Played Thursday 3/16/2017 with the Greenskeeper Guru’s teeing off at 11:30am. Temperature range 57 degrees on arrival to 76 degrees when leaving the course, light breeze.

Arrived that course 9:30 ... Continue »

Played Thursday 3/16/2017 with the Greenskeeper Guru’s teeing off at 11:30am. Temperature range 57 degrees on arrival to 76 degrees when leaving the course, light breeze.

Arrived that course 9:30 am. Parking lot is intimate, and immediately has the feel of a private club, intimate setting. The club house, dining, snack bar, men’s locker room and pro shop are all attractive, and the staff are attentive and friendly. As is fitting the locker room itself along with the member lounge and showers are restricted to the members.
Upon arriving I took advantage of the large practice green and chipping area. The practice green accurately represents the greens found on course, with tiered levels, double breaks, and speeds. Pins on the practice green are set to test you in advance. The area of the green has a first cut and second cut of rough and rolling hills that allow you to chip from uphill, downhill, and behind hill lies. The only thing missing was a bunker.

The Guru deal included warm up balls, on an all grass range. There is a sign on the tee that gives the days yardages to the various targets.

I noticed that the carts were divided between member and non-member carts. Both the private and public carts were equipped with charts showing the pin placement from the center of the green +/- as well as elevation differences. They also both include ice chests loaded with ice. What is absent on the public cart are ball and club washers. This is important as there are none on course. Additionally water is only found at the club house (Styrofoam cups, plastic lids, crushed ice, and cold water) very nice, and then at two water stations on course. I always carry two bottles on me, and was able to keep them cool in the ice chest. We did not see a service cart or marshal on course. I was glad in addition the two bottles of water, that I had taken a cup of ice water and a large Arizona Iced Tea Company Lite Arnold Palmer I had purchased at the snack bar.

Befitting a private semi private course the pace of play was outstanding. We tee’d off on time at 11:30am and were complete by 2:35pm for a round of just over 3 hours.
I was fortunate to play with two fellow Guru’s who were far better than I and had played the course before. Many thanks to Dave and Gary. This is a course where you want at least one of your fellow players to know the course well. The starter was very informative, but until you are the tee box with no idea where the hole is, and what is behind the hazard you have to hit over, or that you have to play the slope of the fairways, to a landing zone that still can’t see the green, you don’t know how much you are going to appreciate the help.

Tee boxes, level, mostly lush, many punched, but not so that you would notice. I played the white tees. On many holes the green is not visible from the tee box. In some cases the hazard such as water is not visible either.
Fairways, rolling, sloping, dry, winter grass, some punched, all in excellent condition. The carts are equipped with divot mix, and many fairways have divot mix positioned in landing zones. They appear to be well used. Most divots I saw were filled and we attempted as a group to keep up with the tradition. San Diego has not gotten nearly as much rain as the rest of the state and is still in drought conditions.

Bunkers of which I sampled four were in very good condition filled with soft sand. Both Gary and Dave found fairway bunkers, and unfortunately the sand was soft here as well, and they shaped more like green side bunkers than many other fairway bunkers I have seen.

Rough – penal, but not overly thick, spotty in many places.

Hazard, there are large areas of environmentally protected areas where you cannot retrieve your ball, and large areas of lateral hazard. Hazards are well marked.
Animals along the way. Besides the usual assortment of squirrels (all animal, none human), bunnies, birds and noisy bull frogs, we also had to stop for a rattler crossing the cart path, and lizards.
I don’t usually review cart paths, but these are the best maintained I have ever seen. Along the way there are bridges that feel very old world.

Greens, challenging, evil, sensitive, good condition, few ball marks. The greens have uphill where you don’t see it, breaks that are contrary to what you see. Some have false fronts, Some tilt in multiple directions, others have multiple tiers, another has a pot bunker right in the middle of the green, and in our case the pin was behind the bunker, about 8 feet in from the fringe and a hazard. Down Hill par 3. I am not sure but I think I set a personal record for three putts this round with the number of holes set on breaks which could send the ball yards past the hole.
The conditions this afternoon were ideal. I could see a much more severe test if the wind were up. The added water from the rains mean that flowers are in bloom everywhere, the hills surrounding the course are covered with groves, vineyards, and grass. The views are spectacular. This is a visually stunning course and is truly a gem.
On a hot summers day with a later afternoon wind this course would be technically beyond my abilities, but today it was just right, a stiff challenge, shared with great playing partners, on a beautiful course, and a bargain rate. I regularly pay more to play beat up muni course.

