Played LS North on 7/28. Course is in really good shape.

Greens are super healthy, great coverage. We played early, so about half of the greens had not been cut yet which made them slow and a bit bumpy. The greens that were cut were near perfect. Fairways are quite lush. As usual out here, the rough is very hit and miss, but if you are close to the fairway you should get decent grass. Bunkers were in good shape, a bit muddy but playable.

The tees are a bit rough at times, but not usually an issue.

In all, LS is well above normal, and a great bargain these days.

First off on 7/21, it was my first time back to Pala Mesa since 2008. I really like the layout, but the conditions here are just borderline OK.

Tees are generally OK. Every 4th or 5th hole the markers were in a place that it was difficult to find a good grass spot to stand. You may need to ignore the two club length rule to tee it up in a good spot. Rough is just that. Sometimes fine, often just clumps of grass or hardpan.

Fairways ok. Usually lies are good, but there are many areas having problems.

The greens have several areas of concern. They were rolling them today, so they did roll fine, but there are many areas where grass is not growing well if at all. Greens were soft and very receptive.

Great layout, staff is nice. But the conditions right now only warrant a "barely recommended".

Played 7/9 with Gurus JohnnyGK and Gary00. First time back to Enagic / Eastlake in 20 years. Some really nice views out here. Nice breeze made it very comfy out there, an easy course to walk.

Something you don't see much of these days, a course actually making a serious effort to improve. They are adding bunkers, adding some length with new tees, increasing the size of some greens. Grass range is decent. Two large putting greens and a chipping green.

The course layout is a nice mix. Although it runs through a housing tract, there is a ton of space and the fairways are much lower than the houses and both sides slope towards the fairways. The result is the houses rarely come into mind at all, you'd have to be 50 yards offline in the air to risk a house.

Generally, the course is in good condition. Greens were nice, generally soft but you would get a firm bounce once in a while. Fairways are good, very nice grass coverage. The rough can be penal in spots with very thick grass. Bunkers were nice. There are many areas being worked on, so you will get a bad lie once in a while.

In all, I really enjoyed the layout, and this definitely looks like a course on the way up. The SD county rates seem reasonable to me and if I was in county I'd add Enagic to my rotation. A bit to long of a drive to get there from San Clemente to pay the much higher out of county rates for me though. But I do hope it is not another 20 years until I return. Recommended!

Played BG with the GK Gurus on 6/25. Another fun day with the group, glad we are finally able to start these outings again. I thought the course was in very good condition. Greens were smooth, quick, but still very receptive to full shots. We did see a couple of unexpectedly firm bounce on chips. Saw a couple of minor semi-bare spots on a couple of greens, but they were well away from the cups.

Fairways were the best I have seen them here. I saw a recent review that thought the fairways should have been mowed tighter for more roll. I have the alternate view, I don't mind thicker fairways. I much prefer hitting off a layer of soft grass versus hitting off a hard ground. The fairways now are much more to my liking. Rough and tee boxes were good.

It appears that they have been adding sand to the greenside bunkers, so those are nice and fluffy. The fairways bunkers haven't added sand yet, so those are more paced dirt.

Black Gold still continues to get a highly recommended rating from me. It is a fun course to play, and usually in good condition.

First time playing off the white tees here, and that makes for a stranger course. Should have taken the driver out of my hands many times, but I am much more confident in my driver and that brought some unnecessary trouble into play.

Do take precautions to protect yourself as best you can here. The range and clubhouse area was packed all afternoon, may have been a high school age tournament although I didn't see them on the course. Many of the youngster had face masks, but many did not even in the clubhouse. Busy place.

Played Twin Oaks first off on 06/16/20. There was a big junior tourney going off in the morning, so the course was well prepped.

Greens were really nice. Smooth, and a little quick but not difficult except that I could not read the breaks at all. Fairways, there were several bare areas marked as ground under repair, but outside of those spots the fairways were really nice. Tee boxes were a bit soggy, but generally in good shape. Rough is average - sometimes good, sometimes iffy.

In all, course was better today than I remember it in the past. Fun to play.

Played GC-Cal early on 5/28. My first time back out in 3 months! Course is in very good shape. Greens are as good as I have seen them since their private club days. Fairways are good. Traps were nice as the staff must have raked them before we started.

Still one of my favorite tracks in the area. Highly recommended with the following warning.

