Late morning 4.5+ hour round on an always busy course. The facility and carts are very nice and well kept. The staff h... » More

Late morning 4.5+ hour round on an always busy course. The facility and carts are very nice and well kept. The staff has always been friendly and helpful. The parking lot has some of the smallest spaces you will ever encounter. The tee boxes were all in pretty good shape but some were a little thin and shaggy. The rough is not long where you find it on the course and allows for a good stroke on the ball. Fairways all had good coverage which really improves on the back nine. Some of the sections throughout the round were a little dry and others a little damp but very playable. The traps were all damp and the fairway bunkers thin and firm. Green side bunkers had good amounts of sand but were also damp. The greens were much slower than usual with less break than most would think. The staff did have the practice greens at the same speed you found on the course which was nice for once. The overall conditions and weekday green fees make this place a great deal in the golf world nowadays. Recommended
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Played about a week ago, was paired up with a single and a twosome for the front nine, single and I played all 18. Cour... » More

Played about a week ago, was paired up with a single and a twosome for the front nine, single and I played all 18. Course was in good condition overall, a few thin spots on fairways and greens were a little slower than I remember but rolled well and were consistent across all holes. Bunkers are the unfortunate thin layer over wet, heavy sand - great for fairways, not so much around the greens (played ok using a low bounce lob wedge but seriously bladed my first adventure when the SW bounced off the wet base layer). Course is a nice mix of holes with different length par 3's, a couple short par 4's that are potentially drivable (but think hard about trying it on #14, there's a LARGE bunker in front that sits well below green level, and anything long is going to be a tough up & down for birdie). Hole location has a big impact on how difficult a hole plays - as an example, #13 (par 5) has a relatively easy, large middle section, a more difficult, smaller front area, and an even smaller and nasty back location that will make you pay dearly for any small error in direction or distance (guess which one it was when I played . . .).

For a municipal course, the conditions are almost aways good to very good, one of the nicer muni's I've played in all my years of golfing. Pricing is reasonable with specials available (Senior, Juniors and a very reasonably priced "Players Card" that knocks 50% off green fees for most rounds). Not the best or most challenging in the area, but it's in the upper tier for both. Unfortunately, that means it one of the busiest around and decent tee times can be difficult to get Fri-Sun.

All-in-all a solid and dependable option if you're in the area.
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Had a 7:00 am tee time. Walked with a buddy and an older couple. They were bang and go go go which was nice but they ha... » More

Had a 7:00 am tee time. Walked with a buddy and an older couple. They were bang and go go go which was nice but they had little to no etiquette, if you know what I mean so with no one behind us we let them play on and never saw them! No one behind us for Three holes, we had the place to ourselves.. Tee boxes still show signs from aeration, as did some of the fairways. Fairways are very patchy with hard pan, dirt and some grass if your lucky. Bunkers were rock hard, all the way, including 18 fairway bunkers which my friend bounced out of with his drive, I mean it bounced out like it hit a cart path,! Lol. The best thing was pace of play, 3/12 and the GREENS!! Just slightly bumpy from aeration but firm and fast. If you know Brookside, the greens are super challenging but fun and held approach shots perfectly. Not bad but not great yet. Still fun but extra challenging conditions! GO PLAY!
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Played 10/20/24 12:30 POP 4:30 Was in the area on business and had never played here. Course was a mix of conditions. ... » More

Played 10/20/24 12:30 POP 4:30 Was in the area on business and had never played here. Course was a mix of conditions. Some fairways and or sections of fairways were in great shape. While others were not. All had mostly good coverage. Some thin with a mix of clumpy grass and other parts perfect. Greens were the same. Some great, some not so much. All were very slow and bumpy from past aeration remnants. Greens have some pretty big contours in them. These greens would be very tough if ever in firm & fast conditions. Everything still very playable, just inconsistent and a mix of playing conditions. Was in a couple of traps and they were in good shape. Many tees are uneven with small teeing areas. A fun & interesting layout with elevated tee box's or steep up hill holes. Driving rang small with those weird small range balls. Very small chipping/ putting green that was in not so good shape. In playable condition and worth a look if in the area.
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Got in a round at Rio Hondo with a buddy of mine playing with a 12:44 tee time and riding, playing from the blue tees. W... » More

Got in a round at Rio Hondo with a buddy of mine playing with a 12:44 tee time and riding, playing from the blue tees. We were paired ironically with the new head greenskeeper Tom - great dude! - who let us know that they will be aerating the Rio Hondo greens this Sunday 10/20. Something to keep in mind.

