San Diego private courses

[tarheelrx]

Looking to move to the San Diego area and interested in private courses. We are looking at either the scripps Ranch, poway, 4s, rancho bernando, or potentially Carlsbad areas.

 

I think the rancho Santa Fe houses are too expensive and would prefer to live near the courses.

 

Thanks for any thoughts!

[thedek]

unfortunately san diego golf is very average from both a private and public standpoint. the rancho santa fe courses are really the only good private courses down there, other than san diego country club. here is a rough order of the best clubs, with location next to them:

1. rancho santa fe cc (rancho)
2. grand del mar (carmel valley)
3. san diego country club (chula vista)
4a. bridges at rancho santa fe (rancho)
4b. del mar country club (fairbanks)
5. fairbanks ranch cc (fairbanks)
6. rancho santa fe farms cc (rancho)
7. santa luz (rancho/4s ranch)
8. la jolla cc (la jolla)

bernardo heights is not bad (rancho bernardo). maderas (poway) is upscale public and overrated but very good and you can join a yearly deal there to pay reduced greens fees.

[thedek]

unfortunately san diego golf is very average from both a private and public standpoint. the rancho santa fe courses are really the only good private courses down there, other than san diego country club. here is a rough order of the best clubs, with location next to them:

1. rancho santa fe cc (rancho)
2. grand del mar (carmel valley)
3. san diego country club (chula vista)
4a. bridges at rancho santa fe (rancho)
4b. del mar country club (fairbanks)
5. fairbanks ranch cc (fairbanks)
6. rancho santa fe farms cc (rancho)
7. santa luz (rancho/4s ranch)
8. la jolla cc (la jolla)

bernardo heights is not bad (rancho bernardo). maderas (poway) is upscale public and overrated but very good and you can join a yearly deal there to pay reduced greens fees.

[tarheelrx]

Thanks! Would line to keep to under 40k initiation which may be tough!

[tarheelrx]

Thanks! Would line to keep to under 40k initiation which may be tough!

[Jaylasvegas]

Morgan Run?

[Jaylasvegas]

Morgan Run?

[thejuice]

I had the honor of playing The Crosby in Rancho Santa Fe about 10 years ago and thought it was fantastic. It's private with fantastic views.

[thejuice]

I had the honor of playing The Crosby in Rancho Santa Fe about 10 years ago and thought it was fantastic. It's private with fantastic views.

[andrew_m]

[quote name='tarheelrx' timestamp='1429391391' post='11388143']
Thanks! Would line to keep to under 40k initiation which may be tough!
[/quote]

Yeah, 40K will be tough, but you might be able to get it to 60 or 70 with a jr membership. Not entirely sure what some of the top places are charging, a few years back they were really hurting but they've rebounded a bit.

I've been fortunate enough to play The Farms, Santaluz, and the Bridges through some family friends. Of the three, the Bridges was by far my favorite, but Santaluz was excellent too. If you want a good private course in SD, stay out of Poway/RB. In terms of homes, you're getting a fair amount of bang for your buck in Rancho Bernardo relative to RSF. The Maderas neighborhood is nice, a lot of former NFL'ers live in there. Opportunities for renovation, and that's big in Poway right now. Scripps Ranch and 4S are a bit too cookie cutter for my taste.

In San Diego, it's really important to consider traffic flow when picking a place to live. We have family friends that lived in Rancho Santa Fe, off of Camino del Sur for years, and got so fed up with taking the 56 and the 5 in bumper to bumper traffic to and from work every day that they moved to Rancho Bernardo. Same deal with Carlsbad. The traffic from Del Mar through Carlsbad is soul-crushing.

[rangersgoalie]

Pauma Valley

[straightshot7]

[quote name='thejuice' timestamp='1429491976' post='11394635']
I had the honor of playing The Crosby in Rancho Santa Fe about 10 years ago and thought it was fantastic. It's private with fantastic views.
[/quote]

The Crosby sadly filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year

[straightshot7]

[quote name='tarheelrx' timestamp='1429317601' post='11384387']
Looking to move to the San Diego area and interested in private courses. We are looking at either the scripps Ranch, poway, 4s, rancho bernando, or potentially Carlsbad areas.

I think the rancho Santa Fe houses are too expensive and would prefer to live near the courses.

