Played 4/16 with Sal, Tim and Brady. First off the entrance to the parking lot is a bit hard to find (speakeasy?) with the sign for the restaurant obvious and the one saying you have arrived at Aviara a bit obscured by hanging vines and not so prominent lettering . . . but enough for the bad, on to the good!
Tees: we played Whites as we were told the yardage is deceiving and look to the slope
tees were mostly flat with good coverage
Fairways: nice to play from with a decent amount of roll, rolling contours, rarely a flat lie, maybe not as tricky as the PGA Stadium course but still quite challenging
Rough: STICKY! with a capital STICK! stopped errant shots dead in there tracks and made advancing the ball in any civilized (controlled) fashion near impossible
Traps: sand was nice, firm in some spots a bit fluffier in others, but readily playable
Greens: some had been punched and sanded but still rolled OK, others were slick and mostly smooth, properly struck shots stuck, others did not
Layout and surrounds: the course starts off more forgiving, mostly from the tees as all the greens have big contours, and then gets a bit tighter as you go along (there is nowhere to land driver safely on the par 5 10th hole)The course is beautiful with many water features and fantastic landscaping! Yes kids, Disneyland for golfers! Nicest course I have played in SD
Customer service: EXCEPTIONAL as would be expected at an upper tier resort, saw the snack cart multiple times, order from your cell to the halfway house, check in, starter all great! Small putting green, small driving range, nice pro shop
Overall: Glad I finally got to play Aviara and will be back to try and play it smarter!

Played at 11:20 with some pals from work. Got off on time and while we were waiting Slim Shady put $5 down for the charity try to hit the tiny target in the water 30 yds away and he skipped one off the water into the hole and one a foursome amazing!
Tees: we played the whites and they were a bit chewed up but you could find a spot
Fairways: nice to hit from, a bit of roll
Rough: there isn't much here, just on the edges of play, the canyons are the hazards
Bunkers: the ones I was in were great, firm sand but pretty consistent
Greens: punched three weeks ago and are almost all the way back, slight bumps but rolled decently at medium speed
Customer service: great, I was asked at the desk if I was over 55 and got a discount (first time for me ever)of $5
Overall: fun yet challenging course in very good condition, greens should be totally back soon

Went out at 1:40 ahead of twilight by myself, walking, then was joined by a single, walking, as I was getting ready to tee off and we were joined by a third in a cart at the third tee box. No one in front of us we played in just under 4 hours. Course is in decently playable muni condition with the exception of the greens which most were really nice with a couple being a bit bumpier and the bunkers that were perfect IMHO, as I knocked one in for bird and got up and down the other times. They will be doing work next week.

Played at 1:03, GK Cup match with Mike, Gary and Andrew, thanks Andrew for setting up the round and thanks fellas for the match! On to the course.
Tees: mostly level with good coverage
Fairways: very nice with good roll out, areas where balls tend to collect due to contours and course design were a bit beat up with multiple divots
Rough: deep enough to effect shots and take spin off, but not to brutal
Bunkers: very nice and mostly well maintained
Greens: still showing holes from the punching a month ago with a few bumps along the way but coming around, took good shots, poorly struck shots took bounces
POP: started off good then caught up with the group ahead, ended up being just shy of 5 hours
Customer service: stellar from arrival to departure, great facility
Overall: recommended, fun layout with some crazy hole on the back 9!

Meh, for the first time ever after playing Maderas, meh, let me explain. After all the rain this year and with all the other courses I have played on the last few months being ultra green and plush, today Maderas was not. Granted that they are about to close for a couple days to punch the greens (and possibly oversees?) Coverage was thin EVERYWHERE, with brown everywhere besides the putting green and the hill left of the 16th green.
Tees: thin, a couple overly crowned
Fairways: thin, running HARD, decent for full shots but made partial shots and pitches tricky
Rough: nonexistent, if your ball wasn't headed in the right direction there was nothing to stop or even slow it down
Bunkers: very nice, best part of the course
Greens: good, slow, way slower than they looked, accepted well struck shots but repelled anything less. The approach areas and areas around the greens were extremely thin making chips and pitches impossible for me, lots of Texas wedges and hybrids from around the greens
POP: about 4 hours never waited we just took our time
Customer service: top notch like always, they aim to please
Overall: I got a great deal on GN, $60, today Maderas was a $60 course, a nice one with great amenities, fun layout and excellent customer service, but the actual turf and playing areas weren't spectacular . . . you'd have thought we were still suffering from a drought!
I will definitely return well after the upcoming work to the course, return in hopes of finding green grass!

