I played Barona on 6/1 with a 8:30am tee time. Excellent conditions all around. Fairways were firm and fast but gave a beautiful lie, and seemed fully healed from the verticut a few weeks ago. Green... Continue »

I played Barona on 6/1 with a 8:30am tee time. Excellent conditions all around. Fairways were firm and fast but gave a beautiful lie, and seemed fully healed from the verticut a few weeks ago. Greens were receptive but fairly fast. Everything else was just right. Great layout in great shape!

Played 5/25/14 11 am $ 80 POP 3.5 hrs.
Love this course. Still one of the best in San Diego.
Fairway's had recently been verticut. Were mostly green, but were starting to brown with tons of roll. ... Continue »

Played 5/25/14 11 am $ 80 POP 3.5 hrs.
Love this course. Still one of the best in San Diego.
Fairway's had recently been verticut. Were mostly green, but were starting to brown with tons of roll. There was plenty of cushion under the ball for great contact.
Greens were in very good to great condition. Held shots well and rolled at med. fast speed. A treat to putt on knowing your ball was going to roll well.
Some of the T boxs had been scalped & de-thatched but caused no issues.
Only found one trap and it was in better then average condition.
Rough was nothing at 2"+. The native areas were still thin and playable.
Cart girl came by 4 times and the weather was perfect in the low 80's.

The place was empty, except for the small 11 am rush. We passed on the range and got out just ahead of them and there was nobody ahead or behind. Glad we did because the foursome behind us finished 3 holes back!

Played 5/3/14 and the course is awesome! My first time playing there and it is pretty sweet, with a very challenging layout. Conditions were nice as well, fairways very nice, tee boxes all lush and ... Continue »

Played 5/3/14 and the course is awesome! My first time playing there and it is pretty sweet, with a very challenging layout. Conditions were nice as well, fairways very nice, tee boxes all lush and level, the two bunkers I was in were just fine, and the greens putted well but were still recovering from a small punch and sanding. I went out as a single and got paired up with another single, but after two holes of waiting on every shot we decided to ask the twosome in front of us if we could join them and we did, one of which was there to get ready for the US open qualifier at Barona on Monday, Cinco de Mayo, and man could he hit the ball! Nice guy, too. Anyway thats where the good stuff stops and the horrible stuff begins, oh forgot, the staff is nice, especially "Sam" the beverage cart attendant, very nice.

But as Chris Berman says on Monday Night Football, "COME ON, MAN!" Seriously 5.5 hours to play? What a FRICKEN JOKE! Just leaves a bad taste in your mouth all day and will definitely call to ask the pro shop next time I go out there if the POP is that deplorable again. Anyway, nice course, very challenging but keep it straight and you will be fine.

I played Barona over the weekend and it remains one of my favorite courses in San Diego. I always look forward to visiting here as I consider the facilities to be really good and I especially enjoy th... Continue »

I played Barona over the weekend and it remains one of my favorite courses in San Diego. I always look forward to visiting here as I consider the facilities to be really good and I especially enjoy the layout of the course. There is a lot of variety in hole design and elevation changes. Additionally, the greens are large and tricky....on certain holes, it's imperative to stay below the hole or you'll be hard pressed to 2 putt. Upon arriving in the parking lot, I'm usually greeted by an attendant to give me a ride to the course but that didn't happen on this visit. There wasn't a starter nor any marshals on the course to keep the POP flowing. This lead to some waiting but it wasn't a big deal. As far as the course conditions, they were pretty much as the previous reviewer stated. There were a lot of tight lies near the greens but the fairways, tee boxes, and bunkers were all very good. The greens were somewhat inconsistent in that some of the greens were mostly fully healed from the last maintenance while others still had a ways to go. There were still aeration marks and sand on some of the greens which affected some of the putts, especially those putts which could not be struck firmly.....like the downhill ones. The cart girl came around numerous times and the food we got at the turn was pretty good. At the end of the round, 2 cart attendants greeted us to clean up our clubs. I'll be back and I'd definitely recommend this course....especially for those who enjoy partaking in a little post round gambling.

Played 4/12 on a delightful day. Tee boxes are in excellent shape, and fairways were firm and running out nicely but still gave a very nice lie. I was only in a bunker once, but the sand was just rig... Continue »

Played 4/12 on a delightful day. Tee boxes are in excellent shape, and fairways were firm and running out nicely but still gave a very nice lie. I was only in a bunker once, but the sand was just right and all of them looked well maintained. The rough was pretty lush but fairly short, so hitting out of it wasn't much of a penalty. The native grass areas, however, are growing up fairly long and with some pretty thick vegetation, so balls hit into there are more than likely lost; usually those areas are cut down a bit more and thinned out, so finding a ball was usually possible, but much tougher now. Greens had been aerated a few weeks ago and showed signs of the plug holes and sand; they rolled pretty true but were a bit slower than the norm for this course. Not slow, just slower than the usual Barona quick greens. Pace of play was outstanding at under 3 and 1/2 hours on a Saturday morning.

