I also got to join the fun at the latest GK event. I played with Jim, Kevin and Greg- thanks, guys!! This was my first visit to La Costa. The resort is beautiful and the staff very friendly and helpf... Continue »

I also got to join the fun at the latest GK event. I played with Jim, Kevin and Greg- thanks, guys!! This was my first visit to La Costa. The resort is beautiful and the staff very friendly and helpful. I agree with some of the previous reviews regarding the course conditions. I really liked the fairways. Other than the crazy number of unfilled divots, they were in great shape. I was in the deep rough many times but it wasn’t hard to hit out of. The bunkers were a bit thin but the sand was nice and I actually made a couple of good shots out of it. The greens weren’t pretty but rolled fast and smoothly. They had lots of unexpected breaks which kept us on our toes. Visually, overall, I found the course somewhat bland. I guess I just prefer hillier courses. What was really interesting, though, was the wind on the back nine. One minute it would blow warm, the next cold- very unusual. I would like to return sometime to play the other course. Thank you, Johnny, for another wonderful day. I really appreciate everything you do for us.

After having read through all the La Costa (Legends) reviews after the latest GK Plays this weekend, it's pretty easy to understand why there's such a large disparity in views of the overall course co... Continue »

After having read through all the La Costa (Legends) reviews after the latest GK Plays this weekend, it's pretty easy to understand why there's such a large disparity in views of the overall course conditions. As Mark (ItslikeImsayin) mentioned in his review - 'it played better than it looked.' That sums up a lot of it for me personally. Everyone has seen prettier looking greens than the ones they saw this Saturday at La Costa, but they certainly were devilishly tricky, pretty darn fast and were always a thrill ride, especially if approach shots ran a little bit and left some long putts to contend with. I found the green complexes very difficult and challenging, but also fair and intriguing. Everyone has seen greener, more lush looking fairways, but you could always count on a good lie in the fairways and, while trickier and a bit thinner around the greens, they were consistent throughout and also provided decent amount of roll after good tee shots. There were also some areas where the rough was unplayable, but the stuff just off the fairways was thick but playable and I had little trouble all day getting out of tough spots with my hybrids from the rough. Sand that I played and watched others play out of was in good shape. Mostly the nice fluffy stuff, but did play one or two that were a bit more on the thin side, but certainly nothing to really complain about. And the tee boxes, as many have mentioned, were in great shape. Never anything but a flat, perfect lie, nice angles to work from and just the right sponginess for a firm tee without having to work too hard. Layout is pretty cool and interesting, especially when you play the first five holes and realize you haven't yet seen anything but par 4s. More hilly than I expected on that front nine, but certainly flattens out and gives you a few more challenges on the back nine. The water features are not gratuitous or in your face to terrorize you - just nice, solid course design that will certainly reward good shots. I also found the overall nature of the course pretty forgiving with more than ample fairways on everything but the par 3s, which were really good fun. Service was top notch once again at La Costa, from the free valet and bag service, to the cart escorts to and from the practice area and the wonderful Liz who came around numerous times to make sure we were sorted on beverages. The staff there also went the extra mile for Johnny to bring him a phone charger to take course pictures when he realized his was bad, and that was on the fourth hole. Now that's good service. Did have a darn enjoyable round with the man himself, Mr. GK, along with Scott and Randy, who were two great characters that I hope to play with again sometime. It was all in all a really great event and I'm glad I snuck in late to take part. Really good fun after the round as well - great venue, food and of course thanks to all those who donate to the raffle that keeps everyone smiling at the end. A fun way to end 2017.

Had a super time running our GK Plays at Omni La Costa Saturday. Thank you everyone that came! So good to see so many of you. Great to meet many new faces.

I thought we were treated to great playin... Continue »

Had a super time running our GK Plays at Omni La Costa Saturday. Thank you everyone that came! So good to see so many of you. Great to meet many new faces.

I thought we were treated to great playing conditions, exceptional service and the weather was outstanding. I was particularly pleased by how easy it was to run a golf outing at Omni La Costa Resort. Everything was taken care of. Carts staged perfect, on course contests handled without me lifting a finger, nice touch to have the on course food and beverage by our carts before heading out, staff quick to respond to all my needs, little confusing at first after our round but they sure delivered on service and excellent food once we got settled in at the VUE restaurant.

As for the playing conditions, I thought they were GREAT. I think given how dry of a fall and winter it’s been the superintendent is doing a very good job. I thought the fairways were in excellent condition with lush lies all day, ball sat up beautifully and drives got ample roll. No they were not emerald green like some might think they should be for a high end resort, and the reason is they are paspalum grass, not rye grass like out in the desert and paspalum other than in the summer and early fall does not have a bright pretty green color to it but is sure plays beautifully. As with the greens, the first two greens are the worst on the golf course and even at that those two greens were not in “bad” shape. I thought overall the greens were in very good shape. They held my shots, although I do play a soft golf ball, compress my irons approach shots well and play a lot of lob wedge pitch shots around the green. The greens rolled mostly smooth and were fast. They are tricky to read and I really enjoyed the challenge. The rough was lush and thankfully cut down about 2 inches in height. I was in it a lot on Saturday as I was in the bunkers too. Speaking of the bunkers, I thought they were in great shape. Firm but not too firm. Well groomed and cared for. The tee boxes were in great shape as well. We played the blue tees. The tee boxes were lush, groomed and level.

