Played the Canyon and Ranch nines here today with an 11:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time. After a 20% off promo code, I paid less than $58. More like “Steal” Canyon at that rate! Checked in the shop around 1... Continue »

Played the Canyon and Ranch nines here today with an 11:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time. After a 20% off promo code, I paid less than $58. More like “Steal” Canyon at that rate! Checked in the shop around 11:00 and then the starter in the staging area was very friendly and offered to let me either play at my time as part of a foursome, or start early by myself. I opted for playing alone and hit the first tee within a couple minutes. Didn’t catch anyone until around the 12th hole, and then things were pretty slow for a while until I was able to play through a group on 16 before zipping through 17 & 18. Total POP was great at about 3:25, often taking my time to take pictures or practice chips and putts after holing out.

Conditions are decent to good. Greens are the highlight, running smooth, medium to medium-fast speed, and quite accepting of full shots. Fairways are pretty firm and have mostly good coverage, but I did find some bare spots. Rough varied from light to thick Bermuda where the ball would sink down and cause some issues. Blue tee boxes were mostly good but some were a mix of grasses and a bit clumpy. I was in two bunkers, both of which looked decent at first but probably could’ve used more sand once I played my shots.

This was my first time here and I’d wanted to notch it off the list for a long time. It’s a decent course but not quite as impressive nor dramatic as I anticipated. Could be the summer conditions or midday lighting that just didn’t “wow” me much. There are some nice elevation changes on the Canyon nine but no one hole really captivated or excited me.

After the round, I inquired about playing the Vineyard nine as well, which looked wide open. The pro shop guy said sure but wanted to charge me $50. Considering that’s almost what I paid for 18, I passed, especially knowing from Jay’s reviews below that I’d already played the two best nines. Overall, definitely worth what I paid but I couldn’t recommend it at full rack rate, which for me as a non-San Diego County resident would’ve been an absurd $152. Even the $102 county resident rate is a bit steep for a weekday, imo.

Played yesterday, Friday, Aug 25. Showed up as a single without a tee time and got right out. Vineyard/Ranch is how they sent me out by myself. I blazed through the Vineyard in an hour, replaying 6... Continue »

Played yesterday, Friday, Aug 25. Showed up as a single without a tee time and got right out. Vineyard/Ranch is how they sent me out by myself. I blazed through the Vineyard in an hour, replaying 6-8. Ranch was about 1.5 hrs and then played Ranch again in about 1 hr. $85
for twilight county resident is worth it if you can play 30 holes like I did, lol. But the Vineyard is just a lackluster nine holes in my opinion. Holes 1 and 5 on the Vineyard are good holes but the other 7 holes just are mediocre. And the greens on the Vineyard are crazy flat.

Conditions are good for the most part, but $85 rate is pushing it, especially if you play the Vineyard in the rotation. Black tees were level, but pretty shaggy and chewed up. Fairways were good to very good, no issues at all there. Fairways were definitely the highlight of the courses. Greens had a lot of ball marks and were just OK. They held shots well, but were a little bumpy and average speed. Sand traps looked worse than they played, they were damp and clumpy on the surface but underneath, they were just fine and played well actually. Rough wasn't too penal.

I do love this course, but not at the premium price, especially if you have to play the Vineyard nine. Customer service was good, beverage cart around several times and guys in the proshop were fine. Paul was out at the Vineyard/Ranch first tee when I made the turn and was very friendly. I do recommend, the Canyon/Ranch nines are awesome.

Played the canyon/ranch combo in a tournament. Course is in very good shape. Tee boxes were nice, a little beat up in some spots but found a place for the tee and it was level. Fairways are showing a... Continue »

Played the canyon/ranch combo in a tournament. Course is in very good shape. Tee boxes were nice, a little beat up in some spots but found a place for the tee and it was level. Fairways are showing a little brown but still good coverage with a few divot areas. They were firm and gave a good amount of extra roll. Rough wasn’t really an issue and pretty easy to play from. Sand was generally in good shape. Some areas needed to be raked but that’s more on other players and not so much the course. Greens were a little to firm with the ball bouncing pretty high and not holding. But they were otherwise in good shape and the ball rolled well.

