Played here on Saturday, 4 March, after the greens aeration this past Monday. Grabbed a $35 rate at 12:32pm, so figured it was a great rate considering it's the weekend.

Aside from the greens, obv... Continue »

Played here on Saturday, 4 March, after the greens aeration this past Monday. Grabbed a $35 rate at 12:32pm, so figured it was a great rate considering it's the weekend.

Aside from the greens, obviously, overall course condition is pretty much the same as my review from last week, but tees, fairways and rough were a bit hairy. I'm guessing they were last cut on Thursday. Rough was 3-4". Still, really lush cover on the fairways and rough.

Regarding the greens, they were still heavily covered in sand. They didn't look too bad from the fairways, but when you were on top of them, the sand was dominant. Recent tractor marks on the greens in spots. Approach shots hit into them would 'splash', hop a few feet and generally not roll too much. They left a small green oasis around your ball mark. This made it easy to see where you landed and repair it. Sadly, so many golfers left their ball divots unattended.

Although they go back to regular rates next weekend, only two weeks after aeration, I think these greens will need at least 2 more weeks to fully recover, maybe 3. Perhaps they have a trick up their sleeves?

Regarding the outlook for course conditions through this coming summer, one of the guys in the pro shop told me that their well/reservoir was at capacity, which it was certainly not last year. So, that is hopeful news.

An enjoyable afternoon, POP was 4.5hrs. Looking forward to coming back in 3-4 weeks.

In the 3 weeks since last playing here, the course has made a nice upward turn.

The greens were still the weakest link, good, but soft and bumpy for the most part from daily traffic. A fair number... Continue »

In the 3 weeks since last playing here, the course has made a nice upward turn.

The greens were still the weakest link, good, but soft and bumpy for the most part from daily traffic. A fair number of unrepaired divot marks, beyond today's round. They will be aerating the greens only on 27 Feb, so that will hopefully fix things going forward. Still, not bad today, medium-speed greens for the most part today, with a few downhill putts early in the round a bit speedy. The repair to #14 seems to be holding steady, with some cutting of the turf (staked off), and will perhaps be opened up after aeration and sanding, around the 11th March. 5/10

Had a TTime of 12:16, but were held back until 12:30pm due to an outing ahead of us, giving a 20 minute gap, that we caught up to on the 5th hole. We then waited on every hole/shot, resulting in a 4hr 50min round (sigh).

Tees were pretty good - green, lush, level, but with a fair number of divots and the grass was a bit long, with grass up to 2 inches at times. 6/10

Fairways were pretty good. Green, lush, with a few soft spots. Good roll on tee shots. Grass was nicely cut, a little shorter than last time out. Some decent roll, and good lies for the most part. 7/10

Rough was about 2-3" long and very dense. Everyone in our foursome struggled at times with this rough. A bit muddy in spots, both near the cart paths and various spots on a number of holes, indicating the overall saturation level is still pretty deep. 6/10

One bunker shot I had on #13 was a bit heavy, with a shallow base. Not all traps were raked. 4/10

Two cart girls were working the course, and they were by 4 times total during the round.

We saw a very sympathetic (due to the tournament) marshal about six times, very friendly, we chatted every time he came by. All staff were very friendly.

Renewed my Creek Card after the round, and other than the aeration that is taking place this Monday, would cautiously suggest that Tijeras Creek is pretty much back to being in very good/'near' great playing condition, particularly in a few weeks after the greens recover.

Good to see!

Decided to play here Saturday, 4 Feb for my Creek Card free birthday round. A good weekend-round $$$ savings!

Based on my recent (negative) experiences here in October and November, combined with ... Continue »

Decided to play here Saturday, 4 Feb for my Creek Card free birthday round. A good weekend-round $$$ savings!

Based on my recent (negative) experiences here in October and November, combined with a few of the recent reviews, really wasn't sure what to expect on the course today. Cart restrictions were lifted from a few weeks ago, so that was a good sign.

Teed off at 12:40pm, had to end the round at #17 due to darkness at 5:30pm, so POP was abt 5:05 hrs if we were able to finish the full round. There was a tournament a few groups in front of us. In the bar afterwards, the barmaid picked up a scorecard from a table that just cleared out, and noticed that 2 of the 3 players had tallied 126 and 123 strokes for the round. Sad and slow.

Tees were pretty good; green, level, and easy enough to find a good spot to tee it up. But, the grass could've used a mowing, as on a number of tee boxes, blades of grass up to 1" were common.

