Played TC at 12:32pm, going out as a twosome due to a cancellation in the foursome. A sunny, very warm day with a light breeze, up to a 1 club wind at times.

After playing behind a pokey foursome ... Continue »

Played TC at 12:32pm, going out as a twosome due to a cancellation in the foursome. A sunny, very warm day with a light breeze, up to a 1 club wind at times.

After playing behind a pokey foursome for 8 holes, they finally decided to let us play through after they finished the 8th. (Note: the marshal had told them on the previous hole that they needed to wave us up on the par 3 7th and then let us tee off on the 8th ahead of them, as there was a hole open) They ignored his instruction, but then the cart girl came by at the 8th green, and they clearly decided to spend some extra time chatting her up. Thank God for cute cart girls ;-) POP ended up being 4 hours for us, and I saw them stroll into the bar 45 minutes after we finished.

Conditions on the course were fair to poor. They are doing a good job watering and trying to keep most areas green. However, due to the high level of watering, they are not cutting the grass on the tees or greens very often. It was a hairy mess out there today. Several extra fairways/portions of were roped off to carts. Rough wasn't bad, pretty much normal.

Greens were cut nicely, were firm but oddly did not hold the ball well. They were heavily pock-marked with old ball marks and putted medium speed today.

Was in 3 sand traps, and the greenside ones were firm and damp. The softest one was a fairway bunker, wouldn't you know it.

Compared to last year at this time, TC is hanging in there pretty well. But, it's taken a dive in the 9 days since I was here last, mostly due to the lack of mowing. Still a few dry/burnt areas to work through. Probably will come back in late September and things will be better.

A good day overall, really enjoyed getting around in 4 hours on the course for a change. Eric and Martine in the Bar always take good care of their customers.

Out early on a rather gray, overcast morning, yet it was very pleasant out. Course was not to different than when I lasted played here a month ago, except the fairways were more damp than expected. P... Continue »

Out early on a rather gray, overcast morning, yet it was very pleasant out. Course was not to different than when I lasted played here a month ago, except the fairways were more damp than expected. Plus there seemed to be more unrepaired ball marks. Come on people. If your good enough to create a ball mark, you should be good enough to fix them!

Only in one bunker and it was fine. A few others looked than, but can't really say for sure. Never get tired on playing here, in part because of the close proximately to home, and also because I just love the 3 pars.

Went out on Saturday afternoon a while behind GKer leef2020 at 3:50pm on 8/5/17. I had planned to book elsewhere but fought a losing battle with the TeeOff.com website, so ended up at TC. I was paired... Continue »

Went out on Saturday afternoon a while behind GKer leef2020 at 3:50pm on 8/5/17. I had planned to book elsewhere but fought a losing battle with the TeeOff.com website, so ended up at TC. I was paired with a group including a low-handicap grumpy guy, his prospective son-in-law, and a woman who stated that the grumpy guy wouldn’t marry her, although together for 20 years, because he was 0 for 2 in marriages. This made for a strange dynamic, with plenty of alternately weird and hilarious comments being traded through the round. As typical on a weekend afternoon play was pretty slow, with the group in front of us taking lots of practice swings and standing about talking, while our group was all quick players, and we waited constantly and finally got run off the 18th tee by a grouchy ranger as dark settled in.

The Creek gives you 4 downwind holes to get warmed up, then at #5 turns into the prevailing breeze for the next 9 holes, so be prepared. A brisk breeze to start dropped off to mostly nothing around 7pm. Humidity must have dropped after the past few days, because the ball was flying well and we got good rollouts in the fairways. Greens were firm, were all badly peppered with old and new ballmarks, and rolled at only medium-slow speeds – we were all amazed as downhill-rolling putts slowed and stopped on the slope. Fairways were mostly OK, but all holes had some thin/bare areas. Rough was short, dry, and could be bare/clumpy. As leef2020 mentioned in his review, there are scattered resodded areas around some greens and along fairways. Players are not repairing/refilling fairway andrough divots. Par 3 tees are very torn up; divot mix is provided but not used. Greenside sand on #10 was good; but in a greenside bunker on #15 there was no playing layer, just packed wet sand.

