post by Terry Smith, contributor

1000 Wildcat Canyon Rd
Lakeside, CA, 92040
619-387-7018

Barona Golf Course

This course is located on the Barona Indian reservation approximately 40 minutes from downtown San Diego.

Barona is a “links” style layout with very few trees and has native grasses between holes that can eat errant shots quickly. In our opinion, this is one of only a few courses in San Diego that can be considered as being able to hold a PGA Tour event. Indeed, the Nationwide Tour finals was held here in 2007. At over 7000 yards from the tips, sand everywhere, no adjacent holes, and multiple water hazards, this is an absolute brute of a course. For the less than accomplished golfer, there are 5 sets of tees to shorten things up a bit. Don’t let pride get in your way here, choose the proper tee box for your abilities and you will enjoy the day much more.

Because the layout is located on an Indian reservation, it doesn’t suffer from houses crowding the course at every turn. Indeed, there isn’t one located on the course. The scenery is outstanding with nearby mountains surrounding the entire area. The course itself is moderately flat with some elevation changes thrown in to make things interesting. About the only reason we don’t play here more often is the price. Saturday rates can be as high as $150 with weekday rates running about $100. Play in the afternoon and the price is more moderate. For the money, you get an outstanding experience. Service is excellent, the course is almost always in good condition and management throws in those special extras like range balls, a bag of tees, a divot tool and a ball marker that make you feel special.

Other options at the course include a full size hotel, a large casino and a day spa. You truly can make a long weekend out of this resort and not be bored. If you’re looking for a golf experience that isn’t often found in Southern California (wide open spaces, no residential encroachment, quiet scenery) and don’t mind paying for it, you should treat yourself to this course.

Update (4/5/2009): We played this course today and yes, it’s still in great shape. However, since it’s not mentioned above, I felt compelled to mention the green’s. In a word: Brutial. The greens are so fast and so hard, keeping a shot on them is almost impossible. Pair that with pin placements near slopes and humps and these greens are almost unplayable. Several very easy putts had the ball rolling 40 feet past the hole (and no, that’s not something we do often). The green conditions easily added 10 strokes on to each score (if not more). We’re not saying don’t play the course…just saying to take the greens with a grain of salt.

This week the PGA Tour is in “sunny” San Diego for the Buick Invitational. I have “sunny” in quotes because it’s actually raining Anyway, the Buick Invitational isn’t typically a huge tournament on tour and that goes double this year since Tiger is still rehabbing his knee.

For us here in San Diego though, it is a big deal. It’s the one time each year the PGA comes to town and plays on a course that I play on all the time. Torrey Pines is a public golf course and while getting on isn’t the easiest thing to do, it’s not impossible.

Following The Buick on Thursday and Friday can be a bit of a challenge though since I’m at work all day. Unfortunately, my work frowns upon me watching tv at my desk all day instead of clicking away at my mouse. Lucky for me, the PGA has thought about people like me and created “Shot Tracker“.

Shot Tracker is a flash application that runs from the pgatour.com website. There are a few different ways to interact with it. You can see the full leaderboard, individual groups on the course or your own “custom picks” of players that you choose.

Several views are available to watch

The full leaderboard view is pretty cool because it’s more than your standard list leaderboard. You can see where each player is and how they’re doing. They even have color and texture tiles for each shot so you can easily tell at a quick glance if the player is in the fairway, rough, bunker or green. It’s perfect for getting a quick check on the leaderboard as you switch between applications on your workstation.

Drill down player by player for all the in depth stats

The real awesomeness comes when viewing an individual player. You can drill down to each player and see their shot-by-shot round. You get key stats like how far the shot was, how far to the hole, as well as overall stats like Driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation and a whole host of other stats. Every aspect of the game is detailed and displayed in several conveinant outputs.

I was able to keep up with the whole tournament throughout the day, and even got more than those watching on TV since the coverage didn’t begin until 3 hours in. 

There were only a couple of negatives for me. The connection was interrupted a few times and gave me a “notice” that really didn’t tell me much as a user. A quick refresh of the page and I was up and running again. Oh, and even though it was a flash app, it remembered my view so I didn’t have to go clicking down to it after a refresh. The other odd part was that I couldn’t see the entire leaderboard when I loaded it up in FireFox, but it worked fine in IE. Not a huge deal, but it’s worth noting.

So if you’re stuck at work on a computer all day and want to keep track of your favorite PGA Tour players… fire up the Shot Tracker and enjoy! It’s the next best thing to being at the course instead of work

post by Terry Smith, contributor

5201A Village Drive
Oceanside, CA, 92057
(760) 967-8400

Located in the city of Oceanside in northern San Diego county, this relative newcomer to the area has garnered plenty of attention-and rightfully so. This course is truly a gem. We loved it’s varied terrain and overall scenery that changes on every hole. While it’s in a residential area, it’s also adjacent to a protected habitat meaning houses are limited (in most cases) to only one side of the fairway. Furthermore, these houses do not intrude onto the course itself. There’s nothing more we dislike more than houses on a golf course.

The facility is owned by a company called JC Resorts that specializes in more upscale courses. For your money, you get a good layout, outstanding service and excellent conditions. This is not a muni type course, but it’s certainly not the most expensive in the region.

