Carlton Oaks Lodge & Country Club

I've played Carlton Oaks many times over the years, but the course conditions were rather disappointing and below average. I've played the course when it was in excellent condition. Given the conditions today, it is clear that not much water has been used to maintain fairways and greens due to challenges imposed by limitations in water use. But, there are other aspects of maintaining the course that don't require water, but could be done to improve conditions. For example, the green complexes were rather rough and ratty with bunkers of hard pan sand, edges needing trimming, and greens that were patchy and weed laden in spots. Overall, the course was in marginal condition suggesting to me that only the minimum in care is being provided. It's sad to see this Pete Dye layout not being attended to properly and with care because it really could be a nice course. In 2010, the course hosted the NCAA D1 Western Regional Tournament and the course was in great shape. I know ownership has changed and there are other forces determining how much can be appropriated in caring for the course. Well, it shows!

C.O. is a fun but challenging course - you need accuracy to stay out of trouble. Good pace on the front 9, but then we caught 3 groups and it got REALLY slow. No one in front of the first group, marshal should have been out there getting them moving. And on a hot day, we saw the cart girl on the first hole and that was it for the day.... c'mon, need a beer out here!

Ball position is very important. Not every hole is a driver. I chose to play on one of the hottest days. Temp was 96-99 deg f. Still had fun.

I almost don’t want to tell you about this course because it’s not as busy as it should be. Carlton Oaks has one of the greatest layouts of any course I’ve played in San Diego... and I’ve played a lot. 1-3x per week golfer. If you’re a long hitter then you may want to check this place out. The back tees are built for a truly seasoned golfer. If you play only once I recommend taking in the views from the back tees. You see a truly creative mind went into designing this course (Dye). There are 6 tee boxes so even if you’re not a long hitter you can still find your opportunity to have a good time. Let’s face it, Southern California is desperate for water and one of the first things to go dry will be our golf courses. Carlton Oaks is dry but it’s manageable. The fairways really aren’t as thin as I’ve seen at other places around town. Around the greens are the best. The greens themselves do not roll very fast but they roll without bouncing all over the place. Whenever they have junior events there you end up dealing with lots of ball marks that go unrepaired. My biggest gripe is the ball marks on the greens. Other then that I highly recommend playing Carlton Oaks. I’m a twilight player and am willing to pay $25 for this course no problem.

Loved the course - challenging, fairways and greens in very good chape (rough is not well kept, but this seems to be norm in SD). The issue I had was the marshall, and the mngt policy to allow 5-somes on the course, clogging the flow and making the round very slow! It all started before teeing off, when the starter told us that we would be joining another 2-some, and that we needed to get to the 1st tee right away (10 minutes before our tee time). We did, only to find the marshall drive up and tell us no, to let that 2-some go cause we'd be joining the group behind us instead. Trouble was, the group behind us was a 3-some!!! We said no, the group in front of us took off without us, so we ended up as a 2-some behind a very slow 2-some for about 5 holes. That is when even the very slow 2-some passed the 5-some in front of them. We caught that group a hole later and asked them to allow us to play through. They, very reluctantly, said they would let us play through at the turn. Really, wheres the marshall now? We did pass at the turn, but are shocked the course so blatantly allows 5-somes to clog the course. Will not return to this one.

played as a single, joined by a twosome at 715 am on friday morning (pop was 4 hours)...very little wind and plenty of sprinklers...overall fairways very good coverage...waste bunkers are being taken care of(weeds pulled/dirt tractor raked)tee boxes good..green bunkers could use more sand but playable..the greens were very good and the putts were rolling very smooth(players just keep fixing yours and others ball marks while you are waiting to putt)the resturant and outdoor patio make for a great spot after your round to tally up those scorecards...this is a course that is tough in the morning and very very tough later in the day when the wind picks up.I would also point out there are about 2 cold water stations on each nine and a full bathroom on each nine..saw the cart girl twice.6 sets of tee boxes...GO PLAY!!

The heat Was 105 so that wasn’t to great but you can’t control that. Greens were amazing. Fairways pretty dry. The bad part was that it was “club play” or something to that affect. Meaning 2 some of juniors were playing all day. In front of us “a 4 some” was a 6 pack with 2 people walking with the group and weren’t even playing. They were just walking the course which is ridiculous. How that can get past the starter, Marshall, or anyone else is beyond me. So knowing the heat is rough and a 6some with 2 people trailing it took almost 6 hours to complete. Half of our 2 some had to leave because they weren’t able to finish in time. My advice. Call ahead before booking.

Greens need work a little slow but overall course in good condition