Played 12-12-20 with Matt and Rob teeing off a little after 11am and finishing a little before 2:30, going through two groups on the front side and not catching anybody until the last couple of holes.... Continue »

Played 12-12-20 with Matt and Rob teeing off a little after 11am and finishing a little before 2:30, going through two groups on the front side and not catching anybody until the last couple of holes. Tee boxes were in good condition, they were painted green and mostly level. Fairways are dormant and painted a minty green color, they have tight lies with good cushioning and a lot of roll out. Rough is dormant and not much longer than fairways, outside that you are in the brush. Was in one greenside bunker that had a good layer of nice white sand. Greens were firm, fast, and smooth and really fun to putt on. Links style course that has a good variety of holes with a nice layout. Would recommend playing here.

Out on 12/5 with Gregholla, Joefoot, and Apisarski for his birthday. Conditions haven't changed much from previous reviews with exception of the tee boxes which have been dyed green to make them look ... Continue »

Out on 12/5 with Gregholla, Joefoot, and Apisarski for his birthday. Conditions haven't changed much from previous reviews with exception of the tee boxes which have been dyed green to make them look nice. Still all grass so its just a visual thing. Greens are fast and firm as always and this day had diabolical pin locations. Sand was nice with a good 1.5" top layer of powdery white sand. Rough is rough and if you go more than 5 yards offline it turns to brush. Fairways were fully dormant but nice to hit from, almost like hitting from mats. Overall this is a fun course and I'll be back.

Played a fun round with mpisarski01 and Rat-Patrol this afternoon, 11/27 at Borona Creek.

Facility: Very nice complex. You are required to take a temperature check when arriving on-site before park... Continue »

Played a fun round with mpisarski01 and Rat-Patrol this afternoon, 11/27 at Borona Creek.

Facility: Very nice complex. You are required to take a temperature check when arriving on-site before parking. I did get a little lost on the way in, without many people and good signage I ended up back through the round-a-bout and the temperature check station, d'oh! Plenty of parking and you aren't too far from the golf area. There are bathrooms available in the pro-shop; everywhere inside was clean. Proshop has a good amount of clothing available, staff was friendly and took care of us in a timely manner. Range balls are included as part of the round, for those not playing or wanting to hit; they do not charge by the bucket but rather the hour and its $15 an hour to use the range. There is a chipping area along with sand bunkers in another area to practice in. Putting green is large and rolls true to the greens on the course.

Pace of Play: Slow, very slow. We teed off around 12:30 and did not complete the round, it was dark and hard to see by 16/17. We felt the starters/proshop was allowing too many tee times to go out, too quickly inbetween one another. By hole three, there were four groups waiting on the tee box and for most of the round we were waiting on the tee box or for our second, third and fourth shots.

Course: It was extremely windy for us today; a real challenge. For the most part, if you arent wild off the tee youll be in good shape. In reality, the holes are pretty open and there are a few more narrow holes, but nothing all that bad. The wind really makes some of the holes play extremely long and tough. The tee boxes were great, I thought they were all fairly level and nice with grass. The fairways look dry, but they are still pure in the sense of good lies and there is grass. This course is setup more as links golf, so the fairways do run out and the ball can really roll. I loved it. The rough is the rough, some areas much more punishing than others; there are a few areas where if you go off line good luck finding your ball in tall grass or weeds. Very little water at this course, there are a few holes that have water guarding. Sand traps were hit and miss, a few of them were nice and fluffy and others seems good until you swung and there wasnt much sand, resulting in a firm strike to the ground below. Greens were fast, really really fast; also very firm.

I had a great time with the group and would highly recommend you check this course out, I will be going back that is for sure.

Decided to play here with fellow GK'er Tim on Sunday after the gk event was postponed. We showed up right around 11:30 and the course was wide open. Twilight starts at 11 and is $100 rack, $50 with th... Continue »

Decided to play here with fellow GK'er Tim on Sunday after the gk event was postponed. We showed up right around 11:30 and the course was wide open. Twilight starts at 11 and is $100 rack, $50 with the platinum card. Hit a few from the practice area which is A++ for warming up Large range and a beautiful chipping and putting area. Like I said earlier the course was wide open and we played in 2.5+ hours only having one downpour on 14 that we hid in the tree's for about 5 mins to wait out.

Conditions are good right now if you know what you are looking at. The fairways are dormant but fully lush. Same with the surrounding rough. Tee boxes and sand traps were very nice to play from and no issues to be found. Then there was the Greens.......... I would say they were 100% perfect. Very very fast which was surprising after the day of rains and they were just soft enough to hold a well hit shot. Like the reviews before you must be below the hole to have any chance. I had a miserable 3 putt from 2 feet because the ball lipped the cup and rolled out 8 feet. I really like playing on them as it made it fun.

Overall I really like the layout and you must know going in that this is not going to be a course that is perfectly green all around, Its a links style course and plays real firm and fast.

Played 11/8/20 After the GK Event was rained out,, Fellow GKer Matt and I decided to give East County a try. We got a few sprinkles but most just cool & damp. One hole of heavy rain that soaked us, bu... Continue »

Played 11/8/20 After the GK Event was rained out,, Fellow GKer Matt and I decided to give East County a try. We got a few sprinkles but most just cool & damp. One hole of heavy rain that soaked us, but then cleared out. Course was in overall good condition. Fairways brown but played great, just firm and fast. Greens were great. Very fast even with the 3/4" of rain they got. So glad that Barona is back. Love this course. Note. They no longer honor the old classic card. Needs to be Platinum or above to get discounted rates, $100 after 11am a little steep, but a great course in good to great condition.