My favorite layout in San Diego County...and an All-Time Top Ten List occupant as well...the highly-regarded Barona Creek GC has always held a special place in my heart. There was a time, upon its' in... Continue »

My favorite layout in San Diego County...and an All-Time Top Ten List occupant as well...the highly-regarded Barona Creek GC has always held a special place in my heart. There was a time, upon its' inception, when I was playing there on a weekly basis and, as a result, developed a strong bond with the course; well, that bond still exists 13 years later. It's one of the few courses I get excited just talking about, even if I'm not playing it. Laid out in an open meadow, the course features relatively wide, undulating fairways with a great variety of elevation changes incorporated into the design; this is not an uninspired, flat-as-a-pancake routing. Great care was taken to fit the golf course into the "lay of the land" and, as a result, it looks as if it's been there 100 years. Rough-edged bunkering and native grasses add a "three-dimensional" look to the course and provides a pleasant contrast to the manicured tee boxes (all square cut), fairways, and putting surfaces. Although Barona Creek is fairly forgiving off the tee, the greens are the great equalizer here...quite large, sloped and undulating...but they still offer a number of avenues in which to approach that day's pin position. If you have the game, you can be aggressive and challenge some of those pins (although it may not always be the prudent play) but if not, you can still get the ball on the green yet face a lengthy putt as a consequence. This is one place where it's very easy to 3-putt from just six feet above the hole if you leave yourself on the wrong side. Familiarity with the layout is a definite advantage here (I probably know every fairway/green nook and cranny and how they can influence a particular shot) yet all it takes is some observation and note-taking in order to have these built-in idiosyncrasies work in your favor. I'm sure not everyone delves that deep into analyzing each hole but I happen to thrive on that part of the game and feel as if I'm engaged in a chess match when playing here. A few days late, this review is in regards to my round from Saturday, April 5. Overall course conditions were good despite having to putt on greens that had been aerated on March 17 and 18 and are not fully recovered yet. Generally speaking, greens were okay; I'd rate the speed as medium...definitely not as quick as what I'd normally expect...although the greens on the back nine were a little quicker. Morning rain did little to soften the greens...they felt quite firm...but held very well just the same, even on well-struck pitch/chip shots. Most putts held their line well but a few were affected by the punch marks, particularly as they lost their speed. Got fooled a couple of times on the degree of break to play but again, it may have been due to the maintenance issue. I do want to point out, however, that I was informed by the Pro Shop when I called to reserve my tee time that the greens had been recently aerated. Although I knew this based on the aeration alert listed on Greenskeeper, I thought it said a lot about the management team and their "transparent" information policy. Thumbs up! Fairways showed evidence of recently being verti-cut but the lies were good, albeit on the tight side; also some rough allowed to pinch in from the sides that framed and narrowed the fairways a bit. Decent roll-out off the tee on flat trajectory shots which is why this course can play "fast" during a dry spell. Tee boxes were in great shape; always the best in SD County. Bunkers were meticulously well-maintained and very playable. A couple had small areas that were a bit firmer due to the early precipitation but still manageable; nothing so firm that it felt like hitting off a sidewalk. Fringe areas were in great shape but very thin so putter, Texas wedge, and hybrid were the best options for shots just off the green. Customer service, as usual, was top-notch from beginning to end; beverage cart was available on at least three or four occasions (we teed off @ 1:10PM). Pace-of play was very leisurely and unhurried as there was no one behind us until we reached #15 green and the groups ahead played at a good pace. As a result, we took quite a few photographs during the round and clocked in @ 5:40PM, which included a stop at the snack bar and also allowing a single to play through on #10 tee. If necessary, we could have finished maybe 15-20 minutes earlier. While many courses provide just a 5-hour late rate window, Barona Creek offers a generous allowance that goes into effect at 11:00AM, so there's plenty of daylight available to get 18 holes in without feeling rushed. Weekday prices at that time are $64.00 while weekends/holidays are $80.00, which is a great deal for a course of this stature. Range balls are included in the greens fee but I think it's time for the club to sort through their supply and eliminate those that have seen better days; everything else is first class so why not the range balls? If I were to make a recommendation, I'd suggest giving the aerated greens at least until the end of the month, maybe even until mid-May, to recover before venturing out to Barona Creek. Although they weren't a major issue with me...probably because I managed to make a few putts during the round...conditions should be close to pristine by then and that will only add to the positive experience of playing there.

played 2/20,, been 2-3 years, forgot how great this experience is... greens are slippery fast,,fairways are ,, well if you dont hit them you are in trouble,,,carry from tees is fun, played the Gold, ... Continue »

played 2/20,, been 2-3 years, forgot how great this experience is... greens are slippery fast,,fairways are ,, well if you dont hit them you are in trouble,,,carry from tees is fun, played the Gold, 133 slope, shoulda played a little forward, getting old.. a very first class round of golf,, will return to get even , or more of the same...worth the extra $$$.

Previous review says it all. The greens really were scary fast today. Maybe the fastest I've ever played but they did roll true and rewarded good approach shots. Fairways cut short allowing you to pla... Continue »

Previous review says it all. The greens really were scary fast today. Maybe the fastest I've ever played but they did roll true and rewarded good approach shots. Fairways cut short allowing you to play links style golf if you choose. Bunkers were fluffy. Love this course.

Played 1/22 12:30 $64 POP 4 hrs. I believe they just recently held a qualifying tournament there and the greens showed it. They were firm and fast. They rolled very well, but it took a few holes for ... Continue »

Played 1/22 12:30 $64 POP 4 hrs. I believe they just recently held a qualifying tournament there and the greens showed it. They were firm and fast. They rolled very well, but it took a few holes for the shock to wear off and get a feel for them. The practice green was med/ fast at best?

The fairways were mostly dormant, but rolled and played well. They were cut tight, so good ball striking was very important. Tough around the greens with the thin cut.

Rough at about 1" so finding it was sometimes a treat compared to the tight cut fairways!

Traps & boxes were very good.

One of my favorite SD courses. Looking forward to some greener conditions.