This is one of my favorite layouts in Southern California. It really is a fun design and you can get around in a little over four hours every Saturday. However, I am very concerned about the fairways. It is almost as bad as hitting iron shots off of dirt. There is very little grass, and where there is grass it is mowed very tight. It is strange to be playing on brown fairways in June. I don't know if it is maintenance issue or rather an issue dealing with the type of grass that was originally planted for the fairways. I do know that Poa is now taking over the greens which I assume is intentional. If you have a quality design you should require quality maintenance for the course.

Played early on Wednesday. My playing partner and I pretty much had the course to ourselves. I think that the price for the round exceeds the value provided. I enjoy playing this course and find it a challange for my game. Staff was great from the time arrived and dropped off my clubs all the way through lunch. However, there are good alternatives for my golfing dollar that provide the same environment for a great deal less. I'm sure that many other golfers have come to the same conclusion. In addition, I found that the condition of the course was lacking. The greens were great, but the rough was almost bare almost the entire course. It's intersting that the course will not permit golfers to retrieve errant shots from the natural habitat areas that border much of the course, yet there was a guy out there in the same area with his falcon hunting for small animals. While it was interesting to observe, I'm not sure that the rule for golfers makes sense. Still, with all of the snakes in the area I'm not sure I'd want to be roaming for golf balls.

Played on the morning of 8/11. No problem getting out, paid my money and walked to the first tee. There were a few wet spots on the course that had likely been damaged from cars parked on the course for the previous Saturday's soccer match. Otherwise the fairways were in pretty good shape for August. I didn't have a problem with the tee boxes. I was in only one trap during the round found it sufficient for this course. The greens appear to have several different varieties of grass which can greatly affect the pace and direction of putts. I also found myself fixing at least five ball marks on every green and a few of the bunkers had not been raked by a prior player.

Still, I thought that I received value for the fee paid.

Played on Tuesday mid-morning with business prospects. I thought that the course was in pretty good shape. There were a few brown spots which I would not expect to see until late summer. The greens appear as though they are still recovering from the recent punch. Overall, the course is well maintained given its price. However, I will never understand why it takes over 5.5 hours to play 18 holes during the week. Becuase the course appears to be somewhat easy due to the distances, my guess is that significant number of new golfers like to play there. With the lack of a marshall during the week pace of play here is just not acceptable. I have been recently playing other local courses in the same price range and they do not have a pace-of-play problem. Santa Anita needs to get its act together and do something about this problem. Complaints about playing time at the course have been posted for several years with no change by the course. Actually, this problem predates the existence of Greenskeeper. Too bad, becuase it can ruin an otherwise great course that fits many ability levels.

Played last Friday. The views were fantastic, not up there with Pebble, but certainly the equal of Sandpiper and Torrey. However the greens were some of the slowest I've ever played, to the point that they made the round almost unenjoyable. The fairways were nice. Definitely not a high end course, but then they don't charge a lot to play there. Saw the marshal roaming the course several times during the round. Finished in four hours.

I played Saturday morning. I thought that the course was in great shape. The greens putted true. I enjoyed seeing eagles soaring overhead and all of the wild turkeys roaming the course. My group had a great time.