post by Terry Smith, contributor
Mission Trails Golf Course
7380 Golfcrest Pl
San Diego, CA, 92119
619-460-5400
Mission Trails is located approximately 20 minutes east of downtown San Diego and the airport. Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde would be a more appropriate name for this track. This course has some uniqueness to it and has a lot of potential. It offers a little bit of everything like some blind tee shots, drivable par 4’s and some difficult par 3’s. It’s not a particularly hard course, but it can rear up and bite you if you’re not careful.
Mission Trails Golf Course
Unfortunately, this course can suffer from a lack of tender loving care. In the prolonged summer months of San Diego, management can’t seem to get enough water on the course and brown fairways and hard pan become the norm. It’s particularly disappointing as the course could really be a nice track if some money were put into it. If ever there was a course in San Diego that could use a partial makeover, this would be a prime choice. There are some great views of nearby Lake Murray and Cowles Mountain, houses are only on about a third of the holes, and the course is very conveniently located near the center of the county. We’d like to see some water hazards put into play, some lengthening of some par 4’s and possibly a shortening of par 3’s to make room. We also wouldn’t mind seeing a better restaurant put in place to take advantage of the patio that overlooks the 18th hole. Currently only bar food and drinks are available.
Now the good news. The price is fairly reasonable for a full length course. It can be a good choice for a novice golfer making the transition to a more difficult course who is not overly concerned about conditioning. Mission Trails while priced like a muni, is not your standard up and back track and is by no means boring. We really do enjoy this course when there is enough rain to supplement the normal watering.
If you are in San Diego during the winter months from about January through May, the course can be an excellent value and worth your time. From June through December, there are other choices in the area for about the same price that put more emphasis on conditioning and can be more enjoyable.
