played here mid afternoon last week during a weekday. i'll come here when i'm too lazy to drive anywhere. even at 2pm the course was jammed. customer service at check in was okay, cashier seemed di... Continue »

played here mid afternoon last week during a weekday. i'll come here when i'm too lazy to drive anywhere. even at 2pm the course was jammed. customer service at check in was okay, cashier seemed disinterested. starter was rather entertaining and wished us well. we played the gold and the teeboxes were in good condition, as were the fairways. i don't recall any bad lies or bare spots. rough was not penal and generally mowed down. greens were receptive and putted well but were a bit slow, probably because i played in the afternoon. bunkers were hard-ish sand, which is great from the fairway but not so much from greenside. pop was slow though, about 4:45. we pretty much waited on every shot the entire round. it was a bit agonizing. the two 200'ish yard par 3's usually back everything up. the layout here is alright, nothing really spectacular but they have a hole or two that keeps me coming back. #9 is my nemesis hole, 431 yard par 4 from the golds, dogleg left to a domed, multitier elevated green protected by bunkers, where your approach is usually from a downhill lie. ugh. one day i will birdie it.

Played Oak Creek Sat Apr 16 as a backup to Oak Quarry due to wind. It was still pretty windy, but it was probably 2X worse at OQ. We got a player's guest rate, ~$120. Overall it was worth it. The co... Continue »

Played Oak Creek Sat Apr 16 as a backup to Oak Quarry due to wind. It was still pretty windy, but it was probably 2X worse at OQ. We got a player's guest rate, ~$120. Overall it was worth it. The course is in really good shape-though a few fairways and some short rough areas were badly dried out. The bunkers had good sand and the greens were rolling nicely. The only poor green was #10. It was pretty bumpy with some bad spike marks & divots improperly repaired. This green needs to be rolled. The overall experience was very good. A minor annoyance was the GPS in our cart didn't work. The starter, Alan, did his best to fix it at the turn, but no luck. He offered to switch us out with another cart, but I had my Skycaddie so we didn't bother. The two Romanian ladies in the 19th hole were very pleasant with excellent customer service....and the food was great.

Played at 12 noon on Wednesday, 2/10/16, with GKer stickboy and two local Players Club members on a warm (shorts!) clear day with very little breeze – crazy winter weather in SoCal! Got a twofer coupo... Continue »

Played at 12 noon on Wednesday, 2/10/16, with GKer stickboy and two local Players Club members on a warm (shorts!) clear day with very little breeze – crazy winter weather in SoCal! Got a twofer coupon from Costco - $160 for 2 green fees, anytime M-TH (rack rate $135 at noon). Course is feeling the effects of the CA drought – everything is dry, firm and cut pretty short. Easy to play from around the greens with a putter or 7-iron – pitching is more difficult on the thin tight turf. Greens were firm and pretty quick with a lot of old ballmarks. Fairway lies were thin but OK, rough was very short everywhere, and many rough areas have had brush cleared out and areas covered in mulch, opening up course sightlines and contributing to the drier conditions. Sand in bunkers was soft, deep and moist, and unfortunately most bunkers had many unraked footprints and slash marks – yes, we were both in those areas.

GPS doesn’t give distance to that day’s hole location. The course needs to put out more sand refills for the few patrons who actually fill divots. Three holes were path-only for unknown reasons. On the front 9 the only bathroom is after #6, and that's at the clubhouse, so it slows play. But overall in good shape if you can get a deal – rack rates are typical OC crazy. Large practice area has been rated one of the tops in SoCal.

nice round out here at oak creek. always nice to play at home but can be a bit pricey. got off at 1pm and pop was about 4.5 hours. teeboxes were okay, most of the back tees were closed for reseedin... Continue »

nice round out here at oak creek. always nice to play at home but can be a bit pricey. got off at 1pm and pop was about 4.5 hours. teeboxes were okay, most of the back tees were closed for reseeding. fairways were nice and lush. I actually wasn't in rough so I don't have much to say about that. Hit 13/15 fairways and the two missed were in fairway bunkers which were hard and easy to get out of. problem with this course I see right now is that the greens are covered in pockmarks. they are soft so very receptive but huge ballmarks when you hit one from 100+. a lot of people don't repair their marks or don't do so properly so it's like trying to putt through an obstacle course of bumps and partially repaired marks. fairway bunkers were somewhat inconsistent. still, I enjoyed my round, it's a challenging layout.

