Tag: north course

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Golf Course Review The Boulders NORTH & SOUTH Carefree Arizona

The Boulders (North)

Golf Course Review The Boulders NORTH Carefree Arizona

Reviewed by: kg1791, So Cal

Playing Conditions 8.03 GREAT
Playing Conditions 8.03 GREAT

Played 06/25. Played the back nine of the north and then front nine of the south.

This review is just for the north back nine. The course looked like winter conditions for a desert course. The fairways were a very dark green and the rough was a very light green.

Tee boxes were in great shape. Fairways were in good condition. Not dry and hard. Rough was very minimal. Sand traps were good but they are getting a little crusty. Greens were very good. Soft and putted semi slow

The Boulders (South)

Golf Course Review The Boulders SOUTH Carefree Arizona

Reviewed by: kg1791, So Cal

Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.55 GREAT

Part two of my review of the Boulders. This review is for the front nine of the south.

Very different fairway conditions. The grass in the fairway was a light green and the rough dark green. The fairways were not as nice as the north. They are starting to thin out. Still good but not as lush as the north. The greens are good. Soft and semi slow. I wasn’t in any bunkers but they looked ok. Tee boxes are good. I find that this nine is quite a bit more difficult than the north. Very challenging.

Customer service was great. Staff very friendly

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Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course NORTH San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (North)

Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course NORTH San Diego California

Reviewed by: weber2323, San Diego, CA
Played a couple of times over the past couple of weeks. Now that the South is under renovation this will be the go to course now. With the renovations to make it easier on the starter they have us going off on 10. So it’s kind of like the Old North. I’m not sure if they will continue this but I would expect this while hole 1 and 2 on the South are shut down. The starter is having to drive out to 3.

The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 7.58 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.58 GREAT

Greens are pretty good. I was surprised with how much rain the amount of roll I was still getting on some relatively short chips I hit. The par 3s show more improperly fixed ball marks but still roll really good. Rolled quite a few by and left myself some come-backer knee-knockers.

Fairways are good too but some divot damage with golfers not filling them in. Maintenance guys have filled in thief fair share.

Rough isn’t that long but man can that ball settle down in some spots making it difficult to even get wedges on them.

Bunkers were a little damp but OK.

Pace was great and on another note several trees have fallen with the rain.

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GK Gurus Visit The Golf Club at Terra Lago Indio California

Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 13

The Golf Club at Terra Lago (North)

Golf Course Review Golf Club at Terra Lago NORTH Indio California

Reviewed by: blakej824, Seal Beach, CA

Big thanks to Johnny and Terra Lago for setting this up. Made the 2 hour or so trek from Seal Beach to play with Johnny, Gary and Matt for the first time. Having never played here, it made quite the first impression. The clubhouse is nice and all the customer service was anywhere ranging from good to excellent with no complaints.

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 14
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 14

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 18
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 18

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The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 8.22 GREAT

Tees: 7/10. with some of the par 3’s needing divot work but it was still very easy to find a nice level surface.

Fairways: 8/10. Really good, medium green. Nice cushion under the ball. The were a little on the soft side for the desert.  I would prefer that to hard-pan thin on a course like this to keep the ball in play.

Rough: 6.5/10. Probably the thing that could use the most work. A bit patchy and clearly dormant. That being said I bet in the spring and summer months this rates out closer to an 7/8.

Bunkers: 7/10. They had adequate depth from the two fairway bunkers I found allowing for good contact. The green-side bunker I found was a little thin but still playable.

Greens: 9/10. Medium to medium fast coming off the ridges and downhill. Big undulations on a lot of these greens makes for interesting putting dynamics or as Johnny called it “rainbow” breaks. Many of the holes still had the checkerboard marks on the green from mowing and rolled perfect. Very little divots anywhere to be seen.

