OC Golf Course

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This is the first half of the two posts about ShoreCliffs Golf Club. For your convenience, the back 9 is available by clicking here.

Over the weekend, I played a round with my wife at Shorecliffs Golf Course. This course in San Clemente is one of the courses I regularly play because it offers something for my wife and I with its short length and narrow fairways.

Normally, pace of play is not too bad (around 5 hours or so). Sometimes, it gets frustrating because they allow five or two people to tee off by themselves which generally slows down play, but it is not bad overall.

Course Info
ShoreCliffs Golf Club
501 Avenida Vaquero
San Clemente, CA 92672
(949) 492-1177

Blue Tees - 6308 Yards, Par 72, Rating/Slope : 70.3/129
White Tees - 5957 Yards, Par 72, Rating/Slope : 68.7/126
Red Tees - 5187 Yards, Par 72, Rating/Slope : 71.1/123

Clubhouse

It is very roomy on the dining side but the area where the started as well as the golf store can use a little more real estate. The structure is a little dated but otherwise has everything you need. Btw, the food is pretty good here so I recommend giving them a try next time you drop by.

Driving Range

This course provides a driving range to warm up which includes both grass tees and mats. The condition of the grass is not the best but grass tees is a great way to warm up before a round as it is the closest to real course conditions.

Practice Area

The practice area is also a nice addition to help you warm up. A separate chipping and putting area gives everyone plenty of room to tweak that short game before the round. What I especially like about this practice area is that it includes a sand trap (which people rarely use).

Hole #1: 563 Yard Par 5

The first hole at Shorecliffs is a dogleg left par 5. It says it's 563 yards but it doesn't seem that way because I almost always cut the corner of the dogleg. With your tee shot, aim right because although there is trouble left and right, the right side is more forgiving with some balls able to run back down to the fairway.

Around the dogleg, it's another straight fairway all the way to the green.

Once you are pass the dogleg, you probably have to wait so sit back and relax. Remember to watch out and make sure to wave at the group behind you so they know not to hit their second shot.

This hole is pretty easy compared to others but it's the first (warm up) hole for most amateurs so time to play golf!

Hole #2: 353 Yard Par 4

This is another dogleg left but this hole doesn't give you as much room to work with. If you hit the ball straight, you will pretty much run out of room with a 200 - 220 yard tee shot when the tee box is where it is normally. Once in a while, you get lucky and the tee box is on the far right, giving you a much better angle and room for your drive. Most people either draw the ball here or try to cut the corner and go over houses. Just be careful because I've seldom seen people successfully pull off the "over houses" shot!

Once you get your tee shot over, it is a very easy shot to the green because it's wide open.

Hole #3: 312 Yard Par 4

This is the 15th handicap hole but I often think that this is the easiest hole of the course. It's perfectly straight and fairways are wide. The only real trouble is the approach shot where the pin is sometimes guarded by a pretty big bunker.

Hole #4: 198 Yard Par 3

There is usually a wait at this tee box so it's a good time to check out the view by looking backwards from the tee box.

Straight forward par 3 with trouble on both sides. If you can hit it straight about 200 yards, you will be fine. Believe it or not, I've seen many people get on the green with their tee shots here.

Hole #5: 309 Yard Par 4

The decision on this elevated tee box is key. With only 200 yards to the directional flag coupled with the fact that it is only a 300 yard hole, a mid to long iron is best. However, if you are long, you can challenge the green as it opens up after about 250 yards.

Hole #6: 302 Yard Par 4
This hole is always one of the toughest hole in the course for me. It is imperative that you hit a short to mid iron to about 150 yards because the hole narrows the farther you are away from the tee box. If you decide to hit your driver, you have to contend with the mini dogleg right hole as well as a very tight landing spot. One interest thing about this hole is that there is a huge hill on the left that you can just hit a 150-200 yard shot towards and it will almost always roll back to the fairway.

Hole #7: 168 Yard Par 3

After a pretty tough hole, you come to a very pleasant and wide par 3. The length of the hole is short so it's time to be aggressive. For some reason, many people slice their tee shot to the tee on the right so be careful about this. Also, there is plenty of room in front of the green but not much room behind so watch out for shots over the green.

Hole #8: 382 Yard Par 4

This is always a longer hole than the yardage says for me because I always have to play safe. The tee shot needs to go over hazard that goes diagonally from bottom left to upper right. What I do is aim at the 200 yard mark (it's 200 yards away from the blue tees) which is the point that I need to carry. Once I carry it and onto the fairway, I usually have about a 150 yard shot into an elevated green.

Hole #9: 431 Yard Par 4
According to the score card, this is the hardest hole on the course if you play on the back tees. I believe it is hard only because of the length so there isn't much to worry about. On the tee shot, hit the ball about 220-240 to get to the dogleg, and then you have about a 200 yard shot to the green.

Front 9 of ShoreCliffs: 3018 Yards, Par 35
The front 9 is shorter than the back 9 but requires more accurate shots to score well. Once you get to the back 9, the holes get a little wider but also a little longer. If you want to see what the second 9 is like, check out back 9 of this series!