Played Brookside #1 for the first time on Mon Sept 17th. I had never been to this course before, so I figured it was due for a round. The walking rate was $22 when I tee'd off at 215. This brings the cost to the same as the LA city muni's.

The tee boxes on the course were really hit or miss. Some of them were badly scared and really beat. Others were in perfect condition and you could tell they were frequently rotated. Overall they were level which is what usually matters most as you get to tee it up.

The fairways were in pretty good shape overall. Some had dried out brown patches, but in general they were even cut and plenty green. I never found myself in the dried out or thin patches so it did not effect my game. The rough was in decent shape as well, not to long to be overly penalizing nor was it easily escaped. The rough also has lots of short hills and mounds, often leaving you with a up or down hill shot. This was more of a challenge then the length of the grass. The rough was mostly green with some burned out patches.

I found myself in a couple of bunkers, and the sand was nice and fluffy soft. It looks like they are taking good care of it. It made my exit onto the greens nice and easy. The one fairway bunker I hit was also in good shape and not compact.

The greens on the course were running fairly quick, and these greens have some subtle break that you may not see the first time you play. I know I was the victim of some phantom breaks. Several of the greens had some scarring, and thin areas but the pin placements were far enough away from them that it did not really effect play. So they are definitely aware of the issue and are trying to keep the golfers away from the trouble areas.

Overall I enjoyed the course, it has a similar layout and feel to the Wilson/Harding courses, but I think the conditions were a tad bit better. One gripe about customer service is that I saw the drink cart once on hole #3. But not once on the entire back 9. I would think that most courses would have the drink cart spend 70% of its time on the back 9 where golfers are more likely to be thirsty because they have already played most of their round. Overall I will play the course again, and look forward to trying out the #2 course.

Brookside Golf Course Review
Pasadena California Golf Course Reviews

Played Wilson on 9-14-12. At 2pm Twilight this is a really good deal, as long as you are out there during the week. The pace on the weekends is unbearable. Started the round at 3, and finished at 7.

The teeboxes were in decent shape, not perfect, nor too chewed up. They seem to be rotating them quite well so they are not sustaining a lot of damage.

The fairways continue to be kinda green with plenty of brown patches. But overall the cut is good and the dried out patches are usually not really in play. With the severe heat the past several weeks, I think they are doing a good job of keeping the fairways up.

The rough is much improved on the course. I heard there will be some sort of tournament in a few weeks on the course so they are growing it out. I would believe this, for on some of the holes the rough is extremely penal. 5-7 inches on some holes. I spent a lot of time in the rough, and it really affected my score. Very green and lush.

I did not visit any of the bunkers, but they looked to be in average condition, the sand did not look to soft, nor to compact. The greens were sort of a mixed bag. Some ran rather quick, others not so much. You can tell they are constantly watering them, they were extremely soft. With short 15 yard chip shots leaving ball marks. Most of the greens were rather well taken care of, and did not show a ton of damage.

Overall the course seems to be in rather good shape, no major gripes. If you can play during the week it can be an enjoyable round, and definitely worth the fee.

Wilson Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played Woodley on Fri Aug 24th. This was my first time to the course, and I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the course. As several others have noted the fairways are wide and very forgiving, several of the holes are dead straight and dont have any surprises. Nonetheless I found myself enjoying the day and scenery.

The tee boxes were in great shape, all of them are quite large which allows them to rotate the markers frequently. I did not notice any unevenness on any of them either.

The fairways were in great shape and much greener than the sister course Encino, which has several brown patches on each hole. On this course I did not notice any large browned out patches that looked starved for water. The rough was also quite lush and on several of the holes was rather thick and penal if you did stray from the fairway. Of course there are always some exceptions on some holes, but in general was good condition.

The greens condition was pretty good, there are always some unrepaired ballmarks, but not too many. The knock against the greens as noted below is the speed. They were very slow, even after I left several short on the opening holes, I continued to leave them short. I recommend a full hip turn when putting!

Overall I enjoyed the course, having played at twilight rate, it is definitely worth the free currently. I will be adding this course to my usual rotation, and cant believe it took me so long to get here in the first place.

Woodley Lakes Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played Encino on Thur Aug 16. The course has survived the summer heat better than some of the other local muni's. Pace was just under 4 hours, but this was teeing off at 2pm. This seems to be the magic time to play the muni's and not suffer to much waiting.

The tee boxes here were in decent shape, you can tell they are rotating them frequently. The unevenness continues to be an issue. I swear they must place those markers on a slope every time I play. The par 3's continue to suffer the worst damage.

