davidkaye

The course is always in good condition. From the blacks it's a challenging course and could host a qualifier or tournament. The putting green looks like it was attacked by a fungus so the green speed was useless since they let it grow out. The same fungus hit the first green so there is a temporary green while it's being repaired. Stick it in the 20' foot circle because you can't putt on that temp green at all.

It's a nice quiet country club and a pleasure to play. Ice machine and water at the clubhouse. No ball washers so remember to bring a little wet towel. Carts lack GPS and phone chargers but they do put ice in the cart coolers.

Everyone greets you with the private country club waive and it just has a pleasant relaxed atmosphere. The staff is courteous and you don't get that "not a member"" vibe at all.

The course is very nice and the fees are reasonable. From the blacks the course is worthy of a local tournament or qualifier, and from the forward tees the course is friendly.

When Meadow Lakes closed last year to downsize I thought I lost an old friend. I heard that Meadow Lakes was opening up again after some major renovations so I thought I would check it out. Well, it turns out that Meadow Lakes is now called Boulder Oaks, and the changes at Boulder Oaks are beautiful. The course is still 18 holes but the course has been shortened after three holes were eliminated. The new course design makes sense and works well without the need for any remedial measures such as protective fencing often needed on other courses with poorly designed tee box locations. The layout of the holes is smart and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. When I call the new layout smart I mean that if you are a high handicapper, and play from the whites a few times per year, you will find the course fun and playable with friendly landing zones and safe options. If you are a low handicapper, and play from the blacks, you will find plenty of challenges and strategically placed bunkers, and will wonder why you didn't shoot lower on a 5,726 yard track. Everywhere you look there is fresh white sand, green fairways, and newly planted drought tolerant vegetation. The man running the show is none other than legendary Rex Choe. Locals will know that Rex was the manager and PGA teaching professional up the road at Castle Creek. Rex knows how to run a course, and as an instructor, he was instrumental in the new design changes from a players perspective. I found two old friends when I came back to Boulder Oaks and I plan to play the course often.

Spanish Trails is a beautiful course which is conveniently located just a few miles from the Vegas strip off Tropicana. Each hole offers an interesting layout and challenge. The views of the snow capped mountains were visible throughout the course and the scenery on the course was spectacular. Some of the water features on the Lakes 9 were world class - I have played many $200-$500 resort courses in 13 other counties and I mean WORLD CLASS! Forget about the old, dying Las Vegas National from the 1970's, or beat up Vegas courses like Las Vegas Golf Club for $29, and include Spanish Trials on EVERY Vegas trip.

Golfnow advisory! I booked this round for $53 on Golfnow. Yes, they hit me for $5 cash to use the range, or GPS, or 2 waters in the cart, or fairy dust, or magic beans, or some other bogus hidden charge which other reviews have complained about. However, I felt $58 was an absolute bargain for this beautiful course. Also, Spanish Trials is a PRIVATE COURSE which has undoubtedly been forced to use Golfnow to pay the bills, and everyone will know you are not a member. For example, I heard the starter announce, "Mr. Trump, sir, please feel free to head over to the first tee box when you are ready, sir. Then I heard the drill sergeant Golfnow announcement, "Smith, Jones, first tee box". When I showed up at the pro shop the manager seemed annoyed and confused that he had some "Golfnow bookings" to handle and for some reason he was unaware of the bookings. You could actually hear the tone of distain when he said "Golfnow bookings". You are not a member when you play Spanish Trials and they will let you know it!

Warning! This course is now charging a fee to use the range which has pyramid balls waiting for members. I guess the ball washer is now broken because all the balls are covered in dirt. Very nice course in very good condition. The staff have that arrogant "private country club attitude" if you are not a member.

I have played Vineyard about 250 times over the years. In fact, I have played every public and military course in San Diego County and in many other countries. I play golf 4-5 times per week with a 3.4 handicap. Currently, I play Vineyard about once every six months because it is too slow, and it takes me about six months to forget my past promise to never play there again because it was too slow.

I had a 12:07 tee time but there was a shotgun tournament finishing about 40 minutes late and so everyone was delayed. Then I found out that I was in the seventh group to start on the first tee which meant it was especially slow. I played nine holes and quit because I realized I would not finish 18 holes before dark (12:07 tee time?) and the waiting was so painful.