I look forward to coming back to play again.

3/13 using a groupon $62 2some+range balls--foggy start 1st 3 greens wet and slower then with the sun speed up to medium fast to fast. Mostly smooth with quite a few unrepaired ball marks on many hol... Continue »

3/13 using a groupon $62 2some+range balls--foggy start 1st 3 greens wet and slower then with the sun speed up to medium fast to fast. Mostly smooth with quite a few unrepaired ball marks on many holes. Greens have some varying levels and undulations with some challenging pin placements having to read the green and the prevailing topography--#15 from the front right ball location to a mid-green pin--I swear breaks UPhill.
Fairways which are ample and wide have firmed up over the last 4 weeks providing extra roll and still good lies and cushion. Currently in the process of plugging the fairways starting on the back 9. Rough is present but not penal. Tees level but also being plugged.
5 bunkers today 3 green side 2 fairway--sand is consistent comprised of a fine grain but heavy prone to semi-bury if not rolled in. My preference is to have firmer sand from the fairway as this makes it hard to advance the ball.
Friendly staff easy check in--starter and marshal are helpful and cheerful.
Scenic park land setting--enjoyable outing--courteous 4some let us through almost as soon as we caught up POP 3 1/2 hours.

Played Thursday on a warm day. Teed off at 11 and we were done by 3, so pace was great. Course is in good shape but they are punching the greens in a week or so. Greens were nice with little ball ma... Continue »

Played Thursday on a warm day. Teed off at 11 and we were done by 3, so pace was great. Course is in good shape but they are punching the greens in a week or so. Greens were nice with little ball mark damage and rolling medium speed, rough was not to bad. Tee boxes are a little chewed up in certain spots but level and always able to find a nice spot to tee it up. The fairway bunkers all have new sand and they are very soft. Group had a couple plug and that is not fun when you have some of the distances to the holes we had. They were the only problem but that will be solved soon enough when they get some water on them. Great track and love the layout.

I was able to make the GK Guru outing here with a great group of fellow GK'ers.
Check in was smooth with very helpfull guys in the pro shop. Went over to the nice grass range to warm up. The practice... Continue »

I was able to make the GK Guru outing here with a great group of fellow GK'ers.
Check in was smooth with very helpfull guys in the pro shop. Went over to the nice grass range to warm up. The practice green was very close to the greens out on the course at the start of the round. by the end of the round the greens got a little slow and bumpy.Not unexpected on a sunny day after alot of rain.
we started a little early and the starter had some helpful information for us.
Tee boxes were nice and the fairways while a little thin were dry for the most part.
The bunkers both fairway and greenside had lots of very soft sand.
I found tbe course to be challanging but fair. Playing here a couple of times would be helpful to know where to go with your tee shot.
Overall it was a great day on a nice track for a great price. I will try to get back here again.

Played Monday 2/14/17, and teed off as a single, who was paired with three others. The pro shop employee was unfriendly, and wanted an additional $20 for my wife to ride, even though I had my own car... Continue »

Played Monday 2/14/17, and teed off as a single, who was paired with three others. The pro shop employee was unfriendly, and wanted an additional $20 for my wife to ride, even though I had my own cart. Can't quite figure the logic.
The course was awesome. Started out on the back 9, as the 1st tee box was backed up. The layout is interesting, unique, and challenging. Not a long course, but every hole offers a challenge, and it was an exceptional value. The only foolish thing was the rider fee which was 4/7 of my green fee, and would have been no extra cost to the course.

Greens were in good shape, and receptive. Fairways were well cared, but some players failed to fill in their divots. Otherwise an exceptional course. Worth a play.

