The HOG World Tour recently made a 2nd trip to Temecula, California and Pechanga Resort and Casino to check out the new expansion. This is a follow-up review of the resort. The last tour stop at Pechanga was back in 2015. You can find the original Pechanga Resort review here. Onsite is the “Journey at Pechanga” golf course, which was also reviewed here at Hooked on Golf Blog back in 2015.
Already the top Resort/Casino in California, Pechanga invested roughly $300 million to double its occupancy and make tremendous strides in expanding their resort experience. Let’s take a look at what’s new.
Expansion Quick Hits
- Additional 568 rooms/suites.
- New luxury spa
- 70,000 square foot event space
- 4.5 acre pool complex
- Two new restaurants
Sweet Suite
I was excited to stay in one of the new suites in the new tower. The layout of the suite featured a separate family room with a master bedroom. The whole suite was wrapped in windows which overlooked the golf course, Journey at Pechanga. See below.
And here’s the master bedroom below. What you don’t see in the photo is the master bath, which is huge, and the jumbo flat screen TV which is located where guests lounging in bed can enjoy it.
Pool
The old pool at Pechanga was not much to write home (or a blog post) about. The new 4.5 acre pool area is tremendous. It features adult and kid’s pools, bars, food, slides, fountains, and terrific gazebos. Below is a shot of the huge, adult pool.
Pool food and beverage services are terrific. My family spent two straight days there and enjoyed great food and adult/kid beverages while lounging in our personal gazebo.
Be warned! The pool is not a calm and quiet place to relax. There is DJ music playing constantly and often times it gets loud. It was too loud and obnoxious for my personal taste and I was disappointed that there wasn’t a “quiet area.” But if you want to party at the pool and enjoy hours and ours of “boom tss boom tss boom tss” music, you’ll dig it.
Junior Golf
This time around I was thrilled to get my 6 year old boy into the Journey at Pechanga Junior Golf academy. He had a terrific time learning some of the basics of the game and getting some great instruction. The instruction staff was terrific and made it really fun and interactive for the kids. After one lesson my boy’s swing already looks better than mine.
Spa & Fitness Center
I hit the fitness center for some calorie burning and cardio building. The fitness center is well equipped for the needs of any gym rat. I was very pleased to find a Peloton bike which I took advantage of.
After some long hours at the pool and then the fitness center, I was able to get a well needed massage at the resort spa. The spa facilities are huge, and feature private saunas, pools, steam rooms, as well as individual or couples massages. The whole spa experience is as good as you’ll find. I was thrilled to get rid of those pesky knots in my lower back! That will help the golf swing for sure.
Food and Beverage
There are numerous terrific restaurants at Pechanga. My family enjoyed Italian at “Paisanos,” sushi at the award winning “Umi Sushi and Oyster Bar,” and some Irish pub style food and brews at “Kelsey’s.” In the mornings we would hit the “Lobby Bar & Grill” for the best latte I’ve ever had, and some solid breakfast offerings.
Casino
The casino space at Pechanga is huge. It rivals large Las Vegas resorts. But size isn’t everything. The casino is super clean, well laid out, thoughtfully designed and enjoyable. Playing games of chance or simply enjoying “adult” activities is terrific at Pechanga.
Architecture
The lobby of the resort is architecturally tremendous. I found myself wanting to photograph the lobby more than anything else at the resort. It’s quite stunning.
The architecture of the Journey at Pechanga golf course clubhouse is amazing as well.
Final Thoughts
Pechanga was already the #1 casino/resort in California. They didn’t need to make a move, but they did. Pechangla doubled down and hit the jackpot. New additions like the new tower suites, pool area, and spa make Pechanga a must-go destination. Forget Vegas, especially if you’re from California!
One of my bestest golf buddies has a great gig as a pilot. He is able to stop and play golf in many great places and when he finds good ones, he sends me photos. After seeing his latest batch I was inspired to post about Oak Quarry Golf Club, located in Riverside, California.