Fairway grass has filled in very nicely since November, with really no bare dirt to be seen around my hitting areas (except for divots, of course). Firm footing on every shot, but fairways were soft. Again, the only issue here is the length of grass, as the previous reviewer noted, and for me anyway, I did not enjoy a lot of rollout due to the fairway softness and length of grass, except on #12, when I hit a sprinkler head and my ball careened forward a good 60 feet.

Rough was about 2-3" long, and thick enough to mess up a few chips and grab the club head on full swings.

Had 2 bunker shots, sand in the deep front trap on #8 was nice and fluffy. And, in one of the bunkers to the right of #11 green, found the sand to be pretty firm.

Greens were a bit of a disappointment. Overall, just in fair condition right now. Cut very short, there were a number of bare dirt spots on a number of greens, particularly near/next to the fringe. They were fairly soft/moist, resulting in some bumpy putting due to foot traffic on the day and unrepaired ball marks, some fresh, some older. They putted medium-fast for the most part. One green was freshly sanded and sadly, #14 green suffered a partial collapse towards the back-middle of the green, and a section about 15'x20' is GUR, with fresh sod laid down.

Two cart girls were working the course, and they were by 4 times total during the round. The marshalls were around throughout the day, but I guess it was a case of crowds and the tournament that slowed things down today. All staff were very friendly, as usual.

Back to the Creek on Sunday, got a deal thru a bud, $50 with a noon tee time. Slow-ish front (CPO) behind four guys who graciously let us play thru on the back for a 4 hr PoP (back was open to carts)... Continue »

Back to the Creek on Sunday, got a deal thru a bud, $50 with a noon tee time. Slow-ish front (CPO) behind four guys who graciously let us play thru on the back for a 4 hr PoP (back was open to carts). The course: I don't know why, but the GK'er here likes to let the fairways grow out to 1" and it's like hitting out of the rough. The rough is 2-3" (or longer) and you better spot your ball real good or you will not find it unless you're standing right over it. Otherwise, the rain has allowed full coverage tee to green except a few muddy areas which may not fully fill in. It was really a beautiful back nine setting out here with no homes ... and today was an exceptionally clear and warm winter day. Really, somewhat spectacular. Greens are soft, there were lot's of spike marks but they rolled semi-true at slow/medium speed. Bunkers I visited were in decent shape, just damp and heavy. I'd suggest to wait until the current storm passes by and maybe call the pro shop to find out when they cut the fairways before you book a round here. Nothing worse then driving up, seeing the course and thinking how gorgeous it is, and then bomb one down the middle only to play from something similar to the rough (absolutely no roll out). Unless you don't mind playing L,C,&P thru the green. BTW: nutted a 3-metal from 220 on #3 (1 hcp hole) for the first eagle of 2017. Kinda nice way to start off a round after birdies on 1 and 2 (seriously!). Finished 4 over :-( Where was that when I played B-side yesterday?

My golf bud booked his b'day round for this morning at T-Creek and after reading the previous review I was prepared for the worse. Actually found the course in decent shape in between rain storms ...... Continue »

My golf bud booked his b'day round for this morning at T-Creek and after reading the previous review I was prepared for the worse. Actually found the course in decent shape in between rain storms ... they only let you on the front side during inclement weather so they don't have to fish out drowned golfers from the creek if it flashes. It's CPO and we played LC&P, and they charged us $35 to play nine (or $65 to play the front twice). I walked and with not many players out today, we got around 9 in about 1.5 hrs. Greens rolled very nice even as wet as they were, some speed variation to adjust to due to the moisture. Fairways were green and full as was the rough, so it looks like the rains have improved the conditions in the past month. Bunkers had standing water. Get the sun to dry this place out a bit and mow the fairways ... I re-upped my Creek Card and hope to get back here soon to play the back nine.

Played midday as a 4some and POP was 4.5 hrs. Having last played here about a month ago, I was expecting the course to be on an upswing in condition compared to when it was coming out of it's overseed... Continue »

Played midday as a 4some and POP was 4.5 hrs. Having last played here about a month ago, I was expecting the course to be on an upswing in condition compared to when it was coming out of it's overseeding, etc., in mid-November.

Boy, was I wrong and severely disappointed today. TC, as most know, suffered a lot over the summer and fall due to water expense issues. Last month, the course appeared to be making significant strides to returning to top-notch condition 3 weeks post re-seeding. Sadly, the condition of the course has taken a big step backwards since, and is still not worth the money, imho.

Tee boxes were spotty, with bare spots and grass in teeing areas for the day, were wet and had a number of other teeing areas that were bare.