Just posted some photos of the course from last week’s GK Review Guru round. We had 8 players. I played with leef2020, larryq2001 and sr129. Great fun and good timing on a rare perfect weather day in ... Continue »

Just posted some photos of the course from last week’s GK Review Guru round. We had 8 players. I played with leef2020, larryq2001 and sr129. Great fun and good timing on a rare perfect weather day in February. Course was in good shape. And considering the large amount of rain only days before, as well as this season, I was very impressed how well it handled it. Very few soggy areas. The only area of the course that showed saturation were the greens. Thus, the green speed was fine but a bit bumpy from footprints and very soft accepting shots. Fairways were green, provided decent lies but still winter thin due since most the turf is bermunda which thrives in the summer. Rough was spotty with some lush and thin areas but again due to it too being predominately summer turf. Tee boxes in very good shape. Mostly level and lush. The highlight was the conditions of the bunkers. Looked like all of them had new fluffy sand. I found quite a few and they played beautifully (with exception to my fried egg lie in a fairway bunker – lol).

I love this layout, played the blues, just over 6500 yards, lots of elevation changes, nice views, dog legs, mixes of long and short holes, well protected greens, risk/reward opportunities, no parallel holes and fair undulating greens. I think hole number 8, called appropriately cyclops due to a bunker being in the middle of the green is my favorite (see photo).

The service was excellent but would have enjoyed seeing a beverage cart on the course. Was getting pretty thirsty out there. A cold one would have been nice.

This is a simi-private golf course that was once totally private. Fancy clubhouse and amenities. I’m looking very forward to returning.

Late to the review party – I played the white tees with the GK Gurus at 1140 on Thursday, 2/9/17. Thanks to GKers jerry64, zgolfinman, and 140ver for a fun round. I like the setting and layout of this... Continue »

Late to the review party – I played the white tees with the GK Gurus at 1140 on Thursday, 2/9/17. Thanks to GKers jerry64, zgolfinman, and 140ver for a fun round. I like the setting and layout of this course, and I wish it was closer to me so I could play it more often. I found the staff very accommodating, the course in good shape, and the day very enjoyable. Overall the course was fairly damp and soft after all the recent rain, although the temperatures in the late morning were quite warm, and I found myself overdressed as locals showed up in shorts! Greens had good coverage, with some occasional thin areas around the edges – they were medium fast and got slower as temperatures dropped and day went on – generally held shots but some areas of some greens were firmer than others. I didn’t see too many old ballmarks. Fairways had good coverage but lies were tight. Rough was cut very short and playable, but could be clumpy. Sand traps around the greens had plentiful and fluffy material; however, there were many unraked areas in the traps (see: jerry64!). Tees were just fine. Friendly starter. Pin sheet for that day on the cart – nice. First few holes started with a ‘gate’ entry/exit system for the carts, which in my opinion helps reduce casual/random wear and tear on course conditions along the margins of cart paths. The starter made a point of telling us about it – but the system was abandoned by the course for whatever reason after the 4th hole, and we never saw the gates again! Drainage areas between the holes are pretty torn up after all the recent rain/runoff – many of these areas look like they could use some thinning, both for aesthetics and for more effective flood control and drainage conveyance. The driving range grass was fuzzy but fairly level – it’s a nice separated range area that also has a chipping green/sand practice area. However, the sand is not like that next to the greens around the course – the practice bunker is very damp and hard packed with only a thin playing layer. No cart girl -there’s a grill at turn but it’s far from the travel line from #9 to #10. The course needs more water stations. I didn’t see a bathroom on the front nine. An unfortunate cap to the round was running into a total loser 20-something single on #18 tee – he was scruffy in cutoffs, hat backward, unshaved and mouthy and rude when we called him out for cutting in front of us (“I came off the 9th green and the 10th tee was crowded, so I drove over to #18”!!!). Left a bad taste in the mouth, but definitely not enough to spoil the great day I had playing with other GK Gurus. I had to head for home right after the round, so I missed out on staying afterward to get to better know GKers in the second group that I had barely met before - sorry Larry and Lee. Definitely recommended.

