Hometown kid who plays most of his golf at Brookside and Santa Anita. I've got to say that I prefer Santa Anita. The greens always play way too slow, they're rarely in very good condition. Also, the undulations in the fairway, especially on the more extreme holes like 9 and 18 tend don't drain very well the valleys are always either drowning or brown because all the grass is dead. Ad some drainage and the course could play much better.

That said, this courses biggest problem will always be the greens, if they could find a way to speed them up, and then cut the grass shorter around them, the crowns would make this course alot more challenging. i really think they shoud add a few more bunkers to this course, especially at holes 3(fairway), 7(fairway), 10(fairway), 14(fairway), and 18(green). also, the OB on 13 has to go, one of these days i'm just gonna sneak onto the course and pull out those stakes myself.

but, overall, a solid course where you really feel free to swing away on most holes, due to the wide, parallel fairways. the greens are quite plain however. best bunkering of any muni in the area. and best of all, there's enough room around this course that if they cut a few trees down they could easily add 500 yards to it.

Grew up in Pasadena and play this course all the time. #1 is a challenging course although I don't understand why people love the design so much. Most of the bunkers are poorly placed and ugly with those high lips. It's also bothersome when lakes are placed in higher terrain so that sometimes the water level is well above you, it just seems very unnatural. Also, on 7 and 8 the cart path just shouldn't be on that side, especially on the 7th where the path is only about 10 feet away from the green.


Still, this course has alot of potential and a respectible history, having hosted the LA Open (supposedly Pros found it quite difficult). The real problem with the course is course #2 in my opinion. #1 is too hard for alot of bad golfers who go out there and slow everything down, but because course #2 is so meek in comparison (and doesn't come back near the clubhouse at the turn), #1 is almost always too busy while #2 is wide open. That said, most people don't realize that the first half of the back nine of #2 actually has the most interesting terrain of anywhere on the course, with holes 10 through 13 being that best golf on the entire complex in my opinion. It is also in the best condition, since most of the players on #2 are so bad that they rarely make it that far.


My advice, start out on #2 but play #9 as #3 then continue over to the back 9. at #14 switch over to #5 of course 1 (which is adjacent) and play #6 & 7 as well. From there, move over to the back 9 of #1 starting on #12. Play through the 18th hole, then, to complete the round at twilight play #10. Play 18 or 9 just to come back and you've played 19 holes. If you start a round like this at around 3 to 3.5 hours before dark on a weekday you'll finish everytime, and play a course that is in much better condition.


Since I'm in college now I rarely play there, which is the only reason I'm giving this secret away.