The course is in great shape right now. The fairways had no thin lies. Tee boxes were level throughout with plenty of grass. Rough was not very penal, but consistent throughout. Fairway and greens... Continue »

The course is in great shape right now. The fairways had no thin lies. Tee boxes were level throughout with plenty of grass. Rough was not very penal, but consistent throughout. Fairway and greenside bunkers have plenty of sand and are well-maintained. The greens are the fastest I have seen them since I started playing here about a year ago. Although there are a few unrepaired pitch marks, they did not affect any putts. They have been renovating the 18th hole tee box which has caused it to play as a par 4 rather than a par 5. Fortunately, it looks like the renovations are very close to being completed. Completed the round in 3.5 hours (tee off at 7:21 am).

got out to play here yesterday mid morning and the course was in good condition. customer service was good as usual from check in to the cart guys to the starter. tees were probably the biggest letd... Continue »

got out to play here yesterday mid morning and the course was in good condition. customer service was good as usual from check in to the cart guys to the starter. tees were probably the biggest letdown, some uneven lies especially on the par 3s and probably a little fluffier than i like as even long tees would sit down. fairways had good coverage, just enough cushion to provide a little extra forgiveness. rough was grown out just enough so your ball would sometimes sit down and make getting it out of there a tough task. i was only in one fairway bunkers but it had nice white sand that was almost too fluffy. it was like playing out of the beach. better hit it hard. greens were the best part, softer than i remember the last time i played but smooth, ran true. enjoy the layout here, always challenging and even though in the heart of irvine feels secluded. only caveat is that the teeboxes on 18 are under construction so it is playing temporarily as a par 4 with temp tees in the middle of the fairway from only about 300 yards. a shame wasn't able to play one of the best holes IMO. POP was just under 4, which is decent but under the heat felt like a LONG day.

After seeing all the great reviews from the GK Cup Finals, I had to get out to enjoy this course for myself. All the past reviews from the GK Cup are spot on. One thing I really enjoy about Oak Cree... Continue »

After seeing all the great reviews from the GK Cup Finals, I had to get out to enjoy this course for myself. All the past reviews from the GK Cup are spot on. One thing I really enjoy about Oak Creek is the level of service they provide. Before teeing off the Starter told me that the course management attempts to run it like a private golf club. Tee times are spaced out by 9 minutes which allows for a smooth pace of play for everyone. The course also makes sure that maintenance completes their work before the first groups of the day reach them. On that note, the earliest tee time this time of year is around 6:30 a.m., which some of the early bird GK golfers may find off-putting. Personally, I like the later start time because it is easier for me to get over to the course and still be within the first few groups out. As to conditions, I concur with the great reviews written during the GK Cup with the only difference being that I did not find any issue with the quality of the black tee boxes.

Played here last Sunday for the GK final, what a course. The price was great, the temperature was a little hot for the 1 o'clock tee time. I played here with Matt, Zack and Wendy what a group! The fai... Continue »

Played here last Sunday for the GK final, what a course. The price was great, the temperature was a little hot for the 1 o'clock tee time. I played here with Matt, Zack and Wendy what a group! The fairways were in great shape, some brown spots but that is so be expected. The greens were my favorite part of the course, the greens were soft and rolled true. Pretty fast greens and the pin placements were very challenging. This has always been one of my favorite courses in Socal, not only cause it's close to my house but it's a very fun challenging course. The teeboxes were in fantastic shape also, never an uneven lie. The only downside to this course was the bunkers... goodness.. there was so much sand in the bunkers, greenside and fairways. On two occasions I stepped into the bunkers and swung and the sand was so deep it filled my shoes, almost impossible to get a good shot out of the fairway bunkers. Besides that, the overall round was great, would highly recommend taking a shot at this course!

My first time playing this great Fazio track … are you kidding me, a Socal golfer and I waited this long. I know some of the waiting had been because I wanted to experience the course when conditions ... Continue »

My first time playing this great Fazio track … are you kidding me, a Socal golfer and I waited this long. I know some of the waiting had been because I wanted to experience the course when conditions were improved. Well they certainly are improved from reading the reviews and from my discussions with the management at Oak Creek Golf Club they are only going to get better.

I instantly love this golf course. Super fun layout that is challenging yet not over the top. Par 71 with ample room off the tee to bomb a drive, tough par 3’s, great mix of par 4’s and awesome risk/reward finishing Par 5. Challenging bunkers guard the greens and are positioned in key spots in the fairways. Fun greens with undulations that hold shots and putt smooth. Lush light green bermunda fairways that provide nice release off the tee and good cushion to compress/spin some iron shots. Fun approach shots to green complexes all guarded by bunkers and some water hazards. Before the round excellent all grass driving range and short game area. After or before the round cozy restaurant to enjoy a meal with excellent quick service. On the golf course friendly seen many times food/beverage service and marshals. One of the things as a first time player I noticed is how secluded you feel on the golf course despite it being right in the heart of Irvine.

It was a special day for Greenskeeper.org as well as we were having our GK Cup Match Play Team Final. I could not picked a much better track to host it. Quick Pace of Play. Great service all the way around and very organized. Big congrats to the team of AndrewZ28 and Gary00 on winning it. Big thanks to everyone that joined in on the fun!

Finally made it out to play with some fellow GK’ers and what a great course play at! The course was in great shape as the other recent reviews reflect. Fairways had solid coverage, with just a little... Continue »

Finally made it out to play with some fellow GK’ers and what a great course play at! The course was in great shape as the other recent reviews reflect. Fairways had solid coverage, with just a little bit of cushion. The rough varied from areas that were a little thin to downright brutal. The collars around the bunkers really stuck out to me as many of them had very long grass so you were often better off just being in the sand. Speaking of which, the bunkers seemed to all have really nice bright white sand. The greens were really good, played a little quicker but were not overwhelming, I think it helped that there wasn’t a ton of break, it seemed to be more subtle. The tee boxes were probably the weakest point to me as a few them need to leveled out a little more. All in all, the customer service was great and I had a great golf experience, if the course stays in good shape I can see it being recommended as a must play at some point.

