I just got back home after some not-very-good play (78-77, MC by
and an extra day in San Diego to play Maderas (a very fun but difficult course — of course
there I managed to shoot under par) with an old friend.
I definitely understand where David is coming from, although I'd probably temper my comments in some regards, both because I know the CGA/NCGA/SCGA folks put a lot of effort into the event and also because I realize that playing a golf tournament at La Costa is about as far into the "It's a Privilege, Not a Right" category as one can possibly go.
It's fair to say that we were not entirely welcomed with open arms; it's not that La Costa made things difficult for us, although a significant number of folks (including myself) seemed to have an unpleasant interaction or two with the resort or its staff over the course of the event. (Maybe things got better once they got us riff-raff out of the way and got down to the final 32 — I wouldn't know, unfortunately!) It's just that La Costa is such a big, enormous, money-making operation that we were pretty clearly just "yet another thing" going on there during the week. It's not a golf resort. It's more like a small city, and that makes it very different from playing a Cal Amateur at Lake Merced or La Cumbre where we are the only thing going on at the facility the whole time.
I will second some of the concerns David mentioned, like not being able to use the range after the round (even for a fee), having lunch pulled away while some players were still on the course, the flow of large delivery trucks past the #1 tee on Legends, and having a snack cart driving around the course during play. The occurences were not exactly consistent with a premier championship, but they do come with the territory of playing at a major resort.
Before I get to specifically to the courses, I will also agree with David that there was no way the greens were 11. Maybe 10? Maybe not. It's a bit hard to tell because there was grain going in the same direction as the slopes, but I left some downhill, down-grain putts short in a way that should have been impossible if 11 was the true number. The greens were slower than what I would expect at such an event, although they did roll very well. They were very firm, too, on both courses, probably just because they're still new.
I found the courses both enjoyable and the Champions slightly harder, as their ratings would indicate. I don't know if there are any truly great holes, although there aren't any bad ones either. Mostly the Champions has more water and therefore more chances for a big number. The bunkers on Champions are deep, especially the fairway bunkers; they are true hazards. Champions is also longer but that's not really the issue as much as the hazards are. The only part of the course I might pick on is that there are several similar teeshots with lakes on the right — 9, 11 and 13 at an angle, and 17 and 18 with water parallel on the right — and none with lakes on the left. I didn't really like 17, which looked kind of strange to me and had some rather artificial mounding around the green, but that really was the only hole on Champions where I felt that way. 18 is a very difficult par-5 to finish: from the back tees almost 600 yards (stroke play at about 540), into the wind, with hazards on both sides all the way up. The routing is a bit awkward from 9-12, but it was that way before. Other than 17, I would give the folks in charge a good grade for the renovation. There are plenty of challenges, a lot of really nice visuals, and a number of strategic choices to be made. My favorite holes on the course are 1-3 and 13-16, all of which are basically the same as they've always been other than 15, the new short par-4, which I thought was really well done.
As for the Legends, its front nine is pretty clearly the least distinguished nine on the property. This is mostly because it starts with 5 consecutive par-4's, four of which I played with a hybrid off the tee and three of which have homes on both sides (the only holes on the property where this occurs). Those first five holes are okay-ish individually, but as a group they're not very good. If I had to choose one course to play, it would be the Champions, mostly because of the Legends' first five holes. Legnds picks up from 6 onwards, and particularly after the turn.
One interesting comparison is that the Legends is generally more low-key from tee to green, but the architect's hand is more obvious around the greens than it was on the Champions. The Champions' greens are generally more wavy/rolling, and the Legends' more tiered/sectioned. For example, the green at the par-5 7th on Legends has a narrow middle plateau from the front to the back of the green, with symmetrical lower wings left and right; it wasn't really in any way natural. There are a few of these spots around the Legends. I also didn't like the new Legends #17. The old one was a famous and great hole — an intimidating 570 yards (with old balls and persimmon woods!) with the lake hard against the layup and green. The new one is 525 and wide, with a manufactured green complex that looks like Florida and the water less in play. Again I preferred the holes that were more like updated versions of the originals, specifically 13-15, which I think is the best stretch on the property, and 18, which is really hard at 457 into the wind and right at sea level.
One final note on the Legends is that the fairways are planted with paspalum. If you haven't played on it, it's like a cross between kikuyu (or zoysia) and bermuda. As was planned, I think average players will prefer these more cushioned fairways, while very good players will like the tighter lies on the Champions course's bermuda.
La Costa is not Bandon Dunes, and it's not all about golf. If you're looking for a pure golf experience, don't go there. You'll feel awkward as you walk past ballrooms and restaurants and waterslides and Starbucks and the hotel lobby to get to the pro shop, and on weekends you'll get annoyed by the thumping house music emanating from the all-day party at the adults-only pool. (You can hear it easily from 1,000 yards away downwind.) If you want a true luxury resort with a million things to do including a couple of beautiful, well-conditioned golf courses, then by those standards, you can't do much better than La Costa. It's gorgeous and pristine. Like most places, how you feel about it depends on what you want out of your time on the grounds.