tmescall

Played the courses for the first time in 7 years. Just as I recalled, it was beautiful and fun, with some challenges from water hazards and PALM TREES. Being in Indian Canyon means a lot of thick, untrimmed palms to get in your way when you stray from the fairway. These aren't the super-tall thin palms—these are shorter, much, much bushier, and virtually impossible to penetrate. I found myself in jail a couple of times.

Overall the course was in great condition—the fairways nice and trimmed, the greens true, rollable, and readable. And the traps were very well maintained.

I would not that the white tees play very short (under (6,000 yards). If you're a decent driver, your game will be almost all driver wedge here. Going with the Teal tees will mix your day up a bit more. If you do, be warned that some of the fairways feel a bit narrow, so make sure your middle irons are on point!

While I have played Torrey Pines and Aviara, I had never played La Costa until now. Mostly because it had fallen into disrepair for so long. Those days are obviously gone, and I enjoyed the course I played (Legends) immensely (Granted, I got a nice discount rate through GolfNow). Pace of play: 4.5 hours. And I really liked the amenities and service of the place. Very scenic, fairly flat, and fun layout and greens, with fairways and putting surfaces in good shape (slightly slower than they looked). Bonus: They offer both GolfBoard and a scooter in addition to standard carts. I chose the GolfBoard, and it just added to the fun.

Why so slow? Gotta be the rough. If you miss your shot, you’re stuck in 10-inch grass-covered Burma. The problem is that people waste everyones’s time by looking for their lost balls in this mess—-potentially several on each hole for high-handicappers. And there is simply no need for it—cut it dow for chrissakes! The greens and fairways were in good shape, but having 3 foursomes waiting on each hole is a pain—took us 1:45 to play 5 holes! To their credit, the course only charged for 9 and gave us credit for half a round.