Played to new Goat Hill with Abbacat. Semi-busy on Xmas observed, but a steady pace of 4hrs on a course full of hackers. I really liked the work that Ashworth has done to the course. I remember p... Continue »

Played to new Goat Hill with Abbacat. Semi-busy on Xmas observed, but a steady pace of 4hrs on a course full of hackers. I really liked the work that Ashworth has done to the course. I remember playing here before the reclamation project to save the course and it was a dog track. Barely any turf cover on the fairways, horribly bumpy green and an adventuresome cart ride. Totally new experience this time around. The new green complexes are immaculate and the new turf cover is exponentially better than before. The car paths are still a "fun ride", but that is only an issue if it's really muddy. This course is actually a pet project of John Ashworth, founder of Ashworth Golf and Linksoul. I really sense the affinity and care that Mr. Ashworth has for the area and the course. It almost feels like an honor to play his backyard course. As the turf grow in, the playing conditions will only improve. NOTE: This course is also the home office for the North County Jr SCGA. They have another set of "par 3" tees (The Mini-Goat) setup for juniors. The tee boxes are artificial turf set into wood chips so the kids can play regardless of weather. (Actually, it was probably substantially cheaper to build the forward tees this way, but it serves two purposes. The kids are guaranteed dry tee boxes.)

Today was my first time here. I was joined by ppark81. After hearing so much about it I had to check it out as I enjoy most short courses. As soon as we arrived I knew we’d be in for a lot of fun – a... Continue »

Today was my first time here. I was joined by ppark81. After hearing so much about it I had to check it out as I enjoy most short courses. As soon as we arrived I knew we’d be in for a lot of fun – and that I shouldn’t even bother keeping score. They have a nice grass range and I think I saw 3 putting greens.

The course, though short at a par 65, is really challenging. Many of the holes play much longer as the greens are extremely elevated…come up short of the green and it’s an almost straight up shot, provided you don’t lose your footing in the process. It’s easy to see why they call it Goat Hill!

Phillip had played here before the restoration and was extremely impressed with the improvements saying that it previously was basically just dirt. The tee boxes had a lot of divots, some level, some not. The fairways weren’t real pretty (except for #18) but as long as you stayed on it, the lies were fine. Roll off and you’re lucky to have your ball get stopped by gravel or tree debris so it wouldn’t disappear down a steep hill. The bunkers had really nice clean, soft sand. The greens were fantastic. They rolled fast medium, but high shots stuck like glue. There were hardly any marks to repair.

The junior tees are considered a separate course called The Mini Goat. The tee boxes are mats and it looks like it would be really fun to play that sometime. There is even a separate scorecard for it- par 54, 1618 yds.
It would take me a few times playing here to score well, and I look forward to my next attempt.

Walked the Blacks with 140ver & Greg in overcast, soggy conditions. Par 65 Executive course that is only 4454 yards, but has a difficulty factor surprisingly high for a course of this length. My 1st... Continue »

Walked the Blacks with 140ver & Greg in overcast, soggy conditions. Par 65 Executive course that is only 4454 yards, but has a difficulty factor surprisingly high for a course of this length. My 1st time playing here. One of the most unique courses I have ever played, and perhaps the toughest walking course. It is aptly named Goat Hill... you would never believe there is a golf course carved out of a large hill overlooking the 5 freeway. Many tees and greens are terraced right out of the side of the hill. Almost every hole either plays up/down the hill, down/up the hill or around the hill. The small, humpbacked greens were the highlight of the course. They putted medium speed, were fairly smooth and held approach shots very well after the overnight rains. The rest of the course conditions were below average to poor. The tees were thin and chewed up. Many of the fairways had large areas of hardpan or very thin turf. The rough was very hit & miss. However, to their credit, it looked like they had recently spread seed that hopefully will take hold if we continue to get rain. The traps were poor, but I'll give them a pass there because of the heavy overnight rains right before we played. The course routing is all over the place, without a course map you would be hard pressed to find several tees from the last green. No frills course with push carts, but the customer service was great. We were provided a course tip sheet that is a must for anyone not already familiar with the quirky layout. Difficult to judge the distances and what effect the hills would have on shots until you played here a few times. This is likely a course you would either love or hate, with little in between. Glad I gave it a try, IF it was in good condition I would occasionally play here if I lived in the area. I would leave it up to the individual to try and see if it is their particular cup of tea.

11-4-16 Played front 9 for a little quicky at 9am. My first time playing here and I really like it. The greens rolled great and the course is plenty difficult. A lot of blind shots so I think I will p... Continue »

11-4-16 Played front 9 for a little quicky at 9am. My first time playing here and I really like it. The greens rolled great and the course is plenty difficult. A lot of blind shots so I think I will play it better next time. That being said, I had fun, fairways were nicer than I would have expected, bunkers were as well, and greens were very nice. Maybe I was expecting less and got more but enjoyable round.

Played here on Thursday, Nov. 3rd for the first time. Currently they have a great weekday deal, $19 includes cart. Very friendly staff in the Pro shop. Not a lot of players here in the AM. Nice grass... Continue »

Played here on Thursday, Nov. 3rd for the first time. Currently they have a great weekday deal, $19 includes cart. Very friendly staff in the Pro shop. Not a lot of players here in the AM. Nice grass driving range, 2 practice greens. Greens: firm and smooth, many have a lots of contour. Fairways: they have grass with lots of bare/thin lies. The turf reduction project created lots of opportunities to damage your clubs. You can miss the fairway by a yard and be in the decomposed granite (DG) so beware. Rough: most of the time when you are off the fairway you will be in the DG. Traps: good soft sand. Do not try to walk this course unless you are in excellent condition, lots of hills and valleys. Even though there are markers with the hole number it's still a confusing journey. And they could use more pole (directional) markers in the fairways so you know you are going in the correct direction especially on holes with a blind T shot. Also, they need 100 and 150 yds markers on all the holes. Many of the greens are elevated and you can miss the green by 2-3 ft. and end up 10-20 yds away from the green because of the DG being so close to the green. Probably one of the more difficult short courses I've played. Probably will come back to try again now that I have a little more knowledge of what to expect.

