The main reason for the low scores on the green conditions is because they were aerated 2 weeks ago. There is still enough top dressing (sand) on the greens to slow them down and make them bumpy. Woul... Continue »

The main reason for the low scores on the green conditions is because they were aerated 2 weeks ago. There is still enough top dressing (sand) on the greens to slow them down and make them bumpy. Would've been nice to know this ahead of time. Especially since they charged full price. Nothing is posted on their maintenance calender online.

The green complexes have plenty of undulation and collection areas with thin lies. Like the renovations done, but again would've appreciated some notice on the aerated greens or a discounted green fee.

Played 4/9/22 2:10 POP a tad over 4 hrs. Course is coming out of its non-overseed winter. Fairways were mostly green and filling in. Many thin/bare spots around but found mostly good lies. Greens we... Continue »

Played 4/9/22 2:10 POP a tad over 4 hrs. Course is coming out of its non-overseed winter. Fairways were mostly green and filling in. Many thin/bare spots around but found mostly good lies. Greens were in very good shape but VERY firm. Very hard to get any stoppage on shots but if you play the distance -10 yrds. you can often get better looks at the hole. Unless the pin is up front with many of the green complex's having mounds in front that can deflect short shots. I've really come to embrace and enjoy the challenges of the new design. If the greens can get a little more receptive, it will even be better. They were running medium fast and very true. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming aeration will make any difference. Traps were in great shape and the new sand makes getting out predictable. As mentioned in previous reviews. Short siding yourself on these green complexes will make your day adventurous. If the pin is near an edge, play for middle! The $85 Rack rate is a little steep, but unfortunately is becoming the average costs these days. It is very sad to see the tree gone on the 9th fairway. I was worried that it would be removed during the construction and was glad to see it remained for reopening. But sadly, it took a huge turn for the worse and died to many of the local's delight. I was not one of them. Look forward to post aeration and would recommend waiting.

Played SV on 3/22/22 in the late afternoon. First time back here after the redesign. Dave's review from the AM is comprehensive, so I won't repeat that. My additional thoughts....

The non-overseede... Continue »

Played SV on 3/22/22 in the late afternoon. First time back here after the redesign. Dave's review from the AM is comprehensive, so I won't repeat that. My additional thoughts....

The non-overseeded fairways are covered, but it is a very thin & hard coverage. Very difficult to play, you have to catch the ball perfectly - lots of fat and thin shots. The redesign has built up the greens with lots of mounds and undulations, the green complexes are well done, but it leaves a dilemma. If you miss a green, the ball will always funnel down to a collection area well below the green surface. So now you have a flop shot off a hard tight lie to an elevated green usually with mounds between you and the hole. I was 0/10 on the day getting up and down - and to be honest I wasn't even close to getting 1. Saw this in my playing partners as well - nobody could get a chip within 10 feet. Most of us resorted to rolling hybrids or putters instead of wedges.

Another note is it was very hard to find a flat / consistent tee box on the black tees. Some were unlevel, some had significantly different levels of grass.

I like the course and layout. Greens are really nice. I think once the fairway grass starts growing it will be a very fun course to play. Right now, not so much.

THE COURSE IS RUINED - THEY’VE CUT DOWN THE BIG TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF #9 FAIRWAY!! Shop says it was diseased. Hope they replace it – that was an iconic feature of the course. Played in an SCGA qualif... Continue »