As for the layout, it’s very true to being a mature resort style course. It’s not meant to be very challenging like its sister course on property, The Champions Course. It does force you play good golf although, which I did not Saturday, to score well. It especially demands you putt well and if you do miss the greens, have your short game on. There are many large trees to contend with off the tee. Also there are some fun risk/reward par 5’s. Like I said in my previous review, I like the Champions Course better. It’s more my type of shot value layout and intimidating. The Legends Course is more parkland and mature country club feel. Still I like both layouts and would not hesitate to play them.

I work hard to make GK Plays outings a great deal. $75 was a very special price that Greenskeeper.org alone, not Omni La Costa Resort, wanted to charge players. It is normally much more to play this course and I completely understand and expect Omni La Costa to charge more than $75 for a round of golf. It’s worth more than $75 to play for sure. It’s a world class resort destination on an exceptional property in Carlsbad California.

Played with GK outing on 12-9-17. First off I would rate this course between a 6 and 6.5. Not sure what rating came out at. Tee boxes were perfect. Fairways OK but thin. Rough was lush but not too thi... Continue »

Played with GK outing on 12-9-17. First off I would rate this course between a 6 and 6.5. Not sure what rating came out at. Tee boxes were perfect. Fairways OK but thin. Rough was lush but not too thick. Greens looked bad and were a bit bumpy but had nice speed. Bunkers varied from soft and fluffy to wet and hard packed (and I was in quite a few!) Overall not what I was expecting from such a highly rated course. Worth $75 but not much more. Customer service was great except for our greeting at the curb. No mention that we could drop bags or that valet was complimentary. It's a long way from the self parking to the course. Not a happy way to start the day. I thought the layout was a bit boring. Would not go out of my way to go back. But would be willing to check out the other course and see the whole complex. I thought the food at the Vue was excellent. Not as pricey as I expected and my chicken was amazing. My on course bloody Mary was one of the best I have had just too small. Almost got a second.

Played on 12/9 with the rest of the GK crew. ALWAYS fun to hang out with other GKers! Played with SBogey, DCricket, and RStang. Willy and I were celebrating our birthdays early!! I was really looking ... Continue »

Played on 12/9 with the rest of the GK crew. ALWAYS fun to hang out with other GKers! Played with SBogey, DCricket, and RStang. Willy and I were celebrating our birthdays early!! I was really looking forward to this course, and I was somewhat disappointed. With the history and cachet this course has it just should've been better. So the good, the bad, and the ugly. Good: Every single employee was friendly and helpful. (well, except for Monty. Monty wasn't helpful or friendly) The red tee boxes were gorgeous. Likely the best I've ever teed up on. Large, LEVEL, just the right depth of grass. Nice stuff. The cart girl was around frequently. The greens were mostly fast. The bad (weird): strange layout. There were a couple of places where we couldn't figure out which tee box belonged to which hole and which direction we were playing! Mostly an up and back course. They just 'dumbed down' the women's tees by moving them forward (in some cases 100yds!) without adding any challenge. Eh. The fairways were not beautiful green lovely expanses. My mistake for expecting this course to compare to other courses of similar cost and reputation. The greens were mostly fast but were still recovering from punching and didn't roll particularly true. The 'bones' of this course are likely good and solid. Of course it's always fun to play with folks whose company you enjoy and it's easy to forgive a lot when you're having a good time. The ugly: well no one wore a Christmas sweater so it can't be that. This is just MY experience. I started the round with a less than stellar experience (remember Monty? Can't be bothered to talk to the regular folk Monty? Forgot he works at a resort that includes a golf course Monty?) Followed by lots of nice experiences. Ending with a strange experience especially for a nice resort. Waiter got my order wrong, and tried to make it my mistake. (our whole group heard my order) I am sure Omni La Costa understands how important first impressions are and how little details can color an experience and I'm sure they'll be giving Monty some updated training in such. Overall I had a great day with friends and golf and it was absolutely worth $75!

