Shorecliffs GC
View of a green at Shorecliffs Golf Club.
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3.1
1203 Reviews (1203)
5 Stars
141
4 Stars
412
3 Stars
317
2 Stars
155
1 Stars
178
Conditions
2.9
Value
3.2
Layout
3.1
Friendliness
4.1
Pace
3.5
Amenities
3.4
59.7%
Recommend this course
797 out of 1203 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.8
92 Reviews (92)
5 Stars
23
4 Stars
40
3 Stars
20
2 Stars
5
1 Stars
4
Conditions
3.5
Value
4.0
Layout
3.7
Pace
3.8
Amenities
4.1
StaffFriendliness
4.5
82.6%
Recommend this course
76 out of 92 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.4
136 Reviews (136)
5 Stars
26
4 Stars
46
3 Stars
34
2 Stars
13
1 Stars
17
Conditions
3.1
Value
3.5
Layout
3.4
Pace
3.6
Amenities
3.7
StaffFriendliness
4.3
67.6%
Recommend this course
92 out of 136 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public
Par 70
Length 5718 yards
Slope 125
Rating 69.0

Shorecliffs Golf Course wanders through the coastal canyons and valleys of San Clemente, heading towards the beautiful shoreline. Situated just steps from the ocean, the course enjoys cool ocean breezes and a temperate climate, which makes it a year-round haven for golfers. Its location also provides the golf course with plenty of scenic ocean views. The course features narrow fairways tightly lined with trees and small greens bordered by sand bunkers. The front nine is shorter and requires more accuracy than the longer, wider back nine. Shorecliffs opens with one of the trickiest par-5s in the area. This dogleg left hole features trouble both left and right. Although the layout does offer a fair challenge, players of all skill levels will feel comfortable taking on the golf course.

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Shorecliffs Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1964
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Poa Annua Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Joe Williams

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Fivesomes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse
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Reviews

3.1
1203 Reviews (1203)
Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

ROUGH SHAPE

There were multiple areas that were dug up.

And areas that were mud like they had trouble with the sprinklers that didn't go off.

On two or three holes they were laying wires for the timers, I guess. What a mess.

Several holes had fairways that had no grass.

The tee boxes were so hard you couldn't put your tee in.

Definitely would not recommend this course.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

From “Sweet Deal” to “Meh”

I played Shorecliffs many times before the renovation started, and this was my first post-renno round. I give the event a resounding “meh.” The parking lot and clubhouse are certainly very nice - superbly improved. The staff is and has always been very friendly. And I think the track is improved a little -still challenging and fun. But from tee to green, the course condition remains so-so. Lots of beat up areas, mid-fairway bogs and speckly greens. Lots of over-sanded tee boxes, making footing a challenge. Our cart was not made for golf (allegedly the course bought used ones from some non-golf entity) so we didn’t have room for all the usual stuff thrown in the dashboard bins. Little details, but they add up. Good to see the bar cart running, though!

They reversed the hole order, so back nine is now 1-9. Not sure how I feel about this.

So it comes down to price. On one hand, it’s still one of the thriftiest rounds in SW Orange County, at half the price of, say, Tijeras Creek. And you can get a tee time which seems to be getting harder elsewhere by the day. On the other hand, in spite of the course changes and improvements, the track is largely the same. And it’s in exactly the same condition as before when I was super happy paying $12-$40 a round. Bottom line: if you never played Shorecliffs before, and given the local area’s jacked-up green fees elsewhere, you would probably feel good about paying and playing here. But if you were a Shorecliffs regular before the renno you will definitely wonder why you are paying 2X for the same “very munie” round you used to play. Meh.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Disappointing!

Customer service, Course layout and the new facade/restaurant are the only positive experience to this course. Fairways are in bad shape! No proper restroom until you get to restaurant/pro shop area. I can understand why this is no longer a Troon course, as it’s not even close to Troon quality.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Previously Played

Any review over 2 stars is lying

Shorecliffs what can I say about the dog trap located next to the DMV and a drainage ditch. Couple years ago the course was 32$ and 38$ weekend rate and the course was always in solid shape and always packed. Now they request far too much money which has gone down 40$ over this past year because management is starting to realize they can’t fill time at a POS. If you guys get back down to af most 45$ weekend rate and 38$ weekly I guarantee you’ll see the tee sheet filled every single day but until then the locals have spoken…

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 01/01/2025

Could not have said it better. Still is "the ditch " no amount of money could improve this tract unless they fill it with dirt and start all over.

