I played La Costa Champions today, 5/22...

What to say? The course is a first rate experience, good service, good golf and expensive!

I always play pretty well at this course which is weird because it's tough target golf. Maybe it makes me focus more?

The course was recently aerated but I have to say everything played pretty well and true.

Tees: The tees were all very level and smooth, no bare spots and lush. The only complaint, and I'm being picky because it's a 5 star joint, the grasses on some of the tee boxes were of mixed varieties. I know that's lame, but it stood out to me.

Fairways: The fairways were like carpet, they weren't "desert green" but they were really nice.

Greens: The greens were recently aerated but they rolled very true. The aeration didnt seem to affect the ball roll at all. If the greens weren't aerated, it would have been a 10/10.

Bunkers: The bunkers have ugly brown sand, but at least they were consistent depth and texture throughout the round.

Overall, the course is awesome. If the rough was slightly deeper and the areas around the greens were kept a little bit better this place would be fantastic. I got a deal on my round but I don't think that I would pay full price at $150+...at least I think that is the going rate? Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that...great course though if you get the chance to play it for under $75, give it a whirl!

Hey guys! I played 5/20 at "The Ranch". I like this course...

Tee Boxes: Tee boxes looked good, not many bare spots and they were pretty lush. I thought that the boxes were fine, even at the par 3's.

Fairways: Fairways were moderately green with some browning and bare spots. ER has always struggled with drainage and watering issues. There are times every round where you find spots on the FW's that need repair.

Greens: The greens were very good, I enjoyed them. Always fun putting here unless major maintenance was performed.

Bunkers: I am terrible from bunkers but the bunker condition is good. ER has recently redone all of the sand in the bunkers and it went well. Good traps...what an oxymoron.

Overall, I really like ER and it's a nice place to score well as long as it's not windy. There aren't any trees on the course so you can really get wild with the driver and not worry too much. The views are nice and this course always provides a solid round. I think the price is pretty steep when value for money is concerned, but I think a big part of the price is the location and the views.

Go play!

Hi greenskeepers!

Played Encinitas Ranch on 8/18 and the course was in good shape. Like others have mentioned, holes 5 and 11 are having work done on them. On hole #11, there is a temporary par 3 at ~100 yards. Hole #11 is split into a par 3 and a par 4. I have to say that although there is a temporary green, it is a nice green and playable. On to the rest of the course!

Tee boxes: Tees were nice with no boxes that I can remember that were terribly chewed up. I would say that they were green and lush.

Fairways: Fairways were very tight with a few barespots on every hole. For the prices that this place demands, not too great.

Fairway bunkers: FB's were OK, many of the bunkers have been upgraded with new, resort-style white sand. The improved bunkers were very nice.

Rough: The rough was decent; definitely spotty in areas with mixed heights, varied grass varieties and varied lushness. The rough was not too punishing if you missed some fairways.

Greens: Greens were good but slightly pocked by balls. This course could be considered an easier course in SD county and the greens showed it.

Greenside bunkers: Nice and consistent. These should get better as management continues to improve sand conditions.

All in all a nice course. If you like to get a deal when you play, "the Ranch" might not be your course. There are great views from many of the tee boxes and it is a great place to bring an out of town friend or family member for some golf. There is some construction going on right now but when it is finished, hopefully the course will be nicer than ever. I like this course a lot for the views but it seems pretty easy. I always feel that I should destroy this course but for some reason it never happens!

Played this course on 7/15, it was only my 2nd time playing at Woods Valley GC.

Just like Twin Oaks, I really enjoy playing here. Both the front and back nines differ greatly but I find both very enjoyable. You can find some great deals for WVGC online which makes playing here that much easier for me. On to the review!

Tees: The tees were a bit long and shaggy for my liking but they were nice and level without too many bare spots or severe divot damage. Pretty good.

Fairways: The fairways are not super green and lush but they are consistent and easy to compress a ball off of. They are nice and tight. Seems to me that WVGC is saving a bit of money on the water bill this time of year.

Greens: The greens were very consistent from hole to hole and smooth. I would say they were a moderate pace, not too fast or too slow. Good color green but they were quite firm, I had a few well struck balls roll off the back of the green.

Bunkers: The bunkers were in good condition, they have been adding some nice white "resort" style sand which was nice to play out of. Thankfully I wasn't in too many...

