I played here on Wednesday. I was originally signed up for the SCGA outing in early March, but they had to cancel it because of bad weather. So instead of a make-up date for everyone, they've been try... Continue »

I played here on Wednesday. I was originally signed up for the SCGA outing in early March, but they had to cancel it because of bad weather. So instead of a make-up date for everyone, they've been trying to coordinate individual tee times for groups that were signed up. Since I was a single, they paired me up with someone and we eventually found a date that worked for both of us and the club. We had a 9:30 tee time. It wasn't too busy out there, but there was a men's club team play group heading off the front nine in front of us. Our forecaddie suggested we start on the back nine and that worked out well as we finished in about 3 hours. Overall, the course was in great shape. It played really nicely from tee to green. The fairways were great to hit from. There were some weak spots and repaired sections that were typically marked off as GUR. The rough was cut low and easy to play from. The greens were soft and rolling a medium speeds with a little morning moisture still on the surfaces. Our caddie seemed surprised at times at how slow some putts were because he’s used to them being lightning fast. One big gripe would be the bunkers. I was in a couple and thought they were both on the thin side. The sand was great, but just a bit too firm underneath. One other thing I noticed is that many of the bunkers had footprints all over the place. They have a small membership here that must feel cleaning up after themselves is not necessary. Members are obviously not required to play with forecaddies. I guess they expect the club maintenance to do it for them. Likewise, we fixed up plenty of stray ball marks on the greens and several greens had sandy footprints across the surfaces, so people also aren’t tapping the sand off their shoes after leaving all those footprints in the bunkers. It really is sad to see at such a nice club. Even if the players aren’t doing their part, maintenance probably should be taking care of it. Members do pay a hefty price for memberships and guest rates are also quite expensive, so somebody needs to get on it! The price I had paid weighed heavily on my mind because it was rather expensive. The course was very nice, but not worth what they charged us (and required forecaddie tips). You're definitely paying up for the exclusivity here, but I would pick most of the other Rancho Santa Fe courses over Del Mar and I paid significantly less when I played each of those. Otherwise, Del Mar does have a fantastic practice facility, beautiful clubhouse and all the other positive aspects of such a high-end club. One last thing to note is they did complete a major turf reduction project. It looks pretty good with some desert bushes planted for aesthetics, but it does essentially expand several of the water hazards by a good 10-20 yards. They cut out the rough that was there and replaced with hard-packed sand, so nothing will stop your ball from rolling into the water. Most of these areas are pretty sloped toward the hazards, too, so it really tightens up some holes even more.