Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa

The Golf Course and all amenities are awesome and the staff very friendly. Challenging course, but then as a 15 handicapper, most courses are challenging for me. (-:

it feels like a little piece of heaven!! top notch course in top notch condition. the only thing is u better know how to play or it could get brutal! PGA style bunkers with water play on multiple holes, but u gotta love it!!!

Very expensive, even pricier than The Prince Course in Kauai, though not as challenging. Must be said that every hole is a signature hole.

Awesome course. Well maintained and super nice staff.

I had a gift certificate for this place so was able to play for free. Otherwise I would never pay what this course wants for green fees, WAY too expensive!

The one big gripe I had was the cost of the sandwich at the turn/snack shop. A small ham sandwich on white Wonderbread (literally, no joke) had four slices of ham, and a slice of cheese. It came with packet mayo and mustard, not even a deli type sandwich... I ate it in eight bites. Additionally, no pickle, no chips, no fries, no nothing, all for the low price of $10. Very disappointing! Take your own food.

July 2013: Aviara is one of my favorite courses to play. My fourth time to play the course. Challenging but fair and not impossible to score well. Fairways and Greens were in excellent condition. Some absolutely beautiful holes, like playing in a garden particularly several par 3s. Some dry areas in the fairway roughs and several waterfall fountains were off for maintenance detracted a bit from the beauty. Course is on par with Pelican Hill minus the ocean views. Aviara Staff outstanding, very helpful, polite. Pace of play was good. Warm up range facilities were nice. Cost per person is expensive but worth it for special day. Getting a deal on tee cost is best way to play.

The greens were great. The fairways were great. The tee boxes were great. The staff was great. Did I forget anything? Oh the cart GPS was the nicest I've seen with touch screen. I think this was the nicest public course I have ever played, but at $235 I would not play again. Other reviews accurately describe it as a botanical garden with gorgeous water features. If you grab a 4:00pm $125 Golfnow deal then it is a MUST for everyone. The Hyatt Park Aviara Hotel runs around $380 per night during summer so there were lots of rich bad golfers/vacationers to be found on the course slowing things down.

You really can't say anything bad about this course unless it's the price. Every hole is a signature hole, lots of ups and downs, beautiful landscaping throughout. Very difficult greens to read. I'd rank this my #1 course in the region ahead of Pechanga, but the price makes it a "special occasion" course and not something I can do on a regular basis.

Scenic and challenging golf course with attentive staff and superior service facilities. The only drawback was the pace of play...sort of like the "Batan Deathmarch". The course rangers need to encourage the golfers to speed up the pace of play. It detracts from the other special qualities of Aviara.

The course is very well designed and has large but difficult greens. This is a great course for the experienced golfer who wants a challenge.

One word "AWESOME" a must play. From tee to green was perfert

I enjoyed the course very much, the greens and fairways were in good conditions the staff was very friendly

The staffs were SUPER FRIENDLY.
This course is a beautiful course in a spectacular setting.

course is in excellent shape. staff was very friendly and helpful.

I was given a free round ($50 cart fee extra) for volunteering at the KIA Classic. As a Standard Bearer I walked the course inside the ropes all four days so I already knew the layout pretty well. This is a great new venue for the women and I was wondering if it would be equally as enjoyable to play myself.
A few of the greens were showing the effects of aeration but otherwise the course is in great shape. Aviara is a classic Palmer design with reasonably open fairways andt tough green complexes. Actually, it wasn't as hard to play as I expected.

Great practice facility to start. Cookies and lemonade. Staff was helpful and friendly. We started on the white tees but moved back to play the blues after a few holes. Whites for shorter players and higher handicap. Blues for good or longer players. Silver for Long and good players, mid to low single digit handicaps. The rough was up and challenging from the LPGA event the week before. The holes are all beautiful with blooming flowers, waterfalls and fountains. Don't forget the well placed bunkers, doglegs, falloffs and very fast and challenging greens. Some tough approaches due to blind shots to the green and not knowing the run or falloff of some. The greens were excellent and fast and were undulating and difficult to read. I had more problems with green speed and break than anything else. The foursome enjoyed the course thoroughly.

The course was being prepared for the Kia Classic which was 3 weeks away. The course itself was visually stunning with many beautiful flowers. The greens were diabolical with unseen undulation, which made them impossible to read correctly. They were also extremely fast, but true rolling. The layout of the course is not too difficult and anybody can play it.

We were able to play the course with our $99 GolfNow holiday pack twosome which made the $160 Hot Deal tee time bearable, otherwise I'd say it was overpriced. We saved over $160!

THIS WAS THE NICEST GOLF EXPERIENCE IVE EVER HAD. THE STAFF WERE GREAT AND REALLY FRENDLY AND HELPFUL.

Very good course with lots of challenging and interesting holes. I would have been disappointed if I wasn't playing at the special Golf Now rate. I would like to play the same course in the summer when it is not winterized...

I went to Aviara for my birthday, its a first class place. The greens are challenging and you definitely use all your clubs.

Great Staff & Great Course!!! Aviara is a must play for sure.