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Reviews
Mission Trails Golf Course
Played On 08/12/2021Really good!
I’ve been playing Mission Trails for 40 years and seen it in all kinds of conditions, good and bad. Played it now twice in the last month and so happy to see it in really good shape. Fairways have mostly healthy grass on them and the greens are excellent. Bunkers good too. You can tell they’re making great decisions by roping off some parts of fairways to let the grass grow better. Too bad other courses don’t do this. Congrats to the management and crew for the work they’re doing. For price versus conditions, this is best value in the county right now.
The Vineyard at Escondido
Played On 05/05/2020A good walk
Glad to have Vineyard back open. Arrived at 4 in afternoon without a reservation and was able to walk on as a single. It was pretty quiet since no carts are being used. Course was in much better condition than when I played a couple of months ago. Fairways were mostly healthy. Rough, however, has not been mowed in a while, so I lost a couple of balls just off fairway. Kind of a bummer but otherwise it was a nice outing. Bunkers are in terrible condition because they have not been taken care of in a while. Hope that changes soon.
The Vineyard at Escondido
Played On 02/20/2020Greens great; fairways so-so
We could tell it wasn’t going to be a smooth start when we paid our green fees and there was a traffic jam at the first tee. We were sent off 20 minutes late and when I inquired about the backup, the explanation was, “We’re busy today.” Lame. I noted that it was unusual to get backed up on a nice weather day, and some apparent regulars said, “Not at the Vineyard.” Round ended up being 5 hours, though that was better than we were looking at for the first few holes.
As for conditions, this is not the lush Vineyard of old. Fairways were dry, thin and hard, and yet they were still mowing them! We had a few well-struck drives find the junk because of that. Of course, a straight drive rolled forever, so that was nice.
Greens were in their usual good condition and it was nice to see the lakes full with water. But it’s obvious that water is being saved by not using ebook on the fairways.
Value remains decent. Just wish it were as good as it used to be, when for me it ranked as one of the best experiences in the county.
Friars/Presidio at Riverwalk Golf Club
Played On 05/30/2019Shoddy fairways; good greens
First time in a year playing Riverwalk. Really surprised and disappointed at the poor condition of the fairways. Patchwork of ground under repair everywhere. Maybe one of the few courses in the county that is hurt by the rain because it’s in a flood plain. Upside was the greens, which were in very good condition, though a little fuzzier than most courses in the area. Bunkers are very good too. Pace was awesome. Played in less than 4 hours and it was decently busy. Price was right with GolfNow. Wouldn’t pay more than about $35 at this point.
Mission Trails Golf Course
Played On 06/20/2019Greens were a great surprise!
Having played Trails for decades but only about twice a year, I never know what to expect on each visit. This time was a really good experience. Not only did we play in 3 hours, 45 minutes in the middle of a weekday with walkers in front of us! (Maybe we just got really lucky) but ALL of the greens were in excellent condition and rolled consistently. Not sure that I’ve see all 18 so uniform. At least not in a long time. Fairways were patchy as always but nothing too bad. Just a really enjoyable experience and good to see the course being kept up well. For the price, don’t think you can beat it.
Boulder Oaks Golf Club
Played On 10/25/2018A mixed bag
I've played this course for many years, before and after the renovation in 2016. I have to say that it's become one of the strangest experiences for golf in the area. First, the good: With a couple of exceptions, the fairways and greens are in the best shape I've seen them since the reopening. The greens, in particular. Very well maintained. That was a really nice surprise, especially for the price. As for the rest of the course: All of the nice aesthetic things they did in the renovation with white sand bunkers and decomposed granite areas has been completely let go. No maintenance on any of it, and it looks like crap. It's not unlike what happened at Carmel Mountain Ranch with their turf reduction before it closed. Courses think you can just put this stuff and not maintain it. You can, but it doesn't make for a very pleasant golfer experience. Also, the older bunkers here at TERRIBLE. Most of them in our round today either had no sand or were mud holes. Basically, you should treat them all as ground under repair and get to take a drop. It's just an experience of really mixed impressions. If you keep the ball close to the fairway and on the greens, it's great. If not, it's not so fun. As for the layout, it quirky in some spots, but generally fun. They've switched the routing a few times, and I liked seeing No. 12 converted back to a par-5 instead of a sharp dogleg par-4. Would I recommend the course? Yes, but understand that it's probably going to be very different than most of your golf experiences in the area.
The Vineyard at Escondido
Played On 10/26/2016The usual good experience at the Vineyard
Been playing here for many years, though it usually works out to only a handful of times each year. Hadn't been back in a while, and as usual, the course was really well maintained. The greens were healed from aeration, though they were working on their fairway overseeding. Played a lot of public golf in San Diego lately and there aren't too many courses in overall better shape than this one. Only downsides this outing were having to start on the back nine, looking into the morning sun, because they were still doing work on the front; and kind of a wonky check-in in which they didn't tell us we were starting on 10 (so we drove to No. 1) and the young woman managing the carts seemed very overwhelmed though it was not that busy.
North at Admiral Baker Golf Course
Played On 10/20/2016My new go-to course
After not playing Admiral Baker in a few years, I've played both the North and South courses in recent weeks and found them both to be fun, playable and in really good condition, considering our drought conditions and the dry summer. They're such a great option for anyone looking for good golf in the Mission Valley area. Had a lot of fun this past week on the South Course. Condition was spotty in only a couple of places off the fairway, but it was otherwise really good. The small, tilted greens remind me a lot of the Torrey Pines North Course before the recent renovation. It's a tale of two nines: the front being pretty benign because it's shorter, while the back is a strong challenge. Love the clubhouse and amenities. Would highly recommend Baker.