COURSE REVIEW
NATIVE OAKS GOLF CLUB DISCOVER A SOCAL GOLF GEM N
estled in canyons in East San Diego, Valley Center to be exact, Native Oaks Golf Club (renamed from Woods Valley Golf Club in January) is a wellworth-it, short drive from San Diego and Orange County. In this “I’ll drive anywhere to find a weekend tee time” era, the recent improvements to course conditions, customer service and the newly opened Shawii Kitchen (putting out some tasty, innovative food options not always typical of a golf course) makes Native Oaks an interesting, even surprising, find. Owned by the San Pasqual Economic Development Corporation, an entity of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, the new names pay homage to community’s traditions and are representative of the beautiful land they 26
SPRING 2021
California Golf + Travel
call home. The new Native Oaks logo depicts a flourishing oak tree, while the new Shawii Kitchen logo (pronounced / sha-wee/ and means sacred corn paste of the Kuumeyaay people, made from the Acorns of the surrounding Native Oaks) features the nut of the oak tree, an acorn. It is a beautiful track that is coming into its own, featuring an extensive, all-grass driving range, very well maintained fairways and greens, and most of all, the serene and beautiful environment typical of this corner of Southern California. The back nine is spectacular, rivaling the best the region has to offer. Against the current trend of ever-longer golf courses that favor the long hitters, Native Oaks GC is a thinking man track. With narrow fairways, deep vegetations near the out-of-
