Played in a tournament 5/1. POP 4.75 hrs. Course was in fantastic shape as always. The teeboxes were lush, the fairways were nice, and the greens rolled true. Can't rate the rough or sand traps si... Continue »

Played in a tournament 5/1. POP 4.75 hrs. Course was in fantastic shape as always. The teeboxes were lush, the fairways were nice, and the greens rolled true. Can't rate the rough or sand traps since it was a 4-man scramble but they looked good from what I could see.

By far, one of my favorite courses in San Diego. A must play for anyone in the area!

Played here 4/24/2015. Greens are still healing up after being punched a few weeks ago. A little slow and a bit bumpy still. Great layout and always a fun course. Keep it in the fairway to score here ... Continue »

Played here 4/24/2015. Greens are still healing up after being punched a few weeks ago. A little slow and a bit bumpy still. Great layout and always a fun course. Keep it in the fairway to score here - duh. Pay attention to where you are aiming off the tee boxes, the course has a lot of risk reward holes with a few split fairways - driver is not always the best choice on the 4's and 5's here. Good value and friendly staff. Practice area is fantastic

I probably wouldn't give the course quite as high a rating as Rat-patrol, and only for the condition of the greens. This course's rep is built on their greens, and playing right behind the aeration re... Continue »

I probably wouldn't give the course quite as high a rating as Rat-patrol, and only for the condition of the greens. This course's rep is built on their greens, and playing right behind the aeration really changes the experience - so I didn't do a rating.

Fairways are pretty dry but you get OK lies there. The rough bordering most fairways is cut low, but once you get out into the native grass areas it's potluck regarding 1) finding the ball and 2) being able to get a club on it. We had wide-open lies in the native grass and other times we couldn't even find the ball. Around greens and near the hazards the rough is more lush (Jon "lost" a ball trying to hit from the high grass next to #6 green). I was in one fairway bunker and the firm sand was OK to play from; greenside bunkers also looked like they had good coverage and depth. All tees were great - level, plenty of area to play from.

Staff was great - good upfront info, openly discussed problems they have with dryness/watering/heat, got us out right on time. Very nice grass practice area and large putting green. Enough water even on a hot day, and saw the cart girl several times. I would definitely return after green conditions improve, but it's a long hike down from Orange County!

Remember when you look at the rating I gave Barona that the greens were still sandy with punch marks thus dropping the rating of the greens and (probably) lessening the degree of challenge that we enc... Continue »

Remember when you look at the rating I gave Barona that the greens were still sandy with punch marks thus dropping the rating of the greens and (probably) lessening the degree of challenge that we encountered today. The whole Barona complex is impressive and beautiful. The course meanders around the valley and has some pretty cool views of the surrounding mountainsides. The pampas grass, rustic looking bunkers, large rocks, water features, etc. all team together to give a very cool look and vibe. The course layout is interesting and fun and was in overall very good shape, besides the greens (but we knew going in that the greens had just been punched 3 weeks ago).
I really want to go back in a month or so when the greens are at full strength . . . I'm sure my rating will go up then, as will the difficulty!

Played 3/6/15 on a beautiful but very windy day (40 MPH!). POP was around 5 hours which seemed like a lot for a Friday. This course is amazing. The teeboxes, fairways, greens, bunkers, and even rou... Continue »

Played 3/6/15 on a beautiful but very windy day (40 MPH!). POP was around 5 hours which seemed like a lot for a Friday. This course is amazing. The teeboxes, fairways, greens, bunkers, and even rough are all well manicured and the staff are all super friendly. Definitely worth the $68 weekday fee.

This course is always in excellent condition. The staff is very congenial and helpfull. I play here twice a month. And have no complaints. No water really to speak of but plenty of hazards to make it ... Continue »

This course is always in excellent condition. The staff is very congenial and helpfull. I play here twice a month. And have no complaints. No water really to speak of but plenty of hazards to make it challenging. The greens are fast and hole locations always challenging. A must golf in San Diego. Twilight after 11a.m. will cost about 64 with cart during week. Wort every penny

Played 2-22-15 11 am $80 POP 5+ hours Fairway's were firm, dry, fast and cut thin. Light green, but very dry. Greens. A HOLY and A SMOLLY were they FAST !!! second fastest greens I've ever played on.... Continue »

Played 2-22-15 11 am $80 POP 5+ hours Fairway's were firm, dry, fast and cut thin. Light green, but very dry. Greens. A HOLY and A SMOLLY were they FAST !!! second fastest greens I've ever played on. They were preparing for a semi pro/am and they had the greens running at 12+ with some nasty pin placements. That tournament is going to play 6 hrs +. I had a birdie putt that just slowly missed on the high side. Trickled 2 more feet then ran OFF the green !!! Found two bunkers and they were in fantastic condition. Good service. With all the people that were trying to prepare for the tournament, it was a slow crawl around the course, but still a fun day on a course in pretty decent shape.

