Played 5/9 on a cloudy but warm day. The course is in decent muni condition, very playable with the greens about 95% back from punching. Fairways have some rough areas around the edges mostly, never h... Continue »

Played 5/9 on a cloudy but warm day. The course is in decent muni condition, very playable with the greens about 95% back from punching. Fairways have some rough areas around the edges mostly, never had a bad lie. Bunkers are well maintained with texture on the firm side, very good to play from. Played in just over 4 hours, second out at twilight.

Went out at 1:40 ahead of twilight by myself, walking, then was joined by a single, walking, as I was getting ready to tee off and we were joined by a third in a cart at the third tee box. No one in f... Continue »

Went out at 1:40 ahead of twilight by myself, walking, then was joined by a single, walking, as I was getting ready to tee off and we were joined by a third in a cart at the third tee box. No one in front of us we played in just under 4 hours. Course is in decently playable muni condition with the exception of the greens which most were really nice with a couple being a bit bumpier and the bunkers that were perfect IMHO, as I knocked one in for bird and got up and down the other times. They will be doing work next week.

Played yesterday/Sunday, 7:45 teetime. We were fortunate enough to get infront of a large group of 40players behind us. POP was much better than usual, 4:15, which wasn't too bad for Balboa. Waited... Continue »

Played yesterday/Sunday, 7:45 teetime. We were fortunate enough to get infront of a large group of 40players behind us. POP was much better than usual, 4:15, which wasn't too bad for Balboa. Waited on most shots on the front, but the back moved quicker. Only one group on the 6th teebox, which is a miracle!!

Conditions overall are just average for everything.

Teeboxes were level, but very hard underneath. Broke tees on half the drives.

Fairways were all pretty decent, they were really nice walking up to the landing areas, but then the landing areas were a little suspect. Some divot damage and dead patches here and there.

Greens were pretty nice, but they were firm, didn't hold shots unless they were struck perfectly with lots of compression and spin (I guess that's what you're supposed to do normally) If you were hitting the greens from the rough, expect a club of release, at least.

Found one bunker greenside and it was just fine, no issues.

Rough was rather high and thick, try and avoid it!!

customer service was just fine, the large group of 40 going out behind us had a line out the door in the pro shop. Since we were going out first, they let us skip in front of the line to check in.

Walking resident rate $40 is definitely worth it. Love the track and it's a great walk, good workout. Looks like they are going to punch the teeboxes and fairways, they had them all marked off around the perimeters with red paint. Hopefully that will improve the conditions.

Played yesterday on a cool Sunday with some periods of light drizzle. Course is in pretty good shape overall. POP was ridiculous, over 5.5hrs. Waiting on just about every shot. No marshall out the... Continue »

Played yesterday on a cool Sunday with some periods of light drizzle. Course is in pretty good shape overall. POP was ridiculous, over 5.5hrs. Waiting on just about every shot. No marshall out there to keep things moving, very disappointing. Resident walking rate was $40, well worth it on the Sunday.

Teeboxes were just fine, nothing outstanding, but nothing deplorable.

Fairways were good for the most part, except number 2 was a joke, just awful. I didn't play LCP, but was on the verge. I hate playing LCP, so I chose to play it down.

Greens were definitely the best part of the course. They held shots very well and putted smooth for the most part. Couple of them had some rough parts around the edges, but it didn't bother any of my shots.

Found one bunker and it was just fine, no problems.

I walked on at 9:30am and they had an opening for me at 10:30. Worked out perfect, was able to get a bite in the restaurant before hand. They have good food, but they went up on their prices.

Overall, I love the course and the layout. Just wish they could speed up play a little better.

Third off behind a bachelor party from Arizona whose first group finished 5 holes ahead of the second.

Course was in good shape considering all the weather lately
Tees: mostly level with good cove... Continue »

Third off behind a bachelor party from Arizona whose first group finished 5 holes ahead of the second.

Course was in good shape considering all the weather lately
Tees: mostly level with good coverage, small but that is Balboa
Fairways: well covered and plush in the playing areas, very little roll out
Rough: thick and juicy in spots. More manageable in others
Bunkers: excellent and more consistent than Torrey's
Greens: very nice, soft but fast, they were showing footprints late in the day
Customer service: two things, we never saw anyone ( to speed the group ahead of us up) until they came by on 16 at 5:15 to say carts had to in at 5:35? Who does that? It's dark at 6? The other was I watched the same staff member drive straight across the fairway to tell my playing partner who had driven on the rough/dirt area that "Today is cart paths only!" Hilarious!
Pop: slow, as the alcohol set in on the group in front of us and there was no Marshall

Played here 12/26 with fellow GK member molebio (Nat) on an 11:30am tee-time. Weather this day was absolutely perfect for golf, however it had rained plenty the day before and Balboa didn't drain as w... Continue »

Played here 12/26 with fellow GK member molebio (Nat) on an 11:30am tee-time. Weather this day was absolutely perfect for golf, however it had rained plenty the day before and Balboa didn't drain as well as one would hope. Conditions nonetheless were excellent and probably better than Jay's last review, so here we go:

Tee boxes: Perhaps the worst conditioned part of the course, and they were still plenty good. The fact most men play the blue tees here is probably a large contributor to their overall condition, however I also saw plenty of workers on the course and the rains didn't help. Plenty of the boxes were chewed up and some not as level as you would hope, but again, this is a MUNICIPAL golf course that gets tons of play.