THE COURSE IS RUINED - THEY’VE CUT DOWN THE BIG TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF #9 FAIRWAY!! Shop says it was diseased. Hope they replace it – that was an iconic feature of the course. Played in an SCGA qualifier at 8am on a sunny, warm Monday, 3/21/22, on a great day for golf with very little wind. A little cool to start but it warmed up quickly. I wasn’t crazy about the $25 cart fee the course charged – hey, it has GPS, the shop says. I must admit I didn’t look at the small GPS unit all day. Playing in these SCGA events is getting tougher for me as they generally start early and can be in remote locations. At the GK event at San Vicente last year gary00 and I got lost and wandered around eastern San Diego before finally finding the course. This time I took the Highway 78 Death Road from Escondido – a deep canyon on one side, cliffs on the other of a two-lane, winding road with maniac commuter drivers racing to work. And a face full of blinding sunrise to boot – as Mark often says, Good Times! Then you wander thru Ramona hoping to find the course, because there is NO signage anywhere and the course won’t come up on my car GPS. Good Times! Off on time at 8am and we found conditions to be less than optimal on fairways and rough. Both were very dry/thin and patchy, even being reduced to bare spots in many areas. Conditions did make for pretty good runout. Lies were tight and the ball frequently sat down. Many tees were noticeably sloping behind a right-handed golfer – we played White. Bunkers were in very good condition – we saw staff hand-raking them ahead of the round, and they had consistent heavy, damp sand that was easy to play from. Greens were in very good condition with complete coverage and consistent turf. However, they were very firm, not really holding anything but short, high shots, and fast to the point of silly. Anything above the hole was “wave the putter over the ball” and hope the ball wandered down near the hole. I don’t care for this type of condition, as I think golf should be played where you feel you actually have a chance to make a putt. And while I know this is operator error, I got to tick “6-putt” off my to-do list. These types of greens also contribute to slow play. We had a couple of very deliberate markers/alignment/practice strokers in our group, and combined with the green speeds and missed comebackers we were berated for being 12 minutes behind on hole #5! Managed to kind of catch up as the round continued, but weirdly we didn’t see the group behind us for the next nine holes. So they were having their own problems. Wound up playing in about 4¾ hours – not too bad for an SCGA event. The course uses an “entry/exit” gate system which I think helps manage cart wear on turf margins. Practice putting green was stupid fast and a harbinger of the stress to come. Drink cart was out, and a snack shack at the turn. I like the layout here and would like it better in more playable conditions. I played in the GK event at Goose Creek the day before, and so I got pretty gassed by the latter part of the back nine. With the long and difficult trek out here, not sure how many more times I will visit. But I would recommend to others.

Played Saturday, 12/11, as part of a 2 group GK meet-up. A frost delay pushed us back 2 hours, but it was the smoothest ran delay I've seen. Staff had the groups running smooth and despite the delay, ... Continue »

Played Saturday, 12/11, as part of a 2 group GK meet-up. A frost delay pushed us back 2 hours, but it was the smoothest ran delay I've seen. Staff had the groups running smooth and despite the delay, we played a sub 4 hour round. I've never had a better experience with trying to squeeze groups out to catch up on a busy tee sheet on a Saturday. Great job by the staff.

The course is in various stages of dormancy and was playing tight, firm, and fast. I love some firm and fast, but many holes have a strategic bunker placed in front of the green which took out a run up and I don't have high wedge off a tight lie in my bag. Fairways were well covered and while dormant, no thin/dead spots. Rough was basically fairway height, unless you found some spots way off or off the beaten path. Bunkers were incredible. Sand felt new, thick and heavy, but nice to hit out. I heard they had renovated all the greens and all I can say is wow. Smooth and fast with an incredible amount of undulations. You definitely need to be confident with the putter or it'll be a long day.

San Vicente absolutely exceeded my expectations. In an area with lots of high end courses, San Vicente is a perfect "one step back" from those. Perfect price point, good to great conditions, and a fun course to play. My favorite was the par 3 15th, with the mini-Biarritz style green tucked into a grove of trees. For a resort, the staff and vibe had a super friendly muni feel to it.

Played 12/5/21 7:50 with a 2 hr. frost delay, so a 9:50 tee off. Fairways are mostly dormant but with decent to good coverage. They were mostly on the "Cut tight" side, but still played fine with very... Continue »

Played 12/5/21 7:50 with a 2 hr. frost delay, so a 9:50 tee off. Fairways are mostly dormant but with decent to good coverage. They were mostly on the "Cut tight" side, but still played fine with very good roll out. I encounter little to no issues. Greens are in very good to great shape. They were slightly softer than they have been. They rolled very true at a perfect pace IMO. The new greens have many contours to them and can be tricky if you're in the wrong spot. Traps were in great shape and consistent. The course is in really great winter playing shape overall.
Easy recommend. Thanks Johnny and Matt for setting this up, And a very big thanks to SVR for a great day and a tasty box lunch.

