The Vineyard at Escondido

First and last time here. 8am tee time, tees off 15 minutes late. No reason given by starter. Had to wait for just about every tee shot, approach shot, etc. Told the one Marshall we saw on the course of the slow play of the two groups ahead of us, who were a whole hole behind. No help offered. 5+ hour round at 8am. Won’t play here again.

I was looking for an early tee time to be able to spend the rest of the day with family. So I booked the 6:30 am tee time available in Golf Now. At that time it was completely dark so I asked a young guy at the golf shop (failed to get his name but was a thin tall black hair) why are you guys selling tee times if sunrise is until 6:54am? And he just responded: “Just start walking and drop off in the fairway”. I told him his answer was very inappropriate and he just responded “You need to take a coffee Sr.” At that point I realize I was waisting my time talking to this guy and I moved on playing in the dark for the first two holes, but mad because I don’t think it should be the players responsibility to find out at what time is the sunrise before booking a tee time. I assumed that golf courses did that for their customers. I was wrong.

The pace of play was good as we were the first foursome of the day until the 9th hole when out of nowhere a lot of people, mostly amateurs, started to play in front of us as part of a tournament. At that point the pace of play was a disaster. It took us more than 3 hours to finish the 2nd round. There is a reason why I wake up early to finish my game early and no one told that me there was going to be a tournament when I booked my tee time which I think is wrong.

It is very obvious to me that management is only interested in the money. Selling tee times before sunrise and allowing tournaments to start without notice in front of regular players, is an experience I don’t appreciate. Needless to say last time I play this course.

The condition of the sand bunk is terrible. For the rest, it's good.

Was very disappointed to drive down from Temecula to find out the greens had been punched, the front 9 was closed, and had to play the back 9 twice. No indication of this when booking. Pace of play was slowed as well. However, I still really enjoy this course and look forward to playing it again with no restrictions.

So they had a kids tournament in front of us but that was totally fine. The kids were moving at a good pace. The gentlemen in front of us were not. They stood over the puts for 90 seconds in a set position prior to every put. So frustrating to watch them do this and for a 2 foot put. Unbelievable. NO PA to help move them along.

Rode the Blues (6247/71.2/128) in slightly less than 5H with Ryan, Collin and Kelton twilight using Forelinx. Sunny and in the 80's were nice, but windy made for challenging golfing conditions. Course was packed, we played 18 basically in the dark to finish.

Tougher course than the scorecard slope/ratings would indicate, especially when the wind whips up. Seemed like you were protected on the holes that should have had a helping wind and were often playing into the teeth of the wind on holes already long and uphill.

The tees had okay coverage from multiple grasses and weeds. Mediocre overall, some were quite good, others poor.

The fairways had decent coverage, much more thin than lush. Several fairways had been recently resodded and were roped off.

The rough was usually penal. High and thick for the most part.

The sand traps were okay only if you were lucky enough for your ball to be in the bottom in a flat area where they were raked and usually had a decent amount of sand/dirt. The edges were crusty and needed serious maintenance with weeds/grass that had not been trimmed in recent memory growing into almost every trap.

The greens were firm, medium fast and smooth, they rolled really nice. They could have been rated great "but for" too many unfixed ball marks. Numerous greens are large and be ready to play alot of break on numerous putts/chips on this course.

Large, very busy up hill range that had everyone hitting off mats. Friendly, efficient check-in and the cart gal was visible numerous times. Carts have GPS. Like the hilly, challenging layout that is tight in spots. Recommended.

Such a shame. Used to play here couple times a month 10/15 years a go and this courses back nine was spectacular. Condition of the boxes, fairways, bunkers, rough and the greens have all gone way down hill. For Golfnow 43.00 on a Friday is great bargain but during the round Cart service came by and I ordered 4 Vodkas at a whopping 8.00 per shot for cheap Seagrams airplane bottle. It's no wonder why golfers sneak there own beers and stuff in. Golf really needs to attract new generations of players and charging ridiculous prices on crap booze ain't going to do it. This course looks like it's going to become a full fledged dog track or will suffer the fate like many others nearby and just close down. They cannot possibly continue like this.

Rode the Blues (6247/71.2/128) in slightly more than 4H with David mid day using Forelinx. Sunny, breezy and in the 70's made for nice golf weather.

Hilly, challenging layout, tight in spots. Because it is a par 70 with only two par 5's, it seems longer than 6247. I personally find it a negative that three of the par 3's are within 5 yards of each other, 149/152/154, I hit the same club on all three. The other par three is 121, unusual to play a course where 154 yards is the longest par 3? Twelve par 4's, many with severe elevation changes provide the most challenge on this layout.

The tees were hit and miss, mediocre overall. Good coverage but spotty.

Same for the fairways. Numerous fairways had been recently resodded.

The rough was clumpy and a mixture of grasses. Penal, you almost never had a good lie in the rough and frequently just whacking it out of deep, thick stuff to get it back in position was the prudent play.

The sand traps were terrible, some of the worst greenside traps I have played this year. They were raked and the sand/dirt quality was passable, but they were hard barely underneath the surface and too thin in far to many places to be considered good.

The greens are large and undulating. Easily the star of the course, firm, medium fast and smooth, they rolled really nice. Only complaint is a golfer issue, FAR too many unfixed ball marks.

Friendly, efficient check-in and the cart gal was visible numerous times. Carts have GPS, although you often had to manually forward it to the next hole. Busy driving range. Good bones, but the maintenance except for the greens is rough around the edges.

The course is in very good condition and getting even more attention each visit. Even better are the team members who run it!

Fairways hard pan, tee boxes poor condition. No tee box control, etc., etc..But the one reason I won't go back is the NATS, it's crazy trying to hit a shot with a cloud of them around your face. Play this course only in the winter, is my advice. Less NATS!!!

I’ve played the vineyard on a weekend and started/finished late. Monday was wide open and very enjoyable. Really like the back nine. Would be great if people learned to repair their ball marks.

Course was overbooked and took six hours to finish a round. The course was in rough condition, fairways had several bald spots and were torched. We were a threesome and they paired us up with a single and made him ride in our cart. Not a fun round, save your money. The single who was forced to ride in my cart pulled a McDonald's fish filet sandwich out his bag on #9 and ate it after it had been baking in the Escondido sun for 3.5 hours. On hole #13 my buddy hit his ball OB and that guy lied and said he was in a good spot but we all watched it go OB. On #1 he lied again and said he is only going to hit one good drive today but he hit a lot of good drives after that. Long story short that guy is a liar and might have food poisoning and the vineyard is the golf course you are looking for if you like six hour rounds paired up with strangers who eat fish filet sandwiches in your cart. Not making this up