First time off on a very non-typical Monday morning. Waited for the lightning to subside, then teed off a little after 7:00am. By the time we finished #2, the lightning/thunder was back in full forc... Continue »

First time off on a very non-typical Monday morning. Waited for the lightning to subside, then teed off a little after 7:00am. By the time we finished #2, the lightning/thunder was back in full force, along with a pretty good rain. Waited under a large palm tree for about 30 min until the rain turned to a light rain. (Nobody dumb enough to play, so we could afford to wait it out)

The greens were very nice, albeit too slow for my taste. I don't think they cut them today due to the weather. The fairways which had grass were soaked, with lots of thin areas. The rough, (dirt) had turned to mud, so it was very sloppy out there. Anyone who has played here knows about the elevation changes and slopes, so getting around without slipping was a challenge. This is probably the hardest "short course" I have ever played, and when you factor in the wind/rain, muddy fairways, etc, it was a stern test for such a short course. The greens were as I said slow, but the pin positions today were super tough, so I should be thankful, otherwise I'm certain I would have had several 3-putt greens.

Interesting course, whch I enjoy, but would not want to make a steady diet of this course.

I played a quick 9 this morning, walking in a little over an hour. Since I only played the front nine I can only comment on that, but from playing here often I know the conditions are similar on the b... Continue »

I played a quick 9 this morning, walking in a little over an hour. Since I only played the front nine I can only comment on that, but from playing here often I know the conditions are similar on the back.

Right now the greens are definitely the highlight of the course. They are really healthy and rolling very smooth. They aren't the fastest greens around, which is probably good since they are pretty small and undulating, but they hold great and are fun to play on. One exception on the front is #6. It was a completely new green during the renovation and it's struggled a little so it's currently punched and sanded. Other than that, great surfaces.

Many holes have new tees built and they are great. This is a short course with tee boxes on the small side, so they do get a bit of divot damage (you can hit irons off some par 4's) but they move the tees around quite a bit to keep it decent. Never an issue finding a good, flat lie.

The fairways are definitely showing a few signs of the lack of rain and warmth. The surfaces are more than playable but they have firmed up a little so expect some roll (not always good at the Goat).

Rough, or what's left after the turf reduction is patchy, but hey, it's the rough. There is the ubiquitous thick kikuyu around the greens that you get all over SoCal right now. Obviously most water at courses goes to the greens so this devilish stuff gets a drink and thickens up pretty good, making for some really tricky short game shots.

One thing that's going on right now at the Goat is happy hour where you can golf and get a drink (even a beer!) for $10 starting at 5:30. That's plenty of time to get in 18 and a pretty sweet deal.

It's hard to believe how much better the greens were than when I last played here a few months ago. The were much quicker!. With all the undulations on these greens, this is about as fast as you woul... Continue »

It's hard to believe how much better the greens were than when I last played here a few months ago. The were much quicker!. With all the undulations on these greens, this is about as fast as you would want them, otherwise you'd be out there all day 3 & 4 putting Fairways also much improved.

Not a lot to add to the prior review, except that while now having played here twice, local knowledge sure did help, but the walk did not get any easier. Fun little golf. Compliments to the staff and maintenance crew for all their efforts

Played yesterday, 6/7 teeing off just before 2 pm. Played as a twosome, leisurely pace and finished in about 3 hours. Definitely could have been much quicker if we wanted as there wasn't anyone ahead ... Continue »

Played yesterday, 6/7 teeing off just before 2 pm. Played as a twosome, leisurely pace and finished in about 3 hours. Definitely could have been much quicker if we wanted as there wasn't anyone ahead of us (we got out in front of a couple foursomes).

The course is looking really good right now. The greens are in fantastic shape, running really, really smooth at about 9-9.5 on the stimp (asked the super). If you've played here before you know the greens are tiny and full of undulation so I'm not really sure if they can make them any firmer and faster. At that point it would be borderline unplayable.

I was really surprised at the quality of the fairways. There hasn't been much rain (obvy) and the terrain usually means the course funnels water off so it tends to play firm, but I found them pretty good and very playable. The fairways are always the roughest part of the course here, even though they've been the most improved part of the course. But right now I'd say they are a solid 6/10.

The tees are in absolutely great shape! Many have been completely re-done with a few entirely new tees (5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 17). Since it's a par 65 and you're playing a lot of Par 3s it's important to have good level lies and there's no problem doing that here. One thing I would definitely recommend is putting sand bottles/buckets on the tees. There are some serious divots and it can get out of control fast.

I played with a buddy who was making his first trip around Goat Hill and he said the same thing everyone does when they first play here, "this is a hard course!". For under 4500 yards and par 65, Goat Hill park can beat you down. If you can score here you can score anywhere.

I will echo the previous review that walking this course is not for the faint of heart. Definitely doable, but be ready for a workout.

Course is in really solid shape right now, definitely worth a shot at $35 prime time on weekends with cart.