Oak Quarry Golf Club – click image to view more
The course was designed by Dr. Gil Morgan/Schmidt Curley Designs and has won numerous awards. The course plays to a par of 72 and rates vary depending on date and time between $40-$95.
Oak Quarry Golf Club – click image to see more
I dig the layout, even from the few pics I’ve seen. This one is definitely on the HOG radar and I hope to bring the HOG World Tour there soon.
Related
Oak Quarry Golf Club Image Gallery
Recently the Hooked On Golf Blog World Tour spent some time at Pechanga Resort & Casino, located in Temecula, California. My stay was fabulous and I enjoyed as much of the amenities, food, and golf as I could squeeze in. I didn’t get to it all, so I hope to return and finish the job soon! Let’s take a look at Pechanga Resort & Casino.
Pechanga Hotel Left – Golf Clubhouse Right
Overview
Pechanga is a resort/casino which features 517 luxurious rooms of varying levels. The casino area is enormous, as big as any mega-resort in Vegas. As one walks in the main entrance, indoor waterfalls and interesting interior design please the eye.
Within the casino areas just about any form of gaming one would like to experience is there, from blackjack, craps, slots, to a massive bingo parlor. It’s all there.
It would take a week of three-meals per day to scratch the surface on Pechanga’s dining offerings, from fine dining to a food court which rivals large malls.
After a long day of recreating, work, or winning megabucks at the casino, Pechanga offers a full spa with various treatments and services.
Last but not least, “The Journey” at Pechanga is the on-site golf course which features fantastic views, elevation changes, and prime golf conditions. Check out the Hooked On Golf Blog Journey at Pechanga review here.
Location Location Location
What would a perfect golf/casino/resort location be? I’d say somewhere warm with access to major international airports, perhaps close to major metropolitan areas. And to put it over the top I’d say it would be located in a great area for vineyards wine. Pechanga fits the bill on all accounts. The resort is located almost exactly halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego in Temecula, California. When I was flying in I was able to choose flights by comparing cost to LA or San Diego airports. This time around, it was the best deal to fly into San Diego and take the 45-60 minute drive north to Temecula.
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I’ve heard a lot about the golf course at Pechanga and I’m glad I was finally able to make the short trip down to Temecula, California to check it out. The course is called Journey, or sometimes referred to as Journey at Pechanga.
Location Location Location
Journey at Pechanga is located on the property of the fabulous Pechanga Indian Reservation resort/casino in Temecula, California. Temecula is in a perfect location roughly midway between San Diego and Los Angeles. When booking my flights it was nice to be able to choose between the LA airports or San Diego. I ended up choosing San Diego this time around because the cost was a little lower.
Pechanga Hotel Left – Golf Clubhouse Right
Journey’s routing brings it in the hills behind the resort, and gives the course some great elevation changes and views.
Overview
Pechanga is a very challenging golf course featuring five sets of tees. With five sets of tees players can choose how much of the challenge, or journey, they wish to bite off. From the tips, the Copper tees, the course plays to a par-72 with a course rating of 74.8 and a slope of 142. In plain English that’s one tough journey.
The course architect for Journey is Arthur Hills. I’ve played many of Mr. Hills’s courses and while he has some architectural signatures, his design at Pechanga is quite unique and original on a few levels. Part of the uniqueness of the course design is the challenges Hills had in preserving sacred areas and sacred items on the property. Players who are unaware of these sacred items might complain or wonder why there’s a large tree in the of the fairway. After solid drives I found myself directly behind a couple of those large trees with no shot at the green. I was irritated for only as long as it took me to remember these are sacred trees. Then I took my bogey and moved on.
There are several spots on the course where huts can be found, and some very old historic structures.
Modern huts, homes, are not on the course and never will be. I love courses like this which aren’t developed for the strict reason of selling lots. Major points scored on this for Pechanga.