Played On
Reviews 12
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Is it just me, or is this place getting worse?

Its been almost a year since I told myself I would never play here again, well they got me again. Being the only tee time available in a 50 mile radius, i had to take my chances again. I feel like at the price they are charging for tee times, there had to be some new improvements right? Well i was wrong, the fairways were dead and over watered, the tee boxes are still all patchy and uneven, and the greens were thicker than your grandmas shag carpet. No marshall or beverage cart. Only thing going for it is the club house, so do yourself a favor and just grab a bite or a beer, because the golf is not worth it. Sad to see this place so poorly managed.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once every three months
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Marsh like conditions

5.5 hrs to golf 18.

Staff stacked the course so tight it took forever to get the round of golf in.

The course was not in the best condition and very wet for it not raining for weeks.

Golfed there 2 years ago to date and course was still in the same “under construction “ that is was back then.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Playable

Played course a couple years ago before clubhouse finished and it was in great shape. Not so much anymore. Front nine greens wildly different than back nine. Grass in fairways very spotty and inconsistent. Probably won’t be back for a while.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 28
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Play since improvements

I know they are trying, but tye course has a long way to go.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Fair
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Decent Course

Tee Boxes and greens need some TLC. Course is overly wet in spots. Decent layout and great clubhouse.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 9
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Greens were great; everything else failed...

With limited public courses in the So. Orange County area, I tried Shorecliff again (played often in '23 and early '24) to see what changes/improvement were made since last time.

Positives: Greens were very nice though slow which was fine - they were consistent. Cart attendants and general support staff were great -- nice bunch of young men.

Negatives: No Starter -- so lot's of "two's" vs. ensure foursomes were starting at #1 (the two we were paired with didn't show up until we were hitting our 2nd shot, though we ended up pairing up after a few holes). Marshal? Nope...and thus pace of play was horrible - everywhere. By the time we made the turn, there was a two group back up in front of us. We tried to play the front nine again as suggested by a pro shop rep., but after a couple of holes, ran into the same issue -- slow play with no one managing groups that were not keeping a good pace. Carts were scarce since many are no working/in repair (cart attendant mentioned that many breakdown). Lastly, tee boxes were horrible, as were many areas in most fairways.

Tried to get a snack and a beer afterward to check out the nice clubhouse, but was told it was closed (4pm) for a Halloween party. Really? SMH....

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played

The Ditch

This course was for years played by san clemente locals due to value of 25$ plus a hot and a drink. New manager came in demolished the driving range and built a new club house to cater to apartment's that were built on old driving range. The club house was built to cater to tenants of apartments whi they hoped would play course. The green fees were raised to $100 after renovations to course that really did not help. When course failed to attract patrons green fees were initially lowered to 80/95$ and still less then 50% capacity. As of today rates are $45:ish and still at less then 20% capacity. Bottom line all the money and planning failed to draw golfers. When most courses are at or near capacity shorecliffs is still the ditch.🤔

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Fair
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Too much money for course

I’ve played here a couple times before the riser the price and it was worth it then. Now, you might as well pay the extra $30 and play talega. The fairways were pretty bad on the front 9, the back 9 they were a little better. The greens were probably the best part as the just punched them a few weeks back. Overall, this was the only place we could find a tee time. We played, but honestly for how much their charging it’s not worth it for this course.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Poor
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Fair
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Absurd amount of money

Every tee box patchy and sandy, greens were hammered, 60 bucks at best such an unreal gouge fest… constantly disappointed by shorecliffs

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 10/13/2024

Unfortunately this course has tried to improve over the years but new managers/owners can't grasp what is involved in running a good golf course. They have recently spent $ 100 of thousands of $ dollars to improve course but managed to make it worse. Even locals who at one point frequented course no longer play here.

Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser

tee box dead grass/ uneven tee off spots

Overpriced.

nice carts, dead tee box grass issues

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Fair
Pace Good
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

The starter are great. I would recommend not putting 2 2somes out medley to each other but rather combining them. Pace of play was brutally slow.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
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