Golf Course Reviews
Golf Course Reviews: California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Hawaii!Played 6/26 in the morning. Pace was a little slow but not horrible at around 4.5 hours. Tee boxes are fine. Fairways weren’t great, with a lot of bare areas and places that are very overwatered (one really shouldn’t be dealing with mud balls constantly on tee shots in the fairway when there hasn’t been any recent rain). The rough is fairly thick and lush. Bunkers were mixed, with some sand very thin and others quite deep, and several that people hadn’t bothered raking. Greens weren’t great, being pretty slow and quite bumpy with a lot of ball mark damage - putting is tough when the ball is bouncing around so much.
A comment about the unraked bunkers and ball mark damage on the greens: we played behind a Men’s Club event and since much of the greens damage and bunker issues were clearly fresh it’s clear the source was the Men’s Club. C’mon AB Men’s Club players, take pride in your course and repair your damage!
A comment about the unraked bunkers and ball mark damage on the greens: we played behind a Men’s Club event and since much of the greens damage and bunker issues were clearly fresh it’s clear the source was the Men’s Club. C’mon AB Men’s Club players, take pride in your course and repair your damage!
Played midweek, and overall not impressed. Condition was mostly OK, with some maintenance going on like a couple heavily aerated fairways with plugs all over. Greens were inconsistent, with some rolling medium speed, a couple slow and shaggy, and some medium-quick.
Pace of play was HORRIBLE, at 5h20m during a midweek round. There were 3 foursomes waiting on the 6th tee. We inquired about the pace issue to one of the player assistants driving around and all he said was “yeah, really slow” with zero interest in trying to address it.
The layout is just weird and frankly not very enjoyable. It is clearly shoehorned into a piece of land that didn’t lend itself to good design, and it shows. Between the layout and pace, this is an easy course to avoid.
Pace of play was HORRIBLE, at 5h20m during a midweek round. There were 3 foursomes waiting on the 6th tee. We inquired about the pace issue to one of the player assistants driving around and all he said was “yeah, really slow” with zero interest in trying to address it.
The layout is just weird and frankly not very enjoyable. It is clearly shoehorned into a piece of land that didn’t lend itself to good design, and it shows. Between the layout and pace, this is an easy course to avoid.
Greens very inconsistent. Recently punched and sanded, there was still a lot of sand in spots, and some greens showed minimal punching. Very hard to figure out pace when the surfaces are all over the map.
Fairways were mostly OK. Lies were a bit thin but playable, with occasional bare spots. Not much rough, but it was mostly playable. Tee boxes were mostly fine. Quite a bit of divot damage on par 3s, but could always find a decent lie.
Bunkers remain poor at this course, as I've found every time I've played it. Don't know why they struggle so much with something that doesn't grow. We had fairway bunkers with super soft sand, green side bunkers with hard firm sand while the adjacent bunker was soft, some were washed out with a lot of water damage, some had little sand coverage over a base of hard clay. And most of the soft bunkers weren't smoothed out much at all, and it wasn't just players who hadn't raked - it just wasn't applied uniformly through the bunker and gave a very lumpy surface.
GPS on the carts is pretty lousy. The displays look lovely but we had our system die going down the first hole and had to switch carts, and the replacement crashed several times and needed rebooting, and sometimes the yardages were wildly off (by hundreds of yards). It wasn't just our bad luck - the starter said he hated the systems and said they're constantly causing problems.
The range is large but yet somehow was too crowded as they had a bunch of spots reserved or otherwise roped off. Range balls are quite expensive but at least one gets a bit of a discount if you have a tee time (otherwise it's $17 for a large bag which is at least 50% overpriced). Range balls were pretty poor quality too, with about 1 in 4 being decent and the recent being very worn. The range was pretty chewed up and took some work to get good lies to hit from.
