I had the pleasure of staying at the Park Hyatt Aviara for work and spent a day and a half at the course, playing/practicing. What a gorgeous facility!
Practice area - B
Driving Range - They were obviously working on it so it was in a bit of disarray but all in all it was a nice two sided range, long enough to hit any club I wanted to. And having water right there available was a nice touch!
Putting greens - A great set of holes right next to the pro shop, so once your bag was on the cart or you were waiting for #1 tee to clear, you could putt to your hearts content, and the slope of the practice greens was very similar to the course, so it was nice to see all the humps/bumps/slopes I'd face later in the day. The pink flags for october was a nice touch!!!
Chipping - Nothing specific, but could at the putting green if you wanted.
Sand - There was one sand bunker adjacent to the driving range, the sand was very similar to what was on the course, but the lip was quite high, I didn't face anything like that on the course, and didn't see too much of the same, but it was nice to have it there if you wanted to.
Course conditions - B-
The Tee boxes were all pretty good, they seemed to do a good job of moving the tees around to keep the boxes nice. The Fairways on the front were much better than the back, based on the seeding explanation we got from the starter we expected that, especially with cart path only on the entire course. The Rough was spotty in a few areas, but overall you were penalized too much for not hitting the fairway, as long as you didn't go too far off.Sand Traps, They were in great shape with some nice fluffy sand, well maintained for sure. The Greens were the focus of the course for sure, super tricky, not hard to read, but much more slope than I'm used to, it was fun to watch everyone in the group get baffled by a putt here or there from either side of the hole!
18 from the club house:
18 right before sunset!
Layout - A
Challenging, yes, fair, absolutely! The course itself was a lot of fun and the setting being in the valley in between the houses/resort and winding under and out of tunnels was quite an experience.
There were tees for everyone, as a group we played the whites, but the back tees would have added a bit too much for some, but overall, even the tips or the front tees would have made the course interesting for sure! There was certainly a little something for everyone. The interesting thing was on a few holes were the trouble was, especially the water, on their signature hole, the par 3 3rd, there was water everywhere, but it looked amazing, perfect place for our closest to the pin hole!
And as you can see in the pics in the spoiler of the other holes, plenty of water to avoid!
Pace of play - A
We thought with cart path only it was going to be a bit of a struggle and after the first hole we were 3 minutes behind pace, almost 13 holes later on the 14th we noticed we were only 6 minutes behind, so once we got going it wasn't a problem at all. There wasn't a Marshall on the course, but the starter did a good job of telling us everything we needed to know and the course had plenty of employees working to help out when needed.
Price - C+
Based on the factors above, are the prices being offered by the course a fair value for the experience you receive? I'd say it was a little overpriced, but I don't know for sure what pricing is expected in the area. But I will say, the resort fees covered our range time and rental clubs for those that wanted them, so there were some added bonuses to staying on site. But the course condition felt a bit drab, considering the price.
Amenities - B
I didn't see any locker rooms in the club house, but bathrooms were close and spread throughout the course. There Was a person on the course selling drinks, and actually that was the only place to get them once we started as we made the turn, the shack was closed.
There was an on site Restaurant we actually had dinner there the night before, great food, awesome setup from the balcony!
Overall - B+
Overall I really enjoyed the course, from a competitive standpoint as well as a setting, it was a great course to play, fun, and it certainly had me wanting to come back and play it again!
The proshop had some nice bags on display from the Kia Classic Champions, as well as one displayed in the hotel!
When I heard the course hosted an LPGA event, I didn't really know what to expect, and almost thought it might be too difficult, but the mixture of holes, tees, layouts was very approachable for all levels and genders. I'll be back to play it someday again for sure.
Club Rates/Layout
Practice area - B
Driving Range - They were obviously working on it so it was in a bit of disarray but all in all it was a nice two sided range, long enough to hit any club I wanted to. And having water right there available was a nice touch!
Spoiler
Putting greens - A great set of holes right next to the pro shop, so once your bag was on the cart or you were waiting for #1 tee to clear, you could putt to your hearts content, and the slope of the practice greens was very similar to the course, so it was nice to see all the humps/bumps/slopes I'd face later in the day. The pink flags for october was a nice touch!!!
Chipping - Nothing specific, but could at the putting green if you wanted.
Sand - There was one sand bunker adjacent to the driving range, the sand was very similar to what was on the course, but the lip was quite high, I didn't face anything like that on the course, and didn't see too much of the same, but it was nice to have it there if you wanted to.
Course conditions - B-
The Tee boxes were all pretty good, they seemed to do a good job of moving the tees around to keep the boxes nice. The Fairways on the front were much better than the back, based on the seeding explanation we got from the starter we expected that, especially with cart path only on the entire course. The Rough was spotty in a few areas, but overall you were penalized too much for not hitting the fairway, as long as you didn't go too far off.Sand Traps, They were in great shape with some nice fluffy sand, well maintained for sure. The Greens were the focus of the course for sure, super tricky, not hard to read, but much more slope than I'm used to, it was fun to watch everyone in the group get baffled by a putt here or there from either side of the hole!
18 from the club house:
18 right before sunset!
Layout - A
Challenging, yes, fair, absolutely! The course itself was a lot of fun and the setting being in the valley in between the houses/resort and winding under and out of tunnels was quite an experience.
There were tees for everyone, as a group we played the whites, but the back tees would have added a bit too much for some, but overall, even the tips or the front tees would have made the course interesting for sure! There was certainly a little something for everyone. The interesting thing was on a few holes were the trouble was, especially the water, on their signature hole, the par 3 3rd, there was water everywhere, but it looked amazing, perfect place for our closest to the pin hole!
And as you can see in the pics in the spoiler of the other holes, plenty of water to avoid!
Spoiler
Pace of play - A
We thought with cart path only it was going to be a bit of a struggle and after the first hole we were 3 minutes behind pace, almost 13 holes later on the 14th we noticed we were only 6 minutes behind, so once we got going it wasn't a problem at all. There wasn't a Marshall on the course, but the starter did a good job of telling us everything we needed to know and the course had plenty of employees working to help out when needed.
Price - C+
Based on the factors above, are the prices being offered by the course a fair value for the experience you receive? I'd say it was a little overpriced, but I don't know for sure what pricing is expected in the area. But I will say, the resort fees covered our range time and rental clubs for those that wanted them, so there were some added bonuses to staying on site. But the course condition felt a bit drab, considering the price.
Amenities - B
I didn't see any locker rooms in the club house, but bathrooms were close and spread throughout the course. There Was a person on the course selling drinks, and actually that was the only place to get them once we started as we made the turn, the shack was closed.
There was an on site Restaurant we actually had dinner there the night before, great food, awesome setup from the balcony!
Spoiler
Overall - B+
Overall I really enjoyed the course, from a competitive standpoint as well as a setting, it was a great course to play, fun, and it certainly had me wanting to come back and play it again!
The proshop had some nice bags on display from the Kia Classic Champions, as well as one displayed in the hotel!
Spoiler
When I heard the course hosted an LPGA event, I didn't really know what to expect, and almost thought it might be too difficult, but the mixture of holes, tees, layouts was very approachable for all levels and genders. I'll be back to play it someday again for sure.
Club Rates/Layout
Spoiler