Right now Rio Hondo is slightly off from its best, which is usually quite good as it's one of the best municipal courses in LA county, and not just for the value, but its conditions as well. But right now the greens are not in optimum shape as they're rather bumpy and showing some wear and tear - that should be better after the upcoming punch. They still held shots well but just weren't near their very best.

Same applies to the fairways which were adequate but definitely a lot of thin areas and a few too many 'divots' or dry dirt patches where I would find decently placed shots. The rough was nice though and very playable but ample. The bunkers were also in pretty good shape all things considered - no complaints there. Tee boxes? Decent for sure, and mostly good, but a few were a little rough around the edges and there were a few holes with some makeshift tee areas as they're doing some work on the tee boxes so they got creative with the markers.

Carts are simple but work well and don't have any GPS. We did not have any cart service all afternoon which would have been very nice on a hot day, but like Mick Jagger says - you can't always get what you want. POP was pretty good on the front nine but definitely slowed down a lot around the 13th hole and was a slog the rest of the way which was unfortunate.

All in all it was still a fun afternoon at a solid course but just keep in mind the upcoming punch and hopefully with some rain and TLC from the new greenskeeper, Rio Hondo will be back to its very best quite soon.
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Played today 10/17/24 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

Beware this course i... » More

Played today 10/17/24 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

Beware this course is still doing a lot of work on the course. Saw so much yellow tape on this course today. They are replacing a lot of the concrete cart paths especially near the tee boxes and some behind the greens. It was a challenge just driving the cart around all the detours.

We started on the back 9 this morning, which is hard as these 2 holes play uphill. On hole #11, the cart path behind the 11th green was closed. You had to park your cart about 60 yards in front of the green and then walk up to the green. Then hole #12 was using a temporary tee box. So all the tees were together playing around 70 yards. Course conditions were in decent shape with good coverage from tee to the green. Greens were in decent shape except for a number of unrepaired ball marks on the green. The sand in the bunkers had decent amount of sand. Been playing on courses with sand being so hard packed or dirt.

Hole #1 had a detour due to concrete cart path near the tee taped off for replacement. That was a challenge navigate cart through back of red tee box and down the hill. Hole #2 they were finally repairing the rough on the right side of the fairway near the drop-off but that area was ground under repair. Also on hole #2, the concrete path behind the greens were under repair and roped off. Hole #3 was a mess. You could only drive your cart to the area before the carry to the green. You had to park your cart here and then walk on the bridge to the green to finish this hole and then walk back. They are also working on the cart path behind hole #3. Hole #4 had temporary tee boxes as the area near the original tee box is under repair for concrete cart path replacement. On Hole #6, regular player mentioned not to park near the top of the cart path next to the street. Member have reported that some of the stuff were getting stolen off their cart while they were putting out on hole #6. Hole #8 they are working on fixing the rough on the left side on hole #8 near the green as this area was ground under repair.

