Orange County Golf Course Reviews
Strawberry Farms Golf Club Review
Irvine, CA
72.7 rating; 134 slope |
Strawberry Farms Golf Club Overview: The distinguishing feature of Strawberry Farms is the almost constant presence of the Environmentally Sensitive Hazard. This one-stroke penalty-causing machine shows up as a real danger on no less than 9 holes, and the reservoir around which the golf course was built makes an appearance on another three. The golf course is in good shape, the greens are fair, and if penalty strokes can be avoided, a good score can be posted. Barring the strong wind that sometimes blows through the canyon in which the golf course is located, it is an enjoyable and memorable round of golf, even if a bit over-priced, which is common for Orange County golf. See below for the best golf holes:
Strawberry Farms Hole 2: Diabolically tight and with a seemingly crowned fairway, there is junk on both sides of the fairway and all but the straightest of tee shots may end up in trouble. The green also has trouble near it but less so than the fairway, with a solitary bunker around to also catch errant shots.
Strawberry Farms Hole 3 (right): A long one-shotter over a hazard that wraps around the left side of the green. Plenty of bail out room to the right, but the chip from there is less than easy due to an undulating green. Back-left pin placements are very difficult.
Strawberry Farms Hole 8: This fun, short par four is a good decision hole as the golfer can attempt to drive the green. However, there are environmental hazards just to the right of the green and, if the drive is pulled, it will go through the dogleg right fairway into the junk. The lay up is still no cake-walk as pot bunkers are all over the place. A large hump in the green makes putting difficult. (not pictured)
Strawberry Farms Hole 8: This fun, short par four is a good decision hole as the golfer can attempt to drive the green. However, there are environmental hazards just to the right of the green and, if the drive is pulled, it will go through the dogleg right fairway into the junk. The lay up is still no cake-walk as pot bunkers are all over the place. A large hump in the green makes putting difficult. (not pictured)
Strawberry Farms Hole 10: Definitely the most aesthetically pleasing hole on the golf course, the drive from an elevated tee box must avoid the reservoir that runs the length of the left side of the hole. A choice makes the golfer choose to hit iron of the tee, which leaves a longer approach shot, and brings more fairway bunkers into play, or hit the driver, which avoids the trouble short, but, if errant, will lead to double bogey for sure. The approach must avoid the large bunker front left or the reservoir farther left.
Strawberry Farms Hole 15: This short par three has a shallow, but wide green and pin placements left of center are relatively dangerous as the bunker short of the green is deep, but hazard awaits left and long.
Strawberry Farms Hole 16: This is a very short par 5 where a decent drive allows going for the green in two very possible, but a really big drive hit too far left can find the lake. A large tree sitting at the edge of the hazard that splits the fairway about 80 yards out makes the decision a little more difficult and the reservoir will come into play if the shot is flat out pulled. If played as three shots, the hole is easy par with a large, inviting green.
Strawberry Farms Hole 18: The finishing hole is a bit odd, with a drive that is uphill and partially blind from the back tees. The key here is to not get too aggressive as there are pot bunkers and odd bounces that can doom even a good strike. The tricky part is that the narrow green is perched over a hazard and is angled at 45 degrees, with a tier, making it quite difficult to hit from far out. To make it more difficult there is a waterfall filled (not natural) cliff to the right that can add a hazard stroke to that side of the green as well. A little too quirky, but memorable.
