Prior to going out to Rams Hill on Sunday, Eaglee and I went out to Yuma on Saturday because it was the next-closest place with new public golf courses for me to play. It actually worked out pretty we... Continue »

Prior to going out to Rams Hill on Sunday, Eaglee and I went out to Yuma on Saturday because it was the next-closest place with new public golf courses for me to play. It actually worked out pretty well and the drive into Borrego from the southeast is very easy. Anyway, Las Barrancas was the first stop. We had a 7:37 tee time booked over the phone. One of the reasons I picked this course was that they had a $29 "early bird" special (cart included) listed on their website for weekends before 9:00. Unfortunately, when we checked in they asked for the full $49 rate. After some back and forth with the girl in the pro shop, we found out that deal is supposed to only be for the back nine, but there were no such stipulations noted on the site. We compromised and she charged us $39 instead. Better than nothing, but hopefully they make the rate sheet more clear online. We went off third behind a threesome and another twosome. Things moved along fine and we never had to press too much, finishing in about 3:15. The course was in pretty ugly winter condition, but playable. The tee boxes had been overseeded and mostly played well. The fairways and rough were completely dormant brown and lies were inconsistent. The bermuda turf was rather thatchy and matted down in some places and super thin in others. Sometimes just hardpan sand. Sometimes muddy and mushy. Around the greens, the course looked much nicer as things were kept greener. The greens themselves were bumpy and slow. The bunkers here look cool as they are mostly British-style pot bunkers, but none of them had sand. They were all grass bunkers with some chunky rough at the bottom, which was different. I don't know if they ever had sand or if that was the intended design. The layout here is decent and the scenery is pretty nice, other than the 10th hole right next to the smelly water treatment facility. The back nine is more interesting than the front with some changes in elevation and a few cool holes. It's the newest course in the area and it has a lot of potential, but still kind of has that "unfinished" quality. I can tell it looks and plays much better in the spring and early summer when the grass should be greener, so the winter conditions didn't help the course present its best. Still, in Yuma where there is more golf than you thinkg but none of it is very high-end, it seems to be one of the better tracks around.