Out for a GK Guru round teeing off just after 12 noon Monday 11/9/20 joined by a really nice group of guys Gary, Steve and Tim. 1st time playing this layout even though I have stayed at the resort a c... Continue »

Out for a GK Guru round teeing off just after 12 noon Monday 11/9/20 joined by a really nice group of guys Gary, Steve and Tim. 1st time playing this layout even though I have stayed at the resort a couple times with the wife. We had perfect weather low 60's with up to a 1 club breeze at times. POP was 4 hrs 35 minutes waiting on a group in front of us that were going sideways at times, backwards(lol) and were for sure having fun pounding some alcohol down. We enjoyed putting and chipping a few balls when we were finished with the hole we were just on and we still waited for them on every hole on the back nine. Really nice and accommodating staff at La Costa, nice resort and pro-shop. Driving range had mats with adjustable tees. Putting green was pure and in good shape. Really cool to have single rider carts with GPS.

Loved the greens. Just some minor bumps and old ball marks present. For the most part they were pure and quick. Soft like sponge on approach shots. Undulating greens where you wanted to be putting below the pin at all costs. Big enough greens for the staff to have several different hole locations. Subtle breaks right at the hole for sure yesterday. We had several putts in our group where we said nice putt right before the ball veered from the cup at the last minute. Green rating 7.5/10

Fairways had nice coverage, mix between lush and golden grass. CPO for our round due to recent storms however agree with some of the other reviewers that course probably could have opened up today for carts on the fairways. Fairway rating 7/10

Tees were mostly level(played Blue Tees) and mostly lush and in good shape. Rated 7/10.

Rough was 1-2 inches ball sank down some but decent lies just off fairways. Decent shape. 7/10

Fairway bunkers were nice and firm like you would want them. Was in 2 fairway bunkers. Course should address putting more sand in the greenside bunkers. Was in 2 greenside bunkers on 4 and 6. Was able to get out of hole 4 on first swing. Hole 6 greenside bunker was wet, cement like sand that was impossible to escape. This was the only part of the course I would change. Just add a little more sand to the greenside bunkers.

I loved the layout. Would give the layout a 9/10 on the fun factor. Loved starting out with some really cool dogleg lefts where you could rip it around the corner. The dogleg rights had a couple cool water features on the right hand side and some well strategic fairway bunkers that would catch a dead straight tee shot off the tee. I absolutely loved holes 1-6 and 13-18. Layout would never get boring to play and is strong with several water features, strategic bunkers, some OB and lateral hazards and some fun and tricky greens. Can see why the PGA and LPGA played here. Would not call it target golf but few holes where you could grip and rip.

Highly recommended! Hope to try the Legends one day.

Thanks to Johnny and GK.

11/9 guru play with Gary Steve and Tim an enjoyable and fun group in a pleasant setting. 1st time on the Champions which I found to be more interesting with more water in play and visually more sti... Continue »

11/9 guru play with Gary Steve and Tim an enjoyable and fun group in a pleasant setting. 1st time on the Champions which I found to be more interesting with more water in play and visually more stimulating. Fairways have good cover and good roll sometimes into harms way. CPO but in my opinion not really necessary as there was no evidence of standing water and due to the slopes drainage was quite good. Rough cut short with the ball tending to sit up. tees level with ok coverage. Bunkers need help as they were often thin over hard pan making for many improbable outs.
Greens were soft and receptive fairly quick with more breaks than were apparent and for me difficult to judge. Greens being soft and with the type of grass are fragile with many ball marks in evidence so there could be some pockmarks to navigate.
Quality customer service.

Played on 11/09/20 with the Gurus - another fun day on the course.

First, my sympathies to the individual who was responsible for pin locations. I can only assume you had a horrible night before. B... Continue »

Played on 11/09/20 with the Gurus - another fun day on the course.

First, my sympathies to the individual who was responsible for pin locations. I can only assume you had a horrible night before. Based on those pins, I am guessing your spouse yelled at you, your dog bit you, and perhaps your chili dinner kept you up all night. I hope the rest of your week is better.