The fairways here are mostly good, several of them had some serious dried out patches, but I noticed that they were never in play, and generally in areas that were easily carried. The fairway just short of several of the greens were quite dried out and almost bare on some of the holes. The foot traffic is probably contributing to this problem.

The rough was mostly good on many of the holes, you can tell they are watering regularly. Some do have the severe dried out areas that can definitely affect your shot if you end up there.

Greens were in okay shape. Running fairly slow with some bumpiness. As noted by several others a lot of courses are keeping the greens shaggy so as not to lose them to the heat. Just hit it firm, and play less break than it looks.

Overall the course is in better shape than some of the other local muni's. They seem to be giving it more water, so the conditions are much more playable.

Encino Golf Course Review
Encino California Golf Course Reviews

Played Harding on Fri Aug 17. Tee'd off at 210, was in the car at 6. So pace was not an issue, but I suspect this mostly due to the heat.

The course has slid further south since playing here about 4 weeks ago. The tee boxes are pretty beat, and show little sign of recovery. Some of the tee boxes had "wild" grass growing on them, and they appeared to have not been mowed in about a week. This issue was compounded by the fact that only about 1/3 of the tees were on level ground.

The fairways are really showing signs of the heat from the past 2 weeks. With many brown and baked out spots. These areas were evident on most holes, and a few times were in play. The rough continues to be a mixed bag, with lush and thick in some areas, but scrubby dirt and patchy grass in other areas.

The greens are probably the best part of the course, you can tell they are watering them regularly. But because of the heat they are not cutting them down, so they are quite slow and kinda shaggy. Make sure to hit it quite firm and you might get to the hole.

Overall the course has suffered from the heat which is understandable, hopefully the temps will drop and they will be able to bring the course back to life.

Harding Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played Wilson on Thur Aug 2. Tee'd off at 11, finished at just after 4. The pace as noted in several posts below is not speedy by any means. This was my first time playing the course, and the group I was paired with had played it several times.

The tee boxes were hit or miss. On the par 3's they were severely beaten up, and some of the par 4's as well. Some of the boxes were in good shape, but not level. So you get one or the other generally.

The fairways were mostly good. They did have several ground under repair areas, as well as several brown burned out patches. Similar to my experience at Harding last week. These areas were rarely in play though so it did not really affect me.

The rough is another story. Here the grass was either US Open length, or brown scrub land. I found both several times during the day. The sand traps were in very poor condition, as I generally expect from the LA city courses. Extremely thin layer of sand over rock hard bottom, with lots of gravel mixed in.

The greens were in decent shape, they did not have too many un-repaired divots. Some of them ran a little quicker than others which is always frustrating. But from my perspective they were pretty smooth.

Overall I enjoyed the course, I thought the first couple of holes were excellent, as well as the last few coming home. The middle though is nearly identical to the sister course Harding, or Balboa. The course fits in with the rest of the valley muni's and does not really deserve a "premium" designation. With pace being over 5 hours, I would say hit one of the other courses and save yourself the money and time.

Wilson Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played Harding for the first time yesterday. The course plays almost identical to the two Encino/Balboa tracks.

The tee boxes on the course were in quite shabby shape. They were pretty badly scarred up, on about 80% of the holes. Some were almost completely bare of grass.

Fairways were really hit or miss. Some were very clean and lush. Others had lots of brown burned out spots. Some areas as large as 10 or 20 yards wide. These areas were in play on some of the holes as well, which really made it a shame. The rough on some holes was level and full, and plenty green. Other holes it looked like the rough had not been watered in weeks. Where it was brown and dried out. It was really a mixed bag.

The greens were in decent shape. You can tell that they are taking much better care of them, then the rest of the hole. They ran a bit quicker than you would expect, and there were only a few unrepaired ball marks on each hole.

Overall the course is very average conditions wise, but that is what you generally expect with the LA muni's. I hope to return and try out the Wilson course which is supposedly a much nicer course, but I hear it gets lots more play.

Harding Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Went to Vegas this past weekend, and played this course, the rates are obviously quite low because it is the middle of Summer. Pace of play not an issue, we only saw about 3 other groups the whole day, and they were on other holes. The customer service was excellent all around. There were no cart girls, but there is a snack shop at the turn.

The tee boxes were in good shape, you can tell they are rotated frequently, and were never an issue. The par 3's were just as good as all the others, which is rarely the case at most courses.

The fairways were sub-par in my opinion. Tons of divot damage, which was filled with seed/sand mix but they were on basically every single hole and tons of damage all across the fairways. Also noticed a few bare/brown patches on some of the fairways, but they were not really in play.

