Finally made my return to Goat Hill yesterday as a warm-up for La Costa with the Pisarski boys and Gregholla. We had a 7:40 tee time. $39 out-of-towner rate with cart felt a bit steep for an executive... Continue »

Finally made my return to Goat Hill yesterday as a warm-up for La Costa with the Pisarski boys and Gregholla. We had a 7:40 tee time. $39 out-of-towner rate with cart felt a bit steep for an executive course. Our round took about 3:20, only because we were stuck behind a much slower foursome all day. This was my first time returning to the course since it was Center City and absolutely one of the worst courses I had played. Obviously, the renovation has received a lot of hype, but I still had some skepticism. I will say it is light years better now than it was then. However, it's all relative. It's still a funky layout. It is also still very rough around the edges. Conditions were pretty decent. Tee boxes a bit lumpy, but fine enough. Fairways on the shaggy side with some inconsistencies in the kikuyu grass. Where there is rough, it is pretty thick and also quite inconsistent. Then, there are all the bare dirt areas around the edges that will easily come into play with only a slightly stray shot on some holes. In my opinion, these dirt areas are kind of ugly and take away from any aesthetic appeal the course could have. I will say the bunkers had fantastic sand (super soft), though not always well raked by fellow players. The greens were also nice. They were soft and rolling pretty well at somewhat slow speeds. The greens here are definitely very tricky to read with a lot of lumpy undulation and the hill breaks to try and figure out. If they had these greens running too fast, it would probably be a nightmare. It's nice to see what they've done to make this a better community course in a community that is in need of some revitalization. It was such a dump before and they've obviously put a lot of work in. There were plenty of people out there playing and using the practice facilities. I wouldn't rank it as any more than a kind-of-charming local's course, though. I agree with the "working class" in their slogan, but not at all with the "world class." It is not one of the best short courses in the country. Maybe a top 10 short course in SD County. Maybe. It's much better than it used to be, but it is nothing that I have the desire to play again. I am a supporter of short courses and often a fan of "quirky" layouts, but nothing about this place really does it for me other than a couple of the par-3s that are treacherously fun (holes 5 and 7 specifically).

Staying close to the coast because of the extreme heat, so Goat Hill fit the bill. Enjoy this course a great deal. Despite it's length, it certainly presents a challenge. No problem getting out and... Continue »

Staying close to the coast because of the extreme heat, so Goat Hill fit the bill. Enjoy this course a great deal. Despite it's length, it certainly presents a challenge. No problem getting out and with the great senior rate, it's a good deal.

Greens were the best part of the course, as usual. Rough, (dirt) needs to be avoided. Now that I have played here a few times, the confusing routing is no longer as issue. Fun layout, great customer service and well priced.

Played 2nd time ever here. Played in 2.5 hours, by myself. The course is still in great shape. Only one green that had a bad case of something, may be someone destroyed it on purpose. The tee boxes ar... Continue »

Played 2nd time ever here. Played in 2.5 hours, by myself. The course is still in great shape. Only one green that had a bad case of something, may be someone destroyed it on purpose. The tee boxes are in great shape. You have to stay in the fairway, the rough is usually dirt, but that is the same for Pinehurst.

Played an early round this morning, walking in about 2 1/2 hours. Yesterday and today they just punched the fairways so it's not the best conditions right now. That being said, the greens were rollin... Continue »

Played an early round this morning, walking in about 2 1/2 hours. Yesterday and today they just punched the fairways so it's not the best conditions right now. That being said, the greens were rolling really pure, the tees were great and everything else was good. I might give it a week or so before heading out. You could bump the ball to avoid the holes or dirt plugs, but the grass also is a bit long since they couldn't get the mower on it. Still a fun time out there and with the greens good it's still worth the $20 or so bucks to walk it.

Played the front 9 at Goat Hill Park on Friday with AndrewZ28. Walked, great workout even for 9 holes. We had a blast. It was my first time playing it since the renovations were completed. Challenging... Continue »

Played the front 9 at Goat Hill Park on Friday with AndrewZ28. Walked, great workout even for 9 holes. We had a blast. It was my first time playing it since the renovations were completed. Challenging course not to be taken for granted. Small undulating greens. Lots of elevation changes. Nice views. Lots of forced carries. Holes you are tempted to bomb your driver on but best to play smart. I’m disappointed I did not get in the back nine but, hey, great reason to get back out there hopefully soon. Super cool vibe by the staff. Very relaxed ambiance with some music playing. I met the GM Peter, great guy with plans to build a kitchen and improve the driving range. I think the course overall was in very good shape. The greens were in great shape. Moderately fast, smooth and firm. Greenside surrounds lush. Fairways mostly dry but lush in many places. Bunkers well maintained with quality sand that I was in. Rough, besides greenside, not very existent which in turn adds a difficultly factor to the course where if you miss the fairways in some areas, your ball will find some hardpan and go for an unexpected journey. Here is what you don’t want to do, take someone on that has USGA index at Goat Hill Park. Especially on their home turf. The golf course is massively under rated. Another thing you don’t want to do is walk this course if you have a heart condition. There are some very severe hills to take on. But what you do want to do is play this little gem. I know I will. Posted some photos. Check them out!

Heard a lot about the local joint called Goat Hill. I didn't attend Harvard, but I blew past the name and decided to walk the course. I will never do that again. It was a workout. Overall, the course ... Continue »

Heard a lot about the local joint called Goat Hill. I didn't attend Harvard, but I blew past the name and decided to walk the course. I will never do that again. It was a workout. Overall, the course is great! The greens were just as good as the new ones at Torrey Pines North. The fairways are in good shape. The course is challenging due to have to play a few trees and doglegs. Fun course and I recommend it. If your first time, tell the clubhouse, they have a card with local tips for each hole that really helped. I will always support a Muni, especially when the greens are in that good shape.