Joined Johnny, Steve/SR129, Larry/larryq2001 on Thursday for a sunny day of golf, teeing off in the 2nd group, about 11:50am. Was impressed with the course layout overall, several very interesting, a... Continue »

Joined Johnny, Steve/SR129, Larry/larryq2001 on Thursday for a sunny day of golf, teeing off in the 2nd group, about 11:50am. Was impressed with the course layout overall, several very interesting, and a variety of holes and scenery. Certainly a good challenge - even from the whites for a short-hitter, required some shot strategy, particularly navigating (mostly dry) ravines on approach shots to a handful of greens, but holes were fair, except on one par 3, where Johnny and Larry, playing the blues, actually had shorter yardage than Steve and I had from the whites!?! I thought the tees were mostly very smooth, nice and green. I do remember 3 tee boxes where it was challenging to get an even lie within the ropes, including the par 3 18th. So, I cheated. Fairways were pretty firm, getting a decent amount of roll. Mostly lush and green, divots were fairly well filled in with sand from golfers. The fairway grasses and rough were a bit spotty here and there, but nothing too much to complain about. Not up to the standard right now of Goose Creek and Black Gold, but pretty decent. I found the greens looked great from the fairways. They were green and had good cover, but were not cut as crisply as I'd hope for, and the grain was not always consistent. Maybe a rolling is in order? A bit bumpy-putting from foot traffic and shaggy cups. With a few (faster) exceptions, I thought they were medium-speed to start, ending a bit medium-slow later in the day, as Johnny had predicted the grass was likely to grow quite a bit by the end of the day - he knows his stuff! I did enjoy the variety of undulations that made for some interesting putts. Was disappointed that we never saw a cart lady/person on the course, no ball washers on the course to be found, and only 1 jug of iced water on the 7th and a drinking fountain along with the loos, about the 13th hole. Really impairs the on-course player experience on this point. Would be brutal in the summer. There is a snack bar at the turn, but it is very much out of the way inside the clubhouse - not good when you're trying to maintain contact with the group in front. The lady marshal came around on the 3rd hole and urged us to pick up the pace, as we were probably 4-5 mins slower the the first GKer group at that point. Like that I finally saw a marshal do their job. We finished in 4:35 mins, so she should've kept watching us. ;-) Mia serving drinks in the 19th hole is a gem, great personality, and took good care of Larry and myself. Look forward to giving this course another go, bringing a stash of my own refreshments next time. Really had a very enjoyable afternoon with this group, and look forward to a chance to tee it up again with them! Cheers. Lee

I also played in the GK Guru event with JohnnyGK, SR129 and Leef2020 and had a great time. Turned out to be rather warm and beautiful day so all conditions were perfect. Also had a nice conversation... Continue »

I also played in the GK Guru event with JohnnyGK, SR129 and Leef2020 and had a great time. Turned out to be rather warm and beautiful day so all conditions were perfect. Also had a nice conversation after our round with Leef2020 as he taught me a lot on club making. Learned a lot. Got there a bit late and wanted to get to the range and Landon, our host gave me keys to a cart, directions to the range and a complimentary small bucket. Very nice of him to do so. He also came out greeted everyone which was bit of class! Beautiful setting and really nice club house and restaurant. I found this course pretty challenging. A good mixture of long and short par 4’s. Some of the par 4's play very long. The par 3’s are also really challenging. Elevation changes and/or hitting over water made you really concentrate on trying to hit a good shot. The pin placement on #7 was incredibly difficult adding to fact that there is a bunker smack in the middle of the green. Fairways were nice. Some tight/thin lies but overall good. Bunkers were real soft and fluffy which is great to see considering most course have very hard sand or even hard pan. Greens were pretty soft but rolled nicely. Good iron shots held very well. Not sure if that’s always the case here as I bet they will make ‘em pretty fast once the rain stops. Some greens were tough to read with some of the undulations. All in all a very enjoyable day. Got around in about 4.5 hours. Great rate for playing what used to be a private course at one time. Hope to get out here again one day.