Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club

Monarch is a very nice resort layout with wide fairways. However, the turf is very firm and is not a great choice if you like to take divots. It is way over priced for the layout, condition and speed of play. You are paying for the "Happy Hour" and not the golf course. The greens are terrible for the cost and level of experience the resort should be offering. The greens are designed well and have interesting contours, however they are poorly maintained too soft. The grass surface is to long and the greens need to be rolled as they are extremely tracked up with footprints and bumps. The greens are almost unplayable by the end of the day with all of the footprints. They should model Mederas Golf Club in San Diego which is a Troon Property and offers a similar layout, but much better conditioning.

Soften the fairways a little and firm up and smooth out the green surface and you will improve the overall experience 100%.

I hope they fix the course as I live in the area and would like to see all of the top tier golf courses maintain their excellence in customer experience.

Regardless of level of player, a good putting surface yields a great experience.

Usually when I write out golf course reviews I'll list the positive and the negative aspects/features of a course. Honestly though I don't have any negative remarks about Monarch Beach. After asking the other three golfers in my group what they thought about the course, I found they were of the same opinion.

Everyone from the valets, bag drop guys, to the pro shop, starter and beverage cart lady and the grounds crew, everyone was very friendly, courteous and as helpful as I've run across at high end courses. The course itself was in wonderful shape from the tees through the greens, and I thought it was a fun, somewhat difficult, but not unfair, golf course(like other Robert Trent Jones & RTJ Jr courses I've played in the past). I'm an OC native and have been golfing for 20+ years, and this is one of the two public courses in OC I hadn't played before. I wasn't disappointed with any part of the round and I'd definitely recommend Monarch to anyone looking for a local, high end resort course.

One of the complaints I noticed in other previously posted reviews was the cost. While it's certainly not "cheap", I thought it was a pretty good value for the price. Also, if you live and/or golf in OC you're likely familiar with the minimum $60-$80 it'll cost you to play most other public courses on a weekend. As well as the usually average(and occasionally below average) service and course conditions you can expect and the 5-5.5 hours(or more) it'll take to play 18. All things considered I didn't find the pricing to be too high, especially considering the area or for the resort quality service provided and the great course conditions. One thing I'll suggest is to sign up for the emails the course sends out, its free and they send out one a week, that's how I managed to get a pretty good discount on my foursomes green fees.

The course is fun and not very hard to play. The course has a Great layout and nice looking approach shot looks to the greens. Hole 3 has a great view of the ocean and a fun hole to play. Hole 7 is an odd par 5 with the split fairway choice for an approach. I love that idea. I would play this course again for sure.

Had a good time overall, but this course takes serious course knowledge to have any chance at a decent round. Extremely challenging holes with very unique OB zones. Not a very intuitive course and only 2 holes are near the ocean. I would pay around $75-100 tops to play this course. Definitely not worth the $250. I don’t regret it, had a good time, but will never be playing here again.

Really love this course. Layout is great, dog left, dog right ,over the water. A great place to work on all your golf games from driver, woods ,irons ,wedges and putter. I'll come back and play here for sure. Staff are helpful and great customer serves . Free waters and food with green fees ain't beat that....

Fortunately we played with a member who was very helpful Beautiful views of the Pacific. Greens in super shape Fairways ok.

Staff was very accommodating in all aspects.

This course is challenging and scenic. The staff is genial and helpful. More important antsy the course is always in great shape. Especially the greens which are challenging to all levels of golfers

I am a regular to this beautiful oceanside course, and have been enjoying the layout, condition of the course, pace of play and friendly staffs.

Great course with some wonderful views. Good for all levels of play. Great staff

This is a beautiful course that offers, a challenging layout, but not unfair to a mid handicap player. The greens are very fast but true, so if you are heavy handed with the putter you may roll a few by the cup. The staff is super friendly and the views of the ocean and the surrounding area are great! The only down side to the course is the practice area, you only hit into a net not a driving range so if you want to see how your ball is flying do it before you get there. Otherwise its a fantastic course!

Nice resort course. Fairways weren’t great but greens and tee boxes were in excellent condition. Pace of play was excellent and the course host was doing his job. Overall a great experience.

The views are great and the staff were friendly but the layout is a bit funky and the conditions were a bit messy (divots on greens left unattended)

No driving range

Great experience! Played fast and was beautiful. Was paired with 3 great golfers from Texas and had a great time. Frank and Kevin in the pro shop were super friendly and helpful. Frank even lent me a pair of sunglasses for the round when I couldn’t find mine! Hope to play again this weekend.