In the middle of a crazy busy work week down here in San Diego, managed to find some very early morning hours to play at Carlton Oaks this morning ahead of more work tomorrow. Original plan was to pla... Continue »

In the middle of a crazy busy work week down here in San Diego, managed to find some very early morning hours to play at Carlton Oaks this morning ahead of more work tomorrow. Original plan was to play Coronado for the first time, but since it was completely booked up until noon, found an online GolfNow deal for Carlton Oaks at $44 with an early am tee time. First off, let me be the first to let you know, in case you haven't noticed, that the SoCal winter of our discontent is not yet over. When I arrived to the course, the temperature was still around 47 degrees and there was mist and moisture all over the place. Decided to walk instead of ride to try and get warm, but it was miserable the first hour or so, especially when the shoes got soaking wet walking through the deep rough in areas. Brutal. Later in the round though it turned glorious, or maybe mid-60s just feels that way after a morning like that. As for the course itself, I was struck by how Pete Dye-like it felt throughout. The rail ties in the bunkers, the pinpoint angles required to see greens at their best approach opportunity, and the mounding and trees to thwart anything remotely easy. It wasn't of course until the par 3 17th that my two playing partners (thanks Gus and Fred for the fun round!) actually let me know this was indeed a Pete Dye classic. Who knew? The layout is super, even though I was terrible thanks to the cold start and general poor play of late. Seriously though, this track just begs to be played again under better conditions. The reason the course is in rough shape right now is because so much of it was recently under water. The fairways are thin and there are sloppy, mulchy and muddy areas kind of all over the place. Bunkers are far too firm thanks to the saturation, and the rough is brutal long and damp - not a great combo. However, the greens were actually in great shape, but not as crazy tiered or tricky as I would have expected from a Dye. The breaks are subtle for sure, and there are many different sized greens to work with, but outside of a few, they're not too crazy at all in my opinion. So, in truth, it's tough to judge this course by the ratings it'll probably have when I'm done because I can't lie about the conditions, even if they're out of the club's control in many ways. I do think when the weather finally becomes bearable again and the grass gets back into good shape, this is a must-play for me if and when I'm back in the area. 18 is a great closing hole and the rest are all simply super fun and challenging. Can't wait for May.

I don't agree with some of the lower reviews, felt compelled to say something. Or perhaps I got lucky. Conditions were quite good. Greens rolled pretty true and many greens had few or no marks.

TH... Continue »

I don't agree with some of the lower reviews, felt compelled to say something. Or perhaps I got lucky. Conditions were quite good. Greens rolled pretty true and many greens had few or no marks.

THey say they've a grass range but I've always seen only mats when there. Which is not to my liking. AND THEIR RANGE BALLS ARE WAY EXPENSIVE AND OLD.

What I will say is that this could be a stellar course and design but it is not in the stellar shape it deserves to be in. Still very good.

Hadn't played here in awhile and was told by several people Carlton was in good shape. Frankly, they were wrong. The greens were at least grass now with almost no bare spots, but they were slow and h... Continue »

Hadn't played here in awhile and was told by several people Carlton was in good shape. Frankly, they were wrong. The greens were at least grass now with almost no bare spots, but they were slow and had a lot of pitch mark damage. A lot. Tee boxes are very unlevel throughout, either very crowned or sometimes seriously sloping one way so it often felt like hitting from a side hill lie. Fairways were thin with a lot of areas marked GIR and a lot more that should be marked. Off the fairway was little grass, with large expanses of hard pan. Around the greens the rough was decent, with some bare patches. Bunkers were mixed; one I was in had OK sand, but several others were had a lot of small and not so small rocks, and one was just a skiff of sand over clay. Pace of play wasn't too bad, around 4:15 on a weekday.

Played this am in about 4:15 pace. Course is in good overall shape. Just like most courses in San Diego it’s not lush but decent. Tee boxes were mostly good, didn’t have a hard time finding a place f... Continue »

Played this am in about 4:15 pace. Course is in good overall shape. Just like most courses in San Diego it’s not lush but decent. Tee boxes were mostly good, didn’t have a hard time finding a place for the tee but some were a little uneven. Fairways are green with brown patches. Not a real issue if you keep it in the fairway, but if you miss the fairway a little expect a hard pan lie. Greenside bunkers were good but fairway bunkers were hard. Greens were the best part of the course. Back 9 greens were better then front but overall they are in good shape with medium speed. Course is walkable and they offer a different green fees for walking and riding. I will play the course again and if you can find a good deal I would suggest giving it a try!

Played Carlton Oaks on 9/9. I see from the GK page that aeration is scheduled for the next two days. I would say the prior weeks players got an early aeration start by not fixing a single ball mark on... Continue »

Played Carlton Oaks on 9/9. I see from the GK page that aeration is scheduled for the next two days. I would say the prior weeks players got an early aeration start by not fixing a single ball mark on any green. I have never seen so many unfixed ball marks. That being said, the grass still had good coverage, and I was shocked that most of my putts rolled well with no bouncing.

