Finally paid my visit to the Admiral today. Got there early and on the wait list as a single, but didn't have to wait at all. Ended up in second group off on the North at 7:04, paired with three other... Continue »

Finally paid my visit to the Admiral today. Got there early and on the wait list as a single, but didn't have to wait at all. Ended up in second group off on the North at 7:04, paired with three other singles. $55 with cart reasonable for weekend at civilian rate. Pace not an issue that early and we finished in about 3.5 hours, which was great. The course was in pretty good overall shape for winter. Tee boxes fine. Fairways mostly good. Did seem there were multiple types of grasses throughout the course, so some areas better than others and still plenty of thin spots mixed in. Rough pretty consistent and easy to hit from. Bunkers had nice white resort-quality sand. Greens were very good. A little firm, so hard to hold shots, but smooth surfaces with hardly any ball marks and rolling at medium/quick speeds. I enjoyed the layout much more than I expected. More hilly than I realized. I was always under the impression it was kind of flat and boring. I mistakenly made my own assumptions based on some previous reviews and no pictures on GK yet (I'll post some soon). Pleasantly surprised with a fun and relatively challenging design with some good diversity. Great course for military folks with the discounts they get, but a solid public option, too, as long as it's not too crowded out.

I've played both North and South recently, and they are great courses to play if you want to play close in to town. The greens are generally wide open, unprotected in front most times, so more than ma... Continue »

I've played both North and South recently, and they are great courses to play if you want to play close in to town. The greens are generally wide open, unprotected in front most times, so more than many other courses in the area, if you roll straight up you have a shot at getting on the green with a slight miss hit.

For a public course, the fairways are consisently playable, and can roll more than other courses. Not hard, but firm, is the best way to describe them. Hole design is generally a slight dogleg, rarely a big turn. Neither course can be called hilly, although a few holes have hills on the sides, generally out of play.

Played 09/27 at 7 am for the first time....was surprised...all the years I lived in SD that I had never found this place before. Little bit out of the way from where I was staying but that's okay. G... Continue »

Played 09/27 at 7 am for the first time....was surprised...all the years I lived in SD that I had never found this place before. Little bit out of the way from where I was staying but that's okay. Guess it's a big military retirees course, so don't expect a super quick round here.

Tees: 9/10 Great bentgrass, level, lush, just in all around good condition. Couple holes had the boxes set directly in line with some trouble, but they were mowing and trimming the whole time so not sure if they just didn't re-set them into the right position or not.

Fairways: 7/10. A LOT of the holes had a lot of GIR. They were also drenching the fairways, not sure why, it was still early and wasn't that hot until the latter half of the round. As a result, a few were mud baths.

Sand: 8/10. Was only in a couple greenside bunkers, but they were great. The fairway bunkers however, were hard as a rock. Maybe could have used some of that water they had going on the fairways.

Rough: 6/10. Depending on the hole, the rough was either very thick and swallowed your ball, or nonexistent and you were hitting off a mud patch. Not a deal breaker, but a little consistency would have been nice.

Greens: 9/10. GREAT shape. They were punched in June (this place does it only once a year, in the hotter time of the year). Greens were only bumpy on two holes, and thats when the guy I played with was putting from the mat. Generally there weren't too many extra divots but we definitely fixed a few that weren't ours.

Pace of Play: 7/10. Not sure how this worked, but the lineup went like this: 5 some, 4 some, 4 some, 2 some (us), 5 some, 5 some. We were waiting a bit, but since we were walking, we were able to negate SOME of the waiting by BS'ing and walking a little slower. Would have been brutal if we were in a cart though.

played 3/6. The Greens are in good condition. They rolled smooth with medium/fast speed. The only drawback is they are a little firm. The fairways are in good winter condition (a little thin in spots ... Continue »

played 3/6. The Greens are in good condition. They rolled smooth with medium/fast speed. The only drawback is they are a little firm. The fairways are in good winter condition (a little thin in spots but playable). The bunkers are fair/good. The tee boxes are good. The rough is a mixed bag. The rough along the fairway is winter thin and playable. The rough around the greens can be good or bad. Some areas around the greens are chewed up. Also some spots are thin and some are lush all in the same area leading funky lies (even on the collar of the green. I played here last year a week after the course reopened and the overall conditions have improved. I enjoy the layout of the course. There is a practice chipping green with bunker and two putting greens. They have a nice clubhouse with cafe and bar. For the green fees the course is worth playing.