Thanks for any thoughts!
[/quote]

Lomas Santa Fe CC is something to consider. Nice and in great area if you decide to live near there. But also not super fancy /expensive

I'm from North County and id rather live in the Rancho/del mar/solana beach area than anywhere else

[toddnt]

Ive played SDCC and TGDM.. If SDCC was located in northen San Diego it would command a high initial fee, but its in older Chula Vista!

[Damenace613]

Bernardo Heights and Lomas Santa Fe would be the most reasonable within area. It also depends on if you're looking to join more for the golf course or if you're looking for family activities such as a pool, tennis, etc.

[BackNineCollapse]

[quote name='thedek' timestamp='1429330017' post='11385457']
unfortunately san diego golf is very average from both a private and public standpoint. the rancho santa fe courses are really the only good private courses down there, other than san diego country club. here is a rough order of the best clubs, with location next to them:

1. rancho santa fe cc (rancho)
2. grand del mar (carmel valley)
3. san diego country club (chula vista)
4a. bridges at rancho santa fe (rancho)
4b. del mar country club (fairbanks)
5. fairbanks ranch cc (fairbanks)
6. rancho santa fe farms cc (rancho)
7. santa luz (rancho/4s ranch)
8. la jolla cc (la jolla)

bernardo heights is not bad (rancho bernardo). maderas (poway) is upscale public and overrated but very good and you can join a yearly deal there to pay reduced greens fees.
[/quote]

For what it's worth, I have a group of about 30 guys, where we have a money game every Friday and rotate among the North County courses, and occasion other places (i.e. Torrey, SDCC, Pauma..) While everyone has their favorites, I'd say there's a pretty solid consensus as to the 'best' courses. Our group varies from say 5ish HCs up to some 50 year old former tour winners (that are probably +5ish HCs at this point).

1. RSF. Residency requirement is tough, though there are some 'cheaper' options near the village, and occasional fixer-uppers farther out. On the plus side, the initiation and dues are some of the lowest in the area. Terrible range, and membership is on the older side, if that matters.

2. DMCC. Very pricey. Few gimmicky holes, mediocre range, probably the oldest membership.

3. Bridges. Makes DMCC seem affordable. No gimmicky holes, no spectacular holes. Nice facilities, not a lot of use (lot of non-resident members).

4. SantaLuz. Can play short if wind isn't up (but usually is). Much better course from tips, if playing blues (~6600 vs 7100) much more ho-hum. Best range by far, also has the youngest membership.

5. Farms. Short and narrow, rare for this area (more love/hate for this course). Short range, usually limited to irons only. Still shaky financially, no initiation, just dues. Probably has the most 'good' golfers. Youngish membership.

6. Fairbanks. Long, windy, holes uninspired. Nice range. recently bought by Bay Club (own a ton of health clubs, this is first golf course), not sure how this will turn out. Lots of weird membership options now, some really cheap, not sure what this will mean for access to tee times.

7. Grand Del Mar. Not really private, share with resort. I only know a couple of people that really like this course. It's fun the first time you play, but then you realize it's pretty gimmicky. We have 4 guys that are members, we haven't chosen to play there in over a year...

Best of the rest:

SDCC. Amazing course, terrible location.

Paula Valley. might be consensus best course in area, though I think that's just because we play it less due to location (personally think RSF is better, but Pauma is nice).

LJCC. nice but uninspired, would be mid-pack if further north.

Lomas Santa Fe. Great social club, really active golf, tennis. Course is short, narrow, twisty. Good course to work on accuracy. Pretty reasonable cost.

Morgan Run. Very reasonable cost, very uninspired golf.

EDIT : Forgot a couple...

Crosby. I've only played once, didn't like it, and our group has never played there, so haven't really talked about it. Will probably be pretty cheap once the bankruptcy and subsequent lawsuits are settled, but that will likely take years.

Maderas. As mentioned above, there's a players club that makes it function like a low-priced private club, at least in terms of golf. I think it's a pretty good track. A bit gimmicky at times, but unlike some courses (i.e. the Grand...), the gimmicks are often risk/reward, vs. just forcing you to play a certain way.

[AcumenJ]

Monarch Beach at Dana Point isn't a bad track. I haven't played it in a few years, but it was fun, and the views were great.

[shootermgavin]

I know this thread is kind of old now, but for anyone who's wondering, check out https://www.goprivategolf.com/in/san-diego.

Looks like they have all the San Diego clubs listed and most have costs.

 

That said, SDCC and Santaluz are probably my favorites. The Santaluz range is amazing and the the staff at both locations are great.