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Golf Course Review Balboa Park Golf Course

Balboa Park Golf Course

Golf Course Review Balboa Park Golf Course

Reviewed by: bptaylor10, Encinitas

Golf Playing Conditions 6.01 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.01 GOOD

Played 1/7/2020 and off about 10 minutes after scheduled tee time.

Course is in great shape. Fairways are full and lush with great lies throughout. The greens are particularly smooth and rolling FAST. Rough not very penal at the moment. For my money, Balboa provides just about as interesting round with a variety of shots and a challenging walk for exercise as you can find in San Diego.

Only knock would be PoP, which was close to 5 hours. Other than that, I don’t think there’s a better value right now.

 

 

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Golf Course Review Riverwalk Golf Club San Diego California

Riverwalk Golf Club (18)

Golf Course Review Riverwalk Golf Club San Diego California

Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego

Golf Playing Conditions 5.30 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 5.30 GOOD

Played here yesterday (1/3/19) with fellow GK member molebio (Nat) on an 11:45am tee time for $32. In case anyone reading this hasn’t been here in the last year or so, the three different 9 hole options have been truncated into an 18 (with the routing being Mission->Presidio) and the old Friars 9 now called the Sunset 9. This review is for the 18 hole course. Conditions today were about what I expected considering the weather in San Diego; rain on Monday/Tuesday and freezing temperatures at night. For the price not a bad deal.

The Review

Tee boxes: Okay condition. Nothing terrible that would prevent you from standing semi-level on the tee. Blue tee boxes get the most play here as the course isn’t particularly long, so they will always take a little extra abuse on the daily.

Fairways: Okay to good condition. Again, nothing spectacular and nothing detrimental outside the occasional Ground Under Repair (GUR.) A mixed bag of good lies and hard-pan areas with a generous amount of roll. A few areas of GUR came into play, but only a handful of times.

Riverwalk Golf Club San Diego California GK Coupon Tee Time Special
Riverwalk Golf Club San Diego California GK Coupon Tee Time Special

Rough: Not too much to speak of but those areas where it does exist have some level on penalty to them. The OB and hazard areas are much harder to deal with.

Bunkers: Was only in one but it had a decent amount of good sand with medium consistency, enough to be able to shape shot with. The fairway bunkers are challenging in their placement and size.

Greens: The best part of the course. Great shape, good solid roll and not insanely difficult, though they ran very fast. Good to see people taking care of their divots.

ETC: Carts have very basic GPS that I believe was a bit off on this day. Staff was friendly and got us out a few minutes before our scheduled time. Pace of play was roughly 4 hours in Chamber of Commerce weather. Conditions may not be ideal, but good enough for the price to come on out.

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WINNER Mt. Woodson Golf Club #WorthTheGreenFee 2018 – San Diego County

Mt Woodson Golf Club Worth the Green Fee 2018 - San Diego County

Mt. Woodson Golf Club Awarded Worth the Green Fee 2018 for San Diego

Congratulations to Mt. Woodson Golf Club winning our Worth the Green Fee 2018 Award for San Diego County.

Worth the Green Fee,” unlike the Best Playing Conditions Award, is awarded to golf courses open to the public listed on Greenskeeper.org that stand out above the rest with our site users at providing a consistent, quality golf experience at an outstanding price.

Golf is expensive.  It doesn’t have to be.  All you have to know is where to play to get your best value and that’s something Greenskeeper.org excels.  In addition to helping golfers decide where to play their next round of golf based on reviews, ratings, and maintenance alerts, we’ve recently introduced our GK Coupons service to extend golf course deals directly to our golfing community.

How Awards Winners Are Determined

Golf Course reviews and ratings submitted by our 72,000+ Greenskeeper.org community are tabulated over 12 months. Winners are determined for each area.

We divide awards into 11 sections —  Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Palm Springs Area, San Diego County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, Southern California, Central California, Northern California and Southern Nevada.