Got notice that the course is being aerated next week. Once these repairs are all completed, this course will be fine to play. But I'll stay away until these repairs are all done. Also didn't check to see the hours the driving range are open. With today being Thursday, I didn't know the driving range didn't open until 10 am. Still had fun playing today as POP was great at 4 1/2 hours. I'm so used to POP being around 5 hours or more.
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Played here today and despite the wind, the course is in great shape. Come play it but I would avoid this weekend due t... » More

Played here today and despite the wind, the course is in great shape. Come play it but I would avoid this weekend due to red flag warnings in SF Bay Area for extremely high winds. Teed off at 11am, POP 4.5hrs but there were a few in our group from East Coast that never played in the wind and lost quite a few balls. B9 was crazy windy making it impossible to get GIRs on P4s unless you went driver, driver of the deck (DOD). Always beautiful views and a rather forgiving links course.
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Had not played here this season.
Our threesome could not believe the condition of the greens!
Worst we have seen... » More

Had not played here this season.
Our threesome could not believe the condition of the greens!
Worst we have seen this year. I think the greenskeeper is
spending too much time in his shop. There is no defined edge
around the weed infested greens. There may have been one or
two decent greens. This course has fallen off our consideration
for play list.
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Played this AM in a great 2:45 POP. Greens and tee boxes were done this past Monday but the aeration and clean up was so... » More

Played this AM in a great 2:45 POP. Greens and tee boxes were done this past Monday but the aeration and clean up was some of the best I have seen. The tee boxes were clean and though you could still see the punch holes there was no problem finding a good spot to tee from. Fairways were clean, firm and gave great roll out in addtion to clean and good lies. If one kept it in the fairway the rough was never an issue. Traps were all clean and very easy to play from. Greens had been punched but they were exceptionally clean so chipping and putting was good though they were slow. They were also soft so you could go flag hunting w/o fear which was nice. Great service at check in and with the starter. I have said in the past that the cost for Sr's seems high but with the prices I have encountered at the many courses I have played in the past 3 weeks with those courses raising their prices the $70 w cart for a course in this condition is not totally unreasonable. Let's just hope they don't go any higher?
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First time playing since the remodel and before the demic. Last time we played here, we swore that we would not return d... » More

First time playing since the remodel and before the demic. Last time we played here, we swore that we would not return due the slow 6-hour POP. Unfortunately, it was still a 5-hour POP on a Wednesday morning, with a lot of waiting on the back 9.

Most of the remodel affected the front 9. They changed the #3 hole to where the former #9 par 3 was and it no longer uphill.

The fairways were a little thin but did have grass and balls did roll after landing. Greens were not holding shots and would roll between 5-10 feet after landing. They were firm but were slow as they were a little shaggy. They were sanding them when we were done with the round. Some roughs were tall and have not been cut making it tough to find your shot.

New tee times booking procedure. All tee times are booked through the website, they will not take reservations on the phone unless it's for same day play. There is a $10 per player deposit required which is non-refundable if cancelled less than 48 hours before tee time. Also, an additional $10 per player for each no show in your group.

Still on the fence if we'll return to play here.
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Played Sunday and have waited a few days to contemplate this review.
The greens are in good shape. Maybe they'll see ... » More

Played Sunday and have waited a few days to contemplate this review.
The greens are in good shape. Maybe they'll see aeration in early November.
The rest of the course is a big disappointment.
Has been on the decline, the consistent trend now for seasons.
The ponds on the front 9 are less than 50% full, banks unmaintained.
Back 9 a dividing pond between 10 and 11 is dry, baked dirt like a safari waterhole in drought.
Driving range a golden dry mowed wasteland off mats. Grass tee area unattractive.
I was searching for a deal and passed on booking at the rack rate of $77.49
They changed online rate to $56 so I booked it.
Rumor is they want to modify to 9 holes and build houses. NOT popular with the residents whose $1m+ homes back to the once pristine verde of a country club level facility (2009) and greenspace.
I never rate a course as AVOID this would be as close as it gets. ;(
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After having been closed for three weeks, finally able to get back on the South course. The overseeding of the fairways ... » More

After having been closed for three weeks, finally able to get back on the South course. The overseeding of the fairways turned out very well, much better than I expected. (Although it will be carts on path for at least 3-4 weeks) The rough is not long, but very healthy. The tee boxes are excellent. The greens have yet to recover, some still patchy and very slow. I suspect within a couple weeks everything will be just fine, except that with the North course now closed, the course will receive a lot of play.
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