Played here in a tournament last week (midweek), and surprisingly, the course is in good condition in spite of the amount of heat in southern CA. I have always enjoyed tournaments, especially the swag that comes along with some well organized and historical events. Our team shot a 61, and we didn't place. But, that's a story for another time.

For those that aren't too familiar with Angeles National Golf Club, this track is laid out almost like a lynx style course on many holes. Fairways are tight with plenty of dog legs. If you are a decent ball striker, keep the tee ball on the short grass, and you should do fine. The greens were rolling about 10-10.5, and some of the greens are small, and some have a good amount of undulation. The fairways were in decent shape with some brown patches here and there. The rough was a little of the thick side, but why worry if you keep it in the short grass! Bunkers had good sand - period.

Although I would never pay full rack rate here (too expensive), there are many deals you can get from their website during the week. The clubhouse is really nice, there is a nice bar, and the food isn't bad at all.

All in all, I would play here again on a special occasion. I wouldn't be able to afford making it a regular weekly track, but for those that have never been here before - go at least once.

Enjoy.

Angeles National Golf Course Review
Los Angeles California Golf Course Reviews

Played this track for the first time by booking my tee time on GolfZing.com. This internet tee time provider is not bad at all. It doesn’t offer all of the courses, but still offers some great deals including the rate for El Dorado. Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised at how fast the practice putting greens rolled. I could only hope that the rest of the greens rolled as true. Next, the driving range was allowing players to hit off of grass. I haven’t been to many tracks that allow for players to hit off of grass, so this was a nice treat.

This is by no means a long course. I would comment on the difficulty (or lack of), but we all end up making the track more difficult by ourselves. The pace of play is a concern out here. More than the dormant grass turning brown on some of the fairways. Fivesomes are common, as we as groups tee’ing off of inappropriate markers.

I did manage to see the beverage cart on more than a few occasions. The snack bar is well stocked, and the food is not that bad. The pro shop was nicer than most of the other muni’s I have played. Overall, I wasn’t in a hurry to get done, and present company made it for a fun day.

This track is conveniently located, and I would recommend it to anyone not looking for a 4-hour round.

El Dorado Park Golf Course
Long Beach California Golf Course Reviews

It's been awhile since I have been back to The Golf Club at Glen Ivy, but I am definitely glad I did. Especially with rain forecasted for the rest of this weekend. I had a chance to hang out with some buddies I haven't seen in awhile, and one of the them made a tee time for this track. I was definitely looking forward the round.

This is one of my favorite tracks out in the Corona area. Located off Temescual Canyon Drive off of the 15 freeway, this is probably the only track where a guy can take his wife and drop her off at Glen Ivy spa! Heck, you can probably play two rounds with lunch in between before getting a text to come and pick up the wife!

The course is in good condition. Blue tees were reopened as well as the tips. Nobody in my group needed to prove anything, so we stayed with the blue tees. Some of the tee boxes needed to be re-leveled, but they were good for the most part. The fairways were nicely manicured and the rough wasn't as bad as I have seen them before. The sand traps were good, but I try to avoid these as much as possible.

The greens were rolling on the quicker side today. They must have rolled them recently. They were in good shape with minimal ball marks, and they held nicely. I even had a chance to really spin some approach shot backwards!

Beverage cart person made herself visible on more than a few holes, and I found out that they carry alcohol. We were there celebrating a buddy's recent engagement, and found myself shooting down a few tequila shots!

This track is the hardest I've played, but you can definitely get yourself in trouble in a hurry, and 3-putts are not uncommon here. Plenty of multi-tier greens and some tight fairways with water and strategically placed pot bunkers.

All in all, I had a great time. Customer service was good, the marshall's were friendly, and the pace was very acceptable at just over 4-hours for the complete round. Our Saturday green fee included the cart and unlimited range balls.

Enjoy.

The Golf Club at Glen Ivy Review
Riverside Golf Course Reviews

Had an opportunity to play with a client and ended up choosing the first venue that had a tee time available to book online last minute. In this case, it was Knollwood Country Club located in Granada Hills. Nice ring to the name, eh? I checked right here on GK to read any reviews, but the last person to post anything was over a month ago.

At this time, it was too late and I headed straight to the venue after booking a $19.99 (including cart) twilight tee time at 4:20PM. Got there in a flash with no traffic. Found parking immediately. My client was waiting for me in the parking lot. So far, so good.

Upon checking in, the first thing I noticed was the pro shop. Again, it was one of those pro shops that had bag of tees, a few dozen golf balls, a few OTR drivers and that was about all. Customer service was just okay. I felt that the employees there could have smiled a little more. After checking in, our cart was brought out front and the starter said we were on after the group that was on the tee box.

After we loaded up and cruised over to the first tee box, we noticed the group waiting to tee off. I was wondering why they were taking so long, so I walked over to the tee box and looked down the fairway. OMG. There was a five-some in the middle of the fairway waiting to hit behind another five-some just getting on to the green. I took a real big breath and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. The group in front of us was getting ready to tee off, and I was getting excited ... until 3 of the 4 golfers sent their tee shots two-counties to the right into the driving range. What's worse than that? When they all decided to go and look for their balls!

