So I decided to play Balboa park yesterday at 1pm with my cousin. We both enjoyed the course. The only negatives I see are the lack of any ocean views and constant air traffic. It is a little quirky in some places (ei the 4th)... Positives include the many views of the SD skyline, low price (40$) and a variety of different types of holes (canyons, elevation changes and mesa holes). Overall it was a fun short little course for a Sunday afternoon with lots of character to many of the holes. Conditiosn where actually bette rthan I expected.
Favorite holes on the course include #2 (neat tight hole up through the canyon), #14, #16(best hole on the course) and #17 (huge elevation drop-2 club).
They need to make a new tee box on number 18 about 100 yard back from where it is now. Finishing on a 320yrd par four just dosent seem right IMO.... it is very narrow however.
Questiosn for all....... It seemd like the two nines were very different in style (front nine seemed more aged with many canyon holes, while the back nine was more wide open on top the the canyons (except the last 4 holes). Is the front nine the original nine from 1920"s? Do they have different desiners?
Nick,
Glad you enjoyed Balboa; it really is a good test at 6200 yards. Sam Snead still holds the course record with the 60 he shot in 1945 while in the Navy. Mark Wiebe shot a 62 in the City Amateur some years back, but low rounds are few and far between due to the penal nature of the first 6 holes; there's really now where to miss it.
As to the history, the course was built in 1918 and is always attributed locally to William Park Bell. However some have disputed this since Bell was the greenkeeper at Pasadena GC at this time. Some have speculated that Willie Watson concieved the original layout. In any case, it was dirt fairways and oiled sand greens until a WPA project in 1938 added irrigation. Surely Billy Bell was in charge of this project, so even if he inherited the routing, he's responsible for the all grass course. The clubhouse was located by the 7th green at one point many years ago. I beieve the entire layout dates from 1918 though. The layout that Snead shot his 60 on still existed in 1990; the second was a short par 4 with the 3rd a par 5 to the same green site as #3 has now. The 4th was a straight hole, the 12th was a par 3 and the 14 was a par 4. The par 5 16th had been broken up into two 300 yard par 4's; the pine tree was planted to guard the tee. The 18th was a par 5 up the hill with the tee back in the corner. This allowed sliced shots to hit the street as did 17 which was right next to the fence on Pershing Dr. These were the two biggest factors in the 1992 redesign which was done by the firm of Halsey Daray. Their primary direction was to eliminate the probability of sliced shots hitting busy roads. A new irrigation system and USGA greens were part of the deal. The 2cnd was changed to a par 5 to keep people from being hit off #1 tee. The 12th was extended to form the current par 4 hole. The short 13th was built to link the 12th green to the 14th tee. The old 15th was straight away, now it is a right angle dogleg. The 16th was restored and I agree, is the best hole on the course. As for 18, they took MacKenzie advice for a lousy hole by shortening it to get it over with quicker. The 4th was changed in house to avert a property line dispute and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you should always enlist the help of genuine GCA when you make changes. The original version was regraded and the hole still doesn't work well. The front left portion of the tiny green is unpinnable; any putts that aren't holed will roll back to the center of the green. We are due to get a new irrigation system this Oct; the current one is springing leaks everywhere due to a very shody installation job by the lowest bidder. There is talk that the City may try and fix #4 then; I hope so because it really is out of place now.