Thanks to Johnny, La Costa, Linksoul, Cleveland, etc. for another fun year-end GK Plays! It seemed like everyone had a good time. The staff was great and the facilities are nice, though spread out (se... Continue »

Thanks to Johnny, La Costa, Linksoul, Cleveland, etc. for another fun year-end GK Plays! It seemed like everyone had a good time. The staff was great and the facilities are nice, though spread out (self-parking/valet and driving range especially). Good service all around, though. I'll echo what some other reviewers are saying about the conditions. Feelings a bit mixed when considering the high-end reputation of this course, but also knowing it's winter season. Tee boxes were nice. Fairways were lush and green. I enjoyed hitting approaches off this turf, with the exception of some spots that were a little too soft. Low drives would get adequate rollout, but anything high would stick and stop pretty quickly in the soft turf. No way to play run-up shots to these greens with the softness and just-elevated-enough green complexes. Good news is the greens were fairly receptive and would hold good shots. Putting surfaces were a bit inconsistent. Some greens looked a little rough around the edges with thin/brown spots. Others mentioned the light topdressing of sand. Then, the grainy grass was really pulling up spike marks late in the afternoon, so there were a few bumpy rolls. I wasn't in any bunkers, so no comments there. I love any excuse to get together with GK'ers and the prize table was awesome. La Costa is not normally somewhere I would choose to play for various reasons (mainly $$), but it was a good time with our good people of GK! And, I am happy to say that the Great Carlsbad Mustard Shortage of 2017 is officially over thanks to dconnally's hilarious prize table donation. And there was much rejoicing!!!

Thanks to Johnny for setting up a fun GK event on a warm Saturday afternoon, and thanks to my playing partners (Eddie, Joel [c'mon, guy, join up!], and Ron) for a pleasant, enjoyable round. My course ... Continue »

Thanks to Johnny for setting up a fun GK event on a warm Saturday afternoon, and thanks to my playing partners (Eddie, Joel [c'mon, guy, join up!], and Ron) for a pleasant, enjoyable round. My course comments of 11/30 still apply, although our pace was a little slower than 10 days ago behind a walking threesome and a slowish foursome. We started on #5, and after making the turn back to #1 had to sprint to get finished ahead of the dark.

Good venue for the after-party, with plenty of room after overcoming the resort's confusion, and with plenty of service. Better situation there than the very noisy bar area with limited staff last time. Plenty of prizes and good cameraderie on the patio.

Even the discounted rate of $75 for this course seems a little too high for me given the conditions and design/challenge.

12/9 GK outing played with my son Grant and two of long time friends from high school Rod and Rich--they are not very good but the have fun and have their moments and they do like to have something on... Continue »

12/9 GK outing played with my son Grant and two of long time friends from high school Rod and Rich--they are not very good but the have fun and have their moments and they do like to have something on the line--played bingo bango bongo for the 1st time--helped pay for the entry--thank you guys. fairways are green and lush--cut tight--especially close to the green--required a really crisp contact for chips and pitches off those tight lies. Lot of unfilled divots some almost canyon size--evidently there was a 4 day junior tourney last week which added to the wear since they were all walking. Rough was thick, not too long but effective at quickly stopping forward progress. Bunkers have really good sand--fine grained but nicely compacted. Tees in good shape. Greens were quite fast and firm with a lot of roll out on chips and pitches. Seemed hard to read for our group and I had trouble keeping the ball on line on the 4-5 footers as I could not get the speed and line correctly. Not accustomed to so many staff every where practically demanding to be helpful--like insisting that they carry your bag from the drop off downstairs to the cart as an example--I think I could get used to such pampering--oh and very friendly and welcoming too. My rating came out on the high side--more accurately somewhere around 7.2

Always great to get together for a GK Plays! Thank you Johnny for another fun event, and thank you to GolfMoose, Linksoul, Cleveland Golf and all the sponsors for such a cornucopia of prizes. Enjoyed ... Continue »

Always great to get together for a GK Plays! Thank you Johnny for another fun event, and thank you to GolfMoose, Linksoul, Cleveland Golf and all the sponsors for such a cornucopia of prizes. Enjoyed the day yesterday with rudyclub, Andrew1 (whose name isn't Andrew!) and jefffassel. Shotgun pace was right around 4:30.

Conditions are mediocre to great, but mostly in between. The course definitely plays better than it looks. It's sort of splotchy in spots and several greens have some fresh sod issues and a light top dressing of sand (or maybe fertilizer?). Greens were smooth and quick for the most part. Full shots took one bounce and then stopped quickly. Fairways were lush, nice to play from. Rough was also lush, sometimes difficult. Tee boxes good. Bunkers were mixed. Nice sand and seemed to be nicely maintained, but I found a rock in one and in another, my ball rolled up to the back and stopped on a very steep angle instead of rolling back to the bottom. Then that portion of the bunker had very little sand and was clay-like underneath. Overall the course seemed much wetter than I would expect, considering how we've had no recent precipitation.

Having now played both La Costa courses, I definitely prefer Champions. Legends felt like a slightly nicer version of Riverwalk to me. I know they are part of a beautiful resort, but I consider the normal prices for these courses to be absolutely absurd.

The bright sky didn't cooperate for great picture taking, but I still created a Flickr photo album of 27 photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskyAMWaB