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We've played this course several times over the past 16 months. The renovations have established themselves and the adjustments to layout and hole pace have made this course easy to keep on time. The conditions are excellent for the current winter timeframe and the fairways and greens are in "summer"shape... Very much enjoy playing Boulder Oaks as it has quite a few challenging aspects and the greens can be tough, depending on where the greenskeeper has placed the cups...

What a pleasant surprise.... Eagle Crest is back! Course conditions were very good and most of the fairways and tee boxes were in great shape... that is... grass, where grass is supposed to be. We had played just over a year ago when they were experiencing significant irrigation issues and you needed a hammer to put a tee in the ground on several holes, and some of the fairways resembled an unpaved parking lot. Kudos to the maintenance team as I know it has taken a very large and very focused effort to get things fixed.

My buddy and I were extremely happy that there has also been significant improvement with the greens and the fact they are in the best shape we've ever seeing the last couple of years. To be quite honest we've avoided the course due to prior experiences, but had heard through friends that the course had seen many benefits from a solid maintenance effort. They were right on the money. The only down-side we experienced was the fact their coffee maker had broken the day before and that the person who runs the food-service grill wasn't arriving until after 9:30 or 10:00 AM. It would have been nice to have coffee since we ended up first out and experienced a bit of fog on the first two holes. The temp was around 45 degrees and after a couple holes we were able to start removing jackets, sweaters, etc.

In closing there are two things we will do based on this experience... First, we will put Eagle Crest back into our course rotation to play again. Second, I will buy a large thermos for coffee to take along if we end up being first out on the next round.

Thank you for the opportunity to share our experience and, finally...best of luck to all who keep calm and play through...

Other than the greens, the course is in great shape and plays very well. However, when it comes to the putting surfaces, I'm not sure what is going on...for the most part they are very rough and seem pretty beat up.... I believe there are too many golfers that don't bother to fix ball-marks, or just plain do not know how??? It may also tribe that the underlayment is in need of some work, as it seems that many of the ball-marks have stripped off the grass and left a soft, muddy spot. It's too hard underneath the surface and balls are "skimming" instead of leaving a "normal" ball-mark. I've been playing this course for over 3 years now and it seems that this summer has been hardest on the putting surfaces and they need serious help. Other than that, the sand, or whatever it is in the traps and bunkers, also needs serious attention. We are in southern California and I would think the sand would be soft and fluffy. Nope.. soggy, hard, and sometimes even sloppy-wet in the bottoms, enough where you can get splashed trying to get under the ball and use the sand as normal.. I had two sand shots today where my just club bounced off the surface in front of the ball and I sent my ball almost to the next tee.. I can understand damp after a rainstorm, but I think the sprinklers are just not positioned well enough to try to minimize how much water goes in... or, the drainage needs serious work. Don't get me totally wrong here though... I really enjoy this course... it has some things that need work, and most every course has its issues,, Time and good maintenance practices will make a huge difference here and I will continue to play here.. And, maybe with some focused effort by having someone physically watching the greens and then reinforcing ball-mark repair ettiquet through in-person training right there on the green??? Just a thought...;

Boulder Oaks is not your typical Par 70 track... It is a tough, well designed, and challenging course in the foothills of San Diego County. The re-design has created some very interesting tee box locations, where your sight of the fairway is limited and you need to rely on your drive accuracy to score well. I've played many "Wide-open courses where your errant shots don't hurt as much.

Boulder Oaks is not that. The course has incorporated natural breaks and reduced the grass areas significantly in an effort to reduce water consumption. I think it has made me a better golfer as I now have to consider my shots carefully instead of relying on an open expanse of fairway to save me from a penalty.

With additional changes coming soon, the challenge of playing well on this course will increase a bit, but, the course condition and setting make for a very enjoyable round of golf. It is definitely not your average, easy to play, forgiving course. However, if you like a beautiful setting and great views along with a bit of a challenge, this is a perfect choice.