Fairways were pretty firm, cut medium-length, but again were spotty, with thin grass and bare spots inter-mingled. The fairways were a mix of brown grass and green. Lots of divots. I think I had three 'good' lies in the fairway, which I hit about 75% off the tee. Chose to roll it to get a decent lie.

While the rough had some significant bare spots, they were mostly out of normal play, and cut to about 1 1/2", so not at all penal.

Greens were just terrible. Sanded in the morning, with a tractor running around the greens ahead of us with a hose, we were confronted not just with the sand, but debris and severe tractor tire tracks on most greens. A number of old, unrepaired ball marks. As a result, they did not roll true, and were very bumpy. A disgrace, really for the price they charge. The greens were much better BEFORE they did their work at the end of October. Perhaps they will improve in a few more weeks? I dunno.

When I compare the condition of TC to other courses I've played in the last few weeks, Black Gold, San Juan Hills, San Clemente and even Costa Mesa - they are all in significantly better condition than Tijeras Creek right now.

Cart girl came around 4 times and was very pleasant. Pro shop staff and starter were very unfriendly for some reason. Perhaps they just got their Christmas bonuses.

As a Creek Card holder with a birthday coming up, I don't think I'll even play here for my free birthday round! Life is too short to play golf courses in poor condition. Will wait a few months before giving it another go. Which is a shame, as I love the layout and was playing here at least 1x/week until July. My money will continue to go elsewhere.

Anyone lose a ProV with "GKG" marked in blue? I found it.

This course is in amazing condition right now. Overseeding was a major success and drastically improved the deteriorating conditions. The ... Continue »

Anyone lose a ProV with "GKG" marked in blue? I found it.

This course is in amazing condition right now. Overseeding was a major success and drastically improved the deteriorating conditions. The rough was extremely lush, the fairways were cut nicely with no thin spots and the greens were pristine. My only gripe right now is that some of the tee boxes were still being seeded and had some bare spots.

My home course that I don't think I've ever seen in such great condition. Always see some deer and some amazing views on the back 9.

I too tried to take advantage of the last day of discounted green fees. In retrospect I should have waited a few weeks and paid the full rate. The course was packed, pace of play too slow for my tast... Continue »

I too tried to take advantage of the last day of discounted green fees. In retrospect I should have waited a few weeks and paid the full rate. The course was packed, pace of play too slow for my taste. As for conditions, not much to add to leaf2020's review, except I was less impressed with the greens. Way too slow and bumpy. Lesson learned, better to wait until conditions have improved and also not have to deal with so many people!

The carts on the path was not that much of a factor, as I frequently walk this course anyway, but when the pace is slow, it would be nice to have somewhere to sit while waiting. The best part of the day was the weather. Another near perfect day in Southern California, some times it's just nice to be outdoors.

Well, decided to grab a $40 aeration special round today, the last day of their special re-seeding rates, to see how the overseeding, etc., has come along over the last 3 weeks. Carts had to remain on... Continue »

Well, decided to grab a $40 aeration special round today, the last day of their special re-seeding rates, to see how the overseeding, etc., has come along over the last 3 weeks. Carts had to remain on the cart paths. Generally, the tees, fairways and rough have grown in nicely, but grass was still a bit long and shaggy. Looks great from far, but... They had everyone teeing off from a single tee box, basically set up at the white markers. All of the teeing areas were pretty well beat up and 50% bare, it looks like they've used the same 10-15 foot area on each tee for the entire 3 weeks since overseeding. Makes sense, as the rest of the tees look pretty inviting. Fairways were good and green, but the grass was about an 1" longer than you'd want. Ground was softer than it had been, too, so that is certainly a good sign. But, that did kill the roll. The rough, though tough, was probably the most encouraging bit of the day. It has really grown in (winter rye), and due to it being a fairly long 3-4" in spite of being cut today and perhaps yesterday, the ball really sank down and you really needed to be on top of the ball to find it for the most part. I think we found them all in the end, but it was an issue on a number of holes. So, considering how bare they've been, the future looks good again. The greens were a bit soft and bumpy. Held shots OK, and were medium-fast. I'd guess they're due for a rolling. Ironically, the greens were better / rolled more true when I played here a month ago. In just one greenside trap, and it was good, somewhat fluffy. A good day out, and glad I've given it a go. Course is still rough around the edges and am not sure how long before they lower the settings on the fairway and rough mowers to more normal settings. POP was exactly 4 1/2 hours. Given all the back-and-forth to the cart for our group and others, we felt we were on a good pace, only waited on a handful of holes, and the group behind us was rarely seen. Though we finished at 4:24pm, I noticed that by 4:45pm (sunset), it was getting pretty dark. Starter was great, and cart lady was around at least 4 times.