Played twilight, second group off, 3:07. Finished at just a tick after 7. I found the course to be a bit rough. Tees: a bit chewed up Fairways: mostly good but a few dried out areas with just dirt Rou... Continue »

Played twilight, second group off, 3:07. Finished at just a tick after 7. I found the course to be a bit rough. Tees: a bit chewed up Fairways: mostly good but a few dried out areas with just dirt Rough: not deep but very sticky Bunkers: mostly firm sand, playable but not soft, I was in the bunker right of 11 and it had standing water I had to drop from and the grass bunker left of 15 was full of water, about 4 feet deep Greens: The parts that weren't pock marked with ball marks rolled well and accepted well hit shots nicely . . . but waaaaay to many un-fixed or poorly fixed ball marks. A couple greens had some bare spots, hole #4 was pretty chewed up POP: good at around 4 hours Customer service: ? I'm still trying to get use to the city running the whole show as many people that I had made friends with are all gone, even the old city starters that worked the booth are all gone. No more, "Hey Jim what's up!?!?" . . . it ain't like Cheers anymore it's just another golf course with the no personality city staff processing customers like cattle at a slaughter house . . . bing, bam, boom and down the chute with ya! Recommendation: Playable, but nothing special right now, hopefully the new course super will have a brain, because Balboa can be quite nice when taken care of. I am surprised my rating came out so high, I would put it in 5+ range, not 6.1

Played Sunday morning. Pace was decent at about 4.5 hours. Course was in decent shape. Greens rolled true and didn't have any noticeable issues. I was never in a bunker but they seemed to play ok. Tee... Continue »

Played Sunday morning. Pace was decent at about 4.5 hours. Course was in decent shape. Greens rolled true and didn't have any noticeable issues. I was never in a bunker but they seemed to play ok. Tee boxes were fine but could use a trim. Fairways and rough had some bare spots and were inconsistent. As previously noted by another review, some places on the course are soaked so plan on playing lift, clean and place on a couple holes. Pretty easy course overall so don't be afraid to play from the tips. For the price, the issues are tolerable and I have no problem coming back.

Went off before twilight in an attempt to play a quick, stress-free round as last week first off at twilight took 4 1/2 hours after we caught up to a log jam that had gone off well before twilight. Bo... Continue »

Went off before twilight in an attempt to play a quick, stress-free round as last week first off at twilight took 4 1/2 hours after we caught up to a log jam that had gone off well before twilight. Both were basically accomplished as I was paired with a quick playing walker so the round was just over 3 1/2 hours at our own pace and only caught up to another twosome at the 17th.

The course is a bit rough around the edges right now and needs a good mowing all around. Tees were fine, rough is thick and really sticky, fairways were a bit shaggy but still providing good lies, bunkers are all in decent to good shape, the greens were rolling well with a few bumps here and there. The greens and everywhere else were mostly wet (again, as I have said before the city can afford to water, "What drought?"). I had to fix a few deep ball marks of my own and few from previous groups. I hit a knock down 7-iron into the wind on 13 that actually backed up a bit.

I guess because of the heat wave they are over watering and letting the grass grow a bit. There are some splotchy areas and the course isn't overly pretty right now but is very playable.

Greens are littered with un-repaired ball marks.
There was no marshall and we could have used one. We were first off at twilight and ran into a backlog of groups at #6 that was being held up by a gro... Continue »

Greens are littered with un-repaired ball marks.
There was no marshall and we could have used one. We were first off at twilight and ran into a backlog of groups at #6 that was being held up by a group that had teed off an hour and a half before twilight.
Seems with the city taking over all the volunteers have left.
With Torrey North being renovated and South taken over by the Jr Worlds Balboa has been getting a lot of traffic (traffic that doesn't fix ball marks, doesn't always rake bunkers and is sloooooooooooooow) . . . maybe now it will simmer down?

Still, the city running the whole show thing may take some time getting use to.

Got off early so headed to the friendly confines . . . eeerrr wait. American Golf is now gone and the city is now running the whole show, pro-shop and greens fees. A new era has begun and all the prev... Continue »

Got off early so headed to the friendly confines . . . eeerrr wait. American Golf is now gone and the city is now running the whole show, pro-shop and greens fees. A new era has begun and all the previous employees of American Golf are now gone, many reassigned to other local American Golf run courses, like National City and Mission Trails. I had made good friends with many of them so today's round had a bit of a melancholy feel to it. Everything is now taken care of in the pro-shop which looks like it might take time to iron out the wrinkles. Although the staff seemed rushed, a bit stiff and on the edge of being stressed out things seemed to work out ok . . . we'll see.

The course was in mostly good condition all around and I saw more signs of course improvements going on. Most courses these days are eliminating grass, but not Balboa Park (apparently the city can afford water). They have new carts, not top of the line but a nice upgrade. They also have new mats at the driving range which I don't see as an upgrade. They previously had fairly new, large square mats and now have those smaller in area octagonal ones that aren't large enough for me to hit driver with my regular stance.