Weber is correct, that fence on #12 is awful. After reading his review, I expected a fence brought in from the farm boundary. However, that fence runs right down the middle of the tee boxes, which effectively means you have 1/4 tee box remaining. The fence cuts off a good 20 yards from the left boundary. Yes, those 20 yards are in the trees, but with the left to right fairway slope to the lake. that means you have a safe landing area of 1/4 of the left edge of the fairway. 10-15 yard left - OB. 10-15 yards right - pond. And it is a 200+ plus yard carry from the tee to the safe landing area. It used to be a miss left rattles in the trees, then drops down the slope into the fairway leaving a long approach. That option is gone now. It requires a 225 yard shot more accurate than a par 3. It is just a bad hole now, I'd vote for turning it into a short par 3 rather than a bad par 4.

I inquired about the reason - apparently Bonsall ISD has that area marked for a new high school, but has lost the finance vote over several elections. So they have fenced off their land. Must have been a surveyor issue as it does take a hunk of #12 away.

Played Oak Creek on 3/11/20. The bones are pretty good....tees, fairways, greens all in good shape. Greens are pretty slow for this place - give it a good whack. Sand is good.

Rough is very hit or miss.

There are numerous cart path sections being ripped out and replaced. Makes it an adventure to get around.

POP was not good given the limited crowd. We had a single playing multiple balls two groups up, and she was holding up the twosome and threesome following. She finally joined the twosome in the middle of the back 9, but that didn't help things.

All in all, not bad. Definitely not worth the rack rate, but there are deals available.

Played Rams Hill on 3/4/20. RH remains in its usual great condition. If you get the chance, go!

The grounds crew was working hard on some thin spots on a few greens, they were being spot-aerated, but the pins are kept away from those areas. Small holes, so the greens still rolled fine even with the aeration. It looked like #18 fairway was about to be punched, as they had marker flags on every sprinkler head.

Staff at Rams Hill was perfect as always.


I did talk to a guy who used to work at the Borrego Springs Resort Course. Outlook for that course returning is grim. Prior owners were happy to run it at a slim/zero profit. Those owners got too old to manage, so the resort was sold to another group from out of state. New group tried to run course, but required greens fees in the $50-$60 range to make it work. Locals were used to the bargain rates of the prior owners and balked at the new rates. Unfortunate, but that is understandable on both sides. While BS Resort was not as spectacular a design as Rams Hill, it was still a solid layout and the two times I played it, the course was in the best condition of any course I have ever played. It made for a great 36 hole day, RH and BSR. So I had to go with 36 at Rams Hill this time.

Played Talega on 02/19. Things are trending upward.

Greens are in good shape. Fairways are still thin, but starting to grow and turn green. Rough is generally good and playable. No issues in the sand.

We've got it good in SC. The muni is a solid track and a bargain. Talega is a nice mid-price step up. And then, there is Shorecliffs.

Played CG Cal on 01/27/20 after paying La Costa in the morning. I was surprised to see GC Cal in significantly better condition than LC. This is as good as I have seen it here in years.

Greens are in good shape, rolling very smooth. Best grass on the fairways that I have ever seen here. Rough is good, although patchy in spots. Sand is fine.

This is a definite positive sign for this course. Course was in really good condition, and the tee sheet was pretty crowded for mid-day on a Monday. Recommended!

Played LC Legends on 01-27-20. Course is not good right now.

Greens - looks like a battle between two strains of grass in playing out. Crew was doing some small aeration, followed immediately by rolling, so they were smooth after maintenance.
Fairways and rough - not bad. Patchy in spots but acceptable.
Tee Boxes - Horrid. More bare dirt than grass.
Sand - Looks good, but 2 of my 3 sand shots bottomed out on the hard base under 1/4" of sand.

The grounds crew was working furiously, so I suspect things will change for the better. But I'll let someone else find out.

Got out for a quick early round on 01/23. Conditions are really good out here.

Greens are nice. A bit brown in spots, but coverage is good. Putts are quick and smooth rolling. Rough is healthy. Sand is fine. There are some rough tee boxes, but nothing too bad. Lots of players and not a lot of teeing ground, so that's normal for SC.

Fairways are as good as I've ever seen them in 23 years of playing here.

It's still a muni, so there are rough patches here and there. But for January, I can't remember the course as a whole being in much better shape than this.