Played this track Sunday the 19th early with my grandsons. Teed it up at 8am hoping to beat the heat and with the lack of golfers out there on this day we were able to do just that. Hole #1 was under some intensive construction where half this hole was dug up pretty good, but that would be the only major problem we would encounter this day. I found the greens in an overall slow pace, but easy to keep yopur line. I did have an issue with the bunkers out here, there seemed to be more hard dirt than sand so any greenside bunker play was not very good. Some of the tee boxes were not level and a little deep with grass height but again playable. I liked the way the fairways opened up for you as you teed off, made you hit the ball straighter and with all the rattlers in deep grass and trees you did not want to go looking for errant shots. Pace of play was awesome on this day, we werwe able to get our 18 hole round in under 4 hours. But I do need to ask, that this being only my second round of golf here in California why are there NO restrooms or porta potties on your courses??? We were told by a groundskeeper early in our round he did not know if there was anywhere to go except the trees. HAHA Over all I really liked this track and would play it again.

Eagle Crest Golf Club Review
Escondido California Golf Course Reviews

Played this track as a single 7:30 tee time not many people here this morning. Weather was great light breeze and warming up. Course was in excellent condition, tee boxes lush and level, fairways clean of any marks and very tight. Can not remark about the traps as I never found myself in any today, but they looked in very good condition. This one is looking real nice for this season.

Collindale Golf Course Review
Fort Collins Colorado Golf Course Reviews

Estes Park Golf Course is nestled in a valley just outside the city of Estes Park located one hour west of Fort Collins. At 8,000 feet elevation I was really excited to try this track and see what the thin air would do. The eight of us played an early round last Sunday with a cold and strong West wind and overcast skies just waiting to open up and drench us. I would like to start this by saying the staff here was awesome and very friendly to our group. When they found out our group represented six different states they went out of their way to inform us of all the little tricks needed to try and score well and have a good time. There was a big mistake however when they informed us that the greens were just as slow as the practice green, as when we arrived at the first green we found them to be FAST and firm. The layout it self is pretty simple but we found the play was not the same. You will need to set up approach to the very big and multi-tierd greens. The fairways we found to be in not season condition, thr weather has been fairly dry all winter and untill the summer rains condition the turf there will be many hard and bare areas, as well as the tee boxes needing mosture. Again this is still very early in the season here and can not wait to try this beast again in the summer. There are many tee shots that will have a blind landing due to the rolling landscape, on hole ten you are faced with a par 3 that is 175 yards but plays at only 135. Hole 6 has you teeing it over the service drive so be careful of oncoming traffic before letting it rip on this par 5. The view here is just awesome, on a sunny day you will see the mountain Longs Peak one of the 14ers here in Colorado just outside the boundries of the course and if you tee off early in morning or later in the day herds of Elk will roam around the course as you play. So needless to say there are piles of Elk doo all over the course careful where you step at times. Estes 18 is a track that plays as well as you want it to, it will not hurt your score. You need to get off the tee box straight and pay attention to pin position as this is crucial to lower scores. I will play this one again later in the year and let you know how the game goes then. Estes 18 is a course to play when you are visiting the foothills of Northern Colorado.

Estes Park Golf Course Review
Estes Park Colorado Golf Course Reviews

Played Collindale with Tanner and a new member to be, today with a steady breeze and mostly overcast and cool. First time playing here this season and found myself always mentioning how nice the course was playing in. Considering we have not recieved much as far as mostiure all year in fact back into last fall the course was in real good shape. Fairways were lush green with only a few areas here and there that were on the bald side. Greens had just been punched a few weeks ago so although they were on the bumpy side still, they were real good. Tee boxes also are starting to take hold and most were in excellent condition. As much as I would like to report that those dang trees were gone, they are almost full bloomed out and still sending out there magnetic field and having my shots hit into them, but that is a different story. The staff was very friendly today in fact because of the help they were with me and my questions I bought a set of Ping G15 irons from them maybe these will help my ball stay away from the trees haha. Anyhoo Collindale is shaping up to be in the best condition I have seen in a few years, with almost all of their bunkers being rebuilt in the past year. I am looking forward to playing this track many times this year. This is one layout in this area that you need to play.

Collindale Golf Course Review
Fort Collins Colorado Golf Course Reviews

I have always wanted to play a track in Southern California and finally got my chance this past Sunday morning, teeing off with my grandson and son-in-law before 8am. I had read about this course here on Greenskeeper but what I found was not expected at all. First I want to talk about the course it self, a public 18 hole Championship layout only minutes East of San Diego. It could be the time of season we played here but we found it a little difficult at times locating where the fairway boundaries were, it seemed the rough they have here just blended into the fairway. Because of this issue if you never had played here before locating the green could be a little awkward at first. I am used to a distinctive seperation of the fairway and rough.Many elevation changes between tee box and greens are also very strong on this course along with a lot of hidden shots. On the fourth hole you play a short par 4 but all you see is the green making it look much shorter than it really is. Mission Trails is a course that demands the best course management you have. Many of the shots here require you to put your ego into the bag and play smart. I found that most of the tee boxes could have used a little more grooming and that the greens over all were very hard and fast. Again this could all be due to the time of season I played here, as everything was very green. I also found this is a track you must carry your own water because I never saw any drinking water after I left the club house. Also missing on this course (except after hole 11) are any rest rooms or porta potties. I will tell you however that when you reach the tee box on 11 the whole area has a aweful stench from golfers using the bushes. Please what is up here California? I general the layout of this course is very playable and you can have a fun round and score well. However there was a problem I found here that really disturbed us. Starting off was the employee working the counter, when I informed him we had never been here and was asking questions of the course he just blew me off and said just follow that trail there. Next up was the starter who sitting only 30 feet away from golfers teeing off never wanted to be quiet. Several times I nudged him to let him know to be quiet this I never saw before. It usually the starter letting other golfers to stay still and quiet. But the best was this range marshall. When we set up our tee time we informed them that my grandson who has never played before would be there with us, and they gave us a tee time right in front of a local golf tournament. Every 15 minutes this guy would come up to us and inform us to pick up the pace of play even though we were playing on time. When we finished fifth hole he again says he does not want to seem pushy but asks me if we would skip a few holes because of the tournament. I looked at him and politely inform him for some one not seeming pushy he was doing a d%mn good job at it, and that NO we were not skipping any holes. They were the ones that gave us the tee time and they knew about this tournament. Yes we were using a cart so that was not an issue and we finished the from nine only 4 minutes off pace. I hope this was only an isolated indecent. Wow my first sub par review and it comes here.

Mission Trail Golf Course Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews

Ute Creek is a 18 hole Championship Course designed by the Robert Trent Jones II grou, maintained by the city of Longmont one of three courses located in Longmont. Ute Creek is located 40 minutes Northwest of Denver off CO 66 four miles West of I 25. Playing at a Par 72 this course starts at 5,509 yards front tees to a long 7,167 yards from the Championship Black tees. There are five tee boxes all listed as to the suggested level of play.Fairways are blue grass kept tight and the greens are bent grass giving you the feeling of a very expensive resort course. Ute Creek will challenge you with five lakes, two creeks, deep native grasses and SAND. This is a links type course so you will not find many trees to contend with but you will learn how to play out of bunkers because there are a lot of BIG DEEP sand boxes for you to play in. Ute Creek opened in 1997 so this course is still maturing to give it self an identity to live with, but what is there now,was something that gave us a thrill to play. There were some distractions such as a course marshall demanding that we play faster even though we were 8 minutes ahead of pace. Seems almost every one rides here and he did not like the notion of us walking to enjoy this site and taking photos of this course. Do not let the large well groomed putting green located behind the club house fool you he greens out on Ute Creek are a big adventure waiting for you. Most of the greens are multi tired and slope in many different directions, pin postions are criticle to your approach shot selections. The fairways were lush and maintained very well, damage due to the heavy rains we recieved over the past three weeks was marked "under repair". You will learn to play out of sand on this course as almost all the holes are lined with traps from mid point fairways to protecting greens. Some are fairly deep and huge in size but all the sand was soft and playable, when you hit out of these you are able to stop your ball clean. The opening hole is a slight downhill dogleg left to a raised green, this is a exellent starting hole to get you going. They always say you need to keep it straight and in the center. This never meant more than playing this course. The rough here is native grass and some of it is very tall, if you stay away from this grass then stay away from the water too. Lots of water could come into play here, and just when you think you have these two problems taking care of here comes the bunker play. Ute Creek is not a hard course to play and will not hurt your game, only you can hurt your score here. Ute Creek requires you to play smart, lay up when needed as some of the trouble areas are much larger than they appear to be when you are out in the fairway. All score cards come with a diagram showing pin locations be sure and ask what location is being used the day you are playing here. Ute Creek has a full service pro shop, driving range, putting green and resturant. The young man at the front desk was very friendly and helpful and the grounds crew we came apon to were very friendly. Only the marshall who seemed to be having a bad day and was pushing us for the front nine, was a distraction to our round today. I will be back to this course as they always get easier as you become aware of where to play your shots. I would give the course and play 9 out of 10. Grab your sticks and play Ute Creek you will not be disapointed.

Played Olde Course again today with Tanner and found that it is really growing out nice. The tee boxes seemed to be a bit larger this time around but very lush and level. Fairways were a little damp after the rain we had last night but found them to be in very good condition with little unattended damage. I did not have to hit out of the bunkers but watching the other three in my group I was looking at some very soft conditions. The greens well they were very fast and firm today, I was not used to that here as usualy they feel soft. Pace of play was up and down, we were folowing a threesome that had lots of trouble and the foursome behind us was constantly hitting up to us. We even had a guy go for the green while we were putting. These were the only idiots trying to ruin our round. This course is really in fantastic condition, you would never know they have winter here. Will be back for some more next month.

There are golf courses and then there are wanna-be golf course, what Cozippy and I found here today at Colorado National is A Golf Course. We did have one advantage to help us today and that being this course had just held the NCAA regional here so it was set up even tougher than it would have been. Colorado National sets you up to play at your level with six sets of tees ranging from 4,790 yards front set all the way back to monster 7,676 yards championship tee. This is a course that although can play long will really need you to manage the hole correctly with well place tee shots and approach play. Colorado National is the home for the University of Colorado Buffaloes so this is not your flat level course, many elevation changes are found here. Well placed bunkers are located on almost every hole tempting you at times even daring you to take shots you should not. Many green are multi tiered and depending on pin placement just reaching the green in regulation could be just have the battle. We found many placements today in tight to the breaks if you were uphill of the pin you were in for some work to save your score. There are a lot of dog legs to play here both left and right and the rough was playing very deep. The 15th hole is a monster of a hole playing from 472 yds all the to 696 yards but really this hole is so straight that you should have a chance for par from every tee box. We were greeted by the gentleman working the desk with upmost courtesy and professionalism and this trend continued through out our round today. We were paired up with another twosome who said they have played here several times before and were very friendly with us even helping to describe what and how we should make our shots. This was a very pleasnt experiance for us, in fact everybody we met here were very real and sincere. Colorado National has full top notch Pro Shop, an exellent driving range, putting green and an area to practice your chips. Located 3 miles west of I25 on Colorado 7 Colorado National is close to the Denver and Fort Collins area. If you are looking for a tour grade course to play this is the one you need to get to. Yes this course plays long, has lots of bunker play but if you are not able to play Pebble Beach, Firestone ect... this is as close as you can get. Play here is constant movement you will not find yourself waiting this creates even more enjoyment. This is a 10 out of 10. Good luck and score well.

Mountain Vista Golf located just minutes North of Fort Collins off I25 is a regulation 9 hole course that opened for play in 1992. Yardage plays 5,370 from the front tee's to a long 6,988 from the championship tee boxes, and with a rating of 35.6 and a slope at 118 there is room for all levels of play here. Most of the holes have sharp dog legs with hidden shot placements, a creek that runs throught the middle of the course and many mature trees. Tanner and I decided to give this course a go and see what it is that makes Mountain Vista, Mountain Vista. We picked a 9AM tee time getting there early to warm up at the range, use the putting green and get some pitch shots in before teeing off. The gentleman working the pro shop was very informative and friendly however the rest of the staff there seemed a little more pushy and not sencere. We decided to play the first nine holes from the Blue Tee boxes then switch to the White Tee's for the final nine holes, hoping this would change the layout of this course some. We found that most of the tee boxes were in pretty good condition but there were some damage to a few of them. Fairways were mostly lush and close mowed to allow great approach shots to the greens. Some winter kill to the greens were noticable but even still they rolled mostly smooth and true. Some breaks were found but over all these greens are fairly easy greens. Sand play was a surprise, looking at them you would think they were going to hard crunchy sand but in fact were smooth and easy to hit out of. The bunkers (not very many here) are rather shallow except for a handful so playing these greenside are not very intimidating at all. One fact here today that upset me was when we were making the turn to play the second nine holes the starter put a another slow twosome with the ones just ahead of us forcing the two of us to play behind them as a foursome now. We were not allowed to play through at any time and made our second round so much unpleasant. Then the cart lady would constantly approach you even when attempting hit the ball asking if you wanted a beer. Over all I found Mountain Vista Golf to be a nice place to get away for a couple hours and get a few holes in. Not one I want to get back to any time real soon. The cost of play here on weekends I feel is a little steep at $31.00 walking for what you have to play with. Maybe on a weekday morning if I get bored I will try it again. But if all you want is to get nine holes in on a sunny day this is where you should play. Have fun and score low

