LA and OC Private Courses

[MongoSmash]

All,

I wanted to get the latest on the lay of the land on possible private tracks to join near LA. I searched and got some basic data - and some of the threads are old.

Background: I mostly work from home, but do have to go to LAX (mostly) or SNA a few times a month. Also, I know the famous courses are out for me (like 99.9% of others). My limit is about 50K initiation and 1K per month.

So far I’ve come up with the following. And please correct me if numbers are wrong or missing.

El Caballero. 45K

Woodland Hills. 7.5K

Mountaingate, Braemar, Old Ranch, Seacliff, Coto?????

Virginia CC. 75K????

palos verdes. 49K

any others I’m missing?

Thank you

[Dashfast]

I believe Mountaingate is much less than 50k.

[MongoSmash]

How much?

also, which 3-4 should be on my short list?

finally, Mods sorry, I meant to post this in the Cali Section. Can you move it for me please?

[Dashfast]

15k a while back... I heard Caballero is excellent and I’ve really enjoyed Mountaingate. The views at Mountaingate are pretty excellent.

[cacophony82]

I would recommend looking @ San Gabriel CC - great membership, great historical course and fits your budget

[sharkiesj]

Beat me 2 it. Annandale may be a bit much but it wouldn’t hurt to ask? Oakmont another possibility. Valencia CC may be a bit far.

[ButterCutter2]

PM sent to original poster.

[CLSS]

 

El Caballero. 45K -------- good course not too long, but lots of fun- wicked greens though- love it.

Coto????? --------------- busy but love both course *north.

Virginia CC. 75K???? ---- Great track and cc, I wonder if you've checked out *LACC, Wishire, Bel-Air or Oakmont cc

a little further north (maybe out of your way maybe) is *Valencia cc and the oaks club at valencia

northwest of it is Saticoy cc

and out east Red Hill cc

but sorry, I don't know what the down blow is on any of them anymore.

 

[Siper11]

These courses are pretty spread out - same for the recommendations. Where do you generally stay when in town? Which airport do you fly in/out the most; Burbank, LAX, or Orange County?

I.e The main 2 near SNA that fit your budget are Mesa Verde and Santa Anna. Both are good courses (initiation ~$20K Monthly ~$1K), fun to play, easy to find a group, etc.

LAX: Virginia is tough to beat, has several PGA pros as members (suggest asking around to get a lower initiation fee).

I'm a member at Mesa Verde CC and know people at all of the clubs in OC. Ping me if you want thoughts on the various courses. Everything comes down to your style of play, budget, and location. I choose MVCC due to all 3 and am very happy with it (5 minutes from my house, it's walk able, consistent, known to have one of the most laid back membership, great golfers, equity membership, etc).

Note: Many courses are overrated (Big Canyon, Newport Beach), several are basically daily fee public courses billed as "private" (Seacliff, Newport Beach, Old Ranch), and unfortunately most are simply "average" and membership only provides a guaranteed pace of play improvement over the local daily fee and public courses.

If you don't want the hassle of a membership, I'd suggest looking at yearly membership options at some of the higher rated daily fee courses like Pelican Hill, Strawberry Farms, Oak Creek, etc.

Mission Viejo Country Club used to have a program where members would "lease" memberships for 2-3 years that only required the monthly fee. Might want to check that out.

I can't stress the importance of location - proximity to airport, freeway, etc. In So. Cal it's an important value factor.

[Scott3501]

I see someone mention mesa verde and santa ana CC, does anyone know what the initiation and dues look like for Mission Viejo / Aliso Viejo?

[Bigdrew09]

Ditto on Siper11's comment regarding importance of location. Living on the Westside of LA, my options are extremely limited since I don't have the $$$$ for the big boys (and probably lack the connections). Trekking over the hill to the Valley for some of the more affordable clubs just isn't worth it because the drive and time investment just doesn't make it worthwhile. Convenience is one of the big factors for me in considering a CC.