Very much enjoyed getting back out to Harding. Being from the Midwest, really miss playing these old-style traditional s... » More

Very much enjoyed getting back out to Harding. Being from the Midwest, really miss playing these old-style traditional style courses with all the trees. Course condition was about what I expected based upon recent reviews. Bumpy firm greens, inconsistent bunkers and a mixed bag when it came to the fairways/rough. Pace of play was surprisingly decent, a little over four hours, but the day was beautiful and the scenery was wonderful, so didn't seem all that bad. Sure wish we had some of these type courses in Orange County.
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I was pleasantly surprised by this course. Didn't expect all the elevation change or the big sloping back to front green... » More

I was pleasantly surprised by this course. Didn't expect all the elevation change or the big sloping back to front greens, made for a nice challenge. Slightly confusing crisscrossing layout kept me busy, glad I had a cart.

Course in all around private course shape that played long in the afternoon winds. If Johnny books another outing out there it is well worth playing.
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Fun locals nine holer. Good place to get out and stretch your legs in-between SF and LA.
Course was in decent muni s... » More

Fun locals nine holer. Good place to get out and stretch your legs in-between SF and LA.
Course was in decent muni shape. Greens rolled fine, traps, tee boxes and fairways all acceptable. $10 to walk (another $12 for a cart) and just enough trees and green slope to keep you honest. It was a nice warm up on my way to Bakersfield
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Fantastic old school course that ate my lunch. Got out as a reciprocal and they paired me with an employee as an ambassa... » More

Fantastic old school course that ate my lunch. Got out as a reciprocal and they paired me with an employee as an ambassador. Wasn't too happy about that but he turned out to be a great guy with tons of stories. It was pretty busy out there and the round took an unexpected 3.5 hours, so it was nice to have the company.

This course is set to hold the 26 CA Amateur qualifier next month and I can see why.
One of the longest 6,300 yd courses I ever played. Front nine had a plethora of 400+ par 4's.
Kikuya fairways (no roll) and one inch of the grabbiest rough I ever played were brutal.
All greens were surrounded by deep big-lipped bunkers, filled with perfect sand.

Back nine suited my game a little better with shorter, more shot maker holes. The subtlety sloped greens had been small punched 10 days ago and putted just fine, my host said they are usually much faster and don't hold as well as they did. Can't imagine!

Just a great 1920's course with no gimmicks and well thought out holes. A real treat if you ever get the chance.
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Course seems to be abandoned, no one seems to taken care of it in a while. And still, they were dare to charge me $59 fo... » More

Course seems to be abandoned, no one seems to taken care of it in a while. And still, they were dare to charge me $59 for weekdays @ 9am. Avoid if you can and go to Arrowhead CC near by in good shape and same price.
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Teed off last wed at 4PM. Course was in very solid muni shape no complaints. Got a hot deal that I was late for (they we... » More

Teed off last wed at 4PM. Course was in very solid muni shape no complaints. Got a hot deal that I was late for (they were super accommodating) and ended up paying $14 with the cart figuring I had no chance to see the whole course. Got creative and bounced around to a few open spots and joined a threesome on 11 and we were done by 7:15.

Always wanted to play this old beauty, reviews haven't always been kind and pace of play seems to be a problem. I didn't encounter either problem and loved the layout. Greens were med speed and maybe a little bumpy. traps were muni fine, and I don't remember any bad lies. Recommend
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First time at Desert Princess CC. Got to play the Lagos/Cielo tracks. Blue tees. 7:15am tee time for $115 w/ cart. POP j... » More

First time at Desert Princess CC. Got to play the Lagos/Cielo tracks. Blue tees. 7:15am tee time for $115 w/ cart. POP just over 3 hrs. Weather peaked at 100* F towards the end of the round but felt like high 80s due to the dry heat and some slight 3mph winds.

Got paired up with three members so we zipped through the course (one guy had a flight to catch.) Luckily they played with good enough pace to not feel rushed but fast enough to finish in 3 hrs. Having no golfers in front was also a huge reason we finished quick.

This course has not been reviewed in a while, so I am happy to report it is in amazing condition right now! From tee box to green this course was in fine shape with fairways being some of the best and "softest" I've hit off of in a while, the club just cut through the grass like butter. Bunkers were all fine sand and well manicured. Greens were on the medium/fast side and had good coverage with few if any visible pitch marks. Overall 9/10.

Both courses had their features with Lagos being more tame and straight forward and Cielo showing its teeth through multiple water hazards and elevated greens. No real "stand out" holes on either courses but had a decent layout.

Overall I recommend this course right now and at the $115 price point I think it's worth it. This course was in better condition than Escena and would rather play at Desert Princess if I had to choose between the two.
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Walked the blues today at high noon with my buddy and Gker MrKich under foggy damp conditions around 65 degrees with ver... » More

Walked the blues today at high noon with my buddy and Gker MrKich under foggy damp conditions around 65 degrees with very little wind most of the day. We were joined by two nice singles. We waited just a little bit for the group in front of us but finished in 4 hrs 15 minutes with the group behind us at least a hole behind us all day.

Used their big driving range on mats and hit a few chips and putts. Olivas has a nice warm up area and the coolest staff around. Always a friendly laid back vibe here.