Overall, I really like this course and it is definitely worth the <$30 greens fees. It does get hot out there but no worse than any other East County course. Sometimes this course has issues with management and delegating the proper amount of carts to players. I have had to wait for carts to be available before my tee time, but really...no biggee. Be mindful of the wind because some holes do seem to get quite a bit of wind at your back and in your face. It was rumored when I was there that this course might go private, which I think, would be a loss for North County golfers.

Go play Woods Valley!

Hi everyone!

First off, I like this course, straight up. I seem to play it well and it suits my eye for some reason. I shot my PB here last year and every time I play TOGC, I feel that I can shoot a good score. Here is my review for 7/11...

Tees: The tees were OK, there were a medium amount of divots but nice and level on every hole. The markers were also in fair positions. There were a ton of tees laying around on each tee box that was kind of annoying.

Fairways: The fairways were in great shape but not super green. More of a brownish-green but in good playing condition.

Bunkers: The bunkers were rather thin with what my playing partners called "wet sand". I have to admit, they did not have the best quality sand. The bunkers were raked and consistent just not great sand.

Greens: The greens were great and rolling at 10' of the stimp supposedly. They seemed faster to me. We had a couple of groups in front of us that left many, many ball marks and that is a major annoyance for me. I fixed a bunch of marks on every green.

Overall: I really like this course like I said earlier. For the twilight rate, you can't beat it. I really enjoyed my round today despite some ball marks, wet sand and broken tees. Go play!

This course is great. I love the layout, both fun and challenging.

I played this course on 7/8 and I thought that it was in really good shape. The wind is always pretty difficult with many of the holes playing straight into the wind.

Tees: The tees were fairly level with only a couple that were noticeably uneven. The grass was well maintained on the boxes and there weren't too many divots.

Fairways: The fairways were nice and tight. They had recently punched the fairways however it did not affect play. I had a lot of great lies from the fairways. No negatives here.

Rough: The rough was not lush and green but the grass was good. There weren't different types of grass all over and it was very consistent and fair. If you got in the rough you could get out of it.

Bunkers: The bunkers had only a small amount of sand in them and they were pretty compacted. On a positive note, it made it easy to get out of the bunkers, however it was hard to control distances.

Greens: The greens were in great shape. There were hardly any ball marks and rolled very smooth and true. Many of the putts were surprisingly straight even though the greens are very undulated. There are many tiers on this course so be accurate with your irons. The greens were medium-fast, maybe a 10 on the stimp? Really green and very enjoyable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this course. It is difficult and quite long if you play from the blacks and factor in the wind. Make sure you hit fairways and play smart golf here. Probably the best deal in San Diego and definitely one of my favorite courses in North County.

Well, what to say? I played this great course on July 3rd. I played this course as a guest, part of a men's group. Our scheduled tee time was 3:30, and after warming up we were all ready to go. At 3:30, we were told to wait because a member wanted to jump ahead of us, so we waited...and waited...and waited. We werent able to tee off until almost 4:00PM! This delay caused us to rush the end of our round due to declining sunlight. It was a disappointing way to start the round to say the least.

On to the course!

Tees: These bad boys were in good shape with few divots and nice and level. All of the boxes had great views of this resort style course.

Fairways: Fairways were slightly green but not perfect and were VERY tightly cut. Some players had a tough time. FW bunkers were in good shape and there are many of these on the course. You really had to place your tee shots and get creative off of the tee with your club choice.

Rough: Nice and not too much mixed grasses. Not too long not too short, just right.

Greens: The greens were extremely slow and I had a very hard time getting the ball to the hole. The greens were shaggy but rolled true and smooth ironically. The greens were very hard with a soft top layer, this led to a lot of ball marks on every green. The greens were hammered, it was as if noone repaired their divots....ever. I really was disappointed in the greens at this course.

Greenside bunkers: A lot of greenside bunkers but they are in good shape and consistent from hole to hole.

Overall, not a hard course if you can place your shots. Greens rolled true to the read but were very beat up and very slow right now. I was very happy with the overall condition of the course but was extremely disappointed in the greens. The green conditions really affected my score. For the price tag, I dont know if this course is worth it. It was nice to play a resort style course with many bunkers throughout, but due to the really steep price tag, I feel that there are many courses around that play great for a better value.