Played all three nines today at Steele Canyon—first time visitor—and this review will represent all three. It was a fun collection of holes. The three nines have both similarities and differences. Can... Continue »

Played all three nines today at Steele Canyon—first time visitor—and this review will represent all three. It was a fun collection of holes. The three nines have both similarities and differences. Canyon and Ranch both featured more elevation change then Vineyard, which was more flat. But all had doglegs, all had hazards (bunkers, water, hillside/natural habitat), and all had undulations in the fairways and greens. Conditions were pretty good from tee to green; the only gripes I had were that the bunkers were poor in sand quality & coverage (mostly firm & thin), and the greens had minor ball mark damage (but still rolled pretty smooth & predictable). All in all, an enjoyable day, would certainly consider coming back on a future trip.

Played 10/29&30 vineyard/canyon and canyon ranch. Vineyard greens still had a few visible punch marks but the greens rolled well, I'd give them a good. Ranch and Canyon were really nice, a very good... Continue »

Played 10/29&30 vineyard/canyon and canyon ranch. Vineyard greens still had a few visible punch marks but the greens rolled well, I'd give them a good. Ranch and Canyon were really nice, a very good and slightly faster, maybe 11. Tees had good coverage and few divots. Didn't have a bad lie in the fairway either day. Rough was mostly very manageable unless you found some bermuda on the edges. Was in one well-raked fairway trap with great sand. The Ranch/Canyon combo with a lot of elevation changes is the favorite, but the Vineyard will give you plenty to think about. Can't remember switching clubs more often on a course. I love the layout here and the conditions are just below a top-notch country club. The rack rate seems a little steep, but at a c-note less than Maderas, it's a good value. Food is excellent at a decent price with a good selection of beer on tap.

Played here 8/3/21. Afternoons at Steele can be quite windy, but today it was about 5-10 mph with a few gusts here and there. Course was in great shape as usual. Greens were 11 but soft enough to hold... Continue »

Played here 8/3/21. Afternoons at Steele can be quite windy, but today it was about 5-10 mph with a few gusts here and there. Course was in great shape as usual. Greens were 11 but soft enough to hold a mid and even long iron. POP was great 3-3.5 which is the main reason I play out here, worth the price when the POP is that good. Play canyon to vineyard.

I’ve been wanting to get out to Steele Canyon GC for over 30 years, and I think I re-remembered the main reasons I HAVEN’T been here before – it’s a hump and a half from my house (100 miles one-way) a... Continue »