Only played one round here since last September. The course is in fine shape.

Fairways were mainly all lush in great shape. There were minor mud patches in some of the low lying areas of the fairways on 1, 9 and 18. But they always do a good job here in marking those areas off as gur. Rated 8/10

Tees were very lush, mainly level and in good shape. Rated 8.5/10

Rough just off the fairways was in good shape. Manageable for most irons. Rated 8/10

Greens were very soft. We were throwing iron darts all day and maybe were getting a foot of release. Putting fairly pure would say a 9 on the stimp. Rated 7.5/10

Was not in any bunkers but they looked well groomed with a wetter and deep base.

Shot my lowest round this year so far due to no wind and a good ball striking and putting day.

Olivas has some strong holes such as 6, 12,13 and 16 and some birdie holes on the front and some chances on the back as well.

Its two different courses when it's windy vs no wind which was unusual today.

Olivas has a great lay out, cooler temps, always solid conditions and very fair prices. A great golf course especially to play in the summer.

Highly recommended.
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Play the course once a week and it's one of the best public courses in North County San Diego. Conditions are excellent... » More

Play the course once a week and it's one of the best public courses in North County San Diego. Conditions are excellent, including the bunkers. Plenty of challenge for all yet playable for higher handicaps from the right tee boxes. A number of holes are not your typical grip and rip with the driver off the tee and require a little thought and strategic approach. Icing on the cake is the staff who are always professional, friendly and unlike some courses in the area appreciate the business.
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Played Sunday, Mother's Day morning, around 7:00 am, foursome walking, three from the blue tees and one from the white. ... » More

Played Sunday, Mother's Day morning, around 7:00 am, foursome walking, three from the blue tees and one from the white. Range open when we got there but that was the only services offered. Played in 3:50, waiting on some shots but not many. There were two solid holes open behind us the entire back nine and some space behind that group. Shameful that early.

The course is in nearly good shape. Definitely not as much water being put on the grass. The fairways were dry for the most part. The rough was cut down and not as lush as one would like. The sand was beach type, and no issues with amount of it. The greens have not completely healed from aeration, with some bumps. I thought the course greens were not as fast as the practice greens. They were medium speed, although admittedly some downhill putts could get away if the putter was not careful. My experience though was more short putts than long ones.

Overally, enjoyable as usual. No beverage cart out there that I saw, there was no food truck at the driving range and the snack shack was not open. Outside of the lack of amenities, a good time had by all especially considering the pace of play.
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Played a Sunday AM round, my first time on the course. Cloudy conditions kept things moist until mid-day, around the st... » More

Played a Sunday AM round, my first time on the course. Cloudy conditions kept things moist until mid-day, around the start of the back nine. Yardages on the par 4s were pretty short, but it's not the type of course you can overpower. It felt like a course you would need to play multiple times to figure out the correct spots to layup, especially with a lot of elevated greens.

Greens rolled pretty nicely at a medium-fast pace, although there were very scattered random aeration holes mostly on the front nine. Some of the fringe areas had newly installed replacement sod patches. Fairways and rough were in good condition. I was lucky enough to avoid the bunkers this round, but my partner said the sand was plenty fluffy. Got around quickly in 4 hrs 5 minutes, with no waiting on any hole, and I think the group behind us only had to wait on one hole where we had some bad luck. Saw the beverage cart a couple of times, but we were very close to the turn both times. The customer service at the pro shop and the starter was very good. Nice to try a JC course I hadn't played before, it gave me another positive data point in considering a membership. I would go back and play given the opportunity.
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Sunday round at Rio Hondo with a buddy ... we played from the blue tees and had an 11:16 tee time. Fortunately this cour... » More

Sunday round at Rio Hondo with a buddy ... we played from the blue tees and had an 11:16 tee time. Fortunately this course is one of the few that if you book online with a cart, they still allow you to adjust to walking rates if you so choose. Got in some range time, got paired with another twosome and off we went.

First things first - was really dreading the possibility of a typical six-hour weekend round at RH with all of the bunching up on holes, especially the three par 3s in four holes (7, 8 and 10). Fortunately we found a nice slot in between groups and never waited on a single hole until that 7th, but even then it was just one group and not three. The longest wait was at the par 3 14th, but overall we finished the round in about four and a half hours, which is just tremendous at this place on a Sunday.

Greens are still showing late signs of the spring punch and need just a bit more time before they are in their best phase. They're still a little bumpy and unpredictable right now and I would not describe the speeds as 'consistent.' Plenty of ball marks as well.

Fairways were mostly okay but certainly on the thin side more times than not. There are some GUR areas as well, but you can pretty easily navigate around them. I wouldn't call them 'bad lies' in the fairways, but I've certainly played lusher. The rough was thick and nice and often preferable for some wedge shots or pitches around the greens. Bunkers were okay - could use some more sand, but most places can. Tee boxes were level and mostly alright.

We did not see any cart service around the course all afternoon which was a bit surprising considering it was a weekend round and a hot day. Fortunately the snack shop is conveniently located directly between the front and back nines so you can refuel there.

Rio Hondo is definitely still playable right now, and even enjoyable if you find a nice slot in between the crowds, but I've certainly played it other times in finer condition than where it's at currently. But don't be deterred - it's still a very fun, challenging experience.
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