference the rain makes. Course conditions were OK, but not great overall. Mainly, the greens were slowed down to medium-speed and were fairly soft and bumpy. Ball did not roll straight often. Much different than the last few times I've played here and on the smaller Mesa Linda course last week. As to be expected, they held shots a bit better.

White tees were the norm, pretty decent, but two were chewed up/thin (8 & 15). Fairways did not roll as much due to the damp conditions, meaning longer 2nd (and 3rd) shots. Rough was a bit penal, as it is growing longer and thicker.

Was only in one bunker, in front of the par3 17th. Was very damp, mud-like heavy sand. Got a report from one playing partner that the other bunker left of the hole was the same condition. Others I was nearby in the round looked much better.

Have not seen a posting for greens aerification, but expect that will be coming within the next month or so.

Played here today at 12:15 with mpisarski01 for our GK Cup match. We got a great GN Hot Deal rate of $19 each earlier in the week when rain was forecast for most of the day. Around 12:10 there was one... Continue »

Played here today at 12:15 with mpisarski01 for our GK Cup match. We got a great GN Hot Deal rate of $19 each earlier in the week when rain was forecast for most of the day. Around 12:10 there was one big group of 11 players on the tee in front of us (I think they went out 4-4-3) and we teed off at 12:28 as a result. Pace was pretty good and we finished in right around 4:30. Our playing partners left after nine, so we waited a lot on the back nine due to playing quickly behind the threesome in front.

Conditions are pretty good. The greens were great, except when they weren't, which is when Matt twice had putts bounce really high right off his putter. Otherwise they were smooth, accepted full shots very well, medium-fast and looked good. Just the occasional bumpiness to deal with. Fairways and rough have really nice coverage, maybe a little spottier in the rough. Neither of us were in a bunker, but I had to stand in one and it seemed nice. Tee boxes were a little beat up, but the markers were placed extremely wide (edge to edge on every box), so you had tons of options for where to tee it up.

I hadn't played out here for a while and it was great to get back. Not the most photogenic course, but it's fun to play and keeps things interesting and is a good test.

We had a nice day on the course yesterday. We played as a fivesome for $52 riding carts. I like to walk but they only allow fives if everyone takes a cart. So the "worth the green fee" is borderline f... Continue »

We had a nice day on the course yesterday. We played as a fivesome for $52 riding carts. I like to walk but they only allow fives if everyone takes a cart. So the "worth the green fee" is borderline for me. All aspects of the course could use some attention especially the tees and fairways. They were a little chewed up but i guess they are normal for most muni's. The greens however, were the real deal! Most were very smooth, ran fast, and were undulating. We really enjoyed putting on them. The pace for our fivesome was at 4.5 hours and we never waited for a shot. If my partners were faster we could have easily got our round under 4 hours. The day was perfect and we will all be coming back to this nice muni track soon.

Sunday 845 am tee time, sunny, light wind. You never would have known it had rained the previous day. POP 5 hrs for this heavily played Muni. Tees fine, fairways ok, rough non-existent, greens excelle... Continue »

Sunday 845 am tee time, sunny, light wind. You never would have known it had rained the previous day. POP 5 hrs for this heavily played Muni. Tees fine, fairways ok, rough non-existent, greens excellent, firm fast any downhiller's were very slippery, d%mn those greens kept messing with my head. Back pins were tough to get at, anything long was dead. Great day for golf, too bad the putter was ice cold.

Played here on MLK Day at 9:00 for $47 walking. Course was fairly crowded due to the holiday and we were waiting on every shot until the Marshall saw that the group in front of us was slowing everythi... Continue »

Played here on MLK Day at 9:00 for $47 walking. Course was fairly crowded due to the holiday and we were waiting on every shot until the Marshall saw that the group in front of us was slowing everything down. He went to talk to them on hole number 5 and we never waited again. Great service and much appreciated!!! Course conditions were pretty good overall. Tees were level but had many divots, fairways were nice but inconsistent. There are plenty of areas that should be marked as GIR in my opinion but were not. Same goes for the rough. Sand was consistent in all but a little hard packed, and the greens rolled well with a few bumps and a few ball marks needed to be repaired on each hole due to others. Fun course with long par 3's make this a challenge.

Played Monday, teeing off in a slight drizzle at 12:10pm as a 3some. Finished in 3.5 hrs, with no one in front of us. Finally saw a group on the 16th tee when we were hitting our 2nd shots on 14. Off/... Continue »

Played Monday, teeing off in a slight drizzle at 12:10pm as a 3some. Finished in 3.5 hrs, with no one in front of us. Finally saw a group on the 16th tee when we were hitting our 2nd shots on 14. Off/on lite rain all day, finally stopping for us on the last two holes, but conditions were wet throughout.

Teeboxes were uncut, about 1 1/2" in length. Fairways were still pretty firm and green complexes softened up only on the back9. Rough was pretty well cut, so no problems there. Bunkers were pretty decent, with medium-heavy sand considering the rain, but was able to get the club through and get a decent amount of fluff through the ball.

Due to such lite play, the greens rolled smooth, but were very slow uphill due to the wet conditions. Otherwise, medium-speed. Very green/lush and held shots well.

New carts have arrived. They look like the same bog-standard carts they are replacing, except they are silver. Zippy lithium-ion batteries (I believe), but no GPS unit and no USB ports nor bong holder. Bummer. ;-)

Actually went here to play the Mesa Linda course, but as it wasn't as crowded as anticipated, was able to get on the "big" course. Overall the course is in nice condition, greens rolled very well, fa... Continue »

Actually went here to play the Mesa Linda course, but as it wasn't as crowded as anticipated, was able to get on the "big" course. Overall the course is in nice condition, greens rolled very well, fairways had plenty of coverage. Not in any bunkers, but they appeared OK.

Staff was more friendly than usual. (Maybe it's the season? ) A bit chilly at the start, but warmed up nicely. How spoiled we are to live in Southern California. Could be in Buffalo and spend the morning shoveling snow.