Easter Sunday, and because of that things were quiet all across the three nines. The greens have virtually healed from the mid March aeration, the fairways are in very good shape, and the conditions are generally very good. We played the Canyon and Meadow nines, and enjoyed every hole. It was windy, which made many shots more interesting.

Highly recommended.

This course is a total mess. I have no idea what it was like before, but we played it on Sunday, Jan 26, and our foursome honestly felt it was in the worst shape of any course we had seen in years. Don't be misled by any other reports, this place is a shambles.

Greens were the worst greens possible, given that they had a green color.....bumpy? An understatement. On a 15 foot putt, I could almost count 20 different bumps, causing the ball to veer--no, bounce--off line, then back on, then off, and the bad news? The same thing happened on 5 footers. Areas around the greens had sections of " new " sod which were in such bad shape I wondered how they could justify even bringing the sod from another section of the course. Sections of the fairways were so torn up and mangled it is hard to figure if they've ever had grass on them. Other sections, countless, all over the course, had huge " ground under repair " stakes around them. Other sections of the fairways, if I can call them fairways, were bare, bare, bare.

The guys in our foursome who talked us into playing said they had " discounts " from one of the web sites, but it still cost us $48.00 each. This course was in worse condition than an untreated executive course which recieves no care at all. How did this happen?

Go elsewhere, go anywhere, but don't encourage these people to draw any more of our hard earned money. They did drive around the course and give out suckers, but after I had seen the course I felt it was appropriate to call us suckers for falling for the discount. I am starting to get the impression the best way to get a sense of the quality of the course is to watch who else is playing it. This was a good example, retirees dominated the place today.

We will not return, ever, no matter what anyone says. There are so many great courses to play in Southern California, why give money to places like this?

Played on Jan 19, a Saturday morning, having just walked on. Our group, which has not yet played Coronado, was curious about playing here, so I decided to do some reconnaisance to see if we might like it. No doubt, with the amount of play it gets, it is in excellent shape. No other way to describe it, excellent condition for the greens, fairways, rough, and...scenery.....

This time of year I'd expect to see some weak spots, but there really were not any I saw, or played. If a convenient course with low cost is what you want, this is an excellent choice. This course is not the least bit challenging, however, as it reminded me of a wide open executive course, just a bit longer. The greens are totally unprotected from virtually all directions, traps are generally small and well off to the side, posing access problems for very few shots. One of the side benefits of such an easy course is that it attracts lots of golfers who are not looking for a challenge, and because of that the greens are in pristine condition--most people who play this course can't even hit the greens in regulation, therefore the divot marks on the green are minimal. Lots of people on this course, if they do reach the green with any length shot, it is usually with a rolling shot which landed off the green.

So there are benefits to playing such a weak course. No doubt one of the prettiest settings in San Diego. This is a gem, inexpensive, but not the least bit challenging to good golfers. There are a higher percentage of women on this course than any I've ever played, and I've been playing for decades. Water, yachts, plentiful views of the wonderful Coronado Bridge, it is a treat to play--once. Pace of play, many times, is due to the number of golf shots being hit by each player. If each of the foursome cards an 8 (I don't think this is uncommon on this course), then it slows play.

Easy, pretty, and wide open. This is a great experience, but I am actively discouraging our group from playing it because it is so easy.

Quite a deal, at only $42.00 per person. We started early in the morning, so the fairways were full of dew, but that did not slow us a bit. Overall, the entire course was in excellent condition, but the greens were especially pristine (is that correct Eengleesh?), bit well, and rolled true. For this time of year I felt the fairways were in excellent condition.

Overall, another good experience at RiverWalk, Mission and Friars.

I honestly felt sorry for the course designer. To have invested this much effort to the design, crafting, and construction of this golf course, then to have it slip into a state of disrepair, seems a travesty. I see a wonderful design like this deteriorate to this level, and think " The desiger would turn over in their grave if they knew the condition of their course ". The designer of this course has a notable last name, Dye, but it Pete Dyes' brother. That being said, they have similar design ideas.

The course is in terrible condition, from the greens, comprised mainly of compressed mud underneath a thin layer of grass blades, to the fairways, the sand traps (dirt traps?), and rough.

The greens bounce and grind with any rock or golf ball which might be subjected to a rolling attempt.

For our foursome, on this day, this was one of the worst experiences ever on a golf course, in many ways worse than playing a course the day after it's greens had been sanded and aerated.

Another group of friends played the same course an hour earlier, and we shared stories after.....

We'll not be going back anytime soon, despite the spectacular design of the course itself.

We played again yesterday, with one of our foursome from out of town, who said on virtually every single tee box " WOW ", where do I aim my tee shot? or " which way does this hole go, " or where is the hole?" I kid you not, he said this on almost every hole, and he's been playing golf for decades.

