Played here this afternoon with an SCGA member outing. Unusually small group this time, but that worked in our favor. We had a mini-shotgun start at noon and finished in about 4.5 hours. I ended up in... Continue »

Played here this afternoon with an SCGA member outing. Unusually small group this time, but that worked in our favor. We had a mini-shotgun start at noon and finished in about 4.5 hours. I ended up in one of the slower groups as I think everyone else finished before us, but we still had fun. $95 included a grilled hamburger/hot dog lunch before we teed off, but still a bit steep.

The course was in overall good condition, considering the water conservation they are trying to do amidst the drought. Their focus is obviously on keeping the key parts of the course (tee boxes, fairways and greens) in really good shape. The fairways did have some thin/brown spots scattered throughout, but most of the time the lies were perfect on well-kept kikuyu turf. The rough was a bit more inconsistent. Sometimes relatively short and the ball would sit up like on a tee, while other times a bit deeper and the ball would sink down. Other spots pretty dry and bare, especially the more you venture off of the fairway. I wasn't in a bunker, but they looked pretty good.

The story here is the greens, which are exceptional. They are receptive, but smooth and pure on top. Pretty quick, but it all depends on what side of the hole you are on. Most greens break severely toward the ocean. Anything on the high side was hard to stop within 5 feet. Anything on the low side was slower than it looked going against the slope, so you really have to pay attention.

The layout is OK. It's got some charm as an old school course that has been shaped a bit by nature over the years as it's built right on the hillside. Some nice ocean views at times, though the freeway is right there, too, and that's not as nice to look at. Not too many flat lies with uphill, downhill and side-hill lies everywhere, but most holes are relatively straightforward in design. There are only a few significant dogleg holes like 1, 2 and 15, which all favor a left-to-right shot. No water on the course and not too much trouble to get into. Some OB areas on outer edges, but a lot of parallel fairways that give you some bail-out room if you spray a drive.