First time back at Wilson in exactly one year and just the second time in the last four years ... and of course saved it for my worst round there since 2019 under the sweltering summer sun.

My friend and I rode obviously, playing the white tees and with an 11:15am tee time, paired up with two others. Did I mention it was hot? This was especially brutal on Wilson becau... » More

First time back at Wilson in exactly one year and just the second time in the last four years ... and of course saved it for my worst round there since 2019 under the sweltering summer sun.

My friend and I rode obviously, playing the white tees and with an 11:15am tee time, paired up with two others. Did I mention it was hot? This was especially brutal on Wilson because of course there's no cart service and you don't reach the snack shop until the 11th tee box.

The course looks and plays dry thanks to the summer heat that's pressed down on SoCal for the past month. There is also a fungus growing on a lot of the greens which might explain the punch marks in the middle of August - that's rare, right? Pin positions were also as diabolical as possible which I didn't even think they could do on Wilson's greens, but other than that they actually rolled pretty consistently despite the clear work done on them.

The course is playable for sure, but it's seen better days. Riding carts over the fairways and other areas feels like taking a dune buggy out after a WWI trench battle - it's rough out there. Take your Advils and be prepared for that wild ride.

Fairways have better coverage on the back nine (14 and 16 remain tremendous holes) but you can feel the thin and dry just about everywhere. Rough is fine, bunkers played okay and the tee boxes were a little short of good - level but very beat up in some cases.

One thing of note regarding the driving range - you can (at least currently) NOT use a credit card to get range balls, so you have to get your code from the starter. This was frustrating for me because whenever I play at Griffith Park, they always advise you to first check in 15-20 minutes before your tee time, so I went straight to the range this time, only to find out now I had to go to the office anyway. Minor gripe but an annoyance at the time.

In summary, Wilson is playing just as you would expect right now with the current weather conditions. I would certainly wait until things cool down again and the place gets a chance to fix things up.
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Played this AM. Last few rounds here have been very windy. Getting a great downwind game but not so good into it. Wind speed 18 with gusts to 23.

I am finding out that the main reason locals avoid the course is because of the windy conditions due to the location of the course. Me I am checking conditions better before I make future reservations.

Lucky we got... » More

Played this AM. Last few rounds here have been very windy. Getting a great downwind game but not so good into it. Wind speed 18 with gusts to 23.

I am finding out that the main reason locals avoid the course is because of the windy conditions due to the location of the course. Me I am checking conditions better before I make future reservations.

Lucky we got out early. When we made the turn we found the area around the clubhouse packed and staged for a tournament. We were not even notified of this happening when we checked in. I guess they assumed we and others would finish before this started. Wrong.

When we were teeing off on 18 the carts for a shotgun start started coming down from the clubhouse. Lets just say we let the guy in the clubhouse know how we felt.

Tee boxes all clean and playable.

Fairways had good coverage on most holes with decent lies but the only rollout was on downwind holes.

Rough was playable.

Traps had been all cleaned so we had decent sand to play out of all round.

Greens had been mowed and chipped/putted at good speeds. But hitting them in the wind was a challenge as well as putting into and with the wind. And many of the greens are elevated from the fairway so trying to factor in wind direction and speed was not fun.

Had a great $6.50 breakfast including coffee after the round so that helped the days frustrations somewhat.
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Early morning round in 4.5 hours on the Oaks/Creek nines. Staff has always been great and friendly. The practice facilities weren't busy at all on the warm morning. It appears Thursday mornings are when the ladies club plays. The carts remain top notch with everything you need. The tee boxes were good with exception of the beat up par three boxes on the Creek nine. The ro... » More

Early morning round in 4.5 hours on the Oaks/Creek nines. Staff has always been great and friendly. The practice facilities weren't busy at all on the warm morning. It appears Thursday mornings are when the ladies club plays. The carts remain top notch with everything you need. The tee boxes were good with exception of the beat up par three boxes on the Creek nine. The rough has been cut down shorter and the heat has dried it up some but you can find your ball in it fairly easily now. Hitting from the rough can be easy or difficult depending on the thickness from hole to hole. All of the fairways have real nice coverage with approach sections on the longer holes being full of divots in need of repair and sand. The carts have sand bottles but many golfers don't know how to use them evidently. The traps all have plenty of good to great sand and were all raked nicely. The greens were quite a bit slower than usual with the extra water they were receiving on this hot day. They were holding shots and had very few ball marks which was nice to see. With the slower greens came less break than was usual for a round here. The rates are acceptable for what you'll find in the local valley.
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Played Crandon GC yesterday after my bike ride. Apparently playing at 11:30 AM in the middle of the summer is the way to go because I flew around the course in 3 hrs only having to go through two groups. In fact if it hadn’t been for raccoon who hijacked my cart (see picture when it’s up), I would have finished in sub 3 hours. Course remains in decent condition all around. ... » More

Played Crandon GC yesterday after my bike ride. Apparently playing at 11:30 AM in the middle of the summer is the way to go because I flew around the course in 3 hrs only having to go through two groups. In fact if it hadn’t been for raccoon who hijacked my cart (see picture when it’s up), I would have finished in sub 3 hours. Course remains in decent condition all around. About the same as my last review. A couple of the greens had some serious brown spots throughout but other than that not bad. Greens are slow here. they roll true, just at a slow pace. Fairways had pretty good coverage throughout. Not the Spyglass Hill perfect 10 but a good solid 7 rating. I was in a lot of greenside bunkers and all had good amount of sand. Again, not the perfect white fluffy deep sand, but enough to be predictable.

With numerous water hazards and a couple glimpses of the Miami skyline, this has become my “go to” course outside of the private ones I get to play.
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Had not played Marshall Canyon in over 20 years and boy what a walk down memory lane. Course was well conditioned and staff was friendly for a city course. My greatest memory was the slope and severity of the greens and they did not disappoint. Despite the short yardage the greens protect the course. Some defy logic as slopes and the nearby mountains often cancel each other out... » More

Had not played Marshall Canyon in over 20 years and boy what a walk down memory lane. Course was well conditioned and staff was friendly for a city course. My greatest memory was the slope and severity of the greens and they did not disappoint. Despite the short yardage the greens protect the course. Some defy logic as slopes and the nearby mountains often cancel each other out. An added treat was the large gallery of deer that were spectators for the day. As someone who’s played the Pebble Beach courses and Bandon Dunes, we saw more deer here than both those combined. This course earns the title of hidden gem. I can’t wait to play it again.
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