Unfortunately the member-guest tournament I was supposed to play in yesterday at Yorba Linda CC was canceled due to the high winds, but a group of six of us decided to brave the tempest and played a s... Continue »

Unfortunately the member-guest tournament I was supposed to play in yesterday at Yorba Linda CC was canceled due to the high winds, but a group of six of us decided to brave the tempest and played a six-man scramble tournament instead since we'd all gone through the trouble of driving down there.

While the wind was definitely an ever-present factor all day, and we had some significant gusts that wreaked havoc with balls on the greens, it wasn't so bad that they should have canceled the tournament, but of course they were protecting their interests. It's fine. We had a great time anyway and even won the most skins.

The course itself is very fun with tight fairways being the rule rather than the exception, and a lot of significant but not overwhelming elevation shifts between the holes. Very few are simply flat so you always have to adjust shots, but with the high winds that was always going to be the case no matter what. There's only one par 5 on the front nine so it's a par 71, but it's a pretty nice and fun variety of par 4s throughout, while all the par 3s are long and dangerous, with the exception of the short, uphill 17th. But yeah, very fun layout.

Course conditions are quite good as one would expect. They recently re-seeded so the greens were running really great (when the wind wasn't acting up) but very challenging to keep shots on them without the right trajectory, especially with the elevated greens. Teeboxes were in perfect shape, while the bunkers were thin but mostly due to the winds taking off the top layers - they should be fine when things calm down again. Rough was very thick but mostly playable when not deep in autumn leaves. Did I mention there are trees everywhere lining just about every hole on the course?

We didn't get the full compliment of amenities as the course was for all intents and purposes 'closed' with only a handful of players out there ... having a great course all to yourselves is really the coolest experience regardless the conditions. But overall the staff was great, we had a nice time in the men's dining area afterwards with drinks and appetizers and I can't wait to play the course for real when the rescheduled event takes place in the near future.

A friend and I played in the Member for a Day shotgun on Monday 2-24-20. I have always figured that private courses put on these events in the hope of acquiring new members. You’d think they’d want t... Continue »

A friend and I played in the Member for a Day shotgun on Monday 2-24-20. I have always figured that private courses put on these events in the hope of acquiring new members. You’d think they’d want to give at least a touch of the ‘royal treatment’ but there was close to no customer service. We found our way to the pro shop to check in. After that, we saw only three staff members the entire day- the guy overlooking the driving range, a guy giving directing us to our starting tee and the beverage cart girl. I’m not looking to become a member, but I admit I felt somewhat underwhelmed. The course, though, was really nice. Large pine and other trees line the fairways and the whole course is beautifully landscaped. I like that there are ball washers at the forward tees. I always seem to miss them when they’re just at the back tees. There are water stations every couple of holes. The fairways were completely green and cut just short enough to provide lots of roll out, which I really appreciated. With the red tees at over 5800 yards, some of those par 5s were really long for me! I found four bunkers. None were very deep and the sand was great giving me easy outs. Tee boxes were all level, lush and free of divot damage. The rough was short and a little bit clumpy. The greens were firm and rolled a fast medium speed. I was surprised, though, at how many old ball mark scars there were. I think members would take better care of their course. The layout has a lot of variety and some big elevation changes. There are two holes that were very narrow chute-like dog-legs. They reminded me of a couple of holes at Jurupa Hills. Those were fun! I’m glad I finally got to play here and would like very much to do it again sometime.

I saw GKer larryq2001’s review of the Member for a Day outing at YLCC – I was also part of this day, joining a Meetup Group of OC Golfers for the first time. This was my first time playing YLCC and I ... Continue »

I saw GKer larryq2001’s review of the Member for a Day outing at YLCC – I was also part of this day, joining a Meetup Group of OC Golfers for the first time. This was my first time playing YLCC and I was looking forward to ‘country club’ conditions. The facility is a semi-modern clubhouse set in heavily-wooded hills – the vibe is semi-formal and very Republican (two of the combo tee sets are named after Republican presidents; I didn’t see any Dem-named features). We had good weather with sunny, hazy conditions and a light NW wind. The box lunch we got as part of the package was uninspiring – also, mine contained an orange! Tell me what I’m supposed to do with an orange during a round of golf, with no knife and a big, sticky mess!

My monthly club plays at California Country Club in Whittier every year, and the layout at YLCC is similar, with long par-4s, fairways lined by large pine, eucalyptus, and other trees, and large, fairly flat greens. However, YLCC is frequently much narrower, with tee lines mostly requiring good control of distance and flight. Bunkers pinch the fairways on many holes at the end of the driving area, and where there is no sand there is most often a dogleg with trees in the elbow to influence your teeball placement. Also at YLCC there is much more elevation change across the course and within holes, with many holes having significantly elevated tees playing down to angled fairways. Many greens are elevated and there are many greenside bunkers. Only 3 or 4 holes have water hazards, but OB stakes are seen throughout the course.