This course should be in better shape by now. The greens are still too firm yet slow. The bunkers are just sand dumped by the greens and not supported by a base.

Very disappointed.

Admiral Baker... Continue »

This course should be in better shape by now. The greens are still too firm yet slow. The bunkers are just sand dumped by the greens and not supported by a base.

Very disappointed.

Admiral Baker Golf Course North Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews

Played noon on 11/11/12. Pace of play a typical 5 hrs for a weekend here. I wish they could speed it up a little. Greens is great shape and rolling medium fast/fast. Many greens here can have very big... Continue »

Played noon on 11/11/12. Pace of play a typical 5 hrs for a weekend here. I wish they could speed it up a little. Greens is great shape and rolling medium fast/fast. Many greens here can have very big breaks and the days pin placements made many very tough. WAY TO MANY ball marks left un repaired. It's as if the people that play here don't care ??? Most traps had deep foot prints left in them as well ?? My playing buddy found his ball in a "dug in"foot print that someone had left behind. Fairways were mostly green with quite a few brown areas spread around, but they all still played OK .. A fun and interesting course. Enjoy playing here, but maybe not on weekends anymore?

Admiral Baker Golf Course North Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews

Played for the first time 9/16. Really liked the course. Combination of old style with a kick.
Lots of dog leg lefts. Fairly long 6,400 from the whites. 6,700 from the blues. Fairway's in very good s... Continue »

Played for the first time 9/16. Really liked the course. Combination of old style with a kick.
Lots of dog leg lefts. Fairly long 6,400 from the whites. 6,700 from the blues. Fairway's in very good shape. Rough very penalizing. Long & thick. Finding the fairway is very key. Greens rolled true at medium speed. Most had fairly bad ball mark damage and I fixed 5 divots a green. I had trouble reading the greens. Kinda tricky breaks and they break more then they appear. Traps in typical San Diego condition (Not great). Pace of play was agonizingly slow. 5.5 hrs. But ,hey.. it was a Sunday ??I mentioned it to the marshal and he pointed to the GPS devise and said look... "Your on pace" If that is the normal pace... yikes !!!!! Look forward to playing here again. Hopefully under 5 hrs. ??

Admiral Baker Golf Course North Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews

Played Admiral Baker North 9-4-12 @ 10am as a threesome. Round took 4hours and 52 minutes. This was a result of the group in from of us. Conditions, good. Rough is Kukuya which is impossible at any le... Continue »

Played Admiral Baker North 9-4-12 @ 10am as a threesome. Round took 4hours and 52 minutes. This was a result of the group in from of us. Conditions, good. Rough is Kukuya which is impossible at any length. Greens were Spectacular. Greens were just redone completely and definitely pose more of a threat now. Overall at the price, well worth it.

Admiral Baker Golf Course North Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews

I have to do a 180 on this course. I liked it when it first opened. It's mostly due to the greens. They remain too firm. It's really hard to hold them from a distance, and since the course is pret... Continue »

I have to do a 180 on this course. I liked it when it first opened. It's mostly due to the greens. They remain too firm. It's really hard to hold them from a distance, and since the course is pretty long, you're mostly hitting long approach shots. And once you're on the greens, they're too slow. Maybe it's to protect them from the heat.

Also, I just don't like kikuyu grass. And there's plenty of it.

Admiral Baker Golf Course North Review
San Diego California Golf Course Reviews