After moving to SD about 2.5 years ago, I finally played Maderas this past week for the first time. Even for a SD resident, the cost of Maderas is rather high at $130+ per round. Fortunately I played with Advantage member and only had to pay his rate, $89.

The setting is absolutely gorgeous among the valleys and mountains in North County. But focus is required given the course's level of challenge. There are sloped fairways, semi-blind tee shots and forced carries to whet your competitive whistle. The greens were in immaculate shape and very fast, at 12+ on the stimp. The service level is excellent, very much on par with a private club.

Overall, the experience is tremendous, making Maderas absolutely worth an initial look see. How soon you will come back will be a function of your wallet.

Played on Tues 12/18 @ 9am. Having played here 3 mths before, I was surprised at just how in poor shape some parts of the course were. Tee box near the turn was essentially hardened mud. A few spots on fairways again very muddy. Sand was a bit wet in one of the bunkers. On a positive side, greens were soft and medium speed and while we were behind a foursome, our twosome finished under 4 hrs. I appreciate it is a well-used muni, but overall a mediocre experience.

I walked the North course on Monday, 11/19 at 10:30 as part of a foursome and we finished in about 5 hours. The course was in great condition and plenty challenging, with the greens rolling fast and the rough doing its part to sabotage my scorecard...

A few notes, the North is essentially cart path only right now (you can ride outside the ropes, which are next to the cart path) and they've temporarily set up the par 5 #18 as a par 4 with a green in the middle of the fairway as they look to complete the parking area. A bit of anticlimatic way to finish a really enjoyable round.

Played the South for the first time at noon on 11/7/07 on a cool, overcast day. With a couple of high handicappers, we finished in 5 hrs. A beautiful layout, the course itself was challenging but in great shape with a tough but fair rough, and lightning quick greens. I found myself in greenside bunkers too many times, but they played true.

Amazing experience at $42 to walk for a city resident. IMHO, rates seem a bit steep for out-of-towners but the demand seems to be there.