Played here on 6/28 at 7 AM. No one here but the guy in the Pro Shop. Only the second time playing here.

Greens: really in great condition, smooth, holding and running at a slow to medium speed.
... Continue »

Played here on 6/28 at 7 AM. No one here but the guy in the Pro Shop. Only the second time playing here.

Greens: really in great condition, smooth, holding and running at a slow to medium speed.

Fairways/Rough: a variety of grass on the fairway, not that bad. Real issue is if you miss the fairway by 2-3 yards you can end up 20-30 yards down into a valley because of the decomposed granite. If you are accurate, no problem!

Traps: well conditioned traps, some of the better traps I've been in the past few month.

Very confusing to navigate from the green to the next T box. Great "tips" sheet in the Pro shop is helpful.
Also, very hilly, tough to walk when you are in your mid 70's.
Grass driving range and two putting greens. Good to see the Pro conducting a junior golf class.

Finally played Goat Hill Park for the first time today. Their tee sheet looked wide open on the website, so I didn’t make a tee time and arrived around 1:00. I had a coupon from some sort of community... Continue »

Finally played Goat Hill Park for the first time today. Their tee sheet looked wide open on the website, so I didn’t make a tee time and arrived around 1:00. I had a coupon from some sort of community discount card purchased from a Boy Scout that was buy one green fee, get one free, so it was $26 for my son and I to walk. Very friendly woman in the pro shop welcomed us and gave us a little “Local Knowledge” card as an addendum to the scorecard. That was a big help for us first timers. The range was busy but few people seemed to be heading out on the course. After my son hit a small bucket, we teed off. Walking pace was about 3:25, getting pushed a little by a twosome in a cart on the last couple holes. Pretty good breeze most of the afternoon, sunny skies and temps in the upper 60s. Course conditions are quite good. The greens seem very healthy. I think salt air does them good, because they reminded me a bit of the greens at Olivas Links. Very thick, strong turf that felt sort of wiry when you fixed ball marks. Despite the great coverage and smooth cut, they were quite slow. I’d say slow to medium-slow. I can’t remember the last time I played greens this slow, and I had a hard time adjusting. They were also pretty firm. The few full shots where I actually hit the green today all took a bounce or two before stopping. Fairways were pretty lush with good coverage. Rough varied from bare spots to dry grass to lush, nasty green grass. Tee boxes were good. Neither my son nor I were in any bunkers. There aren’t many bunkers on the course, but the ones I saw looked quite good. Opinions on this course seem to run the gamut, but I enjoyed it a lot. Tons of elevation changes, and really great topography for golf. It’s tough, too. Definitely a good workout to walk it. The par-4 12th was my favorite hole, which plays from an elevated tee to a diagonal fairway, and then up a chute to the small, elevated green. A few minor nitpicks: I didn’t see any drinking water available on the course; would love to see a few jugs added throughout the course. The routing is a bit confusing for a first-time visitor, but we never got too lost. I got burned on a few holes by lack of local knowledge, where I hit what I thought were good shots and then they weren’t. Guess I’ll just have to go back! Oh, also, we saw a big snake on the 10th green! To see that and 49 other photos of Goat Hill Park, copy and paste this url to access my Flickr photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskVoKTYU

Played today 4/5/17 with 2 groups fm Oside early morning. Said I'd never play here again after it brought me to tears of disappointment years ago... so my review will be based off of comparison of w... Continue »

Played today 4/5/17 with 2 groups fm Oside early morning. Said I'd never play here again after it brought me to tears of disappointment years ago... so my review will be based off of comparison of waaaaaaay back then and how it rolled today. One word sums it up (in my humble opinion) = Impressed. Adams family haunted mansion entry gate, fixed. Clubhouse outside facelift, nice. Practice Putting/chipping area, Excellent. Driving range (although downhill), neat surfboard looking targets, level (albeit a bit divotted up today from all the use). Staff, as before, very welcoming/pleasant and obviously proud of the Goat (as they should be). Course layout changed around as Hole 1 was 10 and 10 was 1, as well as some other changes; a definite improvement. Tee boxes level, with Grass. Playing from the tips, even on this short course, can humble even the best. Fairways rolled out nicely and had, dare I say it, Grass - Awesome. Rough - well, a marked improvement for sure, but very punishing if you stray too far left or right. Simply keep it in the middle (riiiiiiiiight!) ;)
Bunkers had adequate sand, very playable, again a mega improvement from when I last played. The Greens were above and beyond remarkable, but far from easy. Soft, receptive, undulating, rolled pretty true, but very slow today. No major ball mark damage that I recall. Course knowledge is certainly a must for good scoring. There are several areas on the course that can be very misleading, and great shots off the tee, not so good after all. Pace of play was great...course was not crowded so it made for a very enjoyable, non-pressured round. Cart paths still could use some improvement, but hey...the Goat has my thumbs up vote. It is laid back, welcoming, family friendly and worth the green fee. Never thought I'd ever say it, but I truly did enjoy this quirky, quaint, Oceanside gem. Note: there is a disc golf course that winds through the golf course as well. We didn't run into anyone playing on it today, nice. In summary: Way to go owners/management and staff - hope others see fit to Give the Goat a Go!! I'm glad we did. Oh, nice Linksoul aparrel available in the pro shop also; along with neat pictures and other offerings.