Posted on July 1, 2018June 30, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club

Carmel Mountain Ranch CC

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: lookylookitzadam, San Diego, CA

Played out here on 6/29/18 at 110am as CMR sent me an email to come out and play for free since the course is closing on July 8th, 2018 due to the inability to make profits and rising water costs. Previously I never really cared for this course even though it is only 10 minutes from home, however this time I thoroughly enjoyed myself so I am sad that it is closing.

Greens:

The greens were surprisingly soft and rolling very nicely. I had several plugged shots on the green on Friday which I did not care for. Where ball marks were repair correctly, the greens rolled very true and with a decent speed.

Fairways:

Fairways were so bare that I was easily getting 30-40 yards of roll-out on tee shots. Approach shots from the fairways were also difficult since it was almost like hitting out of a hard-pan waste area in some spots. If there was grass within a club length of a ball in the fairway we all decided to play it as “ground-under-repair” and place it on the grass. (Not official I know, but this was just a fun round).

Bunkers:

Lots of the bunkers looked so hard but the ones I found were all green-side and played nicely. They had about 2″ of sand and were well maintained.

Rough:

There is no rough…literally no rough. In place of rough you get pine straw or crushed rock; this makes for a really horrible sinking feeling when you stripe your tee shot (don’t forget about that extra 40 yards of roll-out) and watch you ball run all the way through the landing area, catches the “rough” and then accelerates way off the fairway.

Course isn’t worth checking out in its final days unless you haven’t played it (check it out, its really interesting layout but lined with houses) or you want to relive some nostalgic moments (but only if your memories come from before all the turf reductions from what I have been told)

Editor’s Note: It’s confirmed that Carmel Ranch will be closing soon. Now is the time to enjoy the course before it goes away for good this coming July 8. Click HERE for the article.

Posted on April 4, 2018April 2, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club San Diego California

Carmel Mountain Ranch CC

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: Itslikeimsayin, Aliso Viejo

Joined sixpez here today to use an UnderPar voucher he bought a while ago. It was good for 10:30 or later and included a free replay. We booked a 10:30 tee time and started pretty much on time, although with a warning from the starter that the course was playing slow. He wasn’t kidding. Our first round took 5 hours 17 minutes and felt like we’d played 36 already. Fortunately, after that round we checked with the pro shop and they were able to send us right back out. In round 2 we played through a few groups and finished in around 3 hours, with only a little sunlight remaining. Mostly cloudy skies, a little wind, warm temps until the sun started to go down, at which point it got sorta chilly.

Course conditions are mixed. The greens are very good: Smooth, fast and accept full shots well. I debated between rating them a 7 or 8 but settled on 7. Fairways have good coverage but are a little thin, providing tight lies. What rough there is is quite good, a little fluffier than the fairways and sometimes easier to hit from. Not very penal at all. Then there’s also the absence of rough since the turf reduction a few years ago, which isn’t very attractive and oftentimes leads to balls rolling forever on hardpan or dirt. Tee boxes (we played blue both rounds) were the low point of conditions, with most/many pretty beat up and a few good ones. Bunkers were the high point of conditions, with very well maintained sand in sufficient quantity. Nice to see!

This is a fun layout with a number of great holes, but overall the course currently feels a bit neglected. It’s decent enough, but at one point many years ago it was really nice. I’d love to see it return to those standards. Still recommended.

Posted on March 29, 2018March 26, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Torrey PInes Golf Course (SOUTH) San Diego California

Torrey Pines Golf Course (South)

San Diego, CA

ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens on the South Course 4/10 & 4/11.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.

Reviewed by: divotnjay, Coronado

Punished myself in the wind on Sunday. Walked on as a single and got right out, showed up at 8:55 and got paired up with 3 great guys (all brothers) at 9:10. POP was phenomenal!! finished at 1pm, incredible, never waited on the group in front and never pushed from behind. Perhaps the chilly windy day kept some people away and maybe the ever increasing higher green fees ($78 for resident to walk). Course is in overall good condition.

Teeboxes were just fine. Great coverage and level, never an issue.

Fairways were darn near perfect, had great lies all day.

Bunkers were nice, not perfect, but never had an issue getting out, found a few of them, one was plugged about a foot below the lip on 14 right hand side of the green, was able to get it out, though.

Rough was surprisingly cut down and wasn’t too much of an issue, easiest I’ve seen it in a long time.

