Played in a Club shotgun Sunday morning, got around in 4:45, busy day on the Hill. The Babe is in really good shape right now, tee to green. Fairways full but have divot damage in landing areas, mos... Continue »

Played in a Club shotgun Sunday morning, got around in 4:45, busy day on the Hill. The Babe is in really good shape right now, tee to green. Fairways full but have divot damage in landing areas, most get filled by sand/seed. Bunkers I ventured had good sand and were well conditioned. Greens as good as Poa can get, nearly immaculate minus a few unrepaired marks. Quick but not overly so, and very true. If you know that there are some narrow, target holes on this course going into your round (1-4, 9, 11, & 18 come to mind) then you should not be surprised what happens when you miss a fairway here ... lost ball or punch out. Oh yeah, new carts with top shelf GPS are in. The Babe is the best condition I've played all year and the 'deal' is still available. Highly recommended.

Just finished playing the Babe course. It is in great shape. Fairways are lush and cut tight. Some of the lower lying parts of the fairways were a little mushy. The rough is thick and challenging to p... Continue »

Just finished playing the Babe course. It is in great shape. Fairways are lush and cut tight. Some of the lower lying parts of the fairways were a little mushy. The rough is thick and challenging to play out of sometimes. The greens were beautifully manicured and super fast. I love playing here on both courses.

Played the Babe Wed. afternoon in a Guest Day shotgun. PoP very good at under 4.5 hours with minimal waiting, not always like this so that was a pleasant surprise. Found the course in generally very... Continue »

Played the Babe Wed. afternoon in a Guest Day shotgun. PoP very good at under 4.5 hours with minimal waiting, not always like this so that was a pleasant surprise. Found the course in generally very good condition, tee to green ... although I felt the greens were rolling a bit slow today which was difficult to adjust as they're normally quick. Fairways full with no bare spots (no overwatering but some soft areas to avoid), rough medium length, and bunkers a bit crusty, for lack of a better word. I found absolutely none of the course issues that dconnally mentioned in his previous review. In fact, I don't even know how to respond to his essay other than to say ... maybe it's just timing. I enjoyed the course and staff was great ... yes, some of the carts are getting old and should be changed out soon. Personally, I think the water and ice in the cooler is a nice touch (I always bring my own liquids), actually, I don't know of too many courses that offer that to their patrons. And, for the record, the LPGA came here in 2011 because they opted out of their deal with La Costa, so they had a big sponsor (Kia) and had nowhere to go. The IH management were extremely proactive in putting together a championship course in a years timeframe ... the terrible weather during the tourney didn't help. And, realistically, IH never really held much hope to make it a regular stop on the Pro Women's tour. The reduced rates are still in effect along with Mega Monday. Recommended.

I played the Babe on my first round in the 2015 SCGA Amateur Net Championship on Tuesday morning, 4/14/15, on a warm clear day with only light breezes. I can see why the women pros picked up and moved... Continue »