7/28 GK Cup finals played the whites 6187 yds 69.2/127 rating. Course has a nice mix of holes as to length and shape with generally good variety and separation. As others have commented there is a f... Continue »

7/28 GK Cup finals played the whites 6187 yds 69.2/127 rating. Course has a nice mix of holes as to length and shape with generally good variety and separation. As others have commented there is a feeling of isolation in this parkland setting.
Fairways appear wide and ample but often were difficult to hit and in retrospect more care could have been taken to pick a more precise target line. They have good cover providing excellent lies and way more roll than the rough. Speaking of which it did not look that long but varied from being somewhat dry and wispy to more wiry and grabby.
Bunkers were generally deeply filled with sand that would take a lot of practicing and superb execution to generate better results. The practice bunker was far better being more compacted and playable.
Tees were the weakest part of the course some being uneven of slightly sloped with the par 3s needing better rotation of markers to minimize wear.
Greens are large firm but receptive rolling smoothly with consistency through the round. Not a lot of humps or contour but plenty of slope and some subtle breaks near the hole. Fortune favors the brave as it appeared that the best approach on the under 4 foot putts was firm and straight--not in my repertoire-I am more of a soft and have it break under the hole kind of guy.
Good customer service.

I also played with GK Cup Final outing held at Oak Creek. On a rather warm and humid day, teed it up with cthuyen, caligolfer1031 and nicksquire. Have never played Oak Creek and was really looking f... Continue »

I also played with GK Cup Final outing held at Oak Creek. On a rather warm and humid day, teed it up with cthuyen, caligolfer1031 and nicksquire. Have never played Oak Creek and was really looking forward to it. I wasn’t disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed the course. This is one of the nicest courses I have played in some time. I kept asking my playing partner, are we really in Irvine? Didn’t feel like it. It looked more like the desert. Great layout. The fairways were great. Not super, lush Bermuda but firm and good enough to get great lies. I thought most of the fairways were generous. Some fairways were tricky. Best to hit it in the center of the fairway as the terrain roles to the side and could find its way bouncing into the rough or fairway bunker. I hit a drive down the middle but could not find my ball. It must have rolled into thick rough but I never found it. The rough was thick but that’s the way Bermuda rough is. Bunkers were in good shape but am not used to hitting out of soft, fluffy sand. I am used to firm sand or even hard pan – lol! Greens were great. Not super quick but rolled true and held good shots. Check in was easy enough. Nice young man checking us in and the starter out on the course called us to the tee right on time. And the guys in the restaurant were great. I was left with the impression that they stayed to wait on us. Very nice. Can’t say enough good things about Oak Creek and would love to play it again but $185 to play is a hefty price tag. Will look for the deals.

Expectations and past experiences play a huge roll in the enjoyment of a round. My experience with Oak Creek is vastly different than most. My high school summer golf camp was held at Oak Creek. Th... Continue »

Expectations and past experiences play a huge roll in the enjoyment of a round. My experience with Oak Creek is vastly different than most. My high school summer golf camp was held at Oak Creek. This was 16 years ago. What I remember is Pure as Pure can be Oak Creek. Wall to wall lush turf and beautiful fresh bark mulch. There was a time when Fazio was the most sought after golf course architect in the world. I have wanted to come back and play here as an adult. I saw this opportunity and jumped on it. No longer being a local, I was unaware Oak Creek had fallen. The layout, bones, and experience of this course top class. The greens were nice and quick. Rolled great. Were soft and consistent. The staff, and seclusion are as good as it gets. It is a unique east coast style golf course oasis in the middle of vanilla urbanized Irvine. The grandnest of the fairways, sightlines, and bunkers is rare. There aren't courses around here that wind and flow with elevation changes like this course. The minimalist wispy bunker collors, and seemingly natural flowing waste bunkers here are not found in So Cal Courses. Quite unique However, I want to provide a review of where Oak Creek is currently, not where is is headed, or what its bones or potential are. The weekend rack rate here is $185. I would have been really upset had I spent $185 with some of the correctable flaws of the course. The fairways are great. Very few brown spots but great coverage. I found the rough to be wildly inconsistent. As well as the slopes behind a lot of the greens were patchy and inconsistent. They would be great if they were let go, or if they were consistently mowed. They were in between. A few of the tee boxes were bad. Like local muni bad. There was a hole in one where I almost tripped on. Some very severe slopes and ledges. Many had depressions and mounds. There was even a comical tee box location on a slope. While this may not seem like a big deal. For $185 this is just lazy and easily correctable in my opinion. No excuse. Tee boxes need to be flat on a high end course. I was also really enjoying the round until I discovered the greenside bunker. Johnny stumbled into one and really struggled. And I thought he was over exaggerating, until I hit in them. This may be a teething process, but the sand was not compacted in the slightest. It was legit beach sand. Near impossible to hit out of with wild fried eggs. I attempted to walk into the bottom of a bunker and the sand collapsed into a sinkhole and I rolled my ankle quite bad. I'm 32 and in good shape not a clumsy old codger. I really feel like I shouldnt have to risk sinking into a sink hole of uncompacted sand walking into a bunker on a golf course. Especially a Tom Fazio $180 course. I also really did not like the ginormous touch screen monitor in the middle of the cart Its in nice shape right now. For $180 it has flaws. It sounds like the right GM was hired and with some small improvements this course should be back to a top notch golf course like it should be.