The management at Vineyard might claim this was an exceptional circumstance caused by the tournament, but when I book a round at Vineyard every six months I treat it as a practice round and I always plan to play the front nine and then I start over on the first tee again because the back nine is always more miserably slow than the front nine. Many times in the past I would drive by the Vineyard, and after seeing the parking lot, I would keep driving 6 miles further to Eagle Crest.

I think the pace of play problem at the Vineyard is cause by the Vineyard being more aggressive in marketing to bring in new/horrible/high-handicap/SLOW golfers in order to maintain revenues, and the demographics(non-golfers) of Escondido.

SLOW Ideas? 1) Play it forward - Everyone without a single digit handicap is encouraged by the starter to play the forward tees, 2) Encourage new golfers to $BUY$ cheaper practice balls (okay to lose) from the Proshop, 3) Advise players to limit their lost ball search time to 2 minutes instead of 5 minutes (these guys are not on tour and they lose several balls per round), 4) Educate the new players on the etiquette of allowing faster players to play through, 5) Encourage $lessons$ with the course pro to help slower players holding up the game, 6) Tell the hackers to play executive courses! (joke)

First you have to do the Homeland security/secondary inspection at the front gate. You must have a DL license, Insurance, Registration, and a tee time on the tee sheet and you get your hall pass.

The course is basically flat and pretty easy for a low handicapper. The greens are nice and they seem to have plenty of water on that base to keep everything green. You can hit wild drives all day because the only thing separating most of the fairways are a few sparse trees. As long as you can shape the ball both ways you can recover from anywhere without a penalty making the course pretty easy.

There is loud jet and helicopter noise to the South and loud Miramar Road traffic noise to the North.

I would play it a gain.

Well it was time to test Stadium. I'm a 3.3 handicap and I needed a little test. My buddy, who has played Stadium before, bet me $100 I couldn't break 100 - from the black Tournament markers. What? Are you kidding! Break 100?

The greens are perfect. The fairways are perfect. The 5,000 bunkers are perfect. The course is perfect. The staff is perfect. The facilities are perfect. The practice areas are perfect.

Pete Dye: A 255 par 3? a 471 par 4? A 617 par 5? - NOT downhill and the lush beautiful fairways don't really give you much roll like the concrete on the home course.

Even if you hit the narrow, curved fairway in the right spot as you stretch for a 450 yard hole, your ball can still meander off into a bunker, or a collection area. Flat lies are rare even in the fairway leaving you with some sort of improvised shot.

The greens are ALL guarded like Fort Knox by water, DEEP bunkers, and collection areas which encircle EVERY hole and stand ready to defend all challengers.

The greens are all sectioned off into tiny "no birdie" zones by steep ridges and tiers. Putting through a triple or quadruple breaker was not uncommon making your shot placement critical. I personally guarantee several 3-putts.

Stadium was the toughest course I have every played second to Torrey Pines south from the "invite only/permission needed" blacks.

Make an excuse about your glutes not activating today and move up from the Blues to the Whites so you can smile once during the round. And DO NOT play the blacks unless you hold a current PGA card.

The bet? 97! Made just TWO pars and ZERO birdies. Pay up. $100

First about me: I play 5 days a week, I'm a 3.3 handicap, and I've played EVERY public course and military course in San Diego County, and in 13 other countries.

About Carmel Mountain: The renovations are incomplete with piles of concrete and debris visible on multiple holes. The "desert landscaping" is simply acres of low cost pebble rocks and bark with very sparsely planted immature/cheaper drought tolerant plants which all look like weeds. The density of the plants is increased only near the clubhouse for the website photos. Speaking of weeds, there are weeds everywhere throughout the course.

The started was missing so I started myself. No driving range as before, but an interesting little net system to stretch out.

The greens were beautiful, but way too slow and furry, and they were all being manually watered during my round. The fairways were alright with occasional dead spots and weeds.

The scorecard shows some distance changes but it's basically the exact same course with some minor changes like the missing monster bunker on the 15th.

The bathrooms missed out on any renovations and look and smell like the public beach bathrooms in Pacific Beach on a hot summer weekend.

The clubhouse has white peeling paint visible on the exterior as you enter the clubhouse, the carpets are stained, and the wood and furniture have noticeable water damage and stains.

Golfnow "Hot Deal" customers are treated as second class citizens and are forced to either share a cart or join up with random players who usually play from the forward tees and have a handicap close to 30. I was charged a $15 rider fee for bringing my wife to see the renovations - only Carmel Highland and San Luis Rey would charge this fee and ....well you know what happened.