Great day at the Goose with GKers Matt, Rob and Steve. Windy, warm, perfect golf weather! Found the course in great shape, all cylinders running well. Greens were fast and tricky, tees were level, fairways plush, likewise with the rough, fun varied layout that was set up pretty tough. Second time here and I liked it the first go around and enjoyed it even more today. Go play it!

Addendum: After sleeping on it I just wanted to add that the contours of the greens, runoff/collection areas, pits and dips makes this a really fun course to play . . . tricky, but not overly so. This course makes you think which helps keep, my mind anyways, engaged and interested.

Went off at 11:46, walked off at 5, too long. Played the Blacks and many were all the way back.
Tees: smooth and flat
Fairways: cut a bit tighter than last go around but still very little roll out, great to play from
Rough: cut to 2 to 3 inches but still thick and plenty penal, as Mike said the ball sits right down
Traps: the couple I was in were good to play from . . . much better than being in the rough!
Greens: fast, rolling mostly well with the easier to reach greens being the most pick marked, but they are softening
POP: a bit over 5 hours, waiting most shots, way too slow for my liking
Again with the South irrigation project going on North is the only real choice until they finish towards the end of the year.

Third off behind a bachelor party from Arizona whose first group finished 5 holes ahead of the second.

Course was in good shape considering all the weather lately
Tees: mostly level with good coverage, small but that is Balboa
Fairways: well covered and plush in the playing areas, very little roll out
Rough: thick and juicy in spots. More manageable in others
Bunkers: excellent and more consistent than Torrey's
Greens: very nice, soft but fast, they were showing footprints late in the day
Customer service: two things, we never saw anyone ( to speed the group ahead of us up) until they came by on 16 at 5:15 to say carts had to in at 5:35? Who does that? It's dark at 6? The other was I watched the same staff member drive straight across the fairway to tell my playing partner who had driven on the rough/dirt area that "Today is cart paths only!" Hilarious!
Pop: slow, as the alcohol set in on the group in front of us and there was no Marshall

Last minute went to Balboa to try and get out before twilight . . . I mean it's been cold and rainy for days I thought I had a shot, nope. Booked up, first spot 12:52. Seeing how packed it was and that many of the golfers that I was seeing go out before me, well, how do I say this kindly? They didn't look like golfers . . . sooooo no one was going out on the 9 and I haven't played it since I played it with Keith/sixpez on his quest to play everywhere large and small.
So I went out by myself, never waited, hit two balls here and there and was done in around an hour. The course was in good playable condition with some wet areas, debris from the wind piled up here and there but mostly clean. Greens were in fantastic condition rolling true and fast. Bunkers were almost perfect and fun to play from (I was in a couple and hit a few shots from another), the rest of the course was fine, but nothing spectacular, plenty playable. Great to have that option for a quick 9!

Cold, wet, playing long . . . transitioning into warmer, still wet and still playing long later.
Tees: large, level, well covered
Rough: 3" to 4", thick, gnarly and definitely penal
Fairways: a little furry, wet, ro roll but perfect to play from
Bunkers: like always a little inconsistent but very playable
Greens: still firm, rolling well, pretty fast and the ball seems to wiggle a lot . . . usually away from the hole
POP: almost 5 hrs due to searching for balls and deliberate playing partners
Overall: It's Torrey, it was a beautiful day and although it was tough out there, recommended

Played at 7:30, cold and damp, rough thick and in need of a cut. The Santa Ana winds made things interesting with holes playing quite the opposite of the usual onshore wind. Played the Black tees for some reason and it was brutal. Always nice to play Torrey and with impending work (carts will be mandatory) after the Farmers it maybe the last time I play South for awhile.

Another great GK outing! Enjoyed the day with Tim and Andrew . . . ALWAYS a pleasure playing with those two! It was great seeing the GKers out there as it seems like a looooong time since I last played in an event. The weather was perfect and even after the torrential rains (for SoCal anyways) the course played long but was in great shape! Nice solid layout, visually appealing, challenging and keeps your interest.
The accommodations afterwords were comfy and the food was tasty! Had the prime rib burger and was a juicy double patty delight!
Highly recommended all around!