Catching up on this review, was bad timing with GK down a few days last week as far as timing on posting this review but better than not at all.

This was my first time running an outing at Omni La ... Continue »

Catching up on this review, was bad timing with GK down a few days last week as far as timing on posting this review but better than not at all.

This was my first time running an outing at Omni La Costa Resort, and it looks like I’ll be running another on Saturday, December 9th but playing the Legends Course instead. If I get the same exceptional service and experience as this last one on September 2nd on the Champions Course, I’ll be real happy.

Of all the outings I’ve run, Omni La Costa Resort made it most easy for me in terms of having everything set up in advance. During outing I saw the staff regularly checking in on my group as well as the on-course service. I liked how they purposely had the on-course service parked at the first tee before our shotgun start to provide additional service in addition to restaurant. It was a jammed pack Labor Day resort weekend that also included terrible traffic that proved to make a few of our group late. Omni La Costa was kind enough to delay our shotgun start to accommodate.

As for the course, it was my second time playing the Champions layout and I liked it even more. This time I played the white tees instead of the combo tees. It’s a very challenging layout still that I thought was in great shape despite the greens having so many ball marks. I know they are moving quick to purchase some specialized ball mark fixing machines and will be doing much more on course reminders so I don’t see this as an ongoing issue. The bermunda fairways were beautiful lush and provided good run-out. The rough was lush, penalizing but not brutal. The bunkers were brutal, as I found out my first visit, you do not want to go in them as they are steep faced. They were firm but playable. The tee boxes in good shape being lush and level. POP was 4 1/2 hour, excellent for an outing on a Saturday.

After the round, we had our post golf prizes celebration in the Diversions Sports lounge, I understand next time we’ll likely be in their Bistro 65 patio dining. I was happy to actually be in the dark cool sports lounge given how unseasonably hot the weather was that day.

I still have not posted the GK Plays recap with photos due to the delay with the site being down a few days last week but I will this week. Want to THANK everyone that came out and lets have some fun again in December out there!

Played in the GK Event on Saturday, 9/2/17, and had a great time. Thanks to zgolfinman, rudyclub, and Brady (what’s your screen name, man!?) for an enjoyable round. I’ve read the previous reviews and ... Continue »

Played in the GK Event on Saturday, 9/2/17, and had a great time. Thanks to zgolfinman, rudyclub, and Brady (what’s your screen name, man!?) for an enjoyable round. I’ve read the previous reviews and they’ve hit the high points on many comments I had.

Positives – course looked good in a pleasing setting. The surrounding homes are pleasingly eclectic and not intrusive. Since the course plays up and back a long narrow canyon, it makes sense design-wise and aesthetically to use the prevailing drainage structure for design and playability features like ponds, creeks, wetlands, etc., and I thought the redesign did this well. The course uses the entry/exit gate system for carts that I feel benefits the course by better controlling cart wear. The good GPS system is interactive and gives good graphics, although distances are only to COG, not pin position. It was a hot day but plenty of water was available, and we were able to get ice at the turn and from the cart girl, who we saw several times. The cart guys at the beginning and end were helpful and enthusiastic.

Not-so-Positives – Leading up to the coming aeration greens were pretty dry and very firm, and only well-struck shots held. With the usually-elevated greens this wasn’t a critical element except on #16, which others have mentioned. Three people in our group hit solid 8- or 9-irons to the left side of that green that landed on the green but released over the back, into the trap or collar. My shot landed only twelve inches past the front edge of the green but wound up in the back sand, despite leaving a large ballmark. A golf course has to reward you for a good strike or people will get discouraged. (At least that back trap had some good sand in it – probably because it gets so much use!) Unfortunately, we saw many old and new ballmarks on all greens, and most greens appeared to hold spikemarks pretty badly.

It was a hot day and the coastal breeze we hoped for to cool things off never fully materialized. We had some breeze on a few holes but it seemed to come and then go, especially as we played the first 6 holes on the front nine. (We started on hole #1.) Not a lot of elevation change, and greens and fairways generally moved toward the center of the canyon, with more slope up against the west side of the canyon. Fairways were wide and playable and lies were good, and I was able to stay away from the deep rough some others mentioned. Johnny warned us to stay out of the fairway traps, and he was right, but we were all in some and we all paid the price, as they are deep.

