Played the Canyon and Ranch nines here today with an 11:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time. After a 20% off promo code, I paid less than $58. More like “Steal” Canyon at that rate! Checked in the shop around 1... Continue »

Played the Canyon and Ranch nines here today with an 11:30 TeeOff.com “Deal” time. After a 20% off promo code, I paid less than $58. More like “Steal” Canyon at that rate! Checked in the shop around 11:00 and then the starter in the staging area was very friendly and offered to let me either play at my time as part of a foursome, or start early by myself. I opted for playing alone and hit the first tee within a couple minutes. Didn’t catch anyone until around the 12th hole, and then things were pretty slow for a while until I was able to play through a group on 16 before zipping through 17 & 18. Total POP was great at about 3:25, often taking my time to take pictures or practice chips and putts after holing out.

Conditions are decent to good. Greens are the highlight, running smooth, medium to medium-fast speed, and quite accepting of full shots. Fairways are pretty firm and have mostly good coverage, but I did find some bare spots. Rough varied from light to thick Bermuda where the ball would sink down and cause some issues. Blue tee boxes were mostly good but some were a mix of grasses and a bit clumpy. I was in two bunkers, both of which looked decent at first but probably could’ve used more sand once I played my shots.

This was my first time here and I’d wanted to notch it off the list for a long time. It’s a decent course but not quite as impressive nor dramatic as I anticipated. Could be the summer conditions or midday lighting that just didn’t “wow” me much. There are some nice elevation changes on the Canyon nine but no one hole really captivated or excited me.

After the round, I inquired about playing the Vineyard nine as well, which looked wide open. The pro shop guy said sure but wanted to charge me $50. Considering that’s almost what I paid for 18, I passed, especially knowing from Jay’s reviews below that I’d already played the two best nines. Overall, definitely worth what I paid but I couldn’t recommend it at full rack rate, which for me as a non-San Diego County resident would’ve been an absurd $152. Even the $102 county resident rate is a bit steep for a weekday, imo.