Played gold course at Hyland Hills today with Tanner after seeing the review and photos on this site. The Gold course plays at 5,500 yards from the forward tees all the way to monster 7,100 yards Gold tees. This course is not your same old city opperated golf course NO Sir! this guy has a lot of interesting layouts for you to conquer and enjoy. The front nine starts out 5-4-5 with tripple dog legs left and right. The fairways are moderate wide but not to much and have several areas where the become very narrow and tree lined. The eighth hole a par 3 plays onto a island type layout. This not a true island hole but has the apperance of one as water plays on three sides of the green. One part of this course that seemed a little unusual is the fact that number 10 is located out on the course not anywhere near the clubhouse, you just continue thrugh your round. There is a snack shack located between 9-10 to ghrab a bite. Although you get the feeling the front nine plays a little tight the back nine plays other than number 10 which has a downhill tee shot to a possible blind second shot the fairways play much more open. Hole number 13 a par 3 has a huge pond in front of it and anything pushed right will be lost in the woods. The toughest hole to play here on your first attempt of this course would be the final hole number 18. This hole has a nasty hard dogleg left just past the bunkers on the right side after the 150 marker. This green is hidden into the trees with a very tight approach shot. As I said earlier this not a course you can take for granted and have a great score, you need to understand course managment if you expect to have a low round here. The overall condition of this course given the time of season and the weather we have been having was almost exellent. There are many greens that will test your abillity to read both the track and speed. I can not comment on the bunkers as I never had the chance to play out of them.There is a large driving range here but keep in mind it is a long walk to go there and with no signs telling you where it is ask in the clubhouse first. The practice green here is awesome not one that I am used to seeing. It is very large and has several different breaks for you to practice on, this a stop you really need to start with as the speed of the greens here are what you will feel out on the course. I gladly give this a 4 1/2 out of 5 and need to get back here for seconds and thirds.

Played Collindale today with Tanner and found this course to be in really good condition for the time of season. They have rebuilt all the traps on this course and installed very soft sand, even in the pratice area. The greens have been airated and are growing out very nice. Some of the water hazzards are still dry and the creek is still not flowing but the ponds have been refilled and waiting to take your errants shots from you for ever. Pace of play today started out real fast as we were just a double folowing a foursome that seemed to stay ahead also. Near the end of our round we found ourselves waiting on tee shots more often but no problem at all. The course marshall was seen several times today so that kept the pace of play quick. This course is really starting to look good for the season get out here and have fun.

Played Twin Peaks on Sunday May15th with Tanner. Twin Peaks located 40 minutes north of Denver in Longmont is a traditional style championship course. Opened for play in 1977 this course features wide open fairways, elevated and undulating greens and water hazzards that come into play on eight of the holes. Twin Peaks is a par 70 course that will challenge you from the back tee's yet is enjoyable for all levels of players. The yardage ranges from 5,410 yards at the front tee's all the way to 6,809 yards at the back tee's. There is a full service clubhouse,large driving range,putting green and the staff here are very helpful and courteous. You can call for a tee time up to seven days in advance or sign up for there new online program and get an additional three days more. The phone number for the pro shop at Twin Peaks is 1-303-651-8401. The green fee here on weekends at 18 holes was only $31.00 so that is a plus an easy course to walk but if you need a cart it is an additional $26.00 for two riders. Onto our play experiance here today we found the course needing a lot of work on the fairways, there were a lot of bare spots all around the course. The rough was a little on the short side and thin in places but with the warmer weather heading our way I am sure it will fill in nice. The front nine plays pretty wide open with some water coming into play on several holes where the back nine plays alongside homes and a couple of roads. There are not alot of bunkers here at Twin Peaks but the ones they have protecting the greens are fairly deep and in very good condition. We played in wet sand and still it was in soft condition. The greens although almost all small and narrow in size were in very good condition except for hole 10 all were smooth rolling. I was a little disapointed in the weather we played in heavy overcast and light rain so we did not get to enjoy the views Twin Peaks has to offer, the Mountains were no where to be seen and the colors of the course were all gray. In conclusion we found Twin Peaks to be a fun,enjoyable, and challengeing course to play but one that was not a course that would bring us back right away. Have fun and score low.