Played here this morning, getting out a little after 7:00 a.m., finishing in about three hours. I got paired up with two other singles, both local regulars. Everybody seems nice and laid back here. Ar... Continue »

Played here this morning, getting out a little after 7:00 a.m., finishing in about three hours. I got paired up with two other singles, both local regulars. Everybody seems nice and laid back here. Arriving at about 6:20, there was no activity in the pro shop or at the starters window. However, course personnel began to arrive and the first few groups got out just before 7:00. I had to rent clubs (traveling down from LA via Amtrak--shoutout to Hemetgolfguy). "Premium" set of Taylormade RBZs cost $50 to rent; cart was $17 which included a $2 key deposit. I might not have gotten it back but the cart barn employee alerted me to it. The green fee was $40 non-resident. The clubhouse and facilities are really old but friendly service and lush course conditions made up for a lot. Greens rolled medium fast, but probably get faster as the day gets longer. Evidence of recent verticut on the greens. Tees were mostly level, but there were more than a few with slight tilts and some divot damage. The rough varied from 1-3"; sand was plentiful. Thre were several course maintenance employees doing their thing mowing, blowing, and edging bunkers. I found the course to be challenging with some narrow fairways, especially on the first few holes, which play down and then up a canyon. After that, you play along a Mesa or ridge until the 17th hole where you drop back into the same canyon you started on. I might play here again if I am in the area. Great price on Pizza Port Swami IPA, btw. I paid $5.50 for a great 16 oz. IPA.

Back to the friendly confines and canyons of BPGC. Found the course in typical good to very good condition. Went off second at twilight walking and eventually played through a threesome that was ridin... Continue »

Back to the friendly confines and canyons of BPGC. Found the course in typical good to very good condition. Went off second at twilight walking and eventually played through a threesome that was riding, then never saw them again.
Tees: quite adequately playable
Fairways: overall very good coverage in the areas you should be playing from and good coverage everywhere else
Rough: not long but rather sticky, that stuff will really grab your club and your attention!
Bunkers: glad to say all the ones I looked at or played from were in great condition, good sand and weak raked
Greens: a bit slower than I prefer but down grain they still would run out a bit
POP: 3:40 walking
Customer service: saw the snack cart numerous times, the snack cart is relatively a new thing and I hope it lasts
Layout: short tough track, hit it straight and it plays a lot easier . . . hit offline shots here and you will pay with strokes
Overall: a great value for those with resident's cards and very affordable for those without

Twilight round, second off . . . yada, yada, yada. It dawned on me while warming up that Balboa Park might be the most convenient golf course I've ever been to as far as warming up is concerned. Putti... Continue »

Twilight round, second off . . . yada, yada, yada. It dawned on me while warming up that Balboa Park might be the most convenient golf course I've ever been to as far as warming up is concerned. Putting green, chipping green and driving range all right there by the clubhouse, which makes for an enjoyable stress free warm up!
Tees: level and well covered, maybe because the CIF tourney was there ahead of us the easy holes tee boxes were mostly up and the tough holes were playing loooooong. The par 3 6th was tipped out at 220 uphill into the wind with the pin in the back, tough!
Fairways: all the areas you should be playing from are great the farther off track you get . . . well?
Rough: thick and sticky, tough to play from and quite consistent
Bunkers: very nice right now
Greens: this is the main difference since last I played here, they were a bit bumpier and therefore slower
POP: 4:20 the CIF kids started slowing down towards the end, they were playing match play
Customer service: friendly and professional
Layout: short, very tight, with flatfish greens with lots of subtle breaks
Overall:great views on the backside and fun play all around, a good test, just keep it straight or pay with strokes almost overtime you miss!

Played second group off at twilight, found the course in good shape. Putting green and chipping green both in real good shape, very representative of the course at large, a couple turf patches on the ... Continue »

Played second group off at twilight, found the course in good shape. Putting green and chipping green both in real good shape, very representative of the course at large, a couple turf patches on the chipping green but nothing that bad.
Tees: level, well proportioned as space allows and covered with grass
Fairways: nice surfaces to hit from and with a bit of run out
Rough: uniform in length, 2 to 3 inches, but thicker in some areas and quite sticky, tough to negotiate
Bunkers: inconsistent, some perfect some, horrible, the bunker right of hole #11 is pristine, the pot bunker on the left is half full of water, go figure, but the majority looked good
Greens: niiiiiiiice, completely healed from the small tine punching, holding well struck shots, bouncing others, running faster than normal making some putts do things they usually don't as the breaks can be accentuated
POP: just a bit over 4 hours
Customer service: friendly and professional
Layout: I guess it would be considered old school (1920's with redesign in the early 90's) parkland with open fronts of greens, winding through tight canyon areas with thick brush, beautiful views of downtown, the Coronado bridge and islands beyond