Greenskeeper.Org For the Good of the Game Award 2017 by the CGCOA
Greenskeeper.Org For the Good of the Game Award 2017 by the CGCOA

Editor’s Note:  Johnny GK and Greenskeeper.Org has been recognized by the California Golf Course Owners Association as Good for the Game of Golf in 2017.  Shows you that both golfers and golf course operators understand the benefit of working with Greenskeeper.Org.  We are the RESOURCE where avid and casual golfers come to make their decision where to play their next round.  “Know Before You Go”® with Greenskeeper.Org.  You’ll be glad you did.

Mt. Woodson Golf Club

squash
Posted: 10/14/18 11:56p
Member Since: Mar 2, 2018
From: Placentia, CA

Golf Playing Conditions 6.88 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 6.88 GOOD

First time playing Mt. Woodson today. Great day and great conditions. A few of the tee boxes were a bit chewed up but that was the only real blemish I saw. Can’t wait to play it again.

We played slow but that was solely our fault. Played some older guys so getting to their balls and hitting took a while. We were the first group behind a shotgun tourney. Never saw anyone after the second hole. Nobody behind us all day. By the time we finished we saw a group maybe 2 holes behind us that started to catch up. So peaceful.

The starter did tell us we were playing slow at the turn. Not sure if he was joking because we never saw anyone most of the day.

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Mt. Woodson Golf Club Hole 12 in Romona, California
Mt. Woodson Golf Club Hole 12 in Romona, California

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Mt. Woodson Golf Club Hole 5 in Romona, California
Mt. Woodson Golf Club Hole 5 in Romona, California

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Recent Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course SOUTH San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South)

Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course SOUTH San Diego California

Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego

Played here today (12/19) with a 1pm twilight tee time and got about 15 solid holes in before the darkness gave way. South is well on its way to being ready for the Farmers in every way possible, from grandstand setup to course conditions. Today was by far the thickest I have seen the rough in the 25+ times I’ve played and it was every bit as tough as you can imagine.

The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 7.12 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 7.12 GREAT

Tee boxes: Excellent shape. As anyone who plays here knows, guys love to try the tips and today was no different, so the green and taupe boxes were clean. Didn’t have any issues driving the tee into the turf and the ground was solid, mowed level and tight.

Fairways: A joy to hit from and visually stunning. It’s clear when the City steps up the maintenance work before the pros come in January. They didn’t offer tremendous roll as they were a bit damp, but not a bad lie all day!

Rough: Hell. As mentioned before, I’ve never personally seen it this thick and with this many grass clippings blanketing the course. I’m surprised pace wasn’t any slower as everyone was having a hard time locating balls that I with 20/15 vision couldn’t see feet away from me. Bullish and thick-headed players got hilariously humbled and that was a treat in itself.

Bunkers: Perhaps the weakest part of the course today and they were still good. Some had damp areas but even the three I was in had enough sand to get out of. With a new batch of sand, these will be perfect.

Greens: Near perfect. The tourists in my group couldn’t believe how green they were considering we don’t get much rain. They were rolling extremely fast, with smooth and tricky breaks. The pros will be in for a treat!

Final Thought

ETC: Starter was friendly. Cart attendant came around three times and was also friendly, even as the prices for everything were usual Torrey. Pace of play was excellent today and was set to be just under 4.5 hours, which for here is mindbogglingly quick. Course currently is Cart Path Only (CPO) sadly but if you can get out, do so!!

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Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course SOUTH San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South)

Golf Course Review Torrey Pines Golf Course SOUTH San Diego California

Reviewed by: Clambake, La Jolla

Playing Conditions 7.04 GREAT
Playing Conditions 7.04 GREAT

Course is in very good to excellent condition.

Tee boxes good. Fairways are green and lush, and they have the grass a bit longer so not a lot of roll. Rough is starting to be punishing again – it’s very lush and they’re growing it a bit longer, and our group had a number of lost balls even though we had a good idea where the ball went into the deep stuff. Greens are very good, and were soft enough to hold longer shots in but rolled quite true and quickly.

