San Diego's Hidden Gem: Balboa Park

In todays first post in my series “San Diego's Best Golf Courses” I will be reviewing what I believe is one of San Diego's biggest hidden gems: Balboa Park Golf.

THE COURSE

Not only is Balboa Park one of San Diego’s best golf courses, it’s one of the oldest. Built in 1915, Balboa Park was San Diego’s first municipal golf course. Starting with dirt fairways and poorly built greens,  the course has since undergone several renovations, with the most recent being in 2021.

At first glance, Balboa Park doesn’t seem all too challenging of a course. Balboa Park is a par 72 course, boasting a rating of 71.2, meaning that a zero-handicap golfer is likely to shoot just under par. However, this course is much more difficult than the score card may read. Many holes on the course have no bail out, forcing golfers to play safer layup shots, leaving tricky short pitches into the greens. If you are a more aggressive golfer, beware as at some point your risky shot will cost you a stroke or two. If you are wanting to play your best, you are better off hitting safe, straight tee shots and playing patient, smart golf.


QUALITY

Balboa Park used to be in horrendous condition, with poor fairways and greens and trees where they shouldn’t be. But, in 2021 the course underwent a massive renovation, which revealed incredible views and greatly improved overall quality of the course. While this isn’t factual information, during a round this summer at another local San Diego course, one of my playing partners told me that Balboa Park got a new superintendent, who actually came over from Torrey Pines North, one of the best courses in San Diego. This move has likely led to the great improvements in overall course condition and quality.




VIEWS

One of the best things about any San Diego golf courses is the views. With a wide range from ocean views to mountains, San Diego golf boasts some of the best playing views in the country and Balboa Park is no different. With the recent renovations, the course has really opened up. Throughout the course, you can catch views of Downtown San Diego, historic Balboa Park, Point Loma and even glimpses of the vast Pacific Ocean.



 



OVERALL

Balboa Park has made massive improvements in the past few years, which have led it to be one of San Diego's best golf courses. The overall quality, views and challenging golf make it a must play no matter if you are a local, or are there for a few days with some family of friends. Attached here is the link to Balboa Park's website to see more about the course and book tee times:

 https://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/golf/bpgolf

See you all next week for the ninth ranked course. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Arrowood Golf Course : A Hidden Paradise

Image
 In this weeks edition of "San Diego's Best Golf Courses', we will be taking a look at one of the most overlooked golf courses in San Diego: Arrowood Golf Course.  THE COURSE:  Located in Northern San Diego County, right next to Camp Pendleton, is what seems to be one of San Diego's most overlooked golf courses, Arrowood Golf Course. Arrowood is an 18 hole, Par 71 course designed by Ted Robinson Jr. The course features long, lush fairways, challenging bunker placements and incredible greens. Much like other courses we have reviewed, Arrowood uses the environment   around it to shape the course. Taking advantage of the rolling hills and deep valleys that the terrain has to offer. Arrowood is one of the longer courses in San Diego, with each of the par 5's reaching well over 500 yards, and a par 3 that is nearly 200 yards. Arrowood is not for the faint of heart, requiring long drives and iron shots throughout the course.  QUALITY:  Arrowood is one of, if not the most
Read more

Encinitas Ranch: Views for Days

Image
In this weeks edition of 'San Diego's Best Golf Courses, We will be taking a look at one of the most popular public courses in San Diego: Encinitas Ranch.  THE COURSE:  Tucked just inland on the Encinitas coastline, lies Encinitas Ranch Golf course, one of the most trafficked courses in San Diego. Encinitas Ranch is an 18 hole, par 72 course that is nearly 6600 yards long from the back tees. The course uses the environment around it to make it more challenging than it appears, with cliffs, rolling hills and well placed bunkers and pins, it makes the course much more challenging than what meets the naked eye. The front nine is shorter than the back nine, but more difficult, featuring totally blind tee shots as well as shots over canyons, with plenty of places to go out of bounds. The back nine on the other hand, it much more open and free. While there are still some blind and tight tee shots, overall it is much easier.  QUALITY:  For the amount of golfers that step on the ground
Read more

Fairbanks Ranch Country Club Unveiled

Image
 In this weeks post in the series "San Diego's Best Golf Courses" I'll be reviewing one of San Diego's biggest country clubs: Fairbanks Ranch.  THE COURSE: Fairbanks Ranch is one of San Diego’s largest country clubs, featuring pickleball courts, tennis courts, swimming amenities, a private gym, and most importantly, three different nine hole courses. The first 9 is ‘The Valley Nine’, their website describes it as “Set below the scenic hills of Fairbanks Ranch, accurate tee shots are crucial to shooting low in the valley”. The second 9 is ‘The Lakes Nine’ described as             “The lakes are only matched in beauty by the incredibly designed holes surrounding them. Stay out of the water and you’ll shoot well”. Lastly Fairbanks hosts ‘The Ocean Nine’ described as “The shortest and straightest of the nines, but don’t let that fool you as it’s just as challenging as the rest”.   Fairbanks Ranch is truly one of the more difficult course that I have played. Bo
Read more