Got out on 9/21 and paid $35 to ride. Apparently, they offer this rate for SCGA members so I brought my card as proof. The #1 course was packed. Our time was 9:00 am but it took us forever to get th... Continue »

Got out on 9/21 and paid $35 to ride. Apparently, they offer this rate for SCGA members so I brought my card as proof. The #1 course was packed. Our time was 9:00 am but it took us forever to get there coming from the east and going through traffic. As such, we got there a bit late and the starter was pissed with us. Sorry Mr. Starter but I didn’t think it would take me an hour and 40 minutes to go 20 miles. My bad!! Our time was also in between a large tournament in front of us and a men’s club skins tournament behind us. It was a slow day. A lot of waiting particularly on the par 3’s. The back 9 however, really picked up but was still a little over 5 hours to finish. Oh well! The course has always been rough around the edges and it doesn’t seem like they put the TLC like they used to. It is playing pretty good right now though. Fairways are in ok shape. There are some bare spots out there but not many. Sand traps are in very nice condition. The greens are very fast right now. Never seen them this fast at Brookside but it was nice treat to see the putts rolling true. This course always plays tough for me. I’m not real long and some of the holes require length. As I’m sure most people know, they use the fairways for overflow parking for UCLA football games and other Rose Bowl events. There is game this coming weekend and the next so you can see the crews out there lining the fairways with chalk in preparation. Let’s hope the parking doesn’t provide too much damage. Pace of play is always an issue so expect a long round if you ever come out.

Played Saturday 7/30/16 with a tee time around 8:30. POP was pretty grim, but about what you would expect for #1 Saturday (5.5 hours). It's been a few months since I played #1, and I was not prepare... Continue »

Played Saturday 7/30/16 with a tee time around 8:30. POP was pretty grim, but about what you would expect for #1 Saturday (5.5 hours). It's been a few months since I played #1, and I was not prepared for the poor course conditioning. There are numerous bare spots in fairways, perhaps caused by the compaction from parking at the RB. I didn't see any effort to remedy the situation (see, for example, the wide area of dirt on 18 fairway where tee shots would stop), even though it's the norm for many fairways. The green surrounds also have bare ground, usually in front of the green. Finally, kikuyu appears to have invaded the majority of the greens. Some greens, like 10, are now predominantly kikuyu and putts are greatly affected by these patches. Given the invasive nature of this weed, I don't know how they will salvage the greens. Some tee boxes have little grass, at all (17 is the best example). The greens crew seems totally overwhelmed, which leads me to believe that Pasadena just doesn't consider their "golf jewel" worth preserving. I guess they'll just keep putting all the fivesomes out that the course can tolerate, and just not worry about it. It's a great track, but there are any number of worthy alternatives that are cheaper and better conditioned (Wilson/Harding come to mind).

Today, 7.18, 3:50 teed off as a twosome. $21 per person with a cart made it a very good deal and well worth the fee. The general condition is very much the state of many munis right now — pretty good ... Continue »

Today, 7.18, 3:50 teed off as a twosome. $21 per person with a cart made it a very good deal and well worth the fee. The general condition is very much the state of many munis right now — pretty good overall with some rough edges. Tee boxes not perfect, but mostly close to flat, and with pretty good coverage. Fairways are pretty nice where it is green, which is mostly, but there are numerous and some extensive patches that are browned out, thin, and even occasionally bare. Not unusual and I don't consider it a big deal at this point in time since most of the less desirable areas are still reasonably playable, if thin. Rough was more green than bare, usually offering a decent lie with a chance to recover. The greens were a little marked up, but really pretty nice, running medium quick and enjoyable to play on. Bunkers were good enough. Pace was only a little sluggish, consistent, and ended up being a little over four hours, which I think is quite good. You have to appreciate this time of year when you get out around 4:00 pm and still get 18 holes in easily. My personal taste is that I'm not a huge fan of Brookside although many people seem to enjoy it enough. Today, as a change of pace, I enjoyed and appreciated it more than usual.

Walked #1 today, $40 SCGA rate, with a buddy and another twosome. Teed off @ 7:25 and finished in 4hrs 45 min.
The good...Greens! They were in excellent condition with no divots, rolling medium spee... Continue »

Walked #1 today, $40 SCGA rate, with a buddy and another twosome. Teed off @ 7:25 and finished in 4hrs 45 min.
The good...Greens! They were in excellent condition with no divots, rolling medium speed. Bunkers! Plenty of very good, fluffy, sand.
Tee boxes! Decent coverage and level stances for all but a few holes.

The bad...The Fairways! Way too many browned out grass areas as well as dirt lies throughout the round. When you found grass you had an okay lie but you when you found dirt, just hit it and go get it.

I enjoy the layout here but this is nowhere near being worth the $75 rack rate.

Got out here at 5:30 on the 26th. Managed to finish 17 holes on not the quickest of days. Course felt much different than recently. Fairways were in great shape for the course, some brown spots but... Continue »

Got out here at 5:30 on the 26th. Managed to finish 17 holes on not the quickest of days. Course felt much different than recently. Fairways were in great shape for the course, some brown spots but nothing really dead. A lot more green and living than normal. The rain and no parking seems to have brought the course back to life. Most of the tee boxes were also in good shape. Greens have mostly recovered from being punched a month ago, but still not pristine. First time in a while in a while that I wouldn't have been disappointed at the rack rate during the week. It is a pretty tight and walkable course. Nice that it is tough to lose balls, though you will end up on the wrong side of trees if you spray it too much.