Overall, the place just isn't that good. It's too bad as they do a good job of making you not realize you're in the middle of an industrial and office area, and a lot of the holes have a decent design. It feels like it wouldn't take too much to make the place much better as the issues aren't major, but there are just too many of them to recommend. It really feels it just needs some management that cares.
Fairways were mostly OK. Lies were a bit thin but playable, with occasional bare spots. Not much rough, but it was mostly playable. Tee boxes were mostly fine. Quite a bit of divot damage on par 3s, but could always find a decent lie.
Bunkers remain poor at this course, as I've found every time I've played it. Don't know why they struggle so much with something that doesn't grow. We had fairway bunkers with super soft sand, green side bunkers with hard firm sand while the adjacent bunker was soft, some were washed out with a lot of water damage, some had little sand coverage over a base of hard clay. And most of the soft bunkers weren't smoothed out much at all, and it wasn't just players who hadn't raked - it just wasn't applied uniformly through the bunker and gave a very lumpy surface.
GPS on the carts is pretty lousy. The displays look lovely but we had our system die going down the first hole and had to switch carts, and the replacement crashed several times and needed rebooting, and sometimes the yardages were wildly off (by hundreds of yards). It wasn't just our bad luck - the starter said he hated the systems and said they're constantly causing problems.
The range is large but yet somehow was too crowded as they had a bunch of spots reserved or otherwise roped off. Range balls are quite expensive but at least one gets a bit of a discount if you have a tee time (otherwise it's $17 for a large bag which is at least 50% overpriced). Range balls were pretty poor quality too, with about 1 in 4 being decent and the recent being very worn. The range was pretty chewed up and took some work to get good lies to hit from.
Overall, the place just isn't that good. It's too bad as they do a good job of making you not realize you're in the middle of an industrial and office area, and a lot of the holes have a decent design. It feels like it wouldn't take too much to make the place much better as the issues aren't major, but there are just too many of them to recommend. It really feels it just needs some management that cares.
Course is in very good to excellent condition. Tee boxes good. Fairways are green and lush, and they have the grass a bit longer so not a lot of roll. Rough is starting to be punishing again - it's very lush and they're growing it a bit longer, and our group had a number of lost balls even though we had a good idea where the ball went into the deep stuff. Greens are very good, and were soft enough to hold longer shots in but rolled quite true and quickly. Only issue was the green side bunkers, where they're overwatering everything around the greens and as a result all the bunkers we were in were very hard sand that was packed together. Fairway bunkers were soft and fluffy but the green side bunkers were hard and firm, just the opposite of what one would like. If they get the grounds crew in work the sand better, the course would be in the best shape I've seen it outside of what the PGA players get to enjoy.
Hadn't played here in awhile and was told by several people Carlton was in good shape. Frankly, they were wrong. The greens were at least grass now with almost no bare spots, but they were slow and had a lot of pitch mark damage. A lot. Tee boxes are very unlevel throughout, either very crowned or sometimes seriously sloping one way so it often felt like hitting from a side hill lie. Fairways were thin with a lot of areas marked GIR and a lot more that should be marked. Off the fairway was little grass, with large expanses of hard pan. Around the greens the rough was decent, with some bare patches. Bunkers were mixed; one I was in had OK sand, but several others were had a lot of small and not so small rocks, and one was just a skiff of sand over clay. Pace of play wasn't too bad, around 4:15 on a weekday.
Always like the layout here, but the condition right now is pretty iffy. Starting at the practice tee, range balls were very rough, many gouged up or scalped, or lacking dimples, and it was hard to find grass to hit off. On the course, tee boxes were very thin and took some hunting to find a good lie. Fairways are also thin in many areas, But not too many bare areas. Greens looked mostly ok but had a lot of bumps and were cut inconsistently (some looked like the mower skipped some of them). The rough was patchy, with bare spots prevelant among the tufts of longer grass. Bunkers were pretty poor, especially green side where there were lots of rocks and pebbles and the sand was very thin, hard, and sometimes scarce. Some can be forgiven for end of summer, but other issues shouldn’t be there. Kudos, however to the cart staff who were on the spot to pick us up in the parking lot, friendly and helpful.
