Played the Blues (6865/72.7/129) with GK Guru's Lotrgolfer48 & Dconnally in 3H, 50M on a beautiful Friday morning. Little wind, not too hot and clear. My 1st time playing here. Really liked the trad... Continue »

Played the Blues (6865/72.7/129) with GK Guru's Lotrgolfer48 & Dconnally in 3H, 50M on a beautiful Friday morning. Little wind, not too hot and clear. My 1st time playing here. Really liked the traditional, parkland style Billy Bell layout. After playing numerous modern, tricked up target courses lately, standing on the tee and being able to look directly at the green on numerous par 4 and par 5 holes was a nice change. I liked that most fairways were tree lined with no houses within sight and had traps on both sides. Liked even better that it was usually one trap on each side, not an excessive amount. The greens were well bunkered and the par 3's were challenging, so ++ for the design set on rolling hills. The playing conditions were a pleasant surprise, very good bordering on excellent in every area. The Kikuyu tees were good, mostly lush with few divots. I had no issue finding level lies. The fairways had good coverage and were very good. Almost always had a good lie in the fairway. The rough had good coverage and could be penal because it's mostly Kikuyu. They recently renovated the bunkers, using aerial photography to restore them to the shape they were when the course opened in 1948. Beautiful, fine white sand. They did an excellent job on their renovation, these traps were about as good as you will ever find on a daily fee, public course. The greens were the hi-lite of the course besides the bunkers. Medium fast, smooth, they putted VERY nice. Some of the better greens I have experienced recently, very comparable with RR Lakes, which I played earlier this week. The customer service was excellent from everyone encountered. We saw the cart gal numerous times and the burger/fries I had after the round were good in quality/quantity and price. Cart stocked with range balls, water, sleeve of balls and a nice ball marker/divot repair tool when we arrived. Nice grass driving range with plenty of stalls. Organization was top notch all around. I had always heard this was a good course... it was actually very good! If I lived closer, this course would be in my regular rotation. Excellent value based on the playing conditions and the price. Definitely recommended.

Went down from OC to play this course yesterday afternoon based on the recent reviews. The reviews were spot on. The course is in fantastic shape. Greens were very quick and smooth. Tee boxes were gre... Continue »

Went down from OC to play this course yesterday afternoon based on the recent reviews. The reviews were spot on. The course is in fantastic shape. Greens were very quick and smooth. Tee boxes were great, fairways were full, and rough was long and brutal. I really enjoyed the design of the course. Bunkers were immaculate with wonderful white sand. The pace of play was great around 4 hours. I will definitely be back soon to play.

Got to play here on 7/3, mid morning for the first time this year. As you drive in to the club house you notice the new white sand traps and the lush green fairways. Just a beautiful, peaceful setting... Continue »

Got to play here on 7/3, mid morning for the first time this year. As you drive in to the club house you notice the new white sand traps and the lush green fairways. Just a beautiful, peaceful setting! They were quite busy today with POP at 4 1/2 hours. Greens: excellent condition, smooth, medium speed and "holding". Fairway: neatly trimmed (what else your you expect from a Marine facility) and lush. Rough: quite punishing with the rough at 3+ inches. Traps: good condition but I forgot how a get out of a trap with sand. A couple of new traps added. Real nice grass driving range and short game practice area. Good customer service at the Pro Shop, starter and snack bar. Recommend.

Awesome restoration!

Open to the public so I played all 18 last Saturday and it was awesome! They just completed major restorations including completely rebuilt new sand bunkers. Bunkers were resto... Continue »

Awesome restoration!

Open to the public so I played all 18 last Saturday and it was awesome! They just completed major restorations including completely rebuilt new sand bunkers. Bunkers were restored back to the original William Bell design and the GC looks like a new track. Bright white sand that plays consistently in all bunkers. Greens were rolling fast and very true, fairways and tees were excellent. POP was fair, staff was great. I like that there are no homes around the GC, just golf and open hills. Highly recommend you make the trip to play the newly restored Marine Memorial GC now that it's finished and all 18 holes are open, you will not be disappointed!

Played 3/2. First time out here. Hint to others...for base access, go to www.mccscp.com/golf, click on the yellow "Activities Access" button and fill out the access request form.

The course was sti... Continue »

Played 3/2. First time out here. Hint to others...for base access, go to www.mccscp.com/golf, click on the yellow "Activities Access" button and fill out the access request form.

