Avila Beach Golf Resort

Fairways were dry and hard greens were rough overall not a very good course

Grass super dead. San traps no sand. Tee boxes in bad shape. Slowest game I’ve ever played. Quit after 10 holes… 3+ hours to play 9

Was first tee time off at 7:00am. Pro shop opened at 6:55. Walking rate was $69 but had to find out on the first green that the greens were punched. All the grass/sod holes were just dumped in the rough right off the green. Not the most walking friendly course as there are awkward transitions from green to the next tee. They have also lost their 10th green.

The worst part was my girlfriend came with to walk the course. They charged a $20 spectator fee. There is literally a public trail that goes through the course. If you have a child, spouse, friend going with you, go somewhere else.

I expected this course to be in better shape. Most of the greens were pretty good but fairways and rough
Were pretty sparse. The layout was difficult to follow. It would benefit from more signs. Staff was friendly

Gents I came to play with high hopes of having a great time, unfortunately I did not. The playability of the course was extremely in question maybe because of the drought situation but too many Greens had exposed dirt and signs of disease with the earthen actually cracking (un-puttable). Additionally most Bunkers lacked any sand, wether green side or fairway, and should be identified as Waist Areas so at least you can ground your club and have a fighting chance.

I was sad to see the condition of the course. The fairways are dead, dry and hard. Not sure what happened but I have never seen the course in this condition.

Decent enough course, couple of patchy greens but overall it’s a good course.

Fairways for most hole were dry, and not well maintained. Cart paths were in poor conditions full of pot holes. Some Greens were not well maintained and under repair.

This was my second time playing this course, but it’s been 5 years or so. I knew the layout was a little wonky, but the conditions have degraded substantially. Let me walk through our experience…

Staff were all friendly. No issues there.

Driving range looked like it was maintained by Roy McAvoy…before he learned how to take care of a range when he moved to Texas. It was useless.

Front 9 had spots of grass here and there, although it looked like there were 37 different types. It was challenging to find a single square foot of consistent usable grass to hit off of. So I guess the driving range was actually a decent preparation for the actual course.
When we got to hole 4, it was clear that this course uses reclaimed water, except that they use “organic” reclaimed water. Perhaps you’ve heard of “farm to table” restaurants…this course clearly uses “body to course” reclaimed “water”. The smell was absolutely nauseating. It made the joggers we saw on the back 9 even more impressive as no human should be able to take in more of the air on that course than needed for absolute survival.

The back nine had several ducks or geese , which was cool. Until you realized that the giant black polka dots that decorated every green were actually just giant bird excrement that had been walked on before us. From the 10th tee, you get a nice view of the ocean, which would’ve been great if it wasn’t ruined by the parents who should be convicted of child abuse for letting their kids play in the water that will certainly cause long-term health issues for their kids. The only reason there aren’t any gators in that pond is that it’s too swampy for them. Disgusting.

This is an odd thing to complain about, but even while driving from hole to hole, you’re reminded of the disrepair of this course by the cardiac-arrest inducing potholes on the cart path. It looks like Pete Buttigieg must’ve been in charge of the paths at some point cause they were as jacked up as the streets in South Bend, IN during his tenure. I will say that I was impressed that the golf cart still ran after rolling in that terrain for 18 holes, so I guess that’s something.

If you want to see what you’re in for before heading here, check out a review of 3 Jack National on YouTube. Basically the same course. If you play and hate it, well, you’ve been warned.

Had to clean out the cart I was assigned from previous rider. Fairways are dried up. Hard packed bunkers. Couldn’t get a 3.75” tee pitched through tall grass in some boxes. Sprinklers going on almost every blue box. Starter didn’t tell me carts need to be in by 7:30pm and attendants came out to tell me hurry my game. Cart died on 17. People that live in the community playing freely at random holes.
Everything made for a challenge and had my worst round in a minute…but hey, it was fun after I realized it wasn’t gonna get better. I won’t be back until they put some work in the grounds.
The gentleman in the pro shop was friendly though.