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 7
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 7

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course JohnnyGK tees off
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course JohnnyGK tees off

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Final Thought

Overall I was thoroughly impressed with the course. I would highly recommend it and can’t wait to come back. Reminded me at certain times of some of the Paiute courses and at others of Desert Willow. Great playing with those gentlemen as well so if you ever get a chance don’t hesitate to join.

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GK Gurus Visit The Golf Club at Terra Lago NORTH Course Indio California

Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 5

The Golf Club at Terra Lago (North)

Golf Course Review Golf Club at Terra Lago NORTH Indio California

Reviewed by: HmtGolfGuy, Hemet, CA

Played the 20th with the small group, paired up with Ron, Larry and Nick. Good company as always!

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 8
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 8

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course with GK Gurus
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course with GK Gurus

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The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 8.22 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.22 GREAT

Conditions overall were excellent. Fairways were a little tight at times but always had a good lie. Rough was short, at times the only way to be sure you weren’t in the fairway was the difference in color. Go past the rough and it’s natural desert in most places – avoid if at all possible.

Tees were good, par 3’s showed some divot wear but the tees are being moved regularly so not a problem finding a good spot.

Greens were great – hard to hold on touch shots but full struck short irons stopped quickly. Rolled beautifully at medium/fast speed. They’re good-sized with lots of undulations/levels so bring your “A” game for chipping/pitching/lag putting.

Bunkers – given how much time I spend in them, I should have taken a lounge chair, shovel and bucket and planned on building sand castles. Coverage was good but I never got a feel for the heavy sand and they gave me fits all day. I’d grade them about a “B+” overall but my bunker game was an “D-” which may be affecting my ratings.

Course employees were all very pleasant, weather was fantastic for mid-December.

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 15
Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 15

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Terra Lago Golf Club Indio California NORTH Course Hole 15 & 18

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Final Thought

While this course is often overlooked amongst the bevy of quality desert courses, it should get a LOT more love based on the conditions and layout. Very nice mix of shorter/longer holes, enough elevation change to make you think and adjust, challenging greens & great conditions – what more can you ask for? Add in a price point that’s better than a lot in the area and this becomes a “hidden gem”. HIGHLY recommended!

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Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course NORTH San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (North)

Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course NORTH San Diego California

Reviewed by: weber2323, San Diego, CA

Golf Playing Conditions 5.87 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 5.87 GOOD

Went off a little before 7 and finished in 4:15. Check in was smooth and the fence is fixed in the range so that is now open. The practice green by the range is still not open yet.

Greens are in fantastic shape and they are rolling very quick. I raced several putts well by the hole. A few too many fresh and old ball marks that were not repaired properly but with the amount of play it gets I expect this.

Fairway are nice. Mowed nice and great to hit from. There are probably a few areas that need to be addressed but I don’t remember any one in our group having an issue from a bad break.

Rough is not the place you want to be. It is thick and I was told it was thicker last week. I almost lost my first shot. One guy in our group lost 2 on the first 9 and I swear I saw both of them but never could find it when we got there. This is probably why rounds will take longer due to searching for errant shots.

I was in a couple of bunkers. The green side bunkers are great, nice sand and freshly raked. The 2 fairway bunkers were quite the opposite. There were weeds growing in it. Didn’t look like it had been raked in quite a while which resulted in golfers giving up on raking their footprints (yes I found one).

Tees are pretty good. I noticed some of the forward tees seemed like the grass was still growing in.

Overall a pleasant experience and well worth the resident fee.

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GK Guru Recap The Boulders (NORTH) Carefree Arizona

The Boulders (North)

Carefree, AZ

ALERT: Overseeding
Will be overseeding 9/17 – 10/7, reopening 10/8 and likely cart path only for 2-3 weeks after reopening.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.

Reviewed by: JohnnyGK, Thousand Oaks

Golf Playing Conditions 6.70 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.70 GOOD

Great time on Friday teeing up with GK’ers Daveygolf123 and rjmart at The Boulders Resort North Course. Since there was very few golfers playing, we joined up at times to make a fivesome (not allowed) with GK’ers sixpez and mpisarski01. Tons of fun.

