Super time running and playing in our GK Plays outing on the Legends Course Saturday. Thanks everyone for coming! Check of the photos on the GK Events page.

From an organizer's perspective this out... Continue »

Super time running and playing in our GK Plays outing on the Legends Course Saturday. Thanks everyone for coming! Check of the photos on the GK Events page.

From an organizer's perspective this outing went perfect! Great playing conditions, weather, prizes and service. It’s the 3rd outing I have done at Omni La Costa and they have raised the bar each time. They are great people to work with and their attention to details with our outing showed. Love how they set up an area on the Vue restaurant patio to cap it off.

From a player’s perspective, I’ve played the Legends Course twice before over the last couple years and Saturday the golf course was in the best shape I’ve ever seen it. I am very impressed with the continual improvement. Even after the heavy rains days before the course played beautifully. Full lush coverage in all fairways and rough. Greens a little wet and soft still, ran mostly smooth and at good pace. Tee boxes a little shaggy but lush and only shaggy because they had not fully dried out enough from the recent rains to cut. Bunkers in good shape with quality sand. The story of the day for my group was the brutal rough they had not cut yet due to the heavy rains that week. Sort of a gnarly thick mix of 3 to 4 inch kikuyu and rye where the ball sat down every time. Man it was challenging but in a twisted way fun. From a service standpoint on the course, we saw the beverage cart 6 times (yes, a record for me). Also marshals a couple times ready to assist with POP and other needs.

I like this layout more and more every time I play it. Makes you work the ball around big trees and putt very well. Level traditional layout with beautiful bridges over creeks and water hazards throughout. Fresh flowers to pretty the place up more. Well protected greens with risk reward par 4’s and 5’s. I’ve always been a big fan of their other course the Champions. Now I’m a big fan of this one too. Just a wonderful 36 hole facility.

Was part of the group for the GK Plays this past Saturday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day after the rain during the week and I thought the course was in the best shape I have ever seen it. Consider... Continue »

Was part of the group for the GK Plays this past Saturday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day after the rain during the week and I thought the course was in the best shape I have ever seen it. Considering the amount of water it received I still felt it held up great.

The fairways, which I'm not sure what type of grass (paspalum?) provided nothing but perfect lies for me all day. I will say that between the lushness of the turf and the rain we got, they provided little to no roll, making the course play very long. The rough was pretty tricky since it was long and lush and it made errant tee shots a big problem. I loved the very distinct look from the fairways to the rough. Very cool.

I thought the greens were really really good as well. Some late day foot traffic but what can you expect, it seemed pretty busy out there. Shots held great and the putts ran smooth.

I am a big fan of the Legends layout. For some reason I think you just get a better group of holes and the group of holes on the back nine where you go into the canyon area and all the big trees is really cool.

The environment at La Costa keeps getting better and better and the people there are fantastic. I highly recommend getting out there soon because it's just a cool experience all around.

Another great GK outing! Enjoyed the day with Tim and Andrew . . . ALWAYS a pleasure playing with those two! It was great seeing the GKers out there as it seems like a looooong time since I last playe... Continue »

Another great GK outing! Enjoyed the day with Tim and Andrew . . . ALWAYS a pleasure playing with those two! It was great seeing the GKers out there as it seems like a looooong time since I last played in an event. The weather was perfect and even after the torrential rains (for SoCal anyways) the course played long but was in great shape! Nice solid layout, visually appealing, challenging and keeps your interest. The accommodations afterwords were comfy and the food was tasty! Had the prime rib burger and was a juicy double patty delight! Highly recommended all around!

Played in the GK Event on Saturday, 12/8/2018, with GKers sixpez and kassper7 – thanks to Keith and Perry for an enjoyable round. After some pretty good rain a couple days before the course was still ... Continue »

Played in the GK Event on Saturday, 12/8/2018, with GKers sixpez and kassper7 – thanks to Keith and Perry for an enjoyable round. After some pretty good rain a couple days before the course was still pretty wet. We started out CPO on some holes, but an hour in got a notice that CPO was rescinded and we were able to get on the entire course. The course hadn’t been able to cut the rough after the rains and some areas were really juicy, and we had to hunt intently for offline shots. Solid drives in the fairways died quickly. Bunkers were pretty wet and sand depth varied. Overall conditions were good and the course is right there in front of you, but it played longer than the card today. However, the tees on the par-3s were pushed well forward, so those holes played much shorter than the card distances.