Tee
Tee shots at Pechanga are probably the strength of the course design. Hitting the tee shot accurately is perhaps the most important shot on just about every hole. Many tee shots present forced carries and very large elevation changes, requiring precision and good math skills at figuring out the yardage to elevation change difference. Coming from a mountainous area, the elevation changes were right at home for me.
Tee shots sometimes present the player with risk/reward options, like the par-4 5th hole. At around 300 yards a bomber could play aggressive and try to drive the green. There’s not much room for error though with a stream dissecting the landing area and a lake the player must carry. On my first time around the course I chose a conservative route on that tee shot, hitting hybrid to the left fairway. From there it was a sand wedge to five feet and my first birdie of the day. The second time I played it I played more aggressive and ended up making bogey.
The next hole (#6) is a par-4 that provides the most dramatic elevation drop of about 300 feet. Drives seem to stay in the air for an hour or two from that tee box. In the photo below I’m about to launch one on #6.
Par-4 6th Hole Tee
Another great tee is on the par-3 17th (pictured below), with a large drop and a view of the resort and parts of Temecula in the background.
Pechanga Golf Course 17th Green
I almost aced 17 on my first go-round. Unfortunately my playing partners just missed out on some free beer.
Fairway
The fairways at Pechanga are generally fairly wide and not terribly difficult. If you’ve managed to find the fairway, you won’t be faced with a tricky or unfair stance, but you might have issues due to the aforementioned sacred trees. It happened to me twice, once on the first hole and once on the par-5 9th.
First fairway before the early morning marine layer has burned off. Note the trademark tree in fairway…
A few fairways are split, giving the player two routing options. One option is often for the more aggressive player and one for the conservative.
Green
During my round at Pechanga I found the greens to roll smoothly. They were receptive to good shots, even spinning a few back. Some greens like the 18th featured large undulations and tiers while others like the 2nd and 3rd were more flat and subtle.
15th Green at Pechanga
Many greens are guarded by some stern bunkering. Greens located on the hillside often had a favorable uphill side to help deflect errant shots above the green onto the green. But that same slope would severely penalize errant shots which hit the downhill side. I know this first hand.
Flow
The gap between the 5th and 6th holes is literally about a five minute drive in a golf cart, including a massive elevation change. That may be the “Journey” right there! There’s another big gap between 16 green and 17 tee. Because of some of these long gaps between holes and the steepness of the hills I really don’t see walking the course as an option. The walk from 5-6 could take a fit individual 15-20 minutes. Those gaps make some of the routing/flow a bit on the funky side.
Practice Areas
Pechanga has a great driving range with high quality range balls. There are actual greens and bunkers in the range providing players the opportunity to play real golf shots at targets with forced carries. This is a great alternative to the ranges on some courses where the target is “north.”
The short game area is perhaps the best of the practice facilities at Pechanga though. There are several short game greens with side-hills, chipping pitching slopes, and bunkers to practice from. That’s where I should have spent most of my time, and where most players would benefit as opposed to pounding drivers all day on the range.
Short game practice area
Finally the practice green (below) provides an accurate representation of the speed and feel of the greens on the course. More importantly though, there’s a bar/cafe about 20 feet away.
Pechanga Practice Green
Amenities
The clubhouse is quite an architectural piece. Inside are the pro shop, locker rooms, and a great restaurant called Journey’s End.
Journey at Pechanga Clubhouse
The pro shop is full of a massive apparel and equipment selection. If you forgot something or need some new gear, they have it.
I had breakfast at Journey’s End a couple of times and the huevos rancheros was fantastic, along with the pancakes.
Conclusion
The Journey produces some very fun resort golf between all the great amenities the hotel and clubhouse have to offer and the Arthur Hills designed golf course itself. The course can play as relaxing or as challenging as a player may want with it’s diverse set of tees. Bring some extra balls and bring a camera.
Related Links
Journey at Pechanga photo gallery.
Pechanga Resort/Casino photo gallery.
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