Regarding the golf course, I think we caught the perfect storm…at the wrong time. The place got absolutely slammed the night before by monsoon rains/micro bursts. It was very wet, there were busted branches, washed out bunkers, downed cactus, and areas being cleaned up after flooding. To the golf course’s credit the grounds crew members were hustling and all over the place. Also you could tell the fairways were being less tended to with overseeding approaching (not uniformly lush as expected). So I need to circle back and play this track again. It was however in very good shape. Greens being the highlight mostly smooth, firm and moderate speed. Something tells me had they been able to cut and roll the greens instead of dealing with storm damage they would have been much better.

I’ve seen photos of The Boulders for years, however those signature pictures are almost all taken of the South Course, not the North “members” Course we played. The North course is still a very good fun layout but does not have the “wow” effect of the South Course. I snapped a few pics anyway.

GRG - GK Review Guru GoodService was excellent. The Clubhouse feels like a country club and they even have a separate looker room for The Boulders members. The breakfast burrito was outstanding, thank you GK’er rjmart for picking that up for me. I did not get a chance to use the driving range but it looked nice, all grass and lush. Word of advice, use the bag drop. The members parking takes up the majority for the front parking lot and the walk from the back lot to pro-shop is long (especially in the summer).

To repeat, I need to play this place again and catch it when it’s in its typical condition. I also need to play the signature South Course. Maybe 36 in one day? That would be a blast.

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Recent Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course (NORTH) San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (North)

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: weber2323, San Diego, CA

Golf Playing Conditions 7.91 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.91 GREAT

Was 3rd off yesterday and the pace was fantastic. Finished in less than 4 hours and the group behind us was teeing off on 14 as we were walking up 17. I’m not sure if they let someone play through but even as we finished on 18 there was no one on 17.

I think the rains from last week slowed down the pace and firmness of the greens so that took some adjustments. Balls didn’t roll out as much on approach shots and my first couple of putts were pretty short. They were still great however and will probably get quicker as the weather is turning nicer this week. So its probably back to “normal” later this week.

Fairways I probably shouldn’t rate as I was playing out of the rough for most of the day. However they did provide some roll. A few places of divot damage but nothing too bad. Don’t really remember any bad spots in the fairway thou so overall very nice to hit from.

Rough was not too penalizing although the ball could sit down. I was able to get some hybrids on a few shots since the ball was sitting up. You’ll find a few dead spots out there and some lush spots.

Found a couple of bunkers and was in the fairway bunker on 7 and that sand was so soft. My feet basically sunk right in but that was the exception. Other bunkers I played seemed pretty normal, not too soft and not too compact.

Tee boxes were normal. Plenty of room to tee it up even on par 3 and all seemed to be generally level.

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Golf Course Review Admiral Baker Golf Course (NORTH) San Diego California

Admiral Baker Golf Course (North)

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: weber2323, San Diego, CA

Golf Playing Conditions 5.47 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 5.47 GOOD

Taking advantage of the time change I decided to take off early and hit the links. Got right out sandwiched between twosomes so I just joined up one of them after about 4 holes. Pace seemed slow but actually ended up being a 4 hour 15 morning round. Never saw a marshal so maybe that could have improved the pace a little.

Greens are just OK. To me they seemed slow but I’ve been playing Torrey so I’m not sure if I just got accustomed to the speed. A lot of bumps on the greens especially in the afternoon. Areas around the green have some patchy grass so I tried a hybrid and that didn’t work out so well.

Fairways are OK too, there was standing water in the fairway on 1 but I didn’t seen any other water in any other fairways. Quite a few divots out there and some questionable areas but generally decent t hit from.

Wasn’t in the sand but it looked ok. They looked like they could be raked however.

Rough was nonexistent so no penalty from being in it. It could be hard pan thou and that may make for a more difficult shot.

A few tee boxes need some leveling. 10 comes to mind off the top of my head.

Rate was 29 to walk it so still pretty decent value.