I was looking at Mark’s (Itslikeimsayin) Flickr page on course photos and thought “Why is my memory of the look of these holes so different from his very nice photos?” Then I saw the long shadows on his hole #3 photo, and realized that he had played those first 3 holes almost 4 hours after I had (he started on hole #4). That later afternoon lighting makes the course look much better in that lower-angle subdued light.

Great seeing everyone afterward and it’s amazing the amount of stuff Andrew keeps bringing for prizes – better not let that guy get away, Johnny! Good food (but expensive) in the lounge. I always enjoy seeing and playing with other GKers.

It was a fun day indeed. Thanks Johnny.

Agree with a lot of the reviews.

A lot of the greens have too many potholes and it is something not expected from a highly regarded course such as La ... Continue »

It was a fun day indeed. Thanks Johnny.

Agree with a lot of the reviews.

A lot of the greens have too many potholes and it is something not expected from a highly regarded course such as La Costa. While receptive and still fun to roll, it is quite annoying to see that much damage to the nice green complex.

Fairway is lush and quite enjoyable to hit from.

Bunkers were a hit or miss. Was in some with lots of sand to blast out of, and then there were also some with absolutely nothing and it is like hitting from a hard pan. This was such a disappointment given the reputation of this course.

Enjoyed the layout and quite fun to play.

Customer service was excellent. And despite the large number of golfers, staff handled it professionally. Beverage carts rolled thru a few times. Drinks were quite expensive ($4 for gatorade). Plenty of water stations and halfway house also provided some relief from the heat with beverage and ice.

Carts have a nice GPS. Could have used a cooler though.

Pace was pretty good for a shotgun and not having to wait too much. Finished in about 4 1/2.

Certainly, worthy course to play when in the area as long as you can get a discount from the regular rate.

After reading a few of the reviews I see some of those playing Champions for the first time had some of the same issues I had originally when I first played there pertaining to the high end nature of ... Continue »

After reading a few of the reviews I see some of those playing Champions for the first time had some of the same issues I had originally when I first played there pertaining to the high end nature of the course, resort and the usual rack rate. Like most things in life a big build up is rarely justified, but after playing here a few times now it has grown on me.
Tees: level and serviceable when sticking a peg in the ground
Fairways: firm, not hard, with decent roll out and good lies, although the tight nature of the grass makes short feel shots and pitches difficult
Rough: I found the rough to be extremely sticky and until I adjusted my swing path from the rough to an extreme out to in path(see: sixpez comments on how easy he found the rough to play from) I was having a really tough go out of the rough
Bunkers: the bunkers are the now normal, easier to maintain, firm base with a thin layer of sand like material, as I am now use to the technique required no complaints
Greens: most held well and rolled well despite the YUGE amount of ball marks (my wrist is sore)
POP: shotgun so basically of our own making
Customer service: always present, which some people appreciate
GPS: ours pooped out on us and occasionally switch screens from time to time, but gave a general idea of where we were, I still use my range finder on every shot
Layout and challenge: I like the layout, there are some quirky holes, but mostly fun (if you keep the ball where it is supposed to be!)
Recommendation: yes, if you get a decent deal. Remember that this is a high end resort course and is priced accordingly, it's not your usual daily fee course and not trying to be full all the time.

Glad to see the other reviews of our GK Plays to La Costa Champions course were all seeing mostly the same things - nice course but not in its optimum condition just ahead of aeration. However, the re... Continue »

Glad to see the other reviews of our GK Plays to La Costa Champions course were all seeing mostly the same things - nice course but not in its optimum condition just ahead of aeration. However, the resort itself, the organization and the staff all went to great lengths to make everything pretty perfect outside of the golf course.

On the course itself, expectations did not exactly meet up with the reality, but it was still a worthy course to play to see what all the fuss is about. The fairways provided good lies most of the day, but of course visually weren't as verdant and lush as one would expect. But the weather has been brutal.

The rough was very penal in some areas. How many times did you have to put away the rescue and have to settle for an 8i with the ball hiding down deep in that thickness? And of course in other areas it was just gone. So that's rough doing its job for you - keep it in the short stuff (which I failed to do all day).

Greens were rolling fine and should have been receiving higher marks but strangely enough a high-end clientele were none too fond of fixing their ball marks on practically every green, and I even had to putt over some dried out areas as well. But they seemed to hold shots pretty well and few lines were truly put off by the bumps. But aesthetically, a miss.