The course was still really wet, standing water in most fairways. That being said, the grass all around was in good shape. Tees/fairways/greens all plush. Rough is hit and miss. The greens still weren't smooth though, quite bumpy, but given the soaked conditions I would guess the bumps are not the normal case.

The course itself is tucked in a isolated valley on the base, and you hear/see nothing but the golf course except for the occasional flyover. The layout itself is nothing memorable, pretty straight forward. Almost no hazards. Lots of trees. Not a course I'd go out of my way to play often, but a decent course in a neat location and a good price.

Played Saturday afternoon with a 1pm tee time. Never played here and it was quite an adventure finding this place. Leave some time and patience to get on the base. Check in and first tee were very smo... Continue »

Played Saturday afternoon with a 1pm tee time. Never played here and it was quite an adventure finding this place. Leave some time and patience to get on the base. Check in and first tee were very smooth. Tee boxes had good coverage and divot mix on each tee box. Fairways and rough had great coverage, traps had a good layer of sand. Greens were very firm and bumpy. Green complexes are big with different levels and breaks. Very few unfixed divots and a little on the slow side.
Really like the layout and feels wide open but hit it in the wrong spot and you can get blocked from the green from overhanging tree branches. Wind comes up in the afternoon and adds to the challenge.

Played out here today with a 10:39 GN Hot Deal time. Paired with three nice guys from Calgary here on vacation. Their wives played directly in front of us and were very quick; we couldn't really keep ... Continue »

Played out here today with a 10:39 GN Hot Deal time. Paired with three nice guys from Calgary here on vacation. Their wives played directly in front of us and were very quick; we couldn't really keep up even though total POP was good at 4:10, and the course seemed very full. Weather was great with patchy clouds but lots of sunlight. The wind kicked up around the 5th hole and persisted most of the day, typical for here in Windmill Canyon. Getting on the base, check-in and starter were all easy. (*More on getting onto the base later.)

The course is in very nice condition. Greens are smooth and fast. Not necessarily glassy fast but more sneaky fast; very difficult to get balls to stop at the hole. There's lots of slope on these greens and it seemed today anytime a putt rolled past the hole it would catch a slope and run out another 4-6 feet or so. The greens are about medium firmness. They didn't stop on a dime most times...more like a bounce or two and then stop. Fairways were lush, cut short with good coverage and any remaining muddy areas from recent storms were roped off. Rough was also pretty lush, good coverage but not too penal. I was in one bunker and it looked very well manicured, but was a little firm underneath a thin top layer of soft sand. Blue tee boxes were all good. Today the 12th hole played from an alternate tee I'd never seen that is practically right behind the 11th green, rather than the one to the left of the 11th green. Definitely changes that tee shot with the creek crossing the fairway.

I really, really love this old-school course. I was surprised to see it had been more than a year since I'd played here. *Good thing it had, though, because apparently you can't access the base as a civilian more than once a year anymore. I called and talked to a pro shop guy yesterday who explained that you can apply for a 90-day access pass on the Camp Pendleton/course website. I'll be doing that, because I definitely want to get back out there again soon. If you haven't played this course, I highly recommend you get out there and give it a chance.

Had an early AM time on Friday, very few golfers. First time here in 6 months and I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the course. Greens: excellent; smooth, medium to fast speed and "hold... Continue »

Had an early AM time on Friday, very few golfers. First time here in 6 months and I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the course. Greens: excellent; smooth, medium to fast speed and "holding" Fairways: above average condition compared to many of the courses in the North county of San Diego. A few wet spots on some of the fairways. Traps: very firm, in desperate need of sand. Rough: 1-3" high with a few bare spots. Tees: many not level because of old animal tunnels. Great grass driving range, $2 for a small basket. Large putting green. Excellent place for lunch after the round with outdoor seating over looking the course. On drawback can be getting on base because of heighten security. I was lucky, my buddy is a retired DOD employee and there was no problem.

Played on 08/03. Greens were bumpier than the previous few weeks, which I think can be attributed to the cooler night time temps prior. The afternoon wind was stronger than usual, and there's already ... Continue »

Played on 08/03. Greens were bumpier than the previous few weeks, which I think can be attributed to the cooler night time temps prior. The afternoon wind was stronger than usual, and there's already a consistent afternoon wind that blows through the canyon there. Fun day!