I’ve been wanting to get out to Steele Canyon GC for over 30 years, and I think I re-remembered the main reasons I HAVEN’T been here before – it’s a hump and a half from my house (100 miles one-way) and the road system in east/south San Diego is a looney bin! Weekends are already bad, but between traffic, construction, a wrong turn, and general remoteness, it took me almost 3 hours to get here around noon on Saturday, 5/22/21, for a GK Cup match with GK legend lotrgolfer48. It was his first time here also, so we learned the hard lessons of the course together. Check-in was easy with the shop and clubhouse open. Matt had picked up a GolfNow twilight deal for only $60 each, far lower than the non-res rate for me. Clubs from the bag drop were staged up to the cart area. The starter was friendly and helpful. I arrived too late to use the driving range or putting greens (both open; no flags in PG cups). Basic carts with no GPS, but sand bottles provided and plenty of refills. We were paired with a local father/son and were moved to the busy first tee a little early. We played the Vineyard/Canyon rotation (Blue tees; 6,144/70.4/132) on this 27-hole layout. The Vineyard 9 has generally much less elevation change and sloppiness than the Canyon 9. The latter lives up to its name, playing up into the foothills below McGinty Mountain, with holes pushed up against canyon slopes and long drops off some tees. Matt made some observations of similarities to some aspects of Eagle Glen and Hidden Valley that we had played in the past having similar terrain and challenges. Greens were the most consistent part of the course. Coverage is good, but all greens were extremely firm and quick, and with many elevated or pedestal greens the conditions eliminated some types of approaches and made pitching/chipping challenging. Full shots generally released; some released quite a bit. Unfortunately, most greens showed a lot of old ballmarks. As we got up into the higher canyon elevations, the fast greens got a little silly. As Matt said in his Cup recap, he putted off the green on Canyon #3 as the downhill/downcanyon putt just kept going and picked up speed. Fairway coverage was generally OK but the turf is very thin and tight, and the ball most often sat close. Conditions in fairways were very dry – divots taken with crisp irons resulted in an explosion of dry soil. Rough was variable between thin/dry/bare and some areas of fairly lush growth. This was especially problematic around the pedestal greens where being able to elevate a wedge pitch to the hard green surfaces was often difficult or unlikely. Tees were dry and thin but were level. Most of the traps had adequate material, although at least 1 that I was in was very fluffy, and some (Canyon hole #7) were all almost devoid of sand and very wetted, resulting in my shot bouncing out of the bunker. The back 9 (Canyon 9) was tough for me with a lot of up/down walking on steep slopes as the cart path was often well below or above the playing areas. We encountered the legendary SCGC magic elves on Canyon hole #4, the downhill par-5 with a 100+-foot drop to the fairway off the tee – Matt sailed his ball well up on the slope to the right of the fairway, and I pulled my drive along the treeline on the left side, audibly hitting the cart path. Somehow our golf balls ended up in the middle of the fairway only yards apart! Scary! But - thank you, elves! Local knowledge and some repeated plays are required to have a better idea of lines to take and how to play approaches and around the greens. The severe firm greens/substantial slopes on the course make the “fun factor” tough for the normal recreational golfer. Looking back on the match, I know there are several instances where a different approach to shots played would have worked better, if I was more familiar with the course. I’d be up for playing Steele Canyon again to see the Ranch 9 and to try to score better than yesterday, but any future plays might be held back by the challenges of just reaching the course.

What a terrific facility. My only small gripe would be the short game area.
Driving Range was excellent and they had good regular range balls. No baldies or beaters in my bunch.
The course was in ... Continue »

What a terrific facility. My only small gripe would be the short game area.
Driving Range was excellent and they had good regular range balls. No baldies or beaters in my bunch.
The course was in terrific condition. No rough to speak of and the fairways play fast.
You have to be thinking and focused on every shot. There are few give away shots.
Greens are not for the faint of heart. They run 11 unless you're above the hole and then they run like marble floor. They are true and roll smooth.
Bunkers looked to be in great shape.
Nice dining area inside and out. Quite expansive.
For an excellent challenge oyu should play this track.

Played Steele Canyon on my 50th B-day Feb 5th, check in was quick and easy. When we arrive we were very concerned as the parking lot was full and had to park on the street. We played the Canyon/Vineya... Continue »

Played Steele Canyon on my 50th B-day Feb 5th, check in was quick and easy. When we arrive we were very concerned as the parking lot was full and had to park on the street. We played the Canyon/Vineyard combo. We got off on time and was surprised that we finished our round in less than 4.5 hours after being so busy. We never waited on a tee box and moved along. Disappointed in the beverage cart people as they came to us on the 2nd hole and never saw them again until the 18th hole. The course, although not plush green from wall to wall, played excellent, great lies on nice fairways with some run out. Rough was minimal but made you take notice. We were informed that any flower beds were a free drop but the course card said differently. Bunkers were firm. The greens were in great condition, firm but accepting of well struck shots, rolling very smooth, fast in spots, tricky to read, just what your would expect from a decent course! Layout keeps you interested with some tough holes and nowhere you can coast. Course knowledge is a plus as there are some hidden features that you can't quite see from the tee.