Oak Creek Golf Club

Rode the Golds (6543/71.2/130) with Greg, Kong and Larry. Thanks to all for a fun round! POP was 4H, 20M on a busy, warm afternoon.

First time playing here. I like most Fazio layouts, and this one was no exception. Lots of strategically placed traps and tree/bush lined fairways make keeping it straight a premium here.

The Bermuda tees had good coverage and were maintained high. Only a few could use leveling and most were well maintained for divots.

The Bermuda fairways had a nice cushion and were good to play from. They were also maintained high, which made the course play longer than you would expect.

The Bermuda rough was plenty high enough for the ball to sit down. Punitive, we had at least one lost ball that was lost in the rough and a couple of other times you almost had to be standing over the ball to see it.

Looked like they may be refurbishing the traps? The ones around the green were darker in color and appeared to be universally thinner. The fairway traps actually had too much light colored sand, resulting in numerous fried egg lies within our group.

The greens were smooth and medium fast. Nice! Even though I had a poor putting day, they rolled especially well after playing a bunch of recent rounds on bumpy, slow Bermuda greens in the desert. Also liked that I was able to back up numerous irons on the greens.

Customer service good from all encountered. Nice practice facility, complementary water in the cart that was also equipped with good GPS. Good restaurant on site that was reasonably priced for a golf course. Nice, enjoyable layout that was challenging but fair. Recommended.

Golf course is in excellent shape. Pace of play was exactly what you want it to be and the staff was very friendly. Overall I had a very positive experience.

This is a fun and somewhat challenging track, but not worth the play at normal rates. I played because I had a golfpass voucher, which made it a fantastic deal. If I could get a discounted deal, would play again.

Great course fantastic staff. When you can get a discounted rate here definitely snag it. Really fun course that rewards good course management

I’ve lived in OC only for short time, but the best course I’ve played in OC. The course was in great shape, golf carts top notch, and the staff is the best I’ve experienced in a very long time. If you haven’t played Oak Creek you’re missing out.

The course was overall in great shape. The greens rolled very true and fast. The fairways were in great shape and rolled out for longer than usual drives. My only disappointment was the uneven tees and the aggressive price of $9/small bag of range balls. The staff was very friendly and welcoming especially Mike the starter whom tried his best to get me out early. Pace of play was okay at 4:30 for a Monday afternoon. Par 3's are very challenging and some great holes to run up your score.

Played this course again after about a year off. The overall experience was great. The outside services team was great. They welcomed me and sent me home very nicely. The fairways and greens were in great shape. The greens were much faster than my last round. Pace of play was good at just around 4.5 hours. My only criticism was the price of range balls is high at $9 for a small bucket and the tee boxes were very uneven at times.

First time and wont be the last. Staff was friendly, course from the tee box to the fairway to the greens was in great shape. So far my favorite in OC and much better than strawberry farms hands down.

Though greens are recovering from aeration, they weren't bad to putt on and still maintained their speed

Had lunch prior to our round, great service , good food. Clubhouse staff treated us like regulars, made us feel like we were on our home course! Hit a small bucket on the range, nice facility, well run. Played the back nine at twilight, Mike got us off early, very polite. Grounds crew are paying attention, tee box to greens. Fairways are wider than I expected, greens are fast , the ball rolls true. We were warned about a couple of greens that had been punched and sanded...no worries we've played sanded greens before! Sand traps looked good, only found one, easy out. Come play here, you'll be glad you did.

I try not write about the conditions of the course because there are many seasons and course maintenance throughout the year, but this review is an exception. Oak Creek's facilities and staff are amazing, but the course needs to be closed and refurbished. SInce the Irvine Company owns the property, they need to close the course and complete some major repairs. If you want to charge $100 - $200 per round, the conditions need to be really good.

Now for the specifics:

1) There are tree roots coming out of the ground that stretch 50-100 feet from the trees and have made several tee boxes very uneven. The roots are also growing into the fairways,

2) The grass between the barranca and the fairways are mostly uneven from really bad drainage. I play a lot of courses in Southern CA and Oak Creek has become similar to Green River and El Prado in that you can't drive the cart at full speed because of the bumps. I would caution walkers because you could twist an ankle almost anywhere. I would not complain unless it was pervasive.

3) The greens were OK. They are trying to maintain them, but 4 were recently punched and sanded. It would have been nice to know that beforehand.

Played this course last year = No drought here! Very Lush - great conditions! Now - maybe they received a BIG fine, whatever, course conditions now our Poor/average at best. Gopher holes, dry, poorly managed, etc. Greens were fast though. Driving range - POOR! Tip to course - change the location of where you can hit from more frequently, I (and others) were hitting off of dirt! Range balls way too expensive!!! Never saw a Marshall during 5 hour round! Other players we encountered were rich snobs! Better to play somewhere else until changes are made - fairly well greatly over-priced based upon todays conditions.