Willowick Golf Course
About
Opened in 1929, Willowick Golf Course in Santa Ana is Orange County's oldest public golf course. It is a challenging layout that has garnered a quite a following over the years. The course features wide fairways and large greens that offer ample room. There aren’t any water hazards a few strategically placed sand traps come into play and there are also mature trees lining the fairways. Golfers will get to practice a variety of different shots on this course. It is player-friendly enough for high-handicappers but there are still some challenges for low handicappers. The excellent condition of the greens and fairways are inviting no matter what your skill level. In addition to the golf course, Willowick also offers a grass driving range and three practice putting greens.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 71 | 6061 yards | 67.7 | 110 |
| Red (W) | 71 | 5742 yards | 72.3 | 118 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue M: 68.4/113 W: 74.4/124 | 327 | 195 | 502 | 155 | 387 | 463 | 183 | 281 | 375 | 2868 | 520 | 541 | 154 | 388 | 330 | 397 | 286 | 178 | 399 | 3193 | 6061 |
| Green M: 66.5/109 W: 72.4/119 | 320 | 190 | 481 | 144 | 349 | 444 | 149 | 267 | 367 | 2711 | 510 | 532 | 147 | 381 | 323 | 382 | 270 | 157 | 329 | 3031 | 5742 |
| Handicap | 11 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 8 | |||
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
| Handicap (W) | 13 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 12 |
Course Details
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Bar, Snacks, RestaurantReviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by Caljuju on 02/14/2024
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Photo submitted by u8147525 on 11/22/2021
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Photo submitted by sykwoo2021 on 07/27/2021
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Photo submitted by Golfboi23 on 07/21/2021
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Photo submitted by Golfboi23 on 07/21/2021
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Photo submitted by u000004287194 on 09/08/2020
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Photo submitted by u000004287194 on 09/08/2020
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Photo submitted by u000004287194 on 09/08/2020
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Our scorecard... Photo submitted by Peter3419502 on 06/11/2020
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Photo submitted by HallsyHall on 05/06/2015
Still the same
This course could be a gem. The fairways are choppy and full of bare spots. The greens have several different types of grass growing on them. They are not true rolling true. Nonetheless, it's better than staying home.
SMH
Course has an overall easy layout with wide fairways that provide tons of forgiveness. The same length in grass makes it tough at times because you can be in the fairway and still be hitting a shot out of the rough. The craziness of this course comes at about the 5-6th hole when you run into what would be a restroom at other courses- here it looked like a trap house. Crazy graffiti all around course and even some homeless entrapments on the back nine. Never seen that before, never thought I would on a golf course.
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your support and feedback. Stay safe and come see us again soon :)
Decent
Nice course greens are a little patchy and bumpy but overall decent. Allotnofssand bunkers in front of greens.
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your support and feedback. Stay safe and come see us again soon :)
Sad to see it go
I'm amazed they get any play at all. The desire to maintain the course is gone!! I played the Wick for years but now they should make up their mind either closed it or maintain it!
Kevin,
Thank you for your review. We are committed to bring the Wick back up to speed. We'll get to work and hopefully you'll have an opportunity to play the conditions that you expect shortly. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your 4 star review. We value your feedback, appreciate your support and hope to see you back soon.
Terrible Condition
After a long winter up north, I was excited to play some golf. Without swinging a club for 4 months, I had a hard time paying $150+ for a round of golf, that's why I golfed here. To course condition is BRUTAL!! Bumpy greens, irrigation issues, dead spots everywhere. I won't be going back.
Thank you for your review and feedback. We appreciate your constructive insights and are working everyday to improve our conditions.
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you again soon.
The Wick
Great place to workout your swing! You save money because you will not lose a ball here, no water hazards and fairways are parallel for most of the holes
Thank you for your review and feedback. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you again soon.
Poor Condition
I wish I knew how poor the condition was before I booked. Bumpy greens, irrigation leaks, terrible fairways. One of the worst conditioned courses I’ve played in a while. The pace was good, but it usually is at 6:30am. I joined another group and it was enjoyable. To bad for the bad condition. I won’t be going back,
Thank you for your review and feedback. We appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to improve course conditions.
