I played Tijeras Creek Saturday morning with a card member for $80. We got off just before a tournament and played in just under 4 hours. The greens were great in that they rolled pretty true and ha... Continue »

I played Tijeras Creek Saturday morning with a card member for $80. We got off just before a tournament and played in just under 4 hours. The greens were great in that they rolled pretty true and had good speed, although they had a lot of spots on them from old ballmarks that made them look not as good as they played. I had no complaints about the fairways or rough. We played at about 6:40 and the course was a little soggy as it seems like they are over-watering to get the grass a little thicker and healthier. Overall it was a great experience and great value for $80. The course is a lot of fun and I hope to play it again soon with a little more course knowledge.

Haven't been out to the Creek for awhile but got out today with some buds, midmorning with Creek card fee of $70. PoP great at just a bit over4 hours. Recent reviews were not promising and I was prep... Continue »

Haven't been out to the Creek for awhile but got out today with some buds, midmorning with Creek card fee of $70. PoP great at just a bit over4 hours. Recent reviews were not promising and I was prepared for the worse. Fortunately, conditions were not all doom and gloom and we had a great time. Some thin areas, yes, I heard things dried out when they were installing their new irrigation system but everything is on the mend now. Greens were just fine,rolling pretty quick and true. Fairways and rough should be fine in a couple weeks.

Played Sat 7/20 morning. Surprisingly the course was not busy and they let us out as threesome, which is rare occasion. POP was less than 4.5 hrs which is very fast for TC. Greens were good. Howev... Continue »

Played Sat 7/20 morning. Surprisingly the course was not busy and they let us out as threesome, which is rare occasion. POP was less than 4.5 hrs which is very fast for TC. Greens were good. However, the fairways had lots of thin areas with some bare spots. There were many tee boxes that were closed and blue tees were either moved up (mostly) or back. Sands were not hard or wet, but they felt like very heavy sands which were hard to come out of even when splashing lots of sand.

With creek card, it's still good value with nice layout and fun course. But I'm afraid the trend of course condition is tilting downward in my opinion. Would hate to see that.

I used my OB Sports points to play a free round at Tijeras on Saturday. I have played here quite a bit, and I must say that it is in the worst condition that I have seen all year. Many of the fairwa... Continue »

I used my OB Sports points to play a free round at Tijeras on Saturday. I have played here quite a bit, and I must say that it is in the worst condition that I have seen all year. Many of the fairways had burnt out spots and soggy areas that led to a lot of chunky shots. The rough on all of the holes was extremely thin and littered with dirt spots, which was a far cry from the lush rough that had been here about 6 weeks ago. The greens were pretty beat up with tons of ball marks, and they were rolling at their typical slow pace. They were also repairing some of the tee boxes, so the tees played up on holes 1, 14, and 16. This definitely made quite a difference on the par 3's so we teed of from the blacks on those holes. The pace of play was typical of an early afternoon round at Tijeras. We were supposed to tee off at 12:40, but they were running late due to a morning tournament. We started at about 1:00 and finished by 6:15. Unfortunately it seems as though the secret has gotten out regarding the Creek Card and the great deals it has to offer, so i don't see the pace improving unless they increase the space between tee times beyond the current 8 minutes. Under prior conditions, I felt that the Creek Card made this course the best overall value in Orange County. It is easy to book tee times with the iPhone application, and the free rounds end up paying for the card. The layout is challenging, and the scenery is beautiful. Unfortunately given the current conditions and pace of play, I am not so sure that it is worth even the discounted fee. I am going to give Tijeras a rest for a while before I check it out again, and hopefully they can bring the condition back to where it was a few months ago.

One of my favorite courses, but I hadn't played here in a while, course conditions were not as good as usual. Fairways were really off from what they were before, a little long and shaggy, but also ha... Continue »

One of my favorite courses, but I hadn't played here in a while, course conditions were not as good as usual. Fairways were really off from what they were before, a little long and shaggy, but also had many burnt out spots in the fairway with awful clumpy brown grass and bad lies. Rough was much the same, some uneven areas with burnt out grass and then some areas with very long grass. Greens were fast and smooth as long as you steered clear of the hundreds of unrepaired ball marks. Bunkers were fine from what I saw. I still love the layout, conditions aren't bad, just mediocre and not as good as it used to be.

Played today at what an employee at the course called "tournament creek." Typical Ted Robinson, whose designs btw, I love. The front was TR, the back transported me south to Cross Creek/Mt. Woodson. ... Continue »

Played today at what an employee at the course called "tournament creek." Typical Ted Robinson, whose designs btw, I love. The front was TR, the back transported me south to Cross Creek/Mt. Woodson. City/Country is best way to describe the place. The front was in a housing development...The back was very pretty and played one top of a ridge and down in barrancas with old growth oaks and streams...gorgeous. Course was well kept, despite what the same employee said was some 300 rounds per day. Greens were full of holes and damage...reminded me of an LA area muni....just beat up. My biggest gripe was the Marshall coming by to hurry us in so they could get our cart and get us off....for a tournament. We were on pace for a 4.5 hour round, so it's pretty lame they would rush us in---garbage. I played on a discount but would not pay $95 for a round (their going am rate.) OC folks have limited choices, but I'd choose Tustin Ranch or Talega before I went here.

