Shorecliffs Golf Club

Real golfers understand what it takes to renovate a course, especially in as wet of a place as Southern California. People saying this place isn’t worth any money are wrong. It’s a gorgeous course, you can SEE the renovations being done, and the staff is some of the friendliest I’ve encountered. They drove my best friend out to the first tee so he wouldn’t miss our tee time, and they were extremely polite.

So before any trust fund golfers tell you this place isn’t worth its salt, check it out for yourself. Come prepared for ground under repair in some spots, and come with some respect for the staff and you’ll be treated to a wonderful day.

Only real gripe would be pace of place. Guys in front of us parked their cart in the middle of the fairway, 75 yards from the green every hole. This made it so we couldn’t hit our second shots on long par 5’s or we’d hit their cart while they were putting on the green. Then we rode up to them on a par 3. The old man waited on his phone at the tee box, smiling at his buddies when we pulled up. Nothing we could really do, because dad wanted to act like a child that day lol, but we had a great time and I can’t wait to see what they do with the place!

The new layout of the course is terrible in my opinion, some of the worst green complexes and hole layouts around. The cost is absurd with the condition of the course. Definitely not worth the 95+ dollars to play. It’s a shame, the course was fun before the renovation and the price was to match.

I’ve played a ton of public courses all over the nation, this one was the worst of them all. Very surprising though because it’s in beautiful San Clemente. do not waist your time or money with this one. This course needs a massive remodel. They are charging 95 dollars at times for a round, you should never pay more than 30$ to play here. After playing this course I felt disrespected for having payed 95$. Avoid at all cost. #remodelordestroy ow yea almost forgot some of the cart paths send you thru sewer drain lines 😂

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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....

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.🤔

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.