Played with a friend on Wednesday 10/07/2015. We golf on average twice per week. The course was in great shape. Greens were rolling true, probably about a 10 s/m. The fairways are a bit dormant, howev... Continue »

Played with a friend on Wednesday 10/07/2015. We golf on average twice per week. The course was in great shape. Greens were rolling true, probably about a 10 s/m. The fairways are a bit dormant, however, the grass was still lush and no excuses can be given to the impact it would have. I love this course, great layout and not a house on the course. We will be back at least once per month.....it is a drive for us but worth it.

Played OQ Sat 12-Sep-15 with an 0730 tee time. It was a very humid day-even that early. The service was great as usual, from the pro shop to the range to the course and the 19th hole. Food there great... Continue »

Played OQ Sat 12-Sep-15 with an 0730 tee time. It was a very humid day-even that early. The service was great as usual, from the pro shop to the range to the course and the 19th hole. Food there great too.

Now to the course. The fairways were in pristine condition, though needed mowing in some spots. Nuff said. The rough was punishing in places-to the point of being silly. There had been a rain day on Wednesday, but not sure that explained the lack of maintenance. That was what I was told when I mentioned several traps were almost unplayable hardpan. I was having the round of the century (for me literally) as I was on track to break 80 for the first time since 1999. I hit my tee shot on 17 into the greenside front bunker. Pure hardpan- might have broke a cleat. Took my first double.

So I stood on 18 needing a birdie to shoot 79. Stiffed my approach from 145 to two feet. Almost missed the putt left, but made it. I was a 16 handicap at the time... and was glad to buy my grumbling pals a few drinks after.

With some minor maintenance, this course will be stellar. I'm not complaining :).

Used to live in Irvine, yet never got around to playing this course. Finally I returned and was able to cross this one off the list this week. In general I was very pleasantly surprised. If I hadn'... Continue »

Used to live in Irvine, yet never got around to playing this course. Finally I returned and was able to cross this one off the list this week. In general I was very pleasantly surprised. If I hadn't known the area, I would have easily confused this place for a nice resort. The facility was in great condition, and the service was very good. I have known about the reputation of this course being overpriced for what it is, and this was partially what has kept me from playing it for so long. This is no longer the case, here are some updated details:

Greens: Yes it is true, there are still a lot of unfixed ball marks. Other than that, the greens were actually very very good. They all rolled very nicely and had consistent speed. They seem to be much better than in the previous reviews.

Fairways: One thing is for sure, you would never know we are in a drought, these fairways were lush! No complaints at all, fairways were fantastic.

Sand: The one issue I had with the course- no sand in the bunkers. Since this was the case in all of the bunkers, at least you knew what to expect. That being said, $135 a round should get you some sand in the bunkers.

Rough: Fairly lush, just enough to take something off the shot and punish you. Not lush enough to lose balls though. Overall, I thought it was perfect.

Final thoughts: I fully expected this course to be so so. I was pleasantly surprised. The humidity, lush conditions, and pretty lenient funneled fairways on some holes reminded me of a resort course in Maui. I know that might be a stretch, but I really liked the course and would definitely play it again. If you are from the area, the other course I most commonly see mentioned with this course is Strawberry Farms. I like Strawberry, but this course is better right now. Strawberry seems to not care as much for their course conditions, and still tries to charge top dollar. At least here you will be treated well, the course is currently in excellent condition, and the variety of holes is at least equal to Strawberry Farms. This course gets my approval.