Bottom line: I would never pay $39 to play Carmel Mountain Ranch on a Hot deal and I would certainly not pay the weekend rate of $64.

The GM is very friendly and always greets you with a smile. The starter is sharp and organized and will pair up groups to keep it moving. The course is well maintained and challenging but still fun. They have done great job keeping things green, keeping sand in the bunkers, and manicuring around. The castle is always a good choice at a fair price. It's a fun challenge from the whites, and a fair test for the low handicappers from the blacks.

St. Marks is making a lot of improvements. The carts are new and nicer (NO GPS). Free tees, 2 waters. Lots of watering everywhere and tee box and bunkers improvements. Worth the usually afternoon $29 but I found a hot deal for $20. Unfortunately the nice lady in the pro shop tells everyone to start whenever and I ran into two groups of 5 who were horrible players from the whites but they let me play through.

An inexpensive course to play in Orange County. The Pro shop never mentioned that the tee boxes were closed for seeding.

Well I booked on Golfnow and when I showed up they let me know that the entire back nine was closed for aeration, but there was no aeration alert on Golfnow when I booked.

Anyway, I NEVER play Encinitas Ranch because it's a very easy, average course and the cheapest deal is $68, and on weekends they want over $100. Fairways are WIDE. Par 5's are reachable for low handicappers. Greens were nice. The front nine winds through some canyons which creates some interesting elevation changes.

Lots of better courses for $40.

First time playing River View. You sort of criss-cross over or figure eight your way along a drainage channel. Sycuan in East San Diego has the same thing. They ran out of score cards but the carts have very nice GPS with extra features you don't normally see at less expensive courses. The course layout is pretty silly with nets everywhere to keep the peace. The course is surrounded by local parks with fiestas and screaming kids to help you prepare for the Sunday crowds. lol. A few unrepaired divots but the greens were actually pretty nice. The staff was great. I would play again for $27 on a weekend.

It's Goat hill. It's an executive coarse where you can still break our the driver a few times if you want. The grass to dirt ratio is usually about 50/50 so you might play some "winter rules" and just place your ball on some grass for a better practice round.

Good course in good condition. Paid $70. You can certainly find other good courses for less. All of the JC courses (Rancho Bernardo, Twin Oaks, Encinitas Ranch) are well maintained but they are not worth the price. You can play dozens of comparable San Diego courses for less than $70. San Marcos, Carlsbad Crossings, Pala Mesa, Vineyard, Carmel Mountain etc. etc. etc.

Warning: the general manager is still trying to force singles into the same cart to save money. When you book on Golfnow it DOES NOT say "shared" cart. The course is mediocre with brown and dirt everywhere. Looks like they got the bee hive out of the old train near the 15th and 16th hole. A slow day with the usual hackers shooting in the 100's in front of you. Just played Aviara in Carlsbad for $160 so the differences are dramatic but for a $22 practice round I'll come back over and over.

Played the OakGlen course and actually drove the entire Willowglen course just to check it out. The first two tee boxes were embarrassing. I had to hunt for a patch of grass between the dirt and crabgrass. The 7th hole is a forced par 5 with only enough room for a par 4. The tee shot is a completely blind shot down into a valley of trees and the tee boxes are cut into the side of a hill to make extra room. The greens were really nice with average speed. Fairways were in fair shape. Lots of beautiful Oak trees around but don't try to put over those leaves cause they are like parking lot speed bumps. A nice course for $20-$30 but I played on Hot Deal for $60. No Way!!! FYI. I have played EVERY course in San Diego County and Temecula on Golfnow in addition to many private courses. The Willowglen course seemed more scenic and has two very pretty holes around the water but what is with the 3 huge fans blowing on the second hole green? An average course with nothing special and not worth $60 or $74 the regular rate. I guess they have a summer special for $45 after 11.

The greens were great. The fairways were great. The tee boxes were great. The staff was great. Did I forget anything? Oh the cart GPS was the nicest I've seen with touch screen. I think this was the nicest public course I have ever played, but at $235 I would not play again. Other reviews accurately describe it as a botanical garden with gorgeous water features. If you grab a 4:00pm $125 Golfnow deal then it is a MUST for everyone. The Hyatt Park Aviara Hotel runs around $380 per night during summer so there were lots of rich bad golfers/vacationers to be found on the course slowing things down.