Fairways are in good shape. Tee boxes are generally fine, some uneven ground here and there, but playable. Rough is very much so. Lots of bare ground off the fairways.

So, while I have berated the course on the conditions here, I will say this is a great course and quite a bargain these days. If you keep it on the grass, you are rewarded with a very fun and challenging course. I would have loved to have played here in the early days, as I suspect this place was amazing at the start.

Recommended - just know that you will get some bad lies off the fairways and greens.

Played with rudyclub on 7/1 teeing off just before 11.
The course is very playable but definitely has the rough around the edges appearance. I though the fairways were good with solid coverage. Lots ... Continue »

Played with rudyclub on 7/1 teeing off just before 11.
The course is very playable but definitely has the rough around the edges appearance. I though the fairways were good with solid coverage. Lots of roll but not what I would call thin. Greens were receptive and rolled well, but my goodness the unfixed ball marks were a plague. Not much rough to speak of except around the greens and even then it wasn't very penal. Bunkers were on the thin side and several tee boxes were quite crowned.

I would venture to say that there is an excellent golf course hidden here but it needs a dedicated effort to get to that level. Getting the tees a bit more level and figuring out what to do with the previous waste bunkers would go a long way. Curious to see what will happen in the coming years because as Nick said in a previous review: The bones are there.

Rode the Greens (6320/71.1/131) in 4H with 140ver for $36 Sunday afternoon. The weather was clear, sunny, breezy and in the mid 70's. Carlton Oaks is 60 years old, and was redesigned by Perry Dye ab... Continue »

Rode the Greens (6320/71.1/131) in 4H with 140ver for $36 Sunday afternoon. The weather was clear, sunny, breezy and in the mid 70's. Carlton Oaks is 60 years old, and was redesigned by Perry Dye about 30 years ago. You can see the normal Dye family design characteristics, railroad tyes, waste bunkers, raised greens with runoffs etc. Tough, challenging layout. The tees were mediocre. Mostly thin, many were chewed up and some needed leveling. The fairways had decent coverage but were mostly thin with tight lies. The rough had some lush areas but was also mostly thin. Not very high with decent coverage. The sand traps were poor. Waste bunkers basically have been let go and the green side traps were thin. The greens were decent. Fairly smooth, medium speed and they held irons well. The customer service was good. No drink cart, no GPS on the basic carts. You can see the bones are there for a well above average course. However, the conditions are less than average. No recommendation.

played as a single on friday morning(6/15/18) 615 tee time, checked in and sent right to the 1st tee...was joined by a single and a twosome.played the whites and finished in just under 4 hours. friday... Continue »

played as a single on friday morning(6/15/18) 615 tee time, checked in and sent right to the 1st tee...was joined by a single and a twosome.played the whites and finished in just under 4 hours. friday was just the perfect weather mid 60s with alittle overcast..plenty of sprinklers going on in the fairways while we played..the fairways were very nice with good coverage plenty of grass and very few GURS(grounds under repair)twenty feet in front of the greens the grass was pristine(like carpet)greens were very good/putted very smooth..greenside bunkers were mostly good sand(the 2 I were in were soft/white and a few pebbles...but very playable.
3 areas that I need to point out are the rough and tee boxs and waste bunkers...waste bunkers are just that...hard firm dirt/sand some weeds growing in them, not a place you want to be but really no high lips...tee boxs (whites) were rather chewed up and most of them were kinded rounded so finding a flat spot though not impossable took a little effort, which brings me to the rough..on the front 9 a creek runs along all but the first 2 holes so so you need to stay in the fairway because they do not have a maintained rough...if you are in it you can play out but it will be a crap shoot,most the times 15 yards of the the fairway is no different then mt.woodson,carmel mountain ranch or any course that does not have side to side fairways.
Overall I highly recomend carlton oaks, it is in very good overall shape!

Played 3/20 at 7:30 in my usual 4some. The golf course just finished hosting a Canadian Qualifier, so it was about as good as it has been in a while. Tee boxes were pretty well covered, but several ... Continue »

Played 3/20 at 7:30 in my usual 4some. The golf course just finished hosting a Canadian Qualifier, so it was about as good as it has been in a while. Tee boxes were pretty well covered, but several remain uneven. Fairways were cut and rolled well, very few bare spots. Greens rolled well at medium speed. Aprons and collars looked great on several holes and not so great on others. There has been a major effort to sift the rocks and pebbles on greenside bunkers especially. I'd like to thank the grounds crew for doing a nice job. There are still a few fairway bunkers with some gravel in them. The waste bunkers are still not maintained as waste bunkers anymore and I don't believe they will be again. If you like this course, it's in the best shape it's been in since last years second flood and there may be some deals out there. I had a lot of fun today. If you don't like it, playing it now will not change your mind.