Holiday Golf
Had an afternoon t time was told pace was ok.From the first tee it was slow expected for holiday golf but 3 hrs for 9 holes is absurd.The course had no Marshal to regulate pace.This course is in really bad shape.The greens,bunkers,t boxes, and especially the fairways are a mess.For that this course charges you woukd think something wiuld be funneled back into the course.DON'T .The one redeeming quality is the staff.They do their best to make yiur round bearable.
Thank you so much for your review and kind words describing our team. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Thank you so much for your review. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Oldie but goodie....
Used to playing here for years. Course has new management and supposedly will have a new fleet of carts next week. Fairways are extremely BUMPY! So, if you have a really bad back, this old course is not for you!
For the money, and if you don't mind some noise in the community around the course, than it's a good place to play. Greens are very decent, and although they look flat, they can fool you! Good chipping and putting will make your numbers here.
Thank you so much for your review and kind words. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Don't waste golf time at this place...
This was perhaps a nice golf experience...50 years ago. Now, it's terrible. Out of carts constantly. Cart we had died on front 9. Fairways?....Well, they don't really exist; and what there is, consists of dry and hard patches of dead bermuda and crabgrass. 90% of the terrain is so bumpy it's difficult to walk or ride on. Greens were OK, but needed to be cut when we played. Cart paths are 50/50 concrete and old dusty dirt paths. Layout doesn't make sense most of the time and is packed together so that you're in danger of being hit by errant shots all around the course. A couple of protective fences in the obvious danger zones, but mostly in disrepair and looked terrible. If it's your first time playing course, the layout is so screwy that it's extremely difficult to know where the next tee box is, and that's if you're going to a hole where there's actually a sign. Some holes didn't even have a tee box sign...and if they did, they were facing in a direction that made it impossible to navigate your way to the next hole. Pace of play is horrid...long wait on every hole. Pro shop is a joke. A few hats, a couple sleeves of balls and boxes of lost & found items. Bathrooms locked at 5:00 because of vagrancy issues. I realize this place is old...but it's a mess. It was obviously left without attention and investment for many years. Not coming back. Don't waste your time. There's far better public/muni golf options in the area, for the same $$.
Thank you so much for your review and constructive words. New carts have arrived and we are addressing the other topics that you raised. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your feedback and support. We look forward to seeing you again soon!
Thank you so much for your 4 star review. We value your input, and hope to see you back soon. Happy Golfing!
Golf cart died
My golf cart was dying around hole 6. On the turn after hole 9. We switched carts with the club house. This one also was running out of battery. By hole 12 we were losing massive power. There was an employee towing carts on the course (were they dead also?) I told him that we switched out carts and this one was dying as well. He said he would bring a new cart to us. Of course he never came back. Once we finished at 18, (which my brother and I were pushing to get it started) we saw that same employee by our cars, and yelled at him, and he just drove off.
New year day. You know it's a holiday, many people are going to play, and how do you not have enough carts charged. It definitely put a damper on the last 4/5 holes as we were push starting the cart.
The course on the other hand, was ok. Fairways were ok, Greens were real nice, running real fast. That with the hole placement made for a nice challenge. We did our best to make due, and not ruin the start of our new year, but that cart really left a bad taste in our mouth.
Thank you so much for your review and constructive feedback. The experience that you shared is unacceptable and we'd like to make it up to you. Please shoot us an email at info@willowickgolf.com. We are also happy to say that the new cart fleet is on it's way.
This course has great staff!
First time playing here and will definitely be back for future rounds! Course has great layout and staff is top notch.
Thank you for your review and kind words. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you again soon
Thank you so much for your review. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Rough greens
Have played this course a lot before. Has usually been an average course, but affordable. This time, greens were horrible.
Thank you so much for your review and constructive input. We value your feedback, and hope to see you back soon.
Thank you for your review. We appreciate your feedback and support. We are working with our local authorities to continue cleaning things up. Hope to see you again soon.