Strawberry Farms Golf Club

Played the Blues (6276/70.9/128) with RGM2525 using Forelinx on 11/6. We played 36 and were done before 2pm. The 1st 18 in 3H, 30M, the 2nd 18 in 3H, 45M with a short break in between waiting on the tee to clear, so the POP was excellent.

My 1st time here, enjoyed the course. Agree with Mark's earlier review, many holes have trouble down both sides with no bailout. For that reason, I thought the slope was perhaps rated too low. Definitely tougher than average for a course less than 6300 yards from the Blues.

The tees had good grass where the golfers had not chewed them up with divots. Many tees had large amounts of unfixed divots, much more than I would expect for a higher end course. Ron & I went through probably 6 bottles of divot mix and repaired probably 200 divots total in 18 holes, and could have fixed 200 more.

The bermuda fairways were neither lush or thin but had good coverage with a few well marked GUR areas. I like hitting off bermuda fairways, so I thought they were good overall.

The rough was fairly lush and had good coverage. Not overly penal unless your ball settled down, which it did probably 1/3 of the time, then it was short iron only time.

The traps were very nicely maintained with good sand. Inconsistent on the depth of the sand, I was in 5 total, 4/5 I could blast, 1/5 it was thinner. Even on the 2nd round, a few were still wet from watering overspray, so that had to be taken into account on how far behind the ball and how hard you needed to swing on blast shots.

Even 2 weeks after aereation, the greens were only a little bumpy, putted medium speed & held approach shots well. Tougher than average to read, many had subtle breaks and crowns running down the middle where depending on your angle, balls started slightly one way or the other could break in completely opposite directions. These greens are going to be excellent, maybe even exceptional in about 10 days. My overall rating will probably be lower because I only gave the greens a 6/10, they will likely be a 7 or 8/10 soon.

The customer service was excellent. quick, efficient check in, the starter was exceptional. Nice clubhouse & restaurant/bar area. Beverage cart was around numerous times during our rounds. I liked the course, definitely above average. I look forward to playing here again via Forelinx. However, I agree with the majority of people I have spoken to about Strawberry Farms. Layout, conditions and difficulty all above average, but not a great course that would not justify (for me anyway) paying anything remotely close to their rack rate.

The main defense for this golf course are the environmentally sensitive areas that surround the holes (played as 1 stroke hazards). Unfortunately the architect uses this a bit too much in the form of forced carries off the tee. On the back 9 you get the feeling that you're playing the same hole over and over again.
The price is also too high - better value available in So Cal.
Kudos for the finish on 18 - It is stunning.

I felt the course was not in great shape compared to other courses I have played in So Cal.

With sun all the time and cheap labor in Cali, I don't think there is any reason for the course to not always been in great conditions.

Strawberry Farms is a tough course with lots of lateral hazards. You need to bring your A game or it's going to be a long day. The fairways and tees were in good shape, the greens were excellent. We teed off early and played in under 4 hours. The restaurant serves good food too.

The layout of the course is good but the condition is not very good. Too many dead areas in the fairways that they are trying to grow back. Lots of collars around the greens have new sod and are marked as Ground Under Repair. Biggest complaint is the cost. Defintely not worth the $160 they charge on a weekend. Equally good courses around at half the price.