Fairways: Overall good, however there were plenty of flagged/roped-off areas throughout the course; some had nothing to do with the rains, others were puddles of water from the night before. 80% of the fairways though had ample coverage and those areas offered good lies.

Rough: Penal at time. Mind you, when the OTHER municipal in San Diego is Torrey Pines, you change your definition of the word, but for this course, it was plenty long and sticky. I had a few shots end up in the thick stuff and it definitely grabbed your club some.

Sand: Amazingly wasn't in any this day, but from the looks of the shots taken by the other members of my foursome; a bit inconsistent in density and coarseness. The rains certainly didn't help, however at least they weren't barren or riddled with rocks.

Greens: The highlight for me; excellent condition overall. The putts for the most part rolled quite true. Speed wasn't a huge factor, but it was nice to see them run quicker than normal, especially after rain the night before. A few footsteps but as to be expected in this type of course.

ETC: New setup in the pro shop (at least new to me) with the room re-oriented a bit so you walk into the room facing the starter/cashier(s); I like it! Friendly staff today, but highly disappointed to see that the snack bar was closed near the 9th green, as it was needed today and there is only a vending machine on the course that usually steals your bills. Carts had plenty of juice and good to see they upgraded them. No major frills here; very old school course that still offers one of the best views in San Diego.

Played on Sunday, 10/28. had a 9:45 teetime and there wasn't too many people out there. I love football season, thins out the crowd. Had a great POP at 4hrs, never waited on anyone and didn't get r... Continue »

Played on Sunday, 10/28. had a 9:45 teetime and there wasn't too many people out there. I love football season, thins out the crowd. Had a great POP at 4hrs, never waited on anyone and didn't get rushed by anyone, either. Only wait was on number 6, but it was only about 5mins. I love Balboa when it plays quick.

We played the blues and they had them set at the tips, so the teeboxes were nice, they don't get much play from back there. I didn't even know there was a teebox by the snack bar on 10, wow, that was brutal from back there. Teeboxes were good, no issues.

Fairways are coming around nicely. I didn't have any bad lies all day. There's still some bare spots, but not in the normal landing areas.

Greens were pretty good. They were a little wet, so they held shots amazing and they putted fairly true with good pace even though they were damp. Had one lightning quick downhill putt bump offline, but other than that, no issues.

Sand traps need work. I found one on 8 and it was complete hardpan, cost me my only double bogey of the day, I was pretty pissed. It should've been an easy up and down for par.

Customer service is always good in the pro shop. Didn't see a beverage cart or a marshall, but the snack bar girl was very nice.

$40 for resident rate is great for a Sunday morning. Go ahead and get on out there, just stay out of the bunkers.

Was 2nd off yesterday and cruised around in 3 1/2 hours. We were 3, there was a 2some behind us so it wasn’t busy at all out there. Rat’s review is spot on. Greens are pretty good. They are not go... Continue »

Was 2nd off yesterday and cruised around in 3 1/2 hours. We were 3, there was a 2some behind us so it wasn’t busy at all out there. Rat’s review is spot on. Greens are pretty good. They are not going to wow you with speed but balls did stay on line with the occasional ball mark that needed to be repaired. Still dead areas out there which made for some difficult shots. I did see what Rat was talking about with the tee boxes. Looks like they have been marked. I wasn’t sure if that was for the mowers or how they redo the tee boxes. There was a new one on 10 which is a little further back. I did think the tee boxes needed to be cut but there were mowers out there hopefully they got them done. They were a little long for my taste. Overall enjoyable.

Played "The Park" yesterday first off at twilight and found the course in decent playable shape. Greens have come back fully from punching and rolled nice at medium speed. There are bare spots all aro... Continue »

Played "The Park" yesterday first off at twilight and found the course in decent playable shape. Greens have come back fully from punching and rolled nice at medium speed. There are bare spots all around the course, mostly in places your ball shouldn't end up, including on green edges which is a bother if one prefers rolling the ball from the fringe as you will need to negotiate the bare dry spots. Bunkers were in good shape, some with new sand and the fairways were good to hit from. They are in the process of redoing some tee boxes so those tees may be moved up (it seems to counteract that many other Blue tees are all the way back). Good course for the price, reasonable to walk and with so much history . . .