I played the Babe on my first round in the 2015 SCGA Amateur Net Championship on Tuesday morning, 4/14/15, on a warm clear day with only light breezes. I can see why the women pros picked up and moved from here down to Aviara – IH bills itself as a premier layout but so many things say otherwise. The Babe course is narrow and challenging – a friend, upon hearing we were playing there, told me to first take all the woods out of my bag!! I didn’t find it that extreme, but there are many aspects of course design and course conditions that I find negative. As I stated in my review of the Ike course last January, these courses are badly overwatered. Fairways, rough, and tees are too soft, even as we are in the midst of a long-term drought that makes other courses baked nightmares. I have a low ball flight and these soft conditions really make these courses play long for me, but conditions today went beyond just affecting my game. Many tees were not level and are set up very narrow, but the tees themselves are so wet as to be easily torn up by players ahead of you, and the narrowness of the overall boxes and restricted area around the boxes doesn’t give you any options to get better turf. We were forced to take drops for casual standing water on both the middle of the 6th fairway and the middle of the 18th fairway. I almost lost my footing walking off the 11th green back to the cart path over a grassy but hidden slop/muddy area next to the green. And sprinklers came on in the 12th fairway behind us just after we passed around 1130. These conditions contributed to the ridiculous “path only” designations on holes 3, 4, and 8. The course personnel at the beginning of the round discussed areas of “raccoon damage” from which drops could be taken. In my opinion these aren’t areas torn up by animals; these are areas that are badly overwatered and have been torn up by equipment crossing the areas and leaving muddy ruts and other damage. Greens were the high point of the round – with few ballmarks, they were smooth, receptive, and rolled well at medium fast speeds. Fairways gave generally good lies when we weren’t dodging casual water. Rough was also generally cut down and playable, but could be difficult in areas where it was wet and lengthy. Sand traps were thin, firm, and damp – these conditions were OK when hitting from fairway traps, but were difficult when playing from traps around the greens. Problems with course setup and maintenance contributed to an unhappy day – I stepped in a hole coming off 9th tee and could have broken an ankle. What I dubbed “anklebreakers” were found on the slope along the 15th hole on the left side between the path and OB – there are a number of small trees that have been cut down, but stealth 12-inch long stumps have been left sticking up through the loose leaves, ready to trip up golfers and tear up their legs. The sand refill box at #10 tee was empty. Our cart had bouncy springs but no shocks. The water fountain on #17 was not working. Maintenance guys were actively mowing #10 fairway while we were hitting, then we got the weed whackers working on #11. On #16 a huge bougainvillea bush blocks the view of fairway from the blue tee – where are those maintenance guys with the weed whacker when you need them?! The tournament setup contributed to the delights of the day: each golfer got only 1 water only in the ice chest; the committee put up “bend over and grab your ankles” pin placements on #2 (far right), 8 (back tier), and 12 (front left). These and course conditions contributed to having 3 groups on #3 tee when we arrived; the POP for the round was 5+ hours, despite SCGA's admonitions for a 4.5 hour pace. So this is a challenging, difficult course made more challenging by maintenance conditions. Be prepared.

Course has recovered nicely from aeration. Course is in great shape all around and should be even better for the SCGA finals. POP was under 4 hours even after searching for several lost balls.

Course has recovered nicely from aeration. Course is in great shape all around and should be even better for the SCGA finals. POP was under 4 hours even after searching for several lost balls.

Back on the Babe this morning, very slow play in a club tourney. Greens getting very firm with this summer weather but rolling true at medium speed. Dry fairways, need some water which is a rare sta... Continue »

Back on the Babe this morning, very slow play in a club tourney. Greens getting very firm with this summer weather but rolling true at medium speed. Dry fairways, need some water which is a rare statement this time of year. Rough very good, full and green. A couple bunkers that I visited had good sand coverage. Hard to hold shots today due to the firmness and it will be that way until they punch them next week. Course is in overall very good condition.

No rain this Sunday morning on the Hill, got around in 4:45, CPO. Funny to read the previous GK review re. Rancho where it poured rain with lightning and not a drop 30 miles east. Anyway, the greens... Continue »

No rain this Sunday morning on the Hill, got around in 4:45, CPO. Funny to read the previous GK review re. Rancho where it poured rain with lightning and not a drop 30 miles east. Anyway, the greens on the Babe are in great shape, rolling medium speed. Fairways full with lot's of divots in the landing areas. Sand was perfect, with a few unwanted rocks to piss me off. Cool and breezy made for some difficult decisions off the tee and not much roll out due to the moisture. Still fun, still recommended.

Feb 20, Friday, Guest Day on the Babe, noon shotgun. Got around in 4.5 with minimal waiting which was amazing for this format. Found the fairways full and very few thin areas, mostly in the shade of... Continue »

Feb 20, Friday, Guest Day on the Babe, noon shotgun. Got around in 4.5 with minimal waiting which was amazing for this format. Found the fairways full and very few thin areas, mostly in the shade of the big pine trees which are all over this course. Rough semi-deep and can be a challenge, but not overly so. Greens were rolling decent, surely not immaculate ... to be aerated in March. Was in a couple of bunkers, good sand conditions and raked, also amazing. Good deals still exist on the Babe, mid-week rates for non-members is still $49. Yes, that is amazing.

Played Friday Jan 30th Took advantage of the $49 price. Course was in great shape, as stated before, this place can kick your butt. but I like the course so I keep coming back. If you haven't played h... Continue »

Played Friday Jan 30th Took advantage of the $49 price. Course was in great shape, as stated before, this place can kick your butt. but I like the course so I keep coming back. If you haven't played here you really should try it.