Greens were pretty good. They held shots if they were struck perfectly, but they seemed a little more firm than usual, most had some roll out. They were their normal fast speed, but they were tough to read, none of us could seem to get a handle on them. None of us holed many putts beyond 5FT, crazy. Quite a few greens had many unfixed ball marks, kind of upsetting. Number 4 is temporary about 50yds short of the normal green, It’s not really a green at all, it’s the same as the fairway and it’s not marked very well. Oh well, I finally made a par at 4, lol. I’d be pretty pissed if I paid $200 and had a temp green, though.

Saw the bev cart a couple of times. The pins were in super difficult positions. It dawned on me late in the round that they seemed to be placed in similar Sunday positions to the Farmers/PGA spots. Very tough with long irons to go for the pins. Overall, had a great day and I need to get out there more often.

Posted on March 27, 2018March 26, 2018 by Vic Flores

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

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.

Posted on March 23, 2018March 13, 2018 by Vic Flores

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

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.

Posted on February 9, 2018January 30, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent Golf Course Review Balboa Park Golf Course San Diego California

Balboa Park Golf Course

San Diego, CA

Reviewed by: divotnjay, Coronado

Played today, Saturday. Course is in good overall condition. Walked on as a single, Chris in the pro shop was very helpful. Pace of Play (POP) was pretty foul at 5 hrs. 3 groups on 6 tee-box was awful. Oh well, what do you expect for a municipal on a beautiful Saturday. Other than the wait on 6 and 10, it wasn’t too bad. We literally waited on 6 for 30mins, waited on 10 for 15mins and waited on 17 for 15mins. So other than that, it was smooth.

Teeboxes were just fine. Some divot damage, but always level and able to find a good place to tee it up. Fairways were in pretty good shape. The landing areas were in better shape than the short/long/inbetween areas. I never had any problem in the fairway. Rough was pretty brutal, long and lush. stay out of the rough. I was in one bunker and it was just fine. Greens were great, held shots well and putted very true and quick.

Go ahead and get on out there. I think this track is awesome. Great layout and pretty darn challenging. so many killer holes, 10, 14,16 are just killer

Posted on February 8, 2018January 30, 2018 by Vic Flores

Recent 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

Played a couple of times this past week. Overall course is ok and certainly good enough for my golf itch. Teed off in the morning both times and there was quite a bit of frost on the course. After it melted it seemed a little damp but I’m sure towards the afternoon you couldn’t tell.

Greens were ok. Faster in the beginning of the round. I couldn’t figure that out maybe the frost made the greens slick and the water after it melted slowed it down? Still a lot of ball marks out there.

Fairways were good. A lot of divots out there that need to be filled but it was good to hit from. A few bad areas in a couple of fairways.

Rough is not bad. A few areas the ball can settle down in but generally the rough won’t alter your shot selection.

Bunkers were nice. Probably the most sand I’ve seen in them and nice to hit from. They just need to be raked from the previous day.

Conditions will not wow you but the course has it challenging holes and pretty affordable that I’ll continue to keep it in my rotation.

Posted on January 24, 2018November 16, 2019 by Vic Flores

Mt. Woodson Golf Club Awarded Worth the Green Fee 2017 for San Diego County

WTGF Mt Woodson Golf Club 2017 - San Diego County

Mt. Woodson Golf Club Awarded Worth the Green Fee 2017 for San Diego County

Congratulations to Mt. Woodson Golf Club winning our Worth the Green Fee 2017 Award for San Diego County.

“Worth the Green Fee” 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.

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#Recent Golf Course Review

abbacat
Posted: 10/04/17 9:40a
Member Since: May 27, 2013
From: Trabuco Canyon

I played yesterday joined by rudyclub. I used the birthday deal of $12 cart fee. The guys in the pro shop were so friendly and it was no problem that I had forgotten to bring the printed voucher with me. This was my third time playing here and it was, without any doubt, the best conditions I’ve ever seen here. The fairways were lush with hardly any brown spots. There were quite a few divots along the way but none that affected my lies. The tee boxes were not all level and had lots of divots but again, no problem. I was in two bunkers. One was very damp but both had plenty of sand. The greens were awesome. They were so soft that ball marks were really deep but it seemed the players before us did a good job of repairing theirs because I found very few other than my own to fix. The greens are challenging with some hard to see breaks and a good medium fast speed. This is such a fun course. It’s short but definitely challenging with its target style layout. That, combined with the beautiful scenery, has made Mt. Woodson a favorite. If it was closer I’d play it a lot more often. Highly recommended .

Worth the Green Fee 2017

Find out about our other regional awardees. Click HERE.