In many ways my round at Soule Park was for me the perfect round of golf. Perfect weather, on a course you can walk for only $40 bucks on the weekend... » More

In many ways my round at Soule Park was for me the perfect round of golf. Perfect weather, on a course you can walk for only $40 bucks on the weekend. The surrounding hills were enrobed in green and looking majestic. The course - very green - challenging but not hard so you can enjoy the company of the friends you came with without someone becoming sullen over their lost balls and dignity.

The greens hadn't yet completely healed from the aeration but we agreed that the little bit of slowness and bumpiness offset the difficulty of faster greens we might have faced - so nobody was bothered. Tee boxes were mostly fine but had to move my tee when I found myself standing in a depression a couple of time. Fairways were good and rough was thick - really thick in places - where, when trying to find a ball - the four of us had to set up one of those lines like they do when investigators are searching a forest for clues.

Soule Park is an easy place to have an enjoyable round of golf.
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Played an SCGA outing in wonderfully warm conditions. Just like golf used to be 7 or so months ago. Went in with lowish expectations and Porter Vall... » More

Played an SCGA outing in wonderfully warm conditions. Just like golf used to be 7 or so months ago. Went in with lowish expectations and Porter Valley sneaked over them with little room to spare. While par 70 it does have three par 5's and most of the par three's are over 200 yards so it rarely feels short and since it's full of huge sand filled calderas guarding tiered and tilted greens - it also rarely felt easy. Front nine was friendly enough but after the turn the walls started closing in and the houses kept inching toward the fairways until the cart path becomes and integral part of the fairway (they have special rules to deal with that).

Tee boxes, fairways, and rough all had a public course feel to them but on a slightly better than average day. The bunkers I was in had heavy sand that caught me off guard the first time I hit in one. Greens were smooth and fairly fast - with all the undulations - difficult to score on.

For me the back nine is the reason I probably won't play here again. Watching a ball travel into somebody's back yard or worse detracts too much from the fun. I kept the ball in play all day but not everyone in my group was so lucky and next time it will probably be me.
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Was it the best idea to play golf in a rainwater catch basin after days of rain? No, not at all. Balboa's strength is not drainage. Depending on wh... » More

Was it the best idea to play golf in a rainwater catch basin after days of rain? No, not at all. Balboa's strength is not drainage. Depending on where you hit the ball, your ball could be fine or stuck in a muddy area or puddle. Had to lift clean and search for land 4 times. While this didn't bother me, what brought an Iron Eyes Cody tear to my face was all the golf cart tracks doing governmental shutdown levels or destruction to the course. Sure, a lot of rope was used to keep lazy idiots from doing their worst but thoughtlessness beats rope any day. A pair of strangers in my group made me wince a couple of times with completely unnecessary driving leaving a wake of tracks behind them.

The surprising positives - the two bunkers I was in were in good shape and the greens seemed unnaturally smooth. I would say medium plus speed which is as fast as Balboa goes. I also had some really nice grass to chip out of on some of the holes - others - a bit patchy.

Interested to see how the course fares after it's had time to dry out and grow.
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