CARLSBAD—In a region with superior resort courses, the city of Carlsbad has followed the example of municipalities in the Coachella Valley.
Build and operate a high-level Muni that draws vacationers as well as the locals who pay a “most favored son” rate. The Crossings in Carlsbad reflects the same upscale ambiance you encounter at the Indian Wells Resort with its two courses, the Desert Willow Resort with its two courses (city of Palm Desert) Summer golf in Indian Wells! and Silver Rock in LaQuinta with its showcase golf course along the All-American Canal. The economy stalled the surrounding LaQuinta development La Quinta resort is ideal winter and spring golfing destination.
The Crossings has no such challenges because residential and commercial development was not part of the plan. Private enterprise took care of that with four upscale hotels, an easy cart ride away along with Legoland for the family.
Carlsbad residents must demonstrate their residency by going through the ID.me program now used by Social Security, the DMV and other agencies. Once they complete that online process, they can play on weekdays for $70 ($62 for seniors).
Golfers with a JC Players card (JC Golf operates The Crossings as well as a few other Southern California daily play courses such as the Gary Player Signature Course at Mission Hills North in Rancho Mirage (LINK) and the Cathedral Canyon in Cathedral City. They play for $75 while the rack rate is $119. An average summer day will see 230 players and it averages 70,000 rounds per year, which speaks to the demand.Nearby LaCosta Resort’s rate for guests is $389, while Park Hyatt Aviara, with its Arnold Palmer designed course, is $325. Aviara was the site of a women’s pro golf tournament for many years with its notable 18th hole that demands golfers navigate around a lake. LaCosta is now home to both the men’s and women’s NCAA Championships.
The city devoted 400 acres to the Crossings golf course and wildlife habitat that stretches up and down one ridge and then down into another canyon. A creek runs through that canyon so there are five bridges on the property—thus the name. The creek area, as well as other areas on the property are devoted to habitat and golfers and/or walkers are not allowed there.
Walking is allowed, but, given the distances between holes, do yourself a favor and take an electric cart. The canyon is bounded on the south side by a huge retaining wall that supports the runway of Carlsbad Airport—a favorite destination for pro golfers coming in to test clubs at Callaway headquarters.
In keeping with the environmental emphasis, it’s irrigated almost completely with recycled water stored in a 10-million-gallon lake that also is available for fire protection. The team has been honored with a award for its environmental stewardship.
We played on a sunny spring day with ideal weather. The nearby Pacific Ocean is visible from some spots—it’s about a mile inland so coastal fog is a factor in certain seasons. From the tips, it plays to 6,825 yards with a slope of 135. There are two sets of women’s tees, playing either 5,685 (130 slope) or 5,030 (120 slope).
Regardless of the choice of tees, there are a number of blind tee shots so pay attention to the aiming points. They will serve you well. As you would expect, there also are a fair share of forced carries. The GPS equipped cart helps plenty learning distances and discovering hazards. There also are yardage markers on the cart path and carts are permitted on fairways other than the par 3s.
The greens weren’t particularly quick, but rolled true and had plenty of slope to be interesting once the putter was in hand.
The landscape around the course has well established growth since it opened in 2007. It was designed by the late Greg Nash who also designed Sun City Palm Springs and Sun City Summerlin outside of Las Vegas.
We played with a couple who lived in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles and were preparing for a round at Torrey Pines South the next day thanks to a connection. We would have happily joined them.
www.thecrossingsatcarlsbad.com