For my first 10 years here in SoCal in the 90s, La Costa was one of my least favorite places to play. I must say they have made a remarkable turnaround, and it is now one of my favorites.

Greens were nice, smooth and quick, but not too quick except for the 5 or 6 pin locations right at the bottom of large slopes. I hope you weren't above the hole on those, I was. Greens were softer due to the weekend rains so it was easier to hold greens and attack pins, except for the 5 or 6 pin locations that were on the very edges of the greens. Don't short side yourself, I did.

Fairways and rough were in good fall shape.

Bunkers were a mix. Some were low on sand, and with the rains, compacted mud. If you got in a deep greenside bunker like that, it was disaster.

Outstanding practice facility, and the staff is extremely helpful. Highly recommended!

Played Omni La Costa Champions Course yesterday 11/9 in Carlsbad as part of GK Guru and GK Cup Match. Good times with fellow GKers. POP 4 ½ hours.

This is my favorite of the two golf courses at Omn... Continue »

Played Omni La Costa Champions Course yesterday 11/9 in Carlsbad as part of GK Guru and GK Cup Match. Good times with fellow GKers. POP 4 ½ hours.

This is my favorite of the two golf courses at Omni La Costa Resort. I was impressed how green the golf course still was this late in the year given its predominantly bermunda turf. Granted light green and likely turning blonde dormant color over the next 4 weeks but right now the golf course is looking beautiful. I’ll have photos to post later today.

Super fun layout with doglegs in both directions, water hazards, tricky greens, mature trees, some risk reward par 5’s and tough par 3. You can certainly see why the golf course hosted PGA and LPGA tour events in the day.

Overall conditions great with exception to the greenside bunkers that were thin of sand, firm and at times muddy. That makes for some tough escapes given how deep the bunkers are. The fairways bunkers were in better shape than the greenside bunkers with a little more sand. Bunkers are a big part of the design and challenge of this golf course so be prepared to consider pitching out of the bunkers instead of trying to splash your shots out.

Greens holding shots, running medium fast and smooth. Fairways excellent coverage and surprisingly not that wet considering all the rain the day before. Rough was essentially the same as the fairways but a little longer with a blend of mainly bermunda, some kikuyu and at times I think poa around the greens. It was sticky, grabbing my club which resulted in quite a few fat shots. Tee boxes level and lush.

Service at Omni La Costa was excellent start to finish. Easy check in, friendly attitudes and nice to see the on course service many times for a Monday afternoon.

Highly Recommended

Played the Champions course at Omni La Costa on 11/9 with GK Guru's. It was a pleasure to play some out of town golf and meet more GK'ers. Great weather to start the round, following the needed storm ... Continue »

Played the Champions course at Omni La Costa on 11/9 with GK Guru's. It was a pleasure to play some out of town golf and meet more GK'ers. Great weather to start the round, following the needed storm fronts that came through over the weekend.
Tees were good, I played the whites.
The fairways were still in very playable shape with dormant color coming in. Post rains, it was CPO. I saw a few areas staked as GUR and some areas that were marked for maintenance that will need it.
Traps, to be fair, we experienced some post-rains puddles and mud(silt leach down) in some bunkers. However, the ball always sat up in today's firm sand.
Greens were firm, fast and fun for me. Anything I legitimately threw at them, they held. The practice green matched the course greens for speed and break. Foam spacers in the cups.

No less than 8 staff members here, asked if I needed assistance, or they offered their services. Needless to say, customer service here is 'spot on' in my book! The pro shop was open, we saw the drink cart once per 9, the putting green was open, driving range was open(mats with adjustable tees), and the front and back 9 restrooms open. Good accurate GPS on carts...pay attention to the creeks and runoff channels that the GPS presents to you; I wish I had, as I donated 5 balls to water hazards today! As the sun was setting on our round, the temps were dropping and I wish I had layered my duds better...November has arrived. I would definitely play here again.
Cheers,

Consistently the worst sand traps around, maybe the worst I’ve ever played. Great course otherwise ... just put some sand in the traps, every hole is either wet clay or cement. It’s terrible