Played #1 aka koiner at 7:40 am saturday 3/19. saw that last minute golfer was charging 75 for the time w/ a cart, so called course and got it for 60 since i prefer to walk. other 3 no showed, so i we... Continue »

Played #1 aka koiner at 7:40 am saturday 3/19. saw that last minute golfer was charging 75 for the time w/ a cart, so called course and got it for 60 since i prefer to walk. other 3 no showed, so i went out w/ the 4 some who were the 7:32 time. first time i had played here since right before xmas (12/23) and experience was night and day. played gold tees (i'm a 6 handicap) and shot 81. more importantly, we finished by noon, so playing in 4:15 or 4:30 was pretty reasonable. we didn't wait on every shot. last time i played brookside, it was in the afternoon and took 5.5 hours. thought the conditions were solid - standard public course greens for both speed and firmnness, as in they are firmer than they are speedy but what can you do. course was significantly greener in march than it was in december, which was nice. you could almost play the ball down in the fairway. i second the comment above about the traps, thought they were high quality. net net, i didnt feel ripped off paying 60 to walk the koiner at 7:30 in the am given condition / course quality and Pace of Play.

Played out here on Saturday 3/19 at a leisurely pace of 3 hours. For the front nine....Back nine quickened up and we were able to finish is a quick 2.75 hours. At least it was a nice day for a an al... Continue »

Played out here on Saturday 3/19 at a leisurely pace of 3 hours. For the front nine....Back nine quickened up and we were able to finish is a quick 2.75 hours. At least it was a nice day for a an almost 6 hour round of golf.

On the brightside the course is in much better shape than the last time I was out here. The fairways are green and well covered. The rough is green and mostly covered. Never thick though. Typical muni grass, plays fine but doesn't look great.

Greens were slow, though pretty smooth.

Tee boxes flat in general.

The highlight is the new sand. All the bunkers have new sand and rakes in them. It's like playing out of a course that charges the rack rate that they have on the weekends.

Course is shaping up nicely and will probably be nice for the next few months. Though not worth the rack rate, definitely worth a weekday play if you can get a decent rate.

They have also opened up a new pitching area for practice that looks lush from a distance though I didn't see it up close. It's been fenced off for a few months so hopefully it's a great new practice area.

They are aerating the greens Monday and Tuesday so give it till April before hitting up Course 1.

Just another typical day at Brookside!!!!! Get to the window at 5:55 for a 6:22 t-time and no one there (line of about fifteen people). Then when they open up one women get out of line and goes around... Continue »

Just another typical day at Brookside!!!!! Get to the window at 5:55 for a 6:22 t-time and no one there (line of about fifteen people). Then when they open up one women get out of line and goes around the back and inside and the starter let her! She takes up the starters time instead of the starter taking care of the people in LINE. So we get to the first tee and one women is standing at the red tees and I ask "what is your t-time" she says "6:22" I tell her "that can't be because we have 6:22". Now she doesn't speak English!!!!! We tell her it's 6:22 and she is a single so go ahead and tee off. She does and then comes the women that was INSIDE THE STARTERS and she joins her and tees off. Ok only a 2 ball and we are a 4 ball. We let them get to the green and we tee off and are walking to our balls and down the cart path comes there THIRD player. By the time we got to the fifth hole they are FIVE!!!!!!!! This goes on almost every morning (THE PATIENTS ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM). Most of us who play early want to play without waiting on every shot and this is hit and miss at Brookside (we were third out today and it was over 4 hrs). Not the way golf should be played. Now for the course greens are getting better and better tee boxes also better fairways about the same but good. Now for the sand, ALL NEW sand in the sand traps, but we were third out and 90% of the sand traps were unraked. Come on people if you are going to play this game have some consideration for the people behind you. RACK THE TRAPS, FIX YOUR BALL MARKS AND PUT THE FLAG ALL THE WAY IN!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE TO TAKE A TEST!

Got out as a single on Sunday 12/6 with a GN deal for $24 with cart but I walked. I normally play the back 9 here so I knew it would be crowded. My tee time was 12:04 which on this course meant fini... Continue »

Got out as a single on Sunday 12/6 with a GN deal for $24 with cart but I walked. I normally play the back 9 here so I knew it would be crowded. My tee time was 12:04 which on this course meant finishing before dark would be a challenge, but for $24 what the heck right. I paired up with another single and a twosome, all very enjoyable to play golf with. I must say I really was impressed with #1. The greens on Sunday were very fast with lots of subtle undulation. The tee boxes were in good shape. The fairways were what you expect at this time of year, a dormant mixture of green and brown, cut low too, which allowed for some roll out, and easy to hit from. I wasn't in any bunkers so I can't comment on the sand. I really like holes 8, 9 and 16 where water comes into play off the tee. Also a couple of short par 4's, like hole #5, that offer options. The problem with Brookside is it is too busy! After 4 1/2 hrs we had just finished 15 and the group in front of us was just about to tee off on 16. It was getting slower, colder and darker. I decided I was done at that point. Really like the course but the rack rate to play early is too high $75 I'll play it again at the right time and price though. I enjoyed my 15 holes!