Played here yesterday with a 7:30 tee time. I’d won a free M-Th round in a photo contest several months ago and was finally able to use it yesterday. Check in went smoothly and I was paired with a thr... Continue »

Played here yesterday with a 7:30 tee time. I’d won a free M-Th round in a photo contest several months ago and was finally able to use it yesterday. Check in went smoothly and I was paired with a threesome whose third never showed up, so we just played as three. POP was good at around 4:00. Friendly, proactive staff all around. Started as a typical Carlsbad overcast morning and cleared partially by the back nine. Only mention it because the few ocean views were obscured. Conditions are really nice, highlighted by excellent greens. They ran smooth, medium-fast, were receptive to well-struck shots. No pool noodle or PVC pipe in the cups, so it felt odd to reach all the way to the bottom of the cup to retrieve your ball. Fairways are semi-dormant bermuda with good coverage providing somewhat tight lies. Rough was a little more of a mixed bag with some areas a couple inches deep and other thin areas. Bunkers and blue tee boxes were all good. I think I like this course more each time I play it… except maybe the opening tee shot. It’s one of the more intimidating/demanding opening tee shots of any course I know. Also, the routing is unfortunate, requiring you to drive the entire length of a hole twice in a three-hole span (10-12), not to mention many other long drives between greens and tees. But unless you’re a stickler for a tight routing, you’ll enjoy yourself here. The back-to-back par 5s at Nos. 15 and 16 are really cool, especially the jaw-dropping tee shot from the blues or blacks on the 16th.