Tee boxes were in great shape and the bunkers were a bit hit or miss - some very fluffy and easy to hit from, others I watched very thin and launching balls well over the greens again.

The layout was pretty interesting with plenty of water coming into play, a good amount of undulation in the fairways and a nice variety of holes, including manageable and long par 3s. I think on any other day that I would have been hitting the ball even relatively well that I would have enjoyed the course much more, but that's my fault.

Great service from the cart personnel as we saw them many times throughout the day, and the marshals were often present making sure things kept moving and offering helpful ball location information when warranted. Nice GPS system as well to keep you moving, although it was sometimes confusing with the two 18s where one was on the map.

Overall, I think for the current conditions and the great GK Plays rate we got that everything was spot on. Thanks to Johnny for putting on another great event and my apologies to Keith, Mattias and Perry for playing so poorly that I was insufferable! Hope to see another event there soon to play the other 18.

Another fun GK Plays outing. The service and staff were excellent in keeping things organized for us, and it seemed like everyone had a lot of fun out there. I was in group 5A with Kassper7, roarksown... Continue »

Another fun GK Plays outing. The service and staff were excellent in keeping things organized for us, and it seemed like everyone had a lot of fun out there. I was in group 5A with Kassper7, roarksown1 and mattias.

As others have noted the course is in good overall shape, playing a lot better than it looks with the light summer coloration and bermuda turf. Tee boxes (whites/Members) were good. Fairways were really nice to play from as they provided ample roll-out and fluffy lies to hit from. Rough not much of a factor unless you found the super nasty deep native grasses around the edges. Usually a ball lost if you went in that stuff. The greens were receptive and rolling pretty well at medium/fast speeds. Definitely very pock-marked, which was unfortunate for the presentation. However, I don't think I personally had any putts knocked off line by any bumps. The sand was a bit thin and crusty. I agree they could use more sand or just fluff up what's there a bit more.

This was my second time playing the Champions course. I find it to be a very good overall layout that is challenging and never boring. However, I am kind of like Mark and don't feel a whole lot of "wow" factor, especially relative to this place's price and reputation as a world-class, championship resort course. It was a great venue for a GK Plays, though. As noted, the service is good, the facilities are great and conditions were pretty nice this late in what's been a very hot SoCal summer.

Played in the GK Plays Saturday and had a great time. The whole event was well run at a really nice venue. Huge thanks to Johnny and all the sponsors, especially Linksoul and Golf Moose for my winning... Continue »

Played in the GK Plays Saturday and had a great time. The whole event was well run at a really nice venue. Huge thanks to Johnny and all the sponsors, especially Linksoul and Golf Moose for my winnings!

I agree with lots of what Sal wrote in his excellent review. The course conditions were good, even if this late in summer, the course doesn’t look super lush. There are varying shades of green throughout the course right now, mostly light green but playing really nicely. Greens were smooth and medium fast, but there was an abundance of ball mark damage on many greens that raise some questions I don’t have answers to: What’s a course supposed to do if people don’t fix their ballmarks? And why was it so prominent here? Otherwise, the greens were good and held full shots well, except the one green that really needed to, the par-3 16th. I know both myself and mpisarski landed short irons on the green and bounced right into the back bunker, and I heard tales of the same happening to several people in another group. This wouldn’t be worth mentioning except that my approach shots on nearly every other hole stopped immediately upon landing, and then the one hole that tucks the pin in an area of green only about 10 yards deep is rock hard. That’s unfortunate. Fairways provided great lies all day, some with more cushion than others. Rough was also in good condition and could be penal or easy depending on whether or not your ball settled down in or not. The tee box (combo tees) grass was a little long and puffy for my liking, but otherwise they were good. The bunkers I was in were pretty hard packed and could use some additional sand or a really deep raking.

I’m probably being a little more critical than normal in those comments above due to the typical rack rate out here. Some of those things I wouldn’t expect at a course with such a lofty price tag.

Layout-wise, it’s very solid but unremarkable. The course is not very captivating, especially relative to its price. I liked the 10th, 13th and 14th holes, but never did I step onto a tee box and think to myself, “Oh, what a cool hole.” All of this probably sounds like I didn’t enjoy myself, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I had a great time and would like to play the Legends course one day. The resort seemed quite busy and the service all around was very friendly and efficient.