Played Nov 1. Teed off at Noon with Silver Tees (69.7/129). Haven't played here in years but always liked the challenge and setup here. Heard the course was closed for a few +months to redo their g... Continue »

Played Nov 1. Teed off at Noon with Silver Tees (69.7/129). Haven't played here in years but always liked the challenge and setup here. Heard the course was closed for a few +months to redo their greens, so was excited to come out and play this again with fresh greens.

Fairways and rough were dormant but still all there, no real bare spots to speak of. Made for hard and fast conditions but overall good lies. The silver tees seemed to be playing a little forward for the day, especially on a few Par 3s. The winds were blowing as usual for Barona.

The greens were green and CLASSIC Barona Creek greens, FIRM and FAST. The greens were lightning quick, made for a lot of 3 putts and even a 4 putt when not below the hole. Not much checking up due to firmness but just need to adjust play to accommodate and play from below the hole. With that said, the greens were very smooth with hardly any ball marks.

Since the rough and fairways were dormant, I found my ball rolling out more and playing in the bunkers a lot more than usual but the bunkers were fresh sand, pristine. No rakes due to COVID.

All in all loved playing Barona Creek and cant wait to be back out again to give it another go!

Played Barona on 10/21 with Joel, out from Minneapolis. We'd played Mt. Woodson and Maderas. $80 weekday late rate that starts at 1:00 was a good deal. Pro shop was welcoming and efficient. Grass ... Continue »

Played Barona on 10/21 with Joel, out from Minneapolis. We'd played Mt. Woodson and Maderas. $80 weekday late rate that starts at 1:00 was a good deal. Pro shop was welcoming and efficient. Grass range, putting green and chipping area were all excellent. No balls around the chipping area, though. Tees were overseeded and above average, but not great. No overseeding on the fairways so bermuda was brown with a lot of run and thinner lies, but easy to hit from. Rough was non-existent until you got to the native brush and then good luck. No rakes in sand traps. They had been cared for around the greens especially and were fun to hit from. Greens and surrounding areas were just beautiful. Putts rolled true and fast. Don't get above the hole. Joel said this was his favorite course to play so far. Called three days before and got 1:00 for the late rate. Unlike most of the courses in SD they didn't seem too crowded other that the SDSU golf team getting ready to go out behind us. Fun day.

Played yesterday,
7/2.
Incredibly good time.
Weather was great.
Greens in excellent shape.
Fairways in good shape.
Cost was 64$ with casino club card.
For $64 dollars it was an incredible value... Continue »

Played yesterday,
7/2.
Incredibly good time.
Weather was great.
Greens in excellent shape.
Fairways in good shape.
Cost was 64$ with casino club card.
For $64 dollars it was an incredible value. It included cart and range balls. I had not played there in a very long time because of their normal rates which are out my range. The customer service was very good. They offer shuttle to and from your car. These are covid rates which are going away. I thought the greens were great because the balls rolled great. No bumps. For my putting level, they were true. The fairways are a bit dry but helped in extra distance. The roughs are thick but easy to strike through. All in all I had a great round. I would play there more often at $64 but alas all good things must end.

For the last few years, Barona Creek has been atop my "local public course I haven't played" wish list. I'd always heard great things but never made the trek due to a variety of reasons. I recently sa... Continue »

For the last few years, Barona Creek has been atop my "local public course I haven't played" wish list. I'd always heard great things but never made the trek due to a variety of reasons. I recently saw on their website that they're beginning a big project on the greens that will cause the course to be partially closed starting on January 8, so that added some urgency for me to finally get out there. Then things worked out when I had New Year's Eve day off and they weren't charging holiday rates. I first stopped in the casino to get a player's club card and then arrived at the golf shop a little after 10:00 a.m. to get my name on the list for the 11:00 twilight rate. The really friendly pro shop attendant checked me in, charged me the twilight weekday player's club rate of $64 and said he'd probably get me started a bit earlier than 11:00 to avoid having to send me out as a single amongst a bunch of other groups. Great! I had a tasty hot dog in the snack shop and hit a few practice putts and then was called to the first tee around 10:45. Paired with a friendly couple. POP was good, except for when my playing partners ordered food from the 9th tee phone and it must've taken a long time because they didn't show up at the 10th tee for probably 20 minutes. I let the group behind play though, and even with that delay, we finished in just under 4.5 hours. Conditions are winter-y, but good. The dormant fairways on the front nine were dyed a bright green and offered really tight lies but there was always grass under the ball. Back nine were mostly the same, but not dyed except for maybe one or two. The rough is not dyed and provides a bit more cushion than the fairways, but the ball might also settle down in little indentations. If you got really off line, the tall weeds/grass would pretty much eat up your ball. The greens were pretty good; medium-fast, mostly smooth and held full shots really well. Visually, they showed lots of little imperfections/ball marks, but nothing that ever impacted play for me. On closer shots, they played a bit firm. Gold tee boxes were flat and in great condition, most of which were dyed green. I was in several fairway bunkers and one greenside bunker, and they were all really good. It got super windy starting on the 10th hole, which made this outstanding links-style course all the more fun. I really, really loved the layout. I'd always heard comparisons to Rustic Canyon, which are accurate, and I think I like Barona Creek even better than Rustic. It offers similar playability with lots of crazy undulations on the greens, kick-plates to the sides of greens, etc. Just a fantastic course. The par 5s are all great. The par 3s offer a variety of lengths and play in multiple directions. I really loved the short par-3 11th. There are a few holes with some really great elevation changes, and one with beautiful rock outcroppings. Unfortunately, it sounds like the whole course will not be open for some time due to this project with the greens. A sign in the restroom says "*Front 9 CLOSED, Back 9 Only* Wed. Jan 8 thru June. Limited tee time availability. See shop staff for details." At any rate, I'll be anxious to get back out there again whenever possible.