Oak Creek, CA & Shadow Ridge, CA

[Steel President]

My brother and I started off our little golf trip with a trip to Orange County to tackle the Tom Fazio designed Oak Creek. We both thought it was just an absolutely fantastic course.

The amenities were first class. I've never seen a golf course with a more slick GPS system. It actually provided us with a visual flyover of every hole - proved to be very useful, especially for first time players. The practice range was really nice as well and the clubhouse was unique and beautifully designed.

The course itself was a blast. The fairways were a little brown but I thought they still played well. However, the greens and tee boxes were absolutely magnificent (along with the bunkers for that matter). The course featured wide fairways but you'd be in some big trouble if your tee shot missed the mark - the bunkers were both large and intimidating. The course also put a decent amount of water into play.

More than anything, however, we were impressed with the layout of the course. It was unique, challenging, and just a lot of fun. Definitely made you utilize all of the clubs in your bag and required some serious shot-planning. The greens were deceptively tricky. It was just a real pleasure of a course.

A big-time recommendation for Oak Creek!


Steel Tappin'

 

[Steel President]

Alright, so we moved from the OC to Palm Desert for our round the next day. We decided to tackle Shadow Ridge first, a Nick Faldo design. Again, it was a serious treat.

It was a resort style golf course with some big time flair. The fairways were generous but the bunkers were plentiful and menacing. It was definitely a course that required some intelligent golf - I used a fairway wood off of the tee as much as I did a driver.

Again, Shadow Ridge has an amazing clubhouse and practice area. The course itself was in immaculate shape in every facet possible - the greens, tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers were awesome. Plus, it's just tough to beat the views that these desert courses provide - breathtaking is an understatement.

The layout is fun, challenging enough, and the greens can actually get rather tricky - a lot of subtle undulations. We caught an afternoon tee time and were able to get our full 18 in (plus they didn't pair us up). I thought the par-5's provided the greatest challenge on this course. Plus, as I mentioned previously, I played an excellent front nine 42 that could've been even better. Just an enjoyable experience.


Steel Tappin'

 

[mngolferguy]

Thx for the review and pics.
I've had a few natives tell me to try out Oak Creek. Now I really want to.
Have played Shadow Ridge a few times. Awesome course with great twilight rates.
When I was out there last month, I met a guy from GolfWrx and he said course was not in good shape. We played Silverrock.
I saw posting about LaQuinta.
I totally enjoyed my round there. Course was in great condition and I payed $29.
How about Indian Wells? Or where else are you playing?

 

[Steel President]

Thoughts on SilverRock? As I just posted in the other thread I made, we're planning on playing the course to finish things up tomorrow. It looks absolutely amazing so I'm pretty pumped.

Apologies for the attachments, folks - I won't have CPU access for a little while! So, I had to do these reviews via TapaTalk.

 

[mngolferguy]

Have played Silverrock almost every time in the valley.
Course is always in great shape. Track has nice variety.
Playing from the back tees is tough. #16, 242 par 3, all carry over water. Beautiful, but I bail to the left.
The only thing I find a bit disturbing, I think the folks there think awfully highly of themselves. I guess they can, cause its a nice facility, but...

 

[d_in_la]

You could spend a lifetime trying all the decent courses in SoCal. Glad these two worked out for you!

 

[mngolferguy]

So Mr President sir, Did you settle up your outing at Silverrock?
And what did you think of the course?
I love the finishing holes from 14 on in.

 

[jsiravo07]

Hopefully next year i get out to play some of the course in SoCal. Looks really nice.

 

[Steel President]

So Mr President sir, Did you settle up your outing at Silverrock?
And what did you think of the course?
I love the finishing holes from 14 on in.

I did! Beautiful course - and I agree, the final holes were stunning.

It's right up there with Indian Wells. Really fun track and it offers a bit of a different scenic style than a lot of the courses out there.

 

[Schanker]

Alright, so we moved from the OC to Palm Desert for our round the next day. We decided to tackle Shadow Ridge first, a Nick Faldo design. Again, it was a serious treat.

It was a resort style golf course with some big time flair. The fairways were generous but the bunkers were plentiful and menacing. It was definitely a course that required some intelligent golf - I used a fairway wood off of the tee as much as I did a driver.

Again, Shadow Ridge has an amazing clubhouse and practice area. The course itself was in immaculate shape in every facet possible - the greens, tee boxes, fairways, and bunkers were awesome. Plus, it's just tough to beat the views that these desert courses provide - breathtaking is an understatement.

The layout is fun, challenging enough, and the greens can actually get rather tricky - a lot of subtle undulations. We caught an afternoon tee time and were able to get our full 18 in (plus they didn't pair us up). I thought the par-5's provided the greatest challenge on this course. Plus, as I mentioned previously, I played an excellent front nine 42 that could've been even better. Just an enjoyable experience.


Steel Tappin'

I've played shadow ridge a few times great track. Greens are tough and can be fast. The fairways are wide except 18. Its a tough hole. Fairway must be 15 yards wide in the landing area with a creek on the left and long and bunkers on the right.

I need to try silver rock but green fees have always been up there.