Greens on this course are a different grass compared to the Champions course – the turf on Legends greens is thin, and the firm greens held wedges but mid- and long-irons released quite a bit. Greens rolled smoothly at medium+ speed and in many areas are more slopy than they look initially, although there is very little severe tiering.

Staff was great throughout. The free valet parking for golfers is a must! Starter was great and on-course marshals helpful. Plenty of divot sand refills available, including a refill rack at the 7#/13 tee/bathroom. Nice GPS on the carts, although you have to work through a lot of secondary screens (notices, adverts, etc.). The GPS gives the pin position and distance to the hole.

My third time on Legends and I enjoy the course. I’d like to get back on Champions in a future GK event – only played there once, with GK last year. Nice to meet new GKers at the afterparty, and great prizes as usual – Thanks Johnny!

Played Saturday at GK Plays outing and the conditions here were FANTASTIC!!

I don’t really gush about courses, well really only when conditions are great and this was no exception. Given the fact i... Continue »

Played Saturday at GK Plays outing and the conditions here were FANTASTIC!!

I don’t really gush about courses, well really only when conditions are great and this was no exception. Given the fact it rained earlier that week the course was still wet but not soaking. The course played a lot longer but the conditions were terrific.

Greens were very consistent. They putted true. They ran for me medium-fast. Fairways were LUSH. Rough was . . . Rough. It was super dense and the ball sat low. Took at little longer to locate my really errant shots but still it didn’t feel like work. Once you figured out how to play your shots the course was easier to play.

Overall I was impressed with the course. It was literally a joy to play even if my game did not show my enthusiasm. Thanks to Johnny for setting this thing up. Definitely a recommended course when you’re in the San Diego/Carlsbad area. Throw in a very attentive staff and you have the makings of a memorable round of golf.

Recommended. Thumbs up!!

Another fun GK Plays outing yesterday. Thanks to JohnnyGK, the sponsors and the staff at La Costa for providing a great venue for the shotgun outing. I was in group 1B with dconnally and kassper7. Pac... Continue »

Another fun GK Plays outing yesterday. Thanks to JohnnyGK, the sponsors and the staff at La Costa for providing a great venue for the shotgun outing. I was in group 1B with dconnally and kassper7. Pace of play slowed down quite a bit in the middle of the round, but otherwise a very good overall PoP.

The course was in very nice condition all around. It was still pretty soft after the rain this week, so not much roll-out on drives and they probably haven't been able to mow on a normal schedule. Tee boxes were great. Fairways were generally great with some mushy spots here and there, some marked off as GUR. The rough was brutal. It was very deep, lush and thick, so you wanted to avoid it as much as you could. Greens soft and rolling well at medium speeds, just getting a bit scruffy by the end of the round as expected. I was only in one bunker and it was well maintained with adequate sand.

I don't know if I am in the minority, but I've always preferred the Legends Course over the Champions Course. I feel it has more character, nicer aesthetics and a solid layout. Either way, it was a great day out there with the GK crew. Now looking forward to today at Rams Hill!

Played in the GK Plays yesterday. It was really cool to see a bunch of my GK buddies and pick up one of sixpez' calendars. The course and the resort are very nice. Bring lots of cash or credit becaus... Continue »