Played here for twilight which is 11 since the sun sets a little earlier here. Pace was a tad slow but not too bad, finished in about 4:45.

Greens are pretty slick but don't look it. Downhiller... Continue »

Played here for twilight which is 11 since the sun sets a little earlier here. Pace was a tad slow but not too bad, finished in about 4:45.

Greens are pretty slick but don't look it. Downhillers are very fast while the opposite was true of uphillers. I love the speed but there were quite a few 3 putts as you can be in the wrong spot of the green and face a difficult 1st putt.

Fairways are decent but it is very dry and the turf is pretty firm. You know it's dry when you put your club behind the ball and it just kinds of slips in the ground.

Rough was non existent and in fact it was a little disappointing because there was patchy grass down the fairway but I will say that sometimes it was better being in the rough than the fairway. The native rough is also down so you could find your ball in this area but I did lose a couple which seemed impossible.

Sand was very good, found a couple and thought every bunker was consistent with each other.

Tees boxes were good for me because I played the black and it didn't get as much wear and tear as some of the others. It does look like they painted most of the tee boxes greens, not sure if that is just pesticide.

Customer service was great. I've always thought everyone here treated the golfers excellent. I've seen the conditions better here but I love the design of the course and will certainly come back.

Took advantage of one last opportunity to play before the impending time change this weekend and couldn't have selected a better venue than a bona fide favorite, Barona Creek. First time here since A... Continue »

Took advantage of one last opportunity to play before the impending time change this weekend and couldn't have selected a better venue than a bona fide favorite, Barona Creek. First time here since April 5, 2014, and the course was set up and played about as tough as I can ever recall; diabolical pin positions, fast greens, and the prevalent afternoon breeze all combined to present a genuine and fun-filled test. Gold Tees at 6663 yards (72.0/136) and it was all that...and then some. Golf course is in excellent condition from start to finish; can't recall anything that warranted any dissatisfaction. Tee boxes perfect, fairways tight, firm, and green, and putting surfaces that held full shots yet were extremely quick and smooth. For anyone who is familiar with the design, definitely wasn't the day to leave anything above the hole, even if it was just a 6-footer; the short putts were harrowing, given the pin locations and speed conditions. On the holes where the pin was tucked, accuracy off the tee was a must in order to open up access to the hole; if not, I either had to play to the center of the green and face a long, breaking initial putt or be forced to hit career chip shots for a shot at par if I missed the green, especially on the short side. Rough wasn't too long yet definitely took some control away with regards to spin, which left me at the mercy of the slope and speed of the greens...incredibly demanding setup. Wouldn't say the course was unfair in its' presentation...it was simply all about precision on Thursday. Knowing the intricacies of the layout helped immensely yet my success or failure was often determined by what the golf course itself decided to give me. There was such a fine line between the two that a well-struck shot didn't always produce the desired/expected result but I welcomed the challenge and the extra punch it injected into the round. Shot 3-over par 39 on the front side yet was surprised at that number; felt I had hit a lot of quality shots yet being off by just a couple of yards often meant bogey at best. Did manage to close with a rush on the back (birdied #14-15-16) for 2-under par 34 and a very pleasant ride home. Pace-of-play was outstanding: played as '2' with a 1:30 tee time and were comfortably finished a few minutes after 5:00, which included a few extra putts and chip shots on a couple of holes. Cart service was available on two or three occasions but with play on the light side, no on-course marshal was visible. Customer service is always top-notch and consistent from beginning to end; I look forward to chatting with Ross in the Pro Shop whenever possible. Highly recommend you play here while conditions are this good; $64.00 weekday late rate...effective at 11:00AM...makes this the biggest bang for your buck (includes cart and unlimited range balls). And in addition to the fine playing conditions, you'll encounter a challenging course that definitely resides at or near the top of the list in Southern California. Only complaint I have, and it's something that became more of an issue as the round progressed, was the inclusion of so many ads via the GPS system (which, on its' own, is very reliable). We would no sooner drive up to a tee box...or any shot for that matter...get a quick glimpse of the yardage, and then be force fed commercial ad after commercial ad until we pressed the bypass button. It was brutal, distracting, and very frustrating...overkill to the ntn degree. I can understand an occasional blurb every three holes or so but NOT ON EVERY SHOT! Apparently this extra advertising was initiated once the course reopened after its' aerification maintenance in September and has solicited a lot of criticism according to the cart person I spoke to. I made sure to express my disapproval and hope many others do the same when they play here. In the meantime, I'll make sure I don't leave the house without my yardage book again.