Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa

First I have to say that I had a free round to play this course from my Golf Now rewards. Paying the full price of $245 is crazy for any course. The course was just a beautiful sight. Since it's also a botancial garden, every turn has gorgeous sights. The water featues are also very well designed.

From the moment I got there the staff was very attentitive. Water in the cart cooler already and the starter gave a short overview of the course and the hight tech GPS on the cart.

I'm sure because the cost to play, not may folks were there which made for a very easy pace. Each hole had it's own signature and was truely a fun course to play.

Treat yourself to playing this course at least once in your live, but if you can afford it then twice a week.

We were visiting from the LA area for the weekend and booked an ideal tee time. The staff was friendly and paced the groups out nicely...the only issue was out of their control - a terrible foursome of golfers that didn't understand the etiquette. We thought the price point would weed out those kinds of golfers but some people have more money than skill. Will definitely play this course again!

I haven't played Aviara in ten or so years because, frankly I thought it was too expensive. I decided to go back and play it, I paid $180 to play and if I was to go back, I wouldn't pay more than $70. The course wasn't in very good shap at all. There were some terrible lies, it was really wet in multiple places and the greens weren't in very good shape either ... To price a course, that isn't on the ocean and there really aren't very many great views, that much money, the course better be perfect; especially a resort course. I think the regular price of $245 is a joke. Even the discount on this site is way too expensive.

Arrowood golf course is a fun course with some great holes. The tee boxes and fairways are in great shape. When starting my round I had the feeling that I was golfing somewhere pretty special. Unfortunately, when I got to the first green I noticed something was a little off. It looked like no one had repaired a ball mark all summer long. Also, there were some bare spots. I was a little confused by this. I'm not sure how such a nice looking course would let this happen. Maybe one reason by be the lack of marshals on the course. Unfortunately, with no one to hold them accountable, some folks don't care to take a second and fix their damage to the course. It is shame that such a nice course could have greens that are as chewed up as a pit bulls squeaky toy. I would have given this course four stars if it were not for the damaged greens.

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.