Hi there. Welcome back. I’m excited because today is the first video in the Orange County California, OC Golf Vacation Series. If you've missed any of the Maui Golf Vacation Series, and would like to see them. I’ll include a link to the videos Below. I’m planning to share eight public golf courses and some fun things to do in the area. My criteria for picking the golf courses is; one, they have to be public, two, 18 holes, and then three, they have to be in Orange County. The courses are all varying in price anywhere from $60 to $250 I had planned to do the Pelican Hill Golf Course, but their rates are just too high. I played the course before and honestly didn't find it so remarkable that I would pay over $300 to play it again.
Welcome to California. If you're planning a golf vacation to Southern California there really isn't a bad time of year to come. Daytime July through October, you may run into some warmer temperatures and warmer temperatures I mean 80s to 90 degrees. During November through June, typical daytime temperatures would range between 60s and 70s. Rain is very rare here. The most convenient airport to fly into is by far John Wayne. Long Beach Airport is not too far away either but John Wayne is definitely your best bet. The airport is small in comparison to a lot of airports. It has two
levels and three terminals. It's small. The location is ideal. John Wayne also offers on-site car rental services at the terminal. The rental car counters, they're located on the arrival level, which is the lower level. It's between terminals A and B. The car pickup is in the parking structure between A and B, however this is not true of all rental car companies.
Rent from Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Budget, Dollar and Enterprise and you'll have access to them in the terminal. For the off brands, Fox, Payless, any of the other Ones, they do have shuttles that take you to an off-site area to get your car. Finding the perfect location to stay is no problem It all depends on your budget and what activities
you plan to do while you're in California. Other than golf I would recommend taking advantage of the close proximity to the coast. There is nothing like a round of golf during the day, coming back to a leisurely bike ride along the coast, to a restaurant to finish up a perfect day. Newport Beach andHuntington Beach are two cities where you can't go wrong. There are plenty of hotels on the coast inHuntington Beach, there's the Paseo, the Hyatt, the Hilton and many boutique hotels right there.
On the coast there's so much to do in Huntington Beach. From live music, to car shows. to a spectacular over the ocean air show. An annual one. I’ll include a link to the Huntington Beach event calendar. Newport Beach has tons of vacation rentals. If you're traveling as a group, this may be the best and affordable way to stay in Newport Beach. Newport Beach has a lot to offer. It has beautiful beaches, fantastic restaurants and a lot more. When you're picking a vacation rental in Newport Beach, be sure and read all of their reviews, and make sure they’re recent reviews. Those vacation rentals along the beach, they get rented a lot and so some of them can be a little sketchy. So make sure you're looking at the pictures and reading the reviews. You want to also be mindful of the location. If you pick something down on Lido Isle or the Balboa Peninsula, getting in and out of that location can it can take a long time due to traffic. Especially during the summer months. I recommend staying as close to PCH, Highway 1, as you can.
If you like this video, give me a thumbs up and subscribe. Our first OC golf course is a gem! The Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, it's an 18 hole championship length golf course. The Mission Viejo Company owns it and I just couldn't get over how well maintained this course was. This is a 240 acre course. It's located alongside Trabuco Creek and the reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo. The course is nestled into a canyon with beautiful views. There are no houses along this course. There are five sets of tee boxes and it plays from 5045 to 7000 yards. All levels of golfers will enjoy playing this Course. The course also has a handful of top-notch instructors. When we first arrived we were pleasantly surprised at how conveniently located it was. Right off the 5 freeway at Avery Parkway. The entrance really sets the stage. There wasn't a bag drop location, but we did notice that there were golf carts out in the parking lot. We parked our car and then went into the Pro Shop to check in. The Pro Shop was really nice.
It had all the golf essentials and more. The folks in the shop were great. They got us all checked in and sent us out to the starter. We paid $102 each. Which included our golf cart. Don the starter met us right outside the door. He gave us the lowdown and our cart, and sent us off to the parking lot to get our clubs.
The carts were great! They had GPS, they had windshields, they had a cooler, with ice and believe it or not they included two bottles of water. Even our private course doesn't do that anymore. Again we were blown away that this was a public course. We bought our bucket of balls and the driving range was lovely. There's also a large practice putting green. The one thing they didn't have was a chipping range. Each of the carts was clearly marked with the tee times, and the course runs in 10 minute tee time intervals. The pace of play was perfect all day. I’ll include a link to the scorecard in the description below. One of the things that I couldn't get over on this course was how clean everything was. From the minute you pull in the drive, to the minute you leave. You really get a sense that they take great care of this course and the facilities.
Okay, this is a big statement, but this course so far has the nicest tee boxes, fairways and greens, that I've played in California and I've played quite a few courses. The course has all John Deere equipment and plenty of them. While we were on the course, on many of the holes we saw the maintenance crew working on the course. The course is easy to navigate and the cart paths are clearly marked. The course even gave guidance in picking which tee box you should be teeing off of, based on your handicap. There is no concession cart, but there is a snack stop on holes 2 and 12.
I honestly I couldn't get over the tee boxes. I've recently played three different courses, one being a private course and it seems like the tee boxes are the last thing they work on. The fairways on some of the holes we found to be very forgiving. Now that being said, if you drive the ball to 250-300 yards, yeah, you can easily hit it into the shrubs and it's not so forgiving. We struggled the first few holes getting used to how slow the greens were. But we figured it out. The course winds through the canyon and then you head up the side of the canyon into the higher elevation. There are many fun holes on this course where you're dealing with elevation changes. The contrast between the hillside and the beautiful course is amazing. I’m sure on a clear day there are holes that you can see to the ocean.
Around 11 o'clock a breeze starts and it keeps the course cooler. It was in the 80s the day we played. It's August. There are plenty of bunkers on this course to keep you on your toes. But the bunkers have
white fluffy sand in them nowadays, that's a rarity. Only three holes had water hazards. There are a million great things to say about this course.
There is one slight negative. There's a lot of walking. Many of the holes you're either climbing hills or going down hills to get to the greens. The carts are non-negotiable, when the cart directs you to get off the course you'd better follow directions. If you don't you will be moving at a snail's pace to get back to the cart path. One of our group had an Apple watch on and she logged 10 000 steps playing this course. We all managed fine, but it's something to keep in mind. This course is so beautiful! I hope you'll try it. After our round we stopped in the clubhouse restaurant. They have a large sports bar and restaurant,
O'Neills Bar and Grill.
It was a perfect day of golf and I am so excited that we found this course. Arroyo Trabuco is one of the top 10 courses I've played in California. Until I finished playing all of the Orange County courses, I’ll reserve the exact ranking, until the end. Thanks for watching. Next time we'll be going to Oak Creek Golf Course, and we'll take a cruise along the beach. Remember if you enjoyed this video to give me a thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe See you next time..