Played my GK Cup match against Broomy here this evening. Had a 3:04 time for $40 with my OB Sports card, which was a fantastic deal for this course. They were running late, so we teed off about 10 min... Continue »

Played my GK Cup match against Broomy here this evening. Had a 3:04 time for $40 with my OB Sports card, which was a fantastic deal for this course. They were running late, so we teed off about 10 minutes after our time. Slow pace all day and we finished with just enough light with the total round being about 5 hours.

The course was in good shape overall. The greens still seem to be recovering a bit from the last aeration as you can still see some bumps. They were naturally a bit bumpy this late in the day, as well. A LOT of unrepaired ball marks, which is unfortunate. The fairways were nice, pretty lush and mostly green. A few mushy spots here and there that I noticed. The rough was mostly nice, but it did seem clumpy in some areas. Most times the ball would sit up nicely, but others would nestle down between two thick tufts of grass making it hard to get good contact. The only bunker I was in was a fairway trap and it was a good firmer consistency ideal for a fairway bunker shot. Tee boxes good, but par-3s pretty chewed up. No surprise that late in the day.

Though it's been several years since I played here, this is definitely my favorite OC course, even though it is overpriced and overcrowded like so many others here. Back nine here is so fun! With the OB Card (same deals as the Creek Card for the most part), there are some good deals to be found like we had today.

I play bogey golf, but almost never do it here. Just too many lost balls and penalty strokes. Layout is too difficult for high handicappers. Here is my typical round from white tees: 1: fairly ea... Continue »

I play bogey golf, but almost never do it here. Just too many lost balls and penalty strokes. Layout is too difficult for high handicappers. Here is my typical round from white tees: 1: fairly easy hole, can make par sometimes, no tough hazards, large landing areas. 2: shortish par 4. with good tee shot, can reach green in 2. But, 2nd shot easy to go long, then tough chip downhill from sticky rough. 3: long par 4, can't reach green in 2, but normal hazards. Par is rare. 4: keep tee shot away from lake on right. 2nd shot from 150ish yds aim left to stay dry, then downhill chip to green. Usually bogey. 5: bigger green`now. Tee shot about 155 yds. if take more club to ensure clear water, wind up way long in street behind green with penalty. If hit 5 or 6 iron heavy, in water. Or, bail out left, chip on, try to make bogey. 6: long par 4. Drive in rough, can't reach green on approach. chip on, 2-putt bogey. 7: very tough 175-180 yd tee shot with lake on left side. either go right & face traps, overhanging trees, &/or thick rough, or go for green, & if drift left, get wet. easy to make double. 8: Par 5, good drive and 2nd shot puts you in range of reaching green in 3. Bogey is OK. 9: large landing area to left. right is in street. narrow 2nd shot. Go left and OB. 10: need good drive, stay right away from lake, to have shorter iron to fly water and stay on green. tough approach. Lay-up in front of water is option for safe bogey. 11: drive is not problem if stay left. 2nd shot nearly impossible to stay in play. narrows, blind view over ridge to fairway. lost ball & double is standard. 12: tee shot is a puzzle. short/long, nothing seems to work, with narrow landing area. usually OB, head for drop area. Likely double. 13: landing area wide for tee shot. Narrows on 2nd and 3rd shots. Bogey is good. 14: hit it straight, with good contact or lost ball. Risky hole, can make from par to double. 15: good drive down middle kicks left, can be OB. short par 4, so can make bogey if 2nd shot close to green. 16: good contact with long iron usually results in at worst a bogey. Short, and in junk/unplayable. 17: very tough hole. drive has to stay right of fwy trap. if go for elevated green on approach, likely short & in hazard. Or, lay-up with wedge, then middle of green from about 100 yds, hope for 2-putt bogey. 18: stay right of lake with drive. short of huge green, can chip on, make safe bogey. If I lose less than 1/2 dozen balls during round, I've done well.

Teed off at 12:15pm...finished at about 5:45pm. Brutal LONG round!

It's becoming the norm here, 5+ hour rounds. I won't be back for awhile.

Nice practice facility with a couple large greens for... Continue »

Teed off at 12:15pm...finished at about 5:45pm. Brutal LONG round!

It's becoming the norm here, 5+ hour rounds. I won't be back for awhile.

Nice practice facility with a couple large greens for putting and for shipping.

Staff is very friendly.

Tee boxes were a bit uneven and on the verge of being beat up on many. There is sand on some tee boxes, however i saw LOTS of divots and no sand on them. Good thing we waited 5-10min on every tee box, plenty of time to fill those divots!

Fairways were lush green grass and in great shape, so was the rough. Big plus!

Bunkers were muddy and others just wet. Good thing I only found a couple.

Greens have healed very well, a bit furry and bumpy from old ball marks.

They also got new carts, nice added bonus.

For those who never played, the front nice is great and the back nine, is well, different than the front!