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Rating Index Rating
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3.8
417 Reviews (417)
5 Stars
95
4 Stars
181
3 Stars
90
2 Stars
30
1 Stars
21
Conditions
3.6
Value
3.8
Layout
3.8
Friendliness
4.1
Pace
3.8
Amenities
3.5
80.6%
Recommend this course
341 out of 417 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.3
19 Reviews (19)
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
7
3 Stars
4
2 Stars
3
1 Stars
2
Conditions
3.4
Value
3.0
Layout
3.8
Pace
3.4
Amenities
3.4
StaffFriendliness
3.6
68.4%
Recommend this course
13 out of 19 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.9
59 Reviews (59)
5 Stars
20
4 Stars
21
3 Stars
11
2 Stars
4
1 Stars
3
Conditions
3.7
Value
3.8
Layout
3.9
Pace
3.8
Amenities
3.5
StaffFriendliness
4.0
81.4%
Recommend this course
48 out of 59 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Public/Municipal
Par 72
Length 6628 yards
Slope 116
Rating 70.5
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Balboa Golf Course
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Course Details

Year Built 1954
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Steve Timm (2008) William P. Bell (1954)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - $11 - $18
Pull-carts Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Proper attire is required.

Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Available Facilities

Banquet Facilities
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Reviews

3.8
417 Reviews (417)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 10
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 6
This course/club is great for:
Locals 13
Walkers 13
Seniors 9
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 14

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

This place needs help and with what you’re charging, you can afford it

This course needs a marshal or Two to help pace of play on the course especially when you have people hitting three and four Tee shots from the blues that can’t hit past 100 yards! Is gas that high that you can’t afford to mow the course especially the by the trees?! Try mowing the rough grass. Help Pace of play big time.

Conditions Average
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Anonymous
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Nice golf course

I’ve played this course many times in Balboa and Encino. It’s an easygoing, enjoyable course with mature trees and truly excellent greens—surprisingly good, in fact. I can highly recommend both the course and the entire facility without hesitation.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 258
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Fairly Easy
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

Almost US Open type greens!!! Wicked firm and fast!

Greens are almost like concrete! US Open type firm and fast!

Really fun to play on right now, this winter firm greens. They bounce like crazy and are very slick.

Shame they have to punch them in a few weeks.

Overall the course is good. Some new sand in some bunkers that is a bit over-fluffy so very difficult to play out of.

I wish they would add the OB line back on the right side of 1 & 2. Too many people hit the ball onto Encino and have no etiquette so they just walk over there to hit the ball when there are people on Hole 9 of Encino trying to tee off. It’s terrible. They need to learn the rules. But it would help if the OB is put back.

Also wish they would put the bunkers back where they used to be such as right side of 6. Course is definitely 3 to 4 strokes easier.

Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Balboa slow play

Very unhappy they sent is out behind a teen tournament and we had to wait 40 minutes at the third hole. I could only play 9 after paying for 18. Very disappointing

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Poor
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Good Muni Vourse

It is what it is, a good old school Muni course with lots of amenities for a reasonable price. The depressed greens with collars around them were something new and made some approaches to the green weird, but greens were in good condition. It's not fancy, but it is fun.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 95
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

90% Mud, 10% Puddles. LOL

You know you’ve seen those lakes and ponds, when they drain the water out of them and then you get that layer of mud at the bottom of the lake? That’s what it’s like today.

Basically, the entire golf course is unplayable, except for the greens.

Literally playing on soupy mud, and puddles everywhere!

They really ought to tell people how muddy it is out there, that it’s practically unbelievable.

And then on the back nine, after the player in my group dropped out at nine, I get to an old guy playing by himself on 12. He tells me to go ahead which is great, but he told me he’s only playing nine holes yet he’s on 12.?!?! at 12 o’clock! I think he snuck on by himself when he saw there was nobody out on the golf course.

Anyway, the course will take at least three days more to dry out enough to be able to play as close to normal

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

Why carts when it’s muddy still

Course was not ready for the carts to be driving on it.

So many muddy areas and still plenty of ponded water puddles. Many areas were hidden muddy and you can tell because cart tracks are all over them. Why do they let the course get destroyed like this? People have no respect for the course, don’t they get that?

They sent out carts purely because they want to make money off them. But the course was not ready. It’s truly depressing to see people just drive all over the course leaving gouging cart tracks where they shouldn’t even be driving. Not that the course takes care of the place with roping off those areas, only some.

Greens were pockmarked with pitch marks. Nobody fixes them!!!

Look we know it’s still holiday week and there’s been a lot of rain and people are hungry to play, but all it takes is the check in counter people to tell people it’s still muddy and to please avoid driving through the mud and to fix as many hallmarks as they can. So many groups played ahead of ours but we were fixing numerous ball marks all day long on every green! It shouldn’t be like that.

Yes it was windy today and gusted quite a lot so I forgive people for not being able to play that fast, as it took 4 hours and 40 minutes, but they can at least fix ball marks, right???

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Fair
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

Greens are trashed

Nobody fixes pitch marks.

The holiday week of irresponsible players destroyed the greens.

Pock marked, bumpy and slow. A week before they were decent.

POP was bad as we got stuck behind two of the worst players you’ve ever seen in your life, taking 6 shots to get on a Par 3.

Give it another week for the greens to come back a bit

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Layout Fair
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

Greens are bad after the holiday week

Nobody fixes pitch marks on greens I guess.

with all the holiday players having gone through, they are horrible.

Got stuck behind a couple of absolute hacker groups. Both of them nowhere to be found in the fairway on every tee shot, and then taking 6 shots just to get to the Par 3 green. Just killed it for everybody stuck behind them. They should not be allowed to play on a full sized golf course, as they are clearly not ready, but the industry doesn’t care, it’s a money-making scheme.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Fair
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Played On
Reviews 258
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Very open and fun course

I have been looking for a course that meets all my requirements and the Balboa course is that course. You can have fun here while still allowing yourself to stay focused to play well. I will definitely be coming back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 209
Handicap 0-4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Top 50 Contributor
Previously Played

They’re working to get the course in better shape.

Front 9 is better than the back, currently. But clearly the place is working to make the course conditions better.

Back 9 the bunkers need sand and grass removed from many of the remaining bunkers. I’m sure they’ll get round to it.

The greens are hit or miss. Every 3rd green is different to the previous. Some firmer than others, some more spongy and grass-ier than others. Used to be more consistent, so hopefully they get this back in shape too.

There’s lots of grass everywhere now which is nice to see and play off. Obviously there are some bare spots that need work, and I wish people wouldn’t just drive the carts nilly willy everywhere. More sighs and ropes would help.

They should also put back the bunkers they removed, especially now that they are charging the same as Encino, when Balboa used to be cheaper of the two. So they’re now charging you more for them to have less things to maintain!!! They’re robbing you.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played

Great time out

Grabbed a hot deals for the balboa course ~ nice conditions. Good pace of play. 3 carts between 4 players. Great day

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 95
Handicap 25+
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
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