The rough was one of the best aspects, was very level throughout, and in great lush shape. Was not to penal, but definitely affected your shot and approach as it should. The rough around the greens was also in excellent shape, as well as the green side bunkers. I did not actually visit any of the green side bunkers, but my partners did and the sand looked to be in really good shape. THe fairway bunkers were a little more compact, which I suspect is on purpose to make the escape a little easier.

My biggest gripe of the day was the greens. They ran slow-awakward. I have heard that they keep the greens longer in summer months so they don't get baked out. But these were extremely slow and quite unpredictable. Balls would stop rolling half way there on a downhill putt. On top of that there were 40+ pitch marks on every green. With at least 10 not being repaired. When you were putting over them it made the ball skip and bounce, and usually go off line. This aspect was especially frustrating. I was not going to spend 15 minutes on every green fixing marks.

Overall, I would play the course again, because the layout and challenge was excellent. I enjoyed the style of the course and think Pete Dye has created a nice course here. With current conditions I would say its not worth the fee, and would wait till the Fall when temps cool.

Desert Pines Golf Club Review
Las Vegas Nevada Golf Course Reviews

Played here this past weekend. Pace was okay because I got out early. Similar conditions to the post below.

The tee boxes have been in pretty good shape, with the par 3 exceptions. It seems everyone single player must take a 10 inch divot on them. The fairways here are excellent, very green just a few brown patches on 2 of the holes that were marked ground under repair, very few divots in the fairways overall.

The rough here has been cut down and is very forgiving, some holes it is thicker but nothing to penal. I have heard they are keeping it shorter to keep pace of play down. Overall the rough is lush and not too spotty.

The greens here are still in excellent shape, with few ball marks and rolling very smooth. They continue to be some of the faster greens in my opinion out of the LA muni's. Overall the course is in good shape for being mid-July with the heat starting to set in. Definitely worth the green fee if you play the right time of day.

Hansen Dam Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played this 9-hole on Sunday 6-24 with the twilight crowd. This was my first time on the course, and played it because I have a friend who lives around the corner. Apparently everyone else comes out late on Sundays here as well. The pace of play was 3 hours for 9 executive holes. Many 5-somes playing military golf. This should be expected though, as it is obvious this is a beginners course.

The tee boxes were the worst part conditions wise, they were very beat with tons of divots everywhere. The unevenness is also an issue on several holes. The fairways were in really good shape overall. The rough was hit and miss, some patches were muddy with clumps of grass here and there, others were lush and 4+ inches long.

The greens as noted below are very flat with basically no break. They run at a medium to slow speed, and were kinda hairy. But I bet this helps most of the learning golfers on the course, so they don't 4 putt every hole. Overall the course is okay for a local 9 hole executive. Not worth the trip if you don't live in the neighborhood, but it does cure your golf fix for at least one afternoon.

Penmar Golf Course Review
Venice California Golf Course Reviews

Played Sun 6-17-12. Tee'd off super early 5:50, to beat the sunday crowds. The pace of play was a little over 4 hours, but was never pushed and never waited on anyone. The line up on hole 1 must have been over an hour by the time we finished. Which seems to be typical on Sundays.

The tee boxes on the course were mostly good, a few were uneven, and several of the par 3s were quite beat up. The fairways were in excellent shape, very green and no severe damage or bareness on any of the holes.

The rough is hit or miss on some of the holes. It can be thick and lush on one side of the hole, but anywhere there are trees the grass is non-existent. You pray your ball isn't covered in mud if you hit towards some of the trees.

The green side bunkers were in good shape, the few I visited had decent fluffy sand. The greens here always seem to run faster than they look, and several have the phantom break away from the dam.
Overall it was a good morning, and this course is very forgiving with wide fairways that you shouldn't miss. Its a good track for the cost usually, and a good place to work on your long game.

Hansen Dam Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played Fri 6-15-12. Similar conditions to my last review which was about 2 weeks ago. The tee boxes do not seem to be getting any love lately. They are rather torn up, and the unevenness is very noticeable on several of the holes. The fairways are in mostly excellent shape, and did not notice any large brown patches or thinness. The rough continues to be lush and thick in some spots, but thin and almost hardpan in others. You never know what you are going to find.
The most disappointing aspect of the course is the bunkers, the sand is almost non-existent and continues to be hard packed. Especially the fairway bunkers. The greens run average speed, and I repaired about 3 divots per hole.
I enjoy this layout, and if you play during the week in the afternoon it is absolutely worth the green fee.

Encino Golf Course Review
Encino California Golf Course Reviews