Journey is probably in the best condition I've ever seen it. Overall it is quite lush and green, even in the middle of a dry summer here. Tee boxes, fairways, rough, and greens really couldn't be much better. Probably the only knock I could find was the traps were inconsistent and some were very firm. Strangely, I found the sand in a couple fairway traps to be soft while some green side traps were too hard - should be the other way around! But even so, the course is simply in great condition, and the grounds crew should be commended.
Encinitas Ranch is in better shape than I've seen in quite a while, but it is still sort of average in conditions all around. The greens are look fairly good although we did have putts bouncing around a lot. Fairways are pretty good, mostly decent lies all around and only occasional bare areas. Bunkers are horrible. Every one our group found was hard and crusty, some had grass popping up, and all could use a good raking. If you're an Encinitas resident, it's not a bad value but it's terribly overpriced otherwise.
Played 3/21 in the morning with an 8am tee time. Quite simply, I don't know if I've seen Torrey South look better. Fairways are lush and green but still roll out quite a bit, the rough is thick and tough but not terribly oppressive (one can find their ball OK, but it's still tough to get out with a good shot), traps have nice sand and were pretty well cared for, and the greens are rolling medium fast and very true, with relatively little divot damage. The greenskeepers are doing a great job, although they were a bit diabolical with some of the pin placements today - not a day to go pin hunting!
Service was pretty good, beginning with friendly starters at the window and the 1st tee. The beverage cart came by us at about 4-5 times during the round, and service at the halfway house was also friendly. My only complaint would be they're charging $5 for an Arnold Palmer now, which is certainly more than I see at other high end courses. But hard to complain too much when one gets to pay the resident green fee rate!
The tee sheet didn't seem packed this morning, and as a result we didn't have anyone in front of us or behind the whole time, finishing in 4 hours flat at a nice leisurely pace. We were lucky to not have any coastal fog this morning, and the ocean was flat and we could see quite a few whales offshore, some only a few hundred yards off the beach. The recent rains have everything nice and green, and the wildflowers in the canyons are in full bloom. Too bad the jets from MCAS kept spoiling the peace and quiet.
Seriously, the course is in tip top shape - a great time to get out and enjoy it!
Service was pretty good, beginning with friendly starters at the window and the 1st tee. The beverage cart came by us at about 4-5 times during the round, and service at the halfway house was also friendly. My only complaint would be they're charging $5 for an Arnold Palmer now, which is certainly more than I see at other high end courses. But hard to complain too much when one gets to pay the resident green fee rate!
The tee sheet didn't seem packed this morning, and as a result we didn't have anyone in front of us or behind the whole time, finishing in 4 hours flat at a nice leisurely pace. We were lucky to not have any coastal fog this morning, and the ocean was flat and we could see quite a few whales offshore, some only a few hundred yards off the beach. The recent rains have everything nice and green, and the wildflowers in the canyons are in full bloom. Too bad the jets from MCAS kept spoiling the peace and quiet.
Seriously, the course is in tip top shape - a great time to get out and enjoy it!
Played 2/15. Course is in excellent shape and showing very few signs of the winter storms. Maintenance was excellent with no issues found. Greens weren't quite as fast as they often are at Maderas, but rolled beautifully. Fairways always gave a good lie, rough was in good shape (although there isn't much rough on this course), bunkers were excellent. And service was outstanding as always.
Played Sat 10/1 in morning in about 4:35. While that doesn't sound real slow, it felt more aggravating because the back nine was much slower than the front.
Greens are pretty good, a bit slow and mostly smooth and true, but the ones they punched were a bit bumpy and slower. Fairways are mostly good, with only a few bare lies. Tee boxes were very good. Sand was mostly good, although there were some bunkers that seemed to be just a whiff of sand over dirt.