Played in the GK Plays yesterday. It was really cool to see a bunch of my GK buddies and pick up one of sixpez' calendars. The course and the resort are very nice. Bring lots of cash or credit because nothing here is cheap. I used the free valet when I arrived (note: I had some trouble finding the valet for the golf because there was not much signage as you got close. Bear to the right after entering the resort area). All the staff are friendly and helpful. The putting green and range (mats) were nice. Lots of good balls and various targets to hit to. Greens: 8/10 Somewhat small at times, but very receptive, quick, and smooth. Pin locations today were challenging and most greens were protected with bunkers and slopes. A lot of coots down in the flats by the large lake. Fairways: 8/10 Nice coverage and well manicured. Some areas of divots and like the greens, a little tight in spots. Soft, most likely from the recent rain. Rough: 7/10 Deep in spots, not so deep in others. It was difficult at times to find balls, but that's what makes it penal, right? Keeping four sets of eyes on the tee shots is very helpful. Sand: 7/10 Nice bunkers; our group found a few. Mostly good, clean, light colored sand that was nice to hit from. Tee boxes: 7/10 We played the white/member tees. No real issues. All level with a moderate amount of divots on the par threes. Lush for the most part. Pace of play: about 4:45. It was a little slow at first, but that is to be expected at an event. As the sun crept lower, the pace picked up. Thanks to the marshal who came around and told us all that there was about an hour of sun left. We still had four holes to play. We all met in their Vue restaurant patio. Just before that, I picked up a double Scotch from the upstairs bar. Good, but pricey. The food was good; I got a roast beef dip with fries. I can't complain. I was hungry. Once again, thanks to Johnny and La Costa for putting on a great event!

Found a great $60+fee deal on GolfNow, with a 1:52 tee time on Sat., 10/27. Free range balls at your leisure. Teed off 15 minutes late, behind a group of 4 juniors (8-12 yrs) with their parents drivin... Continue »

Found a great $60+fee deal on GolfNow, with a 1:52 tee time on Sat., 10/27. Free range balls at your leisure. Teed off 15 minutes late, behind a group of 4 juniors (8-12 yrs) with their parents driving/coaching. Dreadfully slow for two holes, they then picked up the pace after some encouragement no doubt from the marshals. The youngsters were pretty good, just too much coaching! Wasn't expecting we'd get all 18 in, but we did, just under last light, with POP at 4hrs 10mins.

Cart-path only on the entire course, as they are still keeping the course fairly damp post punching and over-seeding. Course was closed for a month, and was evidently just opened a week ago.

Tees were very green, lush and level, but a bit soft. Fairways were lush, green and few divots to contend with. Good lies throughout. Rough was long and a nightmare - a mix of large areas of kikuyu and something else. Penal and tough to hit from, but even harder to find balls, unless you were within 5-10 feet, as they would sit down. The three guys I played with were 300-yard bombers, and probably lost over 15 balls total, with most of them just being lost in the rough somewhere!

Sand quality was great, but players ahead seemed to think a sand-butler would come by and rake their tracks, as at least 10 bunkers were unraked. Pretty sad, really.

Greens were pretty good, but not fantastic. Several were lightly sanded, but all showed no signs of the punching. Receptive and held shots well. Rolled smooth and medium-fast. Way too many freshly unrepaired ball marks, however.

The 3 guys I played with all were riding the Phat Cycles. They loved them and looked like a lot of fun. Too bad it was CPO. Only downside of those things is that there is no GPS on them, which for first-timers on the course, you don't get to see water hazards, etc.

Great, friendly service all around. From free valet-parking to start, check-in and final club-drop off. Nice bar/lounge with super-huge TV to watch the Dodgers blow a 'sure-fire' win in game 4 in the World Series. ;-)

Last day of the 6 round golf outing in 7 days. Finished the So Cal trip with a round at La Omni Costa on the legends course. After playing Hacienda, Maderas, and Aviara the previous few days leading... Continue »

Last day of the 6 round golf outing in 7 days. Finished the So Cal trip with a round at La Omni Costa on the legends course. After playing Hacienda, Maderas, and Aviara the previous few days leading up to this round, the legends course was a bit of a let down. However, I will say that the course is in decent shape overall. Not over top top fantastic but solid tee to green.

Tee boxes were level and lush with only the par 3's having divots (and those were probably from the groups ahead of us in the tournament). Fairways were also in great shape with only a few thin spots here and there.

Rough wasn't as penal as Aviara but was thick enough to get your attention. Rough did have some thin and bare spots on occasion.

Greens were a bit of a let down. A number of the greens were bumpy from old unrepaired divots. They rolled at a medium fast speed and rolled true.

Sand traps were a bit hardpan at times and thin at other times.

As for the course layout, it is a standard flat parkland style layout with only a few trees to cause trouble at times. The enjoyment comes from the water holes with a couple of lakes coming into play. Most are off to the side with no real forced carries. There are a few gullies in front of a couple of greens to contend with. Overall, it's a decent course but not sure it's worth the full rack rate.