RaiderNSanDiego

I've played this course several times before and after the name change. I must say I was not a fan of the price change but had to yield to positive changes to the course. But today I was shocked, 14 of 18 holes had large multiple Brown spots in the fairways coupled with super saturated conditions due to early mornings over watering made for a messy outing. 40% grees were beat. Cart refreshment personnel and grounds crew were friendly and professional. The pro shop attendant was emphatic in stating that I must ride two to a cart even in COVID protocol conditions. One note my tee time was 0700, plenty of carts were available and I offered to pay extra. One would think safety of your clients would come first. 85 was a good score (12.6 index) in poor conditions. Truly SHOCKED!

I was fortunate or so I thought to play at Dos Lagos based upon the feedback from my friends that scouted the course prior to our golf clubs tournament 19Feb2022. This is definitely a course that you want to play a second time because publications don't do the hidden nuances justice. There is no driving range and not much of a putting surface to practice on as well. My complaint is about staff or a vendor whom was soliciting donations on that day. Mind you the course was crowded and I believe two tournaments were in play. My club had 36 personnel on that day, most are retired veterans and/or work for DOD; we are a very ethnically rich club with all ethnicities well represented. The vendor made the statement "It’s been real slow, but there is a group of 28 in front and you can't say anything to them, because they'll say it's racism", unbeknownst to him he was talking to one of our members...remember all ethnicities are well represented in our club. 2/3rds of our club maintain a 15 or below index that’s registered with SCGA. Do to this episode I personally will not play this course again, I can't speak for our club but I will recommend strongly to remove this course from our rotation in the future.

This is the second time that I've attempted to upload this review,.

(B:70.5/125) Nice course for the journey north of San Diego, kudo’s to the grounds team as the fairways were manicured, the greens were in good shape and there were just enough hidden gotcha’s to keep you on your toes.
Cart GPS would have resolved the riddles with respect to the hazards or risk/reward shot awaiting a well-informed risk taker. Although the course yardage book was wonderful with tips, it’s something to be said about knowing you can shave the corner of a dog-leg left fairway with a 280 shot and be just fine. Now, that could be a little picky, but the sand traps were horrible! Either classify them a waist bunker or groom / place sand in them. Bunker play around a couple holes was costly if you landed in the severely compacted non-classified waist areas. I sure the ground crew will expedite repairs to the open trench on the uphill par 4.
18 is a great finishing hole just enough distance to make you try to reach the green in two…….outstanding, but watch out for the (LARGE) tree on the left, water in front and down the right side.
All staff personnel that I encountered were very sociable, welcoming and attentive to my club’s needs. I would recommend this course but please fix the sand traps or reclassify them.

(W 70.1/128) I would give an overall rating of 4.6. Carlton Oaks did not disappoint me at all. One hole had a fairway that was very thin in a couple of spots but for the most part I think this is going to be the way of San Diego golf. My belief is that more courses will adopt a semi-links style design with tight fairways vice the lush greenery, that we have grown accustom to for water conservation. Having the fairways in this condition coupled with fluffy first and second cut roughs, makes an interesting decision for your second shot. Do you use the bounce and glide through the grass or use the edge and drive through the rough? Either way there is a hazard waiting for you thus choose wisely.
I’ve always like this course, the greens were a little peppered with ball marks but to the defense of the course the junior world tournament just completed play there. The courses staff was professional and courteous from the pro shop personnel to the service attendant on the course.
I would recommend this course, even though I shot slightly above my index.

My first impression as I saw the course was very plush and green then I stepped on the course and my impression changes a bit. The beauty of the course was directly related to the moisture content of the soil, a large percentage of the holes fairways were damp to quagmire to pooling water. Mind you I was part of a tournament and must admit the course had a couple tournaments (local members) at the same time which brought into play an overzealous course ambassador that was rude and obnoxious. Additionally, as we stood on one the tee boxes we had to wait for the grounds attendant to pull a hose across the tee box and begin watering the very box that we were standing in.
The course never really dried out, but was green. Some of my team mates enjoyed the course, so did I, let me clarify; the vista beautiful, bar and grill personnel outstanding, course difficulty decent, soil moisture content unsatisfactory, course ambassador customer service horrible, grounds attendant needs golf etiquette training.

I truly like this course. You’re surrounded by the timeless beauty of the rolling hills, a nice blend of high/costal desert and plush scenery combined with a wonderful family setting. The associates are very nice and the ladies that run the lower snack facility are worth their weight in gold. My association had the fortune of playing a tournament this weekend and the course was in outstanding shape, tee box to greens and fairways alike. The course had two tournaments going at the same time with no degradation in pace of play, kudo’s to the course administration.
The only negative remark the I have is GPS I think that beauty of the rolling fairways, hidden turns and water vista just inviting your shots to take a plunge, the course needs GPS in the golf carts or course booklets. Other than that you will be hard pressed to find a better maintained and deviously challenging course.