I made a Flickr photo album of 35 photos that can be viewed here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm49C3aS

Played here today as part of the GK Plays event along with fellow members Jon, Jim, and Shane. First time out and was pleasantly surprised with conditions considering how hot and punishing the sun has... Continue »

Played here today as part of the GK Plays event along with fellow members Jon, Jim, and Shane. First time out and was pleasantly surprised with conditions considering how hot and punishing the sun has been this week. As mentioned, the resort absolutely warrants high praise for its staff, services, offerings, and ambiance. The course, although wonderful and deserving of its ranking on Golf Digest's Best Public Courses list, perhaps isn't as glorious as its neighbor up the street. The layout has some serious challenges but as fellow GK member jpeairs said; you are paying top dollar (at its rack rate) for the resort, not so much the golf. On to the review:

Tee-boxes: Great condition. Played combo today so both the blues as well as the whites we played had ample coverage, level ground, and were generally clean. A good mix of tee box options.

Fairways: Very good condition. Green and cut to good length. Offered ample roll and I never once found a bad lie. Visually they were good to look at, functionality-wise a pleasure to hit from.

Rough: Penal! I saw plenty of shots today that had some Torrey Jr. to them; often grabbing clubs on tough shots, hiding bad shots, and generally creating a nuisance. Lots of different type of grasss for rough as well so play them smart.

Bunkers: Excellent condition. This course has a plethora of bunkers and I found them all. It was a pleasure to hit from them even if all the sand wasn't fluffy white Augusta sand, they were well maintained, had good sand for all types of shots, and ample rakes.

Greens: Varying degrees of good. Some were littered with divots in different stages of repair, others had some burned areas, but overall they rolled well and true. Found the speeds to vary too. Some were medium speed, a few were quick. No complaints in terms of putting though.

ETC: Carts had good GPS on them. Saw the cart girl multiple times. Friendly and useful snack attendant at the turn. Marshals a plenty (though sometimes a bit overbearing in presence). Layout reminds me of Cottonwood on steroids and dressed up for a nice date; lots of waters, bunkers everywhere but flat overall abs the holes at times bunched together with only trees between you and the next hole. A good deal like the one Johnny got us today certainly merits a visit. The company like always is what makes GK.

OMG !!! What a day, what a course. I have so much fun at these outings but when prizes are involved, it is that much better.
Got to La Costa around noon to a nice warm day, friendly staff as well as ... Continue »

OMG !!! What a day, what a course. I have so much fun at these outings but when prizes are involved, it is that much better.
Got to La Costa around noon to a nice warm day, friendly staff as well as Guru's all around.
Staff was ready to take your clubs from the free valet drop off and pick up to the golf area and from there to the range where practice balls galore were ready to be hit.
Practice greens were in prime shape. Everything was in great shape.
We got off for our shotgun start right at 1pm finishing up at 4.5 hours at a nice pace with no one too far in front of us nor too close behind. Plus we stopped for a break after the first nine.
Tee boxes, fairways were plush. Nice and flat, cut nicely, no issues at all.
The rough was very deep in spots with the bunkers nice and tight if you like that. If you like fluffy sand then perhaps you would not have wanted to be in the traps.
I was in about half a dozen fairway and greenside bunkers finding no issues at all getting out of them however I can see where some lies would create major problems.
The course has plenty of water that comes into play, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left, sometimes on both sides, over water. You get the point ?
I lost 3 balls with errant shots that are now part of the water landscape deep.
Greens were slower than I was expecting running at medium fast IMO.
There was quite a bit of divots in the greens too. Some were tough to read.
I played from the Members tee's which add up to 71.0/129 finding it comfortable enough for the 22 Hdcp. I am at the moment.
The par 3 contest was a big hit as far as I am concerned. I also got to play with some great guys.
Alan, Dale, Michael ( The last guy to get a spot) Thank You.
Johnny Thank You.
Linksoul Thank You.
I was lucky enough to be the 2nd name called in the raffle scoring a nice LinkSoul Golf Shirt to go along with my LinkSoul windbreaker/pullover which I love and wear often.
Thanks again to La Costa, My fellow Guru's, and of course Johnny.