Only issue was the green side bunkers, where they’re over-watering everything around the greens and as a result all the bunkers we were in were very hard sand that was packed together. Fairway bunkers were soft and fluffy but the green side bunkers were hard and firm, just the opposite of what one would like.

If they get the grounds crew in work the sand better, the course would be in the best shape I’ve seen it outside of what the PGA players get to enjoy.

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Join Us WHEN GK Plays OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa Saturday Dec 8 2018

Omni Hotel La Costa Resort & Spa Carlsbad California

Join Us When GK Plays OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa

Saturday December 8, 2018 12:00PM Shotgun

Upcoming GK Plays at OMNI La Costa resort & Spa — LEGENDS Course– this Saturday December 8, 2018.

Our Rams Hills outing is currently sold out.  Want to play some golf with like-minded golfers?  Consider joining us at La Costa Resort & Spa and play the Legends Course.  Enjoy the holiday season with a round of golf when the course is at it’s peak.  Click HERE to find out additional information and claim your spot to play La Costa Resort & Spa.

Latest Course Review

OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa LEGENDS

leef2020
Posted: 10/28/18 1:58p

OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa Carlsbad California GK Plays
OMNI La Costa Resort & Spa Carlsbad California GK Plays

Member Since: Mar 26, 2016
From: Huntington Beach, CA
Found a great $60+fee deal on GolfNow, with a 1:52 tee time on Sat., 10/27. Free range balls at your leisure. Teed off 15 minutes late, behind a group of 4 juniors (8-12 yrs) with their parents driving/coaching. Dreadfully slow for two holes, they then picked up the pace after some encouragement no doubt from the marshals. The youngsters were pretty good, just too much coaching! Wasn’t expecting we’d get all 18 in, but we did, just under last light, with POP at 4hrs 10mins.

The Review

Cart-path only on the entire course, as they are still keeping the course fairly damp post punching and over-seeding. Course was closed for a month, and was evidently just opened a week ago.

Tees were very green, lush and level, but a bit soft. Fairways were lush, green and few divots to contend with. Good lies throughout. Rough was long and a nightmare – a mix of large areas of kikuyu and something else. Penal and tough to hit from, but even harder to find balls, unless you were within 5-10 feet, as they would sit down. The three guys I played with were 300-yard bombers, and probably lost over 15 balls total, with most of them just being lost in the rough somewhere!

Sand quality was great, but players ahead seemed to think a sand-butler would come by and rake their tracks, as at least 10 bunkers were un-raked. Pretty sad, really.

Greens were pretty good, but not fantastic. Several were lightly sanded, but all showed no signs of the punching. Receptive and held shots well. Rolled smooth and medium-fast. Way too many freshly unrepaired ball marks, however.

The 3 guys I played with all were riding the Phat Cycles. They loved them and looked like a lot of fun. Too bad it was CPO. Only downside of those things is that there is no GPS on them, which for first-timers on the course, you don’t get to see water hazards, etc.

Parting Thought

Great, friendly service all around. From free valet-parking to start, check-in and final club-drop off. Nice bar/lounge with super-huge TV to watch the Dodgers blow a ‘sure-fire’ win in game 4 in the World Series. 😉

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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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Golf Course Review Carlton Oaks Golf Resort Santee California

Carlton Oaks Golf Resort

Golf Course Review Carlton Oaks Golf Resort Santee, California

Reviewed by: Long4par, San Diego

Golf Playing Conditions 5.61 GOOD
Golf Playing Conditions 5.61 GOOD

Played this am in about 4:15 pace.

Course is in good overall shape. Just like most courses in San Diego it’s not lush but decent. Tee boxes were mostly good, didn’t have a hard time finding a place for the tee but some were a little uneven. Fairways are green with brown patches. Not a real issue if you keep it in the fairway, but if you miss the fairway a little expect a hard pan lie. Green-side bunkers were good but fairway bunkers were hard. Greens were the best part of the course. Back 9 greens were better then front but overall they are in good shape with medium speed.

Course is walkable and they offer a different green fees for walking and riding. I will play the course again and if you can find a good deal I would suggest giving it a try!