Played Balboa Park Golf course yesterday morning. 7th or 8th time I have played in the past couple of years. The course is in as good a shape as any time I can recall! A couple of greens have what ... Continue »

Played Balboa Park Golf course yesterday morning. 7th or 8th time I have played in the past couple of years. The course is in as good a shape as any time I can recall! A couple of greens have what might be a little fungus, but overall very healthy greens and fairways. We teed off at 7:45am and finished at right about 4 hours. This course is walkable, and there was a foursome of ladies just ahead of us that were doing just fine. However, the course is not flat, so you do need to be in decent shape.

This is a municipal course, so don't expect a country club experience. But, for a muni it is a great value at $59 on a weekend. Your view from the 11th tee box of downtown San Diego, Balboa Park, and on a clear day, the Coronado Islands is a Kodak moment for sure!

First off at twilight July 11. Paired with two women who played fast, mostly kept the ball in play (and when they didn't they took the proper drop quickly and moved on) and were having fun, what an ab... Continue »

First off at twilight July 11. Paired with two women who played fast, mostly kept the ball in play (and when they didn't they took the proper drop quickly and moved on) and were having fun, what an absolute joy to play with them . . . and why can't all golfers be like that?

The course is in good playable shape right now.
Tee boxes: mostly level, the par 3 17th tee box appears to have not moved in a few days, all tore up
Fairways: some dry patches but always had a good lie
Rough: minimal but sticky
Bunkers: very nice, good sand and mostly smooth except for some areas lazy or inconsiderate golfers played from
Greens: very good, not as pure and fast as the practice green ( which was in excellent condition, all greens should be so good)
POP: just over 4 hours

Recommended for a fairly inexpensive round of golf, she ain't fancy but she's my girl.

Went out today as the second group out so pace was not a problem.

A little disappointed in the greens. They were lightly sanded which I think was in anticipation of the upcoming rain. Going off... Continue »

Went out today as the second group out so pace was not a problem.

A little disappointed in the greens. They were lightly sanded which I think was in anticipation of the upcoming rain. Going off that early was even a little sand on the greens resulted in balls picking the grains of sand. I think this slowed down the speed of the greens. A couple of greens have some fungus too. At least I think it’s a fungus. It looks like yellow spots on the greens similar to what happens in your home on the ceiling if there was a water leak.

Fairways 11, 12 and 16 were sanded and pretty significantly too. They actually had guys out there dumping the sand and going back over it with that contraption similar to raking a baseball infield. Other than these there are certainly some patchy areas in the fairways and then there are some really good areas. It’s just a crap shoot right now.

Rough is a mixed bag too but I was surprised that there were some really thick parts on the course. Of course the further away you were the more likely it was to be thinner.

A few tee boxes were a little unlevel and the par 3 has divot damage but you’ll find a spot to tee it up from.

Overall just ok. Hopefully this rain comes as expected to get the sand in the soil and get these greens back to great again.

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.