This is not a true beginners course so make sure you bring your game. While relatively short (about 6700 yards), the slope rating can be as high as 140 from the tips. That being said, there are plenty of tee options and a novice (not beginner) can feel at home here.

About the only downfall of this course is it’s location. It’s somewhat away from the traditional metropolitan centers in southern California and can be a bit of a challenge to reach. Plan on about an hour from either San Diego or Orange County. Still, for the extra few minutes it will take you to get to this course, we recommend you do so if you’re in the area.

post by Terry Smith, contributor

2600 Golf Course Dr
San Diego, CA, 92102
619-239-1660

For those traveling to San Diego, this is the closest course to the airport and downtown. It’s located on the eastern edge of famous Balboa Park. The course and clubhouse were both built in 1915, but the course has had some redesign to keep pace with today’s technology.

A look at the 1st hole at Balboa Golf Course

The front nine of this course winds it’s way down into narrow canyons and then moves upward onto a mesa that overlooks the city. The backside offers some outstanding views of downtown and the ocean beyond before winding back toward the clubhouse.

Don’t let the length, slope/rating lull you into thinking this is an overly easy course. Balboa is an excellent example of where these ratings prove they are based mostly on length. There are very few “bail out” areas, not a lot of adjacent fairways, and canyon walls that seem to close in on you from every direction. If you’re a beginner, consider the adjacent 9 hole executive course to hone your skills prior to playing the regulation course.

We do enjoy Balboa and play it often, but it is still a municipal course that can sometimes suffer from lack of perfect conditioning. Unfortunately for Balboa, it’s sister course is Torrey Pines whom it seems garners more money from the city and thus better conditions. That being said, Balboa is close enough to the water that it doesn’t get too scorched in the summer and stays in moderate shape year round. Typically, the greens are in excellent shape.

If you’re looking for a fun day of golf and are up for a bit of a challenge, this is a good choice for the average golfer. Make sure you enjoy a bite to eat or a brew on the patio for some outstanding views of the 18th hole and downtown.

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.

In May, I got the chance to play the Sea ‘N Air Golf Club at NAS North Island on Coronado. My friend that invited me said not to expect much. “It’s just a regular golf course, nothing special,” he said. The reason he really wanted me to go was because neither of us are (or were) in the military so we can’t just walk on to the base and ask for a tee time. My experience though, was anything but ordinary.

The Sea ‘N Air Golf Club is not your normal track. The first thing I noticed was that the course is in excellent shape. From tee box to green, the course looks stunning.

As much as I liked the look of the course, the play was even better. Tough but fair, you can expect to be rewarded for good shots and challenged if you stray from the beaten path. Yes, it’s not easy, but thinking about where you are and where you want to be if you find yourself in trouble is the key to making a good score.

Once on the green (again in awesome shape) your ball will roll true, if you hit it right . Absent is the Torrey Pines theory (everything breaks toward the ocean) so your ball won’t break in weird ways.

The only criticism I had was that I couldn’t get a yardage book before we tee’d off. There are some areas of the course where local knowledge is a key. Having a yardage book and being able to see where some of the trouble spots and landing areas were would have been nice. They did have GPS on the carts, but it’s not the same.

Overall though it was a great experience and one that, if given the opportunity, you will not want to pass up.

I’d like to hear your comments about the course!

I’m a pretty big golf fan. I’m more of a fan of playing golf than I am watching it… but I’ve been watching more and more of it over the years. And I ALWAYS watch every major.

That’s why when Torrey Pines was announced that they would have the 2008 U.S. Open, I knew I had to get tickets. Luckily, I got them through the PGA and I only had to pay face value for them. Currently, I have tickets for Friday and Sunday (although I might have to sell my Friday tickets if I can’t get the day off of work).

I’m really looking forward to the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines because it will give me a chance to see the pro’s up close in the biggest major golf tournament in this country all year. Plus, I’ve played the course enough times to know it.

I’m sure a lot of people will be rooting for Tiger Woods to win. This will be Tiger’s first tournament back from his injury. Personally, I’m sick of Tiger Woods winning all the time. He’s a fantastic golfer/athlete/competitor… but it’s nice to see a tournament where the other players have a chance. The problem with that line of thinking is that Tiger usually kicks ass at Torrey Pines while the rest of the PGA struggles. The green’s at Torrey Pines can be brutal!

Personally, I’ll be on the Phil Mickleson train. He’s been my favorite golfer for years. I like Phil because he’s awesome around the green. Like Tiger, he’s a great competitor… but he’s been known to screw up here and there (kinda like me ). Phil was the proverbial underdog when I started watching him. Always hanging around the top 10 but rarely in contention of being a dominant player. He’s in good form now and I think he might be ready for a run at the U.S. Open Championship.

There are a few “must see” events for the life-long golf fan. Augusta National, St. Andrews and the U.S. Open are the top three is most people’s eyes. I’m really looking forward to seeing everything unfold right before my eyes.

To anyone going to the U.S. Open Championship this year–I hope to see you there. To those watching on TV–Don’t miss a minute of it. Torrey Pines is a spectacular course and you will want to catch every bit of it.

If you’re not into golf, or just casually catch the results or highlights every now and then, I encourage you to tune in to this tournament. Golf has come a long way and if you take a moment to watch the players’ grace, the course’s beauty and the drama that will undoubtedly occur, I think you might just realize this isn’t your grandfathers sport anymore.

~Todd