Joined up with some GK'ers yesterday out at San Vicente Resort. We were looking for a place to play before heading to Rams hill the next day and this was a great choice. We had 7:40 and 7:50 tee times... Continue »

Joined up with some GK'ers yesterday out at San Vicente Resort. We were looking for a place to play before heading to Rams hill the next day and this was a great choice. We had 7:40 and 7:50 tee times but it was a very cold morning and we ended up having a 2 hour frost delay. The staff was very friendly and handled the situation very well. Instead of doing a shotgun start they just pushed everyone back 2 hours so we assumed the course was going to be slow but that was not the case. We zipped around the course in under 4 hours which was great.

Course is still in good shape overall. The Greens were the highlight of the day lush, firm and fast all day. I bid you good luck if you leave the ball above the hole. Just look at my 4 putt double bogey on hole 2! Well hit approaches will stick to the green but anything coming in low would mostly roll off the greens. The fairways had full coverage but were mostly dormant and cut low. The tight lies caused some havoc in our group but it was still very playable. Rough was cut to the same length as the fairway with the exception of a few areas around the hazards. This also caused issues as balls that rolled off the green usually kept rolling to the low spots. The 3 bunkers I had had very soft sand and was just a pleasure to play from. The Tee boxes were probably the lowest point of the round and could use a little TLC all of them were level but not a ton of grass. I Noticed a few boxes had some new Sod so maybe they are already working on it.

I really enjoy they layout of this course as no two holes are the same. the par 3's are all different lengths which is a big plus in my book. The greens are the highlight of the course architecture they were completely redone prior to them reopening last year. Massive undulations and a lot of places to put the pins make for a different experience every time you play. Carts are basic but do have a GPS that gives you Front, Center, and Back yardages. Lastly the Staff here is by far the friendliest group of people I have encountered on a golf course, They go over the top to help you with anything you can think of. With the exception of no cart girl this day :)

I highly recommend playing here if you get the chance.

Played today in a mini-GK outing. I played here a couple of months ago and enjoyed it very much. I was happy for the opportunity to play again. We had a 7:30am tee time but upon arrival found a two h... Continue »

Played today in a mini-GK outing. I played here a couple of months ago and enjoyed it very much. I was happy for the opportunity to play again. We had a 7:30am tee time but upon arrival found a two hour frost delay. No problem. We all went and enjoyed breakfast at a nearby café as the golf course restaurant was not yet open. When we arrived back at the course, it was very busy. The staff was super friendly and efficient in keeping things organized and getting the players out after the delay.

The conditions were pretty good. The fairways and rough are dormant brown and cut very short. Those tight lies gave me some trouble but I certainly appreciated the extra roll out on my drives. The sand in the five or six (or more?) bunkers I was in was great. It was very clean and soft. I haven’t seen bunkers that nice in a while. The greens were hard and fast! They are very undulating and putting was a real challenge for all of us. Other than a few moments of frustration, it was a super fun day playing with Tim, Brady and Ross. Huge thanks to Johnny for setting it up.

Played 10-16-21 12:30 POP 4:20 Very busy day but it moved along fine. Course has dried a little since last time but still in over good to great shape. Greens mostly healed from punching. A few had vi... Continue »

Played 10-16-21 12:30 POP 4:20 Very busy day but it moved along fine. Course has dried a little since last time but still in over good to great shape. Greens mostly healed from punching. A few had visible holes still, but caused very few issues. Many greens had ball marks not healing. Greens still very firm and hard to stop shots. Fairways mostly green with good coverage, but noticeably drier from last time I played here. Still in very good shape with good roll out. Still a good recommend.