First round back since three weeks away on vacation so a buddy and I thought Balboa would be a great place to ease back into the game. We were correct.

We snagged a 10am tee time this Sunday and r... Continue »

First round back since three weeks away on vacation so a buddy and I thought Balboa would be a great place to ease back into the game. We were correct.

We snagged a 10am tee time this Sunday and rode while playing the blue tees and paired up with two, fun older gentlemen - a good time was had by all. It was warm but there were some nice patches of cloud cover that really made it ideal temperatures to play.

Course conditions are about what you would expect right now at Balboa, although to be fair I was concerned it was going to be even more dried out than it actually was. I found the greens to be in pretty darn good shape actually, holding shots well and rolling pretty consistently.

The fairways are not all covered but there are plenty of good spots in the right hitting alleys. You're still going to find some thin and dry along the way, and even some roped off GUR areas (perhaps needed a few more to be honest), but nothing too bad to complain about any more than this. The tee boxes are definitely beat up but they're level and adequate. Bunkers were a bit crusty on the top but actually had more sand underneath than expected, so not terrible.

Carts are pretty well appointed and they have a very good GPS system to help you out, but Balboa as a course is pretty straight-forward with no water features, no elevations and nothing but trees and a little bit of length on a few holes to trouble you. I was thrilled to come back after a long hiatus and play my best round of the year so far.