Cart girl came by and stopped in the wrong places – this is a common problem on most SoCal courses. TC uses an entry/exit gate system that improves conditions in cart entry and exit areas. The course uses a 4-location pin system; but 3 of 4 of the par-5 holes had the same pin location, so a little imagination is needed. Usually expensive, the twilight rates here are a much better deal.

Was able to grab a 2pm $40 round with 3 other singles on Saturday, 8/5. Sunny, warm day with enough breeze to make it nice. POP was 4hrs 30 mins, with a 2hr back nine.

Course has been getting some ... Continue »

Was able to grab a 2pm $40 round with 3 other singles on Saturday, 8/5. Sunny, warm day with enough breeze to make it nice. POP was 4hrs 30 mins, with a 2hr back nine.

Course has been getting some water in the 10 days since I last played, and they have roped off a few portions of fairways to keep carts away. Overall, the fairways were nice, and cut nicely, and provided some nice roll-out. Still a number of thin/burnt areas in the fairways and rough. Noticed they have re-sodded some fairway/fringe areas around the greens. They are hard at work to keep conditions up. Things look good, and are decent considering the heat. Much better than last year at this point.

Greens were soft, good coverage, and held shots well. Putts rolled at medium speed, but were mostly bumpy from the day's foot traffic and there were a ton of unrepaired ball marks on the front portions of various greens. A major step below what I played at SJHills two days earlier!

The cart girl came by once on the 3rd hole. Saw the marshal a few times. A good day out, and nice that TC moved the late $40 twilight time to 2pm for Creek Card members a bit early in the season. Certainly worth the greens fee.

Played Sat. 22 July a free twilite round using my creek card points. Very friendly staff in proshop and at the starter podium. Joined a twosome at 3:30pm on a day that was busy, but a lot of 3somes ou... Continue »

Played Sat. 22 July a free twilite round using my creek card points. Very friendly staff in proshop and at the starter podium. Joined a twosome at 3:30pm on a day that was busy, but a lot of 3somes out. POP was 4hrs 15mins on a warm and breezy day, and we got the full 18 in no problem before sunset.

Course is definitely under stress from the heat. Damage to fairways, rough, and greenside fringe was visible on a number of holes. Still, mostly playable and rarely needed to roll my ball to get relief. Got decent roll off the tee ball. Rough otherwise was very good, not too penal, about 1" longer than the well-cut fairways. Greens were pretty lush with some damage from the day's play, but otherwise rolled pretty well, albeit with some bounces. Medium speed today, and the greens held shots well. They are getting water to most parts of the course.

The white tee boxes were a bit chewed up today. Able to get decent footing, but it wasn't pretty. Was in 3 greenside bunkers and all were pretty consistent - medium sand top-layer - no complaints, as I bagged two 'sandys'.

Saw the nice cart lady on the 4th hole, but she said she was heading to the barn for the day. 1/2-way shack was closed along with the restrooms at the turn. Marshal came by 3 times, but as we all were on a good pace from start to finish, he had an easy day. Water jugs were full throughout the round.

A 'free' round is always nice. A good perk of the Creek Card. Hope TC is able to hang in there through August/early September.

Played Sunday, mid-day tee time discounted at $60 for Creek Card members, they were able to get our 3-ball out early, cool. Fairways a bit long (typical for T-Creek and you never know when that will ... Continue »

Played Sunday, mid-day tee time discounted at $60 for Creek Card members, they were able to get our 3-ball out early, cool. Fairways a bit long (typical for T-Creek and you never know when that will be the case) and bunkers unkempt was the downside. Also, so many poorly repaired ball marks on the greens which mostly rolled true at medium speed, just unappealing with all the pock marks. Semi-soft so everything stuck.

Some browning and thin areas in the fairways but rough was mostly green and full, cut shorter than most times I've played here. PoP was around 4.5 hrs with minimal waiting ... we were not in any hurry with a group behind us that was a hole or two back the entire round.

Reduced green fees made it tolerable but I expect more from T-Creek. Still recommended because of the layout and fun factor, but I'd never think about paying rack rate with the current conditions. Range was open on the grass (usually Fri-Sun), $9 for 50 balls.