Played the SCGA tournament Saturday June 6th. Fazio course that did remind me of Ram's Hill in spots, layout wise, mostly around the greens, but not condition wise . . . I know, I know, "The Drought".... Continue »

Played the SCGA tournament Saturday June 6th. Fazio course that did remind me of Ram's Hill in spots, layout wise, mostly around the greens, but not condition wise . . . I know, I know, "The Drought".
Tee boxes: pretty chewed up even on the par 4's and 5's, small playing area, but relatively level
Fairways: mostly good playability wise, but did have many pieces of cut in turf, brown spots and a few bare areas, so aesthetically not that great
Rough: enough to get your attention just off the fairway and beyond that is mostly just unplayable as either the rough turns thick ground cover or dense thickets. I was amazed that most balls that went in there were never found. So when in doubt here hit a provisional . . . I saw more provisionals hit in my group than I usually see in a few years! (No, none were mine thank you very much!)
Bunkers: pretty much dirt with lots of rocks, softish dirt, but mostly just dirt (or is that some kinda brown sand?) For a course that charges what this place does and to have these big, beautifully shaped bunkers filled with rocks and dirt is a crime! (I've played places on "Hot Deals" for less than $20 that had much better sand in their bunkers . . . just saying)
Greens: much slower than they looked, rolled fairly true, were a bit on the hard side when coming in on approaches, but nothing ridiculous, the ball would leave a mark, but then jump. My group probably fixed 4 to 5 ball marks each, each hole. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE THAT DON'T FIX BALL MARKS!?!?!
Layout: interesting, kept my interest, wasn't as tight as I had heard it was (but I play Balboa Park, so I know "tight"), some slight elevation changes which they either moved A LOT of soil to do or somehow got a the one piece of land, in this flat barren wasteland that is this part of the world, that actually had some contour to it! It is cool how you don't see other holes or the industrial parks around you as you play. I imagine this place as great, quick, yet expensive, getaway for those that populate the cubicles in the office buildings all around this area.
Customer service: good and professional, saw the snack cart 3 or 4 times
Practice/warm-up areas: big range that always seemed full, horrible balls, tiny putting green that most people just set up tees to play to, pretty nice pitch and chip area with a large practice bunker in the middle
POP: not the courses fault in this case, but right at 5 hours
Overall: nice course if top end rate was $100 with deals after that . . . maybe $50 at twilight on the weekends? I would play here again at that kind of price structure.

Ok this course is overpriced. But they charge it because they can get it, and here's why:
This is one of the best tracks in all of California. Fazio has taken a plot of flat land and turned it into a... Continue »

Ok this course is overpriced. But they charge it because they can get it, and here's why:
This is one of the best tracks in all of California. Fazio has taken a plot of flat land and turned it into a masterpiece. The grass is lush carpet like. Each hole is unique and isolated. You will almost never see any other golfers throughout your round. It's a very tough walk but doable. Every single hole has both up and down hills. Most greens are elevated and multi-tiered. The landing areas off each tee are very generous. You really have to hit a crappy shot to lose a ball off a tee. Unlike say a Nichlaus course where you can hit a good straight shot and end up in a bunker, Fazio tends to put his traps in spaces where it has to take a very bad shot to get into. This is a beautiful parkland course where clearly the architecture was dictated by the unrestrained vision of a design genius and not by the cost of water or limited space.

They are trying to be high end service wise but just are not there. They need to take a trip to Trump if they want to see how it's done. The range is grass and nice. The chipping green is small. Food and beverage is wanting.

But the golf, oh the golf. Such a great track with so many great holes. 18 for example is a peninsula green par five that's reachable for better players. But the second shot requires between 220 to 170 yards almost all carry over water to a left to right green with very little behind it if you go long. So you can go for glory are layup and try for the long pitch and one putt birdie. There are seventeen other scenarios almost all as intriguing and wonderful as 18. This course is right up there with any other daily fee course around. It's a must play. Enjoy!!