Carmel Mountain Ranch Golf Course is located near the intersection of the 15 and 56 freeway in San Diego. The course winds through a residential community and has some panoramic views of some of the mountains and valleys in east San Diego. This uniquely designed par-71 has lots of elevation changes, very long cart rides between each hole, and many holes you don’t normally get to see and play on other golf courses. There are holes like the par 4, 8th with the lake and waterfall guarding the front of the green which leaves absolutely no bailout area unless you go long, the 485 yard par 5, 14th with the 200 yard forced carry over a ravine which leaves you with another forced carry over another section of the same ravine to get to the green, the 220 yard uphill par 3, 15th which plays more like 240-250 depending on the wind, and the 9th and 18th greens which are connected. Holes like these create major problems for the average golfer, but it also provides lots of fun and challenge to those who don’t mind playing something a little different from the normal course layouts you see everywhere else. This course is tough and very fun to play with an emphasis on shot making and course management.
Green fees are reasonable with carts and range balls included. The cart is a necessity since distances between greens and tee boxes are very long. There are no parallel fairways on this course. The driving range is located about 1/8th of a mile down the hill from the clubhouse and practice putting green. The range is a “no frills” warm up area with no distance markers and maybe 20 hitting mats. A food and beverage cart comes by about 2-3 times in a normal round. There are a few lakes and a creek that winds its way around the course which are ball magnets. The wind usually picks up around noon which can really affect the play of some of the holes. There are a few blind tee shots and the par 3’s are long and tough. Be prepared to play quite a bit of uphill and downhill lies as you will find many holes that change elevation quite a bit from tee to green.
The overall course conditions right now are good. The day this survey was taken, the course was very wet. There were some muddy patches and really soft fairways. Could have been due to too much watering, but I can’t imagine the course staying that wet since it sees a fair amount of wind and sunshine. The greens are very smooth, soft and pretty fast for being so wet. Only some slight ball mark damage was noticed on a few greens. Fairways were semi-lush with the occasional brown patch and some thin and muddy areas. The rough is cut short at around 2 inches. Not too penalizing if you struggle off the tee. There were also some muddy patches in these areas. The bunkers are immaculate. with good quality sand. Predictable bunker shots aren’t a problem. The tee boxes were all level for the most part. There weren't any that were severely uneven. The speed of play can’t really be estimated since the surveyor was stuck behind a tournament causing the round to take about 6 hours. No round of golf is worth taking 6 hours to play, but the uniqueness of some of the holes on Carmel Mountain Ranch made the round quite enjoyable.