I decided, since I'd played this course so many times, and continue to play it, to join their Players Club, so I am now " officially " biased. That being said, some of this information may prove useful to the readers of this web site and these reviews.

Some true statments, in my opinion, which may help you understand this course:

This is likely the tightest golf course you'll ever play
The same people who complain about how tight it is end up saying " I LOVE this course "!!!
It is short, which makes it a bit easier (please note I said " a bit ")
Most tees show so little of the landing area you'll need specific advice on 18 tees. Even on the par 3's, you need advice because they offer countless other details important to your club and shot selection. On most courses, the GPS helps, here, the on cart GPS's seem to make things rather complex.

Distances between greens and tees are so far it makes the course virtually unwalkable
Some have asked " How in the world did they build a golf course in these mountains?

You WILL lose golf balls, so come prepared. Personally, I think the greens are very fair, putt true, but they are small, narrow, and tough to hit. If you miss them, the pitch shots will hold the green, if hit properly. I think I am done for today, but I am taking another foursome, this time three newbies, to the course, next week.

Enjoy!

We walked on early on Sunday, December 29 as a twosome, and were paired with two good golfers. One of them used only 23 putts in shooting two over par 74.

The greens were even more smooth than normal--today, they were the best I've seen here, even though I've always played early in the morning on a weekend. The greens bit relatively well, but more than a few ran out enough to surprise us a few times. Course was over watered, so we had to step around puddles in more than a few places. Since we were the second group on the course, the play was very quick.

Traps were also a bit wet, but not unreasonably wet. The edges are cut well, but the sand is simply too thin, I think typical of a public course.

Overall, a great day on the course, with very high marks for the quality and predictability of the greens, all 18 of them.

This is one of the toughest courses I've played in Southern California. I never knew what elevated fairways were like until I played here, but it affects you when you hit virtually dead on target and watch your ball roll off the fairway into the rough, on the side of a hill. Most any course, if you miss the fairway by ten feet you have a flat lie with pretty much the same shot from the rough. Not here, a perfect tee shot ought to be cherished, and a good one worshipped.

Overall, a very interesting design on most any hole, always keeping me on my toes, greens very well protected. If you are on the green in regulation is almost always means you hit a good approach. This course is different enough throughout the 18 holes that it never gets boring.

Highly recommended.

This course has seen some major improvements in the past few years. Today, I consider it one of the best deals in the county.

Greens are small, small, small, fairways generally very tight. Walking is encouraged. Most greens are relatively unprotected for roll ups, which is not uncommon for a public course. I've been able to bring my foursome here with not a lot of advance notice, and I can almost always walk on myself with no notice. It has the reputation of being very hilly, tough to walk, but everyone I know walks it, never rides. 5-7 holes include some climbing, but the rest are flat--no matter what anyone tells you.

A great course, in my opinion, always fun to play, a moderate challenge, and consistently in decent condition.

I've played both North and South recently, and they are great courses to play if you want to play close in to town. The greens are generally wide open, unprotected in front most times, so more than many other courses in the area, if you roll straight up you have a shot at getting on the green with a slight miss hit.

For a public course, the fairways are consisently playable, and can roll more than other courses. Not hard, but firm, is the best way to describe them. Hole design is generally a slight dogleg, rarely a big turn. Neither course can be called hilly, although a few holes have hills on the sides, generally out of play.

I've played this course many times over the past 6 months, and I enjoy it every single time. It is tight by almost anyone's standards, and beautiful on almost every hole. Off the tee, most times you cannot get away with a bad miss. In fact, most times you cannot get away with much of a miss at all.

This course is all about hills and tight fairways, so you generally won't want to play here unless you are OK with that type of hole, over and over. They consistently offer deals for discounted rates, and they seem to be much better at customer service throughout the entire course, grounds, clubhouse, pro shop, etc. I always get that " Welcome back " type feeling, even when it has been a while. They seem to treat newcomers and veterans the same way.

Fairways are generally very consisent, but I could never call them lush. Greens are consisentently in good condition, but never perfect in any person's opinion.

We played on Christmas Day, something I'd never done in my life. The staff was cordial, the course was in excellent condition, with a noticeable difference in the greens from any other time I'd played it within the past year. Most times, the greens are full of divot marks, but this morning they were clear and smooth. Greens were holding very well, even though that could not be attributed to water--at least that day.

Although I've always played it in the morning in times past, I'd expect the number of ball marks on the greens to have been similar. They had us drive the carts only on the fairways, not on the rough, as they had just sodded a large number of weak rough areas and wanted us to avoid driving on that new sod.

All in all, a great experience, with a big compliment to the staff for the quality of the greens.