Decided to take advantage of the "free" twilight round being a Creek Card Member. I was concerned because the temperature was forecast in the high 90's, but because of some cloud cover and a slight b... Continue »

Decided to take advantage of the "free" twilight round being a Creek Card Member. I was concerned because the temperature was forecast in the high 90's, but because of some cloud cover and a slight breeze, it wasn't too bad. Pace of play at just a tick over 4 hours also helped.

While I play here a few times a year, it's always at the crack of dawn, so the golf course played very differently than I'm used too. Actually got some roll off the tee, so the course played a lot shorter than I am accustomed too. Fairways were for the most part decent. I was disappointed in the greens. The were not fast, not smooth/true, and just didn't present themselves well. I mean they were OK, just not good. Both bunkers I found had plenty of send, although not well raked. (from a days worth of play)

I like this course, but it is expensive, which everything in South Orange County is. Nice change of pace for me to play when it's dry out. Enjoyed seeing lots of deer on the back nine on a beautiful warm summer evening.

Played a late round today, teeing off about 3:35pm on a very busy day. Used some Creek Card bonus points for a free round - pretty sweet perk to use on a holiday weekend. After making the turn and tee... Continue »

Played a late round today, teeing off about 3:35pm on a very busy day. Used some Creek Card bonus points for a free round - pretty sweet perk to use on a holiday weekend. After making the turn and teeing off on #10 at 6:25pm, was very pleased to finish the 18th just about dark at 8:10pm, so 4hrs 35mins overall. This round is the second time I've played here since my last review. Group wanted to play the whites, so we did. During the week, they pair the white tees with the green markers at the green markers. They also move the blues up to the white markers. Blacks remained at the tips from what I saw. Teeboxes were mostly good, but probably four or five were a bit unlevel and/or with heavy foot/divot traffic this late in the day. Greens remain in pretty darn good shape. Lush, green and holding balls pretty well. A few hybrids and 5Ws held the green today. Speed was medium-speed and breaks were indeed in play today. Sometimes, these greens will cause you to over-read the break, especially if not paying attention to the grain. There are some mysterious non-break areas on greens. One that stands out to me particularly is putting up-hill on #6, if the pin is in the middle-back - you'd swear its going to break right-to-left. But, it's pretty much straight. I'm trying to read the grain more when I play, and have started looking at the holes to see which side is the 'shaggy' side - that is allegedly the direction the grain is going to push the ball, and that approach worked well today. Fairways were pretty hard today, cut a day or two ago, with some brown spots/hard pan developing, but so far this is the exception/minor. Rough is green and pretty dense, but today my ball sat up pretty well, as it wasn't too long. Was in two bunkers today, one fairway and a greenside. Fairway bunker on #9 was dry and very firm, which I prefer to get a cleaner hit. The right greenside bunker on #15 was damp, firm sand, but managed to get up/down for a sandy...miracles do happen. Based on feedback from my playing partners, others were mostly damp and hard again today. Guess it was too late for the cart ladies, as never saw one come by. Saw two different marshals 4 times total. They warned us it was going to be a 4hr 45min round, so we just beat that. Early in the back 9, one had a chat and suggested that we be off the course by 8:15pm. Finished by a nose. A nice day out, on a very warm day, with just a slight breeze. Edit: I see my rating comes up at 6.9. I'd say more like a 6.0-6.3 overall.

First time at Tijeras was like being on a blind date where she shows up in a nice blouse and mom jeans and is polite at conversation for the first half of the date then changes into a leather mini dre... Continue »

First time at Tijeras was like being on a blind date where she shows up in a nice blouse and mom jeans and is polite at conversation for the first half of the date then changes into a leather mini dress and starts suggesting I join a gym for the second half. Not sure which version I like better.

Decided now was the time as the reviews tended toward positive lately and I have to agree that the overall condition was everything I could have wanted. Got a good TeeOff price at noon and was surprised at how busy it was on a steamy hot Wednesday. This led to a 4.5 hour round. They made me share a cart with a stranger which seems to happen at high end places more often then at cheaper places - which is odd. Bunkers could use some love from the greens crew and from the people playing in the morning waves.

The greens are a bit of a puzzle. Slow and almost without break - my foursome left most putts on the high side. They were pretty soft so ball marks were everywhere - some unrepaired. Service averaged ok - from the disappointed look I got from the pro shop for my prepaid time to the cart girl who about as nice as any I've ever dealt with.