The shop guy said greens were all redone last summer and they were very firm. Only very high shots held without significant rollout. Greens were smooth and only about medium fast (told that stimp was ~10), except downslope especially near the front of greens (#13!!). A few greens have defined tiers, but nothing too crazy. Fairways were the biggest disappointment to me – I was hoping for more lush conditions and good lies, but fairways, while having good coverage, were generally fairly thin and clumpy, resulting in the ball frequently sitting down even in the MOF. Rough was cut short and very playable, but with all the trees you have to be mindful of roots everywhere. Tees were level and good. Sand was very good quality both in fairways (fairly firm) and around greens (very playable).

The course offers a driving range, practice putting green, and short game area. The range is small and not really conducive to the larger shotgun groups like we had Monday (120+ golfers) – the range has only about 16 hitting stations, and most of those were marked ‘irons only’ on Monday. The putting green is not overly large and has none of the slopes or contours/tiering encountered on the course. I didn’t use the short game area, but I saw that you could hit shots of 100+ yards into a full-sized green fronted by large bunkers. Carts were in good condition and had an ice chest provided, with an ice/water machine by the pro shop. Carts do not have GPS and there is no yardage book available, but many sprinkler heads are marked and there are 100/150/200 plates in many fairways.

Plenty of water available. Rest rooms on course were adequate. Many of the ball washers were located up at the red tees – not really a placement conducive to most players cleaning their ball. We played in 4.5+ hours – not too bad for an event of this type.

Recommended if you get a chance to play it.

Decided to head out to play YLCC on 1/27 as part of their member for a day outing. Fun outing. Complete access to the club facilities and even got a box lunch. They also provided us with a light snac... Continue »

Decided to head out to play YLCC on 1/27 as part of their member for a day outing. Fun outing. Complete access to the club facilities and even got a box lunch. They also provided us with a light snack in the bar after our round. Very nice. On a beautiful day, had a 10:00 am shotgun start.

Have only played YLCC once and don’t get the chance to play a lot of private clubs so this was a treat. The course is in very nice condition. Fairways were in pretty good shape. There are some thin areas but not many so the most part, we had pretty good lies. Tee boxes were also in very nice condition. Unfortunately I found quite a few bunkers so I can attest they are very nice condition.

The greens were not real fast but rolling true. You still had to be cautious about downhill putts as they could roll to the bottom of the green if not judged correctly. They were very hard however. Not holding unless you hit it perfectly so we soon learned the best play was to hit it short of the pin and let it roll out. Front pins were nearly impossible to get it close.

We had a great day at YLCC. Many trees line the fairways which give it a park like setting and are difficult if you miss them. You could get stuck behind a huge tree and worse, sitting in roots. Some elevation changes particularly on the back. If you ever get an invite to play here, I would recommend taking advantage of it.

Played Yorba Linda CC today with stickboy on a email invite through my players club membership. The cost was 55.00 which included the range balls and the cart. It was a shotgun start and we started ... Continue »

Played Yorba Linda CC today with stickboy on a email invite through my players club membership. The cost was 55.00 which included the range balls and the cart. It was a shotgun start and we started on hole 1. The course was in very nice shape, rough was not to penal although sometimes tough to find ball. The whole course is very tree lined and fairways were a little narrower than most private clubs I have played, it kinda reminded me of El Dorado Park in Long Beach only due to the trees virtually on every hole. The fairways were in good condition and a lot of divots were sanded in. I was in a few bunkers today and the sand was very fine sand with the exception of one where there was a small rock below my ball, but they were very playable. Most of the greens were very quick, just pick the right line and it's off to the races. The course is in the middle of a housing tract and overall the course and the staff were great and it's always nice to play private clubs that I don't normally get to. If you get a chance to play it, I would recommend it..

Played Yorba Linda CC in a charity scramble on Monday, May 21. Last minute invite from my friend that helps manage this event. First time playing this course.
As expected, everything was in great s... Continue »

Played Yorba Linda CC in a charity scramble on Monday, May 21. Last minute invite from my friend that helps manage this event. First time playing this course.
As expected, everything was in great shape, except for the greens. Some had been punched, and most of them had light sand. A few putts were affected, but for the most part no issues.
Played from the white tees, so not very long. Lots of narrow, tree lined fairways. Definitely need to know where to hit it (not hit it) to score well here.
Course staff was great. Food after golf was excellent.
Fun course. Go play it if you get the chance!

Played the SCGA outing the day after the City Championship that was held there (so they told me). So one would expect conditions to be good - and they were. The greens were a bit slower than I would ... Continue »

Played the SCGA outing the day after the City Championship that was held there (so they told me). So one would expect conditions to be good - and they were. The greens were a bit slower than I would have imagined for tournament conditions and the rough was fair in places and as penal as a John Holmes movie in others. Fairway grass was spongy and the ball sat up nicely on it. Bunkers had nice sand in them.

The layout was obviously designed along with the tract housing nearby and holes can feel a bit repetitive because of it. There is a bit of terrain here and there that breaks it up and elevates it over similarly designed courses. Being in the fairway here does not guarantee a line to the pin as the many trees seem to stretch out into the pathway between you and the pin.