SPORTS & OUTDOORS
SUMMER OF GOLF
Welcome to the 19th Hole The Summer of Golf examines the sport’s post-pandemic popularity boom at local courses in South Orange County and showcases the play of each course through the eyes of our resident normal, below-average new golfer. BY ZACH CAVANAGH, SAN CLEMENTE TIMES
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e’ve reached the end, dear readers. The Summer of Golf has come to a close here on the sports page of the San Clemente Times, and it barely feels like we even hit the turn. That’s because there really is so much depth to the entirety of the South Orange County golf scene beyond just the five public courses in the three cities of San Clemente, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano. There are certainly more courses just outside those borders that would’ve been perfect candidates for this series, especially knowing they are favorites of local area golfers. Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo is known as a tougher, high-end track nestled into the valley of Trabuco Creek. Ben Brown’s Golf Course at The Ranch at Laguna Beach is a delightfully scenic and easy-going 9-hole course tucked into the Aliso Creek canyon, and it’s also an exquisite dinner spot. For the new and average golfer, like myself, that the Summer of Golf was geared toward, I’d recommend Oso Creek Golf Course in Mission Viejo. It plays like a dream for beginners at only 3,670 yards and a slope rating of 102. It’s only a par-61 with 11 par-3s and no par-5s. It won’t be overly frustrating to a new golfer, and its green fees are some of the most attractive around. And for those truly just picking up clubs and learning the game, the Lake Forest Golf and Practice Center offers extremely cheap fees on its 9-hole course and a double-decker driving range. There’s certainly no shortage of golf in Orange County at large, but as this series San Clemente Times August 4-10, 2022
The Summer of Golf has provided many lessons and plenty of inspiration to get out to the course regularly, to keep on swinging and to have fun at Shorecliffs Golf Club, the Municipal Golf Course and Talega Golf Club in San Clemente, Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point and San Juan Hills Golf Club in San Juan Capistrano. Photos: Zach Cavanagh
has shown, it’s hard to beat the local amenities down here. The five local public courses offered a bit of everything. Shorecliffs Golf Club in San Clemente gave an affordable price point and the promise of a bright future for the local course. The San Clemente Municipal Golf Course offered great views and great golf at a decent price, and it let you know the health of the local game with the competitive race for tee times. Talega Golf Club in San Clemente provided some of the best pure golf you will find, but it
also gave the opportunity to compare what price, value and overall experience mean to you as a golfer. Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point supplied the best of the best in terms of views, course maintenance and service and showcased how far the value of a course can go if the experience goes with it. San Juan Hills Golf Club in San Juan Capistrano demonstrated what that fullday leisure experience can be at a golf course and, again, showed how far value
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can go at a course beyond just the golf or even a single visit. Each course also offered golf lessons. I don’t mean golf lessons with a teacher, although they each do offer those. I mean lessons in the game, or how to approach playing the game. Whether it was the narrow fairways of Shorecliffs, the battle with hills at the Muni, the fight out of the sand at Monarch, the length on the back nine at Talega or the doglegs at San Juan Hills, each course certainly possessed its physical sanclementetimes.com
