Carlton Oaks Lodge, Ascend Hotel Collection

Never played this course at a good pace unless it’s a tee time before 7am

Played off season so course was in poor shape

Would like to play it in summer with better conditions

Absolute cow patch. I’m ashamed for having booked this round and angry to have wasted a Sunday morning on this track. Golf Now is stealing money offering tee times at this near death facility, headed for renovation. There should be alerts notifying the customer of the poor conditions. The pro shop, starter, and cart girl were friendly and only saving grace for this day. I cannot comprehend how anyone would play Carlton Oaks a second time. Maybe you got swindled like I did today as a first timer but why would you return? It was over 2.5 hours to play the front nine and I walked directly from a three putt par on nine to trunk slam and leave the parking lot in an attempt to salvage the Sunday afternoon.

I've played this course a few times and generally have liked it, but the condition of the course now is nowhere near conducive of the price they're charging.

Teeboxes were generally lush, but not at all flat and often riddled with holes and other imperfections.

Fairways were generally acceptable but again littered with animal holes and other things that caused them to be INCREDIBLY bumpy. It was almost impossible to drive the cart anywhere near full speed because you'd just bounce all over the place.

Anywhere off the fairway....forget about it. It was either bare dirt, again littered with animal holes and other craters, or some kind of "rough" that wasn't really grass but wasn't quite dirt. Particularly on the front nine. Back nine seemed to be a bit better, but not much.

Greens were ok. Long for my liking, but this was easily the best part of the course.

Pretty much the only saving grace of the course was the cart girl was a certified 10/10. But that had nothing to do with the actual course, obviously.

Until I hear it's improved, I'll be avoiding this course. Definitely not up to standard.

Staff are friendly pace of play was slow should have finished all 18 holes with the time frame we had however we only got in 13 due to the pace of play. Greens need a good amount of work very bumpy and don’t roll well.

I have played here a few times. The course was in poor condition like they went bankrupt and restarted. Still some great holes.

Still needing some love. Greens were okay, tee boxes were also okay but the fairways were still rough. Not much grass to them. There’s never really a starter so that can cause some craziness on the course with lots of singles and 2s going out catching up to each other having to pass or pair up mid round. The practice greens are nice, not the same as the course greens but they’re nice

This used to be one of my favorite courses in SD. A Pete Dye masterpiece that has been let go it appears. The fairways were terrible with very little grass and while the greens were a bit fuzzy on the front the back nine greens were fine.

Rough day on the course.. I’m sure the course plays well in the spring but the soil is cooked. Lots and lots of dirt (make sure you hit it straight!) and riding in a golf cart is a very bunpy ride just a heads up. Teed off around 10:45 and didn’t get to hole 14 until 3:30pm. Ended up calling it quits on 14 as we were on pace for a 7-hour round of golf. Course was the most backed up I’ve ever seen. On a positive note huge shoutout to Angeline the cart girl she makes an absolute gem of a transfusion. Will be back for the drinks.

We had an awesome day at the golf course today. Beautiful weather and greens.

Will definitely be back.

Course was in awful shape. Don’t recommend. Def won’t be back

The tee boxes were the only place there was grass. The course is in rough shape. Fairways have little grass and when driving the cart feels like you are driving a 4x4 because it so bumpy

The course is in bad condition. Fairways are a mixture of dirt, sand, mud, many different grasses and weeds. Ground under repair areas haven’t been touched in ages. Looks like most of the course should be ground under repair. Greens were on and tee boxes were ok. The only other course worse I’ve played is Eagle Crest up in Escondido which is under new management now. Maybe this course needs the same

Played this course 30 yrs ago when it was a prestine track . It has really degraded as far as general course condition . Fairways and sand traps appear to receive little mntce while the greens are ok . I did notice a lot of dump trucks coming and going so maybe the time has come the owners are putting some money back into the course which really does have a nice layout from original design .

I like the layout of the course they need sand in the bunkers and grass will grow in the fairways eventually tee boxes and greens are very nice I would definitely come back and play this again very challenging course the 18th hole looks gorgeous