The rough is pretty bad, however. It looks OK and somewhat lush from a distance, but when you get close you see it is larger tufts of grass with bare spots in between. A ball almost never would landin the grass part, but instead would be laying on bare dirt (often muddy since they're overwatering the rough) and up against a blob of grass, making it very difficult to judge what the ball might do. The rough was especially poor around the greens. Very disappointing for such a premier (and very expensive) course.
Greens are pretty good, a bit slow and mostly smooth and true, but the ones they punched were a bit bumpy and slower. Fairways are mostly good, with only a few bare lies. Tee boxes were very good. Sand was mostly good, although there were some bunkers that seemed to be just a whiff of sand over dirt.
The rough is pretty bad, however. It looks OK and somewhat lush from a distance, but when you get close you see it is larger tufts of grass with bare spots in between. A ball almost never would landin the grass part, but instead would be laying on bare dirt (often muddy since they're overwatering the rough) and up against a blob of grass, making it very difficult to judge what the ball might do. The rough was especially poor around the greens. Very disappointing for such a premier (and very expensive) course.
Played Thursday 4/16 with a mid morning time. Pace was quite slow at a little over 5 hours, waiting for every shot. The starter gives you a long speech about their "under 4:30" pace policy, but it doesn't seem to help at all and the on-course player assistants didn't seem to be doing anything about moving the slow groups along.
Tee boxes were mostly good with some divot damage, but not so much as it affected where to tee. Fairways were fairly thin, firm, and fast, with quite a few places with very thin lies. Bunkers were pretty good (except for player damage - comments below), with good sand and plenty of it. Greens were pretty good although fairly slow; no bare areas and reasonably smooth, except for player damage (again).
The pricing at Encinitas is quite high for the quality of the course unless you're an Encinitas resident, i.e. it isn't a very good value. A prior reviewer indicated the carts have good GPS, but our cart didn't have GPS and we didn't see any on any other carts. Overall, Encinitas Ranch is an average muni with some distant ocean views, at a high price.
One final word about the course conditioning. One thing that makes it feel like just an average muni, in addition to the slow pace and average conditioning, is the extensive player-caused damage and litter around the place. Every green had many, many unfixed pitch marks. Bunkers had footprints throughout, often going out of the bunker right beside a rake. Unfilled divot marks were plentiful in the fairways, despite the divot mix on every cart. Empty beer bottles and other litter were laying all over the place. Multiple cigar and cigarette butts were scattered on nearly every tee box, plus alongside greens. It feels that most of the people who play here absolute slobs without any respect for the course. I'm sure that isn't actually true, but it just doesn't feel cared for by the players.
Tee boxes were mostly good with some divot damage, but not so much as it affected where to tee. Fairways were fairly thin, firm, and fast, with quite a few places with very thin lies. Bunkers were pretty good (except for player damage - comments below), with good sand and plenty of it. Greens were pretty good although fairly slow; no bare areas and reasonably smooth, except for player damage (again).
The pricing at Encinitas is quite high for the quality of the course unless you're an Encinitas resident, i.e. it isn't a very good value. A prior reviewer indicated the carts have good GPS, but our cart didn't have GPS and we didn't see any on any other carts. Overall, Encinitas Ranch is an average muni with some distant ocean views, at a high price.
One final word about the course conditioning. One thing that makes it feel like just an average muni, in addition to the slow pace and average conditioning, is the extensive player-caused damage and litter around the place. Every green had many, many unfixed pitch marks. Bunkers had footprints throughout, often going out of the bunker right beside a rake. Unfilled divot marks were plentiful in the fairways, despite the divot mix on every cart. Empty beer bottles and other litter were laying all over the place. Multiple cigar and cigarette butts were scattered on nearly every tee box, plus alongside greens. It feels that most of the people who play here absolute slobs without any respect for the course. I'm sure that isn't actually true, but it just doesn't feel cared for by the players.
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