Consistently the worst sand traps around, maybe the worst I’ve ever played. Great course otherwise ... just put some sand in the traps, every hole is either wet clay or cement. It’s terrible

Played Sunday, 8/16 used underpar, so $100 ea. Reasonable rate for the weekend. Tee off at 11:15. Service was great, they take your clubs down from the drop area. They let us take our coolers with... Continue »

Played Sunday, 8/16 used underpar, so $100 ea. Reasonable rate for the weekend. Tee off at 11:15. Service was great, they take your clubs down from the drop area. They let us take our coolers with adult beverages, maybe because there is no snack bar nor a beverage cart right now? We were with the wives again, so won't comment on POP, we were definitely the hold up, ugh!! Marshal was definitely on us the whole front nine. Not saying anything to upset us, just making his presence known and made my sister-in -law a little uncomfortable and rushed, but she does need to pick up the pace. Oh well.

Course in overall good to very good shape. Fairways were very nice!! Perfect cushion, nice roll out and bottles of sand on the cart, which helps. There were some brown thin areas, but not really where you should've been.

Traps were all very nice, actually. Since no rakes, they have them a little wet and a little firm, but easy to get out and you didn't leave huge footprints. They're doing a great job with these right now. Must be tough to maintain this way.

Greens were nice. Putted smooth with perfect speed. Held all shots very well, in fact you could really be agressive with the chips as they would bite very well.

Rough wasn't too bad, I hit a lot of fairways, so really didn't notice it too much. They have quite a bit of waste areas, now, so you might find some tough lies in those areas.

Teeboxes were just fine, no issues. Not perfect, but I didn't have any problems on the blue tees.

Service all around was great!! Cleaned your clubs after the round and took them up to the loading area while I brought the car around to pick everyone up. Great day and I'd recommend right now, especially if you can get a good deal. If it wasn't so hot, we would've tried to play at least another nine holes, it's unlimited with the underpar deal.

Played Sun 9/22. 8am shotgun. Challenging course. A lot of bunkers, quite a bit of water. Bunkers guarding many of the greens aggressively. Many of the greens elevated. I enjoyed it very much. M... Continue »

Played Sun 9/22. 8am shotgun. Challenging course. A lot of bunkers, quite a bit of water. Bunkers guarding many of the greens aggressively. Many of the greens elevated. I enjoyed it very much. Many of the holes required some thinking. Greens punched 2 weeks ago, and they are healing nicely. Can see the holes, but mostly rolled true. A fast 10 on the stimp. I probably played here 10 years ago, and I don't remember enjoying it this much. Had a great time.

Very late review for the Omni La Costa course played in the GK event on 7-13. Played with Johnny, Moose and Andy, a foursome in search of some fun. The foursome was great to play with, enjoying each ... Continue »

Very late review for the Omni La Costa course played in the GK event on 7-13. Played with Johnny, Moose and Andy, a foursome in search of some fun. The foursome was great to play with, enjoying each others good shots as well as their own and not letting the bad ones ruin a beautiful day. Having not played La Costa in over 30 years and always thinking it was a bit over-rated, I was pleasantly surprised by the redesign. Loved the front nine and the back didn't disappoint either. I agree with the comments on the practice range. My local par 3 has a better range. If I have to hit off carpet, at least make it nice carpet at a resort like this. The layout usually influences my reviews more than the conditions. I thought the greens were very good, quick but not DON'T GET ABOVE THE HOLE exasperating. The traps had decent sand with no gravel, but needed a deep raking. I didn't have a bad lie in the fairway all day. Rough was as expected this time of year, thin where there's no water, and thicker where there is. Not that keen on riding unless I have to, and you wouldn't have to here, though I didn't see anybody walking -I can't see why they wouldn't allow it. Others mentioned the carts going into reverse-only mode if you entered the fairway on some holes.
There was no warning to stay on the path in advance. The alarm would go off after you were 25 yards into the forbidden garden and you'd have to back out. Everybody hates getting punished for something you didn't know you weren't supposed to do. Overall had a lot of fun and will be looking to return with the Costco-GM deal.