I had a chance to play at Eastlake four times in the past two months, two were weekend jaunts with friends and two were with tournaments. One thing that I noticed right off the bat was the shotgun start did not go as advertised, due to non-tournament members being afforded tee times prior to and during the published tee times for our tournament. This happening during one tournament constitutes a mistake two tournaments separate months this becomes bad behavior. I’ll have to tip my hat to one of the Staff members “Nate” for trying to accommodate my group (yes my group both times) as much as he could (8:00 shotgun started 8:21), once again thank you Nate for your outstanding customer service skills, EASTLAKE should really reward you for the extra ordinary effort shown.
The course was in good shape with the exception of the 90+percent of the sand traps, they were almost like playing off of caliche, vice soft, supple powder. As always the fairway first cuts will give you over confidence in your second/approach shots just to make you hit it “FAT” creating well more pain, hit’em straight….

I’m glad that I had a chance to play on 1Apr’17 because Oak provides just the right amount of difficulty the kick start my game. The meandering fairways will lull you into a false sense of security just to tuck you behind a tree, secure your ball in a blanket of sand or gently drop you into a water hazard. I like Sycuan and if I were to claim a home course this is it. The staff treats you as though you are a club member, there carts are very nice and comfortable and the grounds are pristine. The ground crews are top notch in my book. Normally, I don’t provide commentary on the 19th hole but Sycuan has one of the nicest and well-appointed lounges for golfers in addition to their separate restaurant, when in the golfers lounge try the fish-n-chips with smoked vinegar topped off with an ice cold draft. Nough-said!

Fix you Divots
I have to say the Vineyard at Escondido is a gem tucked away and waiting for the avid golfer to play. The staff are very professional as-well-as knowledgeable, their facilities are clean and inviting. Playing this course was a joy, I actually played this course twice in two weeks (I’m just catching up on the review) and both time I have to give this a the superintendent kudo’s on the course as a whole. Tee to green the course welcomed those nicely shaped shots and rewarded the aggressive but calculated play. The only negative comment that I have is to my fellow golfer’s PLEASE FIX YOUR DIVOTS. Course management goes to great lengths to accommodate golfers of all abilities and the least that we could do is FIX OUR DIVOTS.

My goodness Salt Creek managed to keep its fast greens even with all of the rain that San Diego/East County received. This course is not a course that you can muscle around; finesse is the word of the day for most amateurs when approaching this course. Beautiful drives ill placed will find itself in a protected habitat area and then there are those pesky bunkers that seem to be just in the right spot to catch an overzealous swing.
Low scores can be managed but remember it’s easy to capture near 100 as well; this is fun course to bring your “A” game and course management skills. So did I say fast greens……right.
There seems to be a reoccurring theme for a large number of courses NO GPS, maybe it's due to all of the devices on the market.

Sycuan (Willow Glen) has always been a favorite of mine. Today was no exception. The associates are always helpful and friendly and the course remains in good shape even the recent rains did not leave the course in disarray. I wish the holiday golfers would fix their fresh divots/gouges on the greens.
Speaking of the greens they were fairly quick but rolled true, bunker play requires finesse with the soft sand and the fairways were there for the taking all carry until they are completely dry. A couple of holes have area’s under repair but not obtrusive. The carts are outfitted with GPS and a notice that the rates are increasing soon. This is a prime time to purchase the $75 gold club membership card…..not a bad deal if you play Sycuan three or more times a year.
I would recommend this course.

I had the pleasure of playing The Golf Course at Glen Ivy for the second time (1/14/2017) and it was not disappointing. The course is sneaky difficult, it lulls you to confidence with the open fairways and the gentle dog legs but strategically placed bunkers and mature overhanging branches are there to assist your score. Be careful on a few fairways as the houses (very nice) houses are near. The course associates are very friendly, approachable and professional; the on course beverage cart service was limited probably due to the 8:30 start time we saw the lady only once. The carts did not have GPS but was outfitted with USB power sources and reception was good if you used a personal GPS device.
The wind made for some tricky shots especially on the back nine, but in all a very good experience for me and my friends.

I had the pleasure of playing Bonita after a three day break in rain, mind you this was not a deluge however, this is SoCal. The greens were in good shape (16 of 18) but the fairways were mostly quagmires or pools of water. The morning rains did not help, my tee time was 0654 the rains came about 0900. Drainage is a real issue for this course. No GPS in the carts! I would be hesitant to recommend this course with rain in the forecast inside of 4 days.

All sorry that I took so long to right my review of Twin Oaks golf course. I found the course inviting and slightly challenging, this was due in part to the recent rain that graced the SoCal area. The course handled the excess water and held up really well. The greens surprisingly retained some speed except for a couple of holes that mystified our foursome as we gave them a bit more respect on the downhill attempts than we should have. Nice course that I would like to see on a dry day and would recommend to a friend, the course managing members were friendly and helpful. The only negative note was that pesky Ambassador (nice guy) who followed my group for a couple of holes during the tournament.

The course is a bit of a diamond in the rough. I have a small pet pev when it comes to golf courses especially those that are above average, provide the customer one of two things a yardage booklet or GPS. Neither was available and for some reason my watch GPS (Bushnell) never synchronized. Of the ten players that went only one was able to sync with GPS. Additionally, there was no driving range so grip and rip on the first tee.
The course has a few hidden surprises and blind shots (really blind shots) that make for a challenging course if you know about them. Hitting what you perceive is a great shot only to be penalized by the topography is not good. The fairways were in good shape, the drought tolerant design is commendable, the greens were fast and the pin placement made you really think about your pitching and chipping.