Does this sound familiar? This was the making of a horrible afternoon of golf. More lost balls. More waiting. More errants shots. More slow play. We got to one hole (#7) where two groups were waiting to tee off. I timed how long it would take from the moment we pulled up, to when we teed off - 36 minutes! From the minute we teed off, to putting the flag stick back in - 9 minutes.

The rest of the round was wasn't getting any better. From hoping to get in at least 15-16 holes, turned into hoping to at least get to the turn. Well, long story short by the time we arrived at the 9th hole, it was practically dark. My client and I laughed, teed off, both made pars and called it a day. Really sad, because the back-9 looked really nice also.

Tee boxes were thin and unleveled. Greens were bumpy and slow. Fairways were just average at best. Pace was horrible. I overheard numerous others recommend the 2-tracks over at Balboa/Encino, wherever that may be. Oh wells. Lesson learned.

Enjoy and Hit 'em long!

Brookside GC has always been a local favorite of mine. Especially early AM tee times on course #2, where you pay for 9-holes and play 12. Today was a little different. After handling the majority of the Sunday "Honey-Do" list, a buddy wanted to try and catch a Sunday Super Twilight. We booked a tee time for 4:20 PM and headed out for Pasadena. For $25.00, we figured why not chase the sunset in a cart and play as many holes as we can? I thought we had a great chance on finishing the round.

Upon pulling into the parking lot, we noticed there were more than the usual amount of cars in the parking lot for a Sunday afternoon. We thought there must have been some sort of function in the banquet facility. After all, weren't most of the golfers at home watching the PGA Championship? Maybe not since Tiger missed the cut, eh?

Judging by the amount of people in line waiting to check-in, the amount of people on the practice green and driving range, you would have thought Brookside GC was offering free golf! O-M-G. I thought there was no way were even going to finish the complete round.

Surprisingly, we tee'd off quickly and were paired up with a few hackers ... I mean beginners. Nonetheless, we were anxious to get started, so I piped the first tee shot nearly on to the green, and so did my buddy. When the other two stopped arguing about who was going next, he chili-dips his driver and sends the tee shot ... who knows where. The last guy sends his tee shot about 200-yards in the air that lands about 120-yards right of center. I looked at my buddy and we both knew that finishing just 9-holes might be challenging.

The fairways were nice and tight. The roll out added about 20-25 yards to total distance. The rough could have used a little maintenance. The sand traps were nice and fluffy. The greens held and were rolling a little on the slower side. I think it was because it was still HOT outside. However, judging speed was not too difficult.

After checking our clock, we finished the front nine in a little over 2-hours. Not bad. After all, my buddy and I were hoping to get through Brookside's own "Amen Corner," holes 11, 12 and 13. I didn't know this, but it is a Par 5, 3, 4 and are adjoining to each other like at Augusta (I hear it's even the same hole numbers.)

No beverage cart person made it seem like a long day. When we finally reached Amen Corner, we knew this was going to be the last few holes. Oh wells, I was having fun. I ended up bogey, birdie and par for the three holes. We ended up calling it quit due to lack of light. We bid our farewells to the other two players and headed back to the clubhouse .

All in all, it was a great day to be out playing golf. Unfortunately, so did a few hundred other fellow golfers. I really can't complain, because it was only $25.00 including cart. So, the next time you are in the area, check out Brookside GC. But, be advised that trying to finish a complete round here on the weekend during twilight is most likely NOT going to happen.

Hit 'em long!

Played Willowick (Santa Ana, CA) for the first time based on a "coupon special" that my brother invited me to, so I said "why not?" I am definitely interested in playing new tracks and based on the mediocre reviews here on GK, I thought I would give her a go.

This track is located in Santa Ana, CA and is conveniently located off of either the 5 or 55 freeways. It is an older course but, visually maintained from doing a quick scan from the parking lot. There is a practice green and a driving range.

The pro shop looks like it could use some help. I peeked inside and noticed only Willowick branded merchandise, a few boxes of golf balls and packages of tees. Don't expect much at all if you are looking to acquire anything different. The started behind the counter was relatively friendly and honored our coupon and called for a couple of carts.

The first tee box is located just outside the started window and at times, there is always a group of people just lounging around sitting on the brick wall. You can't really tell who is in the group in front, or behind you. Consider it a small "gallery" if you will - LOL.

This is a short course with a beginner friendly layout and slope. The first hole is a straight away Par 4 that looks almost driveable. Greens were medium speed with no breaks, multi-tiers, or false fronts. The greens here are decent size and have minimum guarding from bunkers. One thing I did notice was there are a lot of trees - old, tall and thick trees.

There were many tee boxes that were being repaired and many that were unlevel. Lots of unrepaired divot marks. The fairways were average at best with the rough being your typical muni-style rough with little to no vegetation.

I thought it was going to be an "average" day until we started to get backed up immediately. The group in front of us had a pair of carts with dead batteries by hole 2. Slow play at this track is normal. Five-somes after five-somes ruled. I was told by my playing partners that errant shots are normal and he wasn't lying!

Playing here was like dying slow. The group(s) in front of us look like they were playing army golf (left-right-left-right). It took over 6-hours to finally finish this mess. No beverage cart made it worse. All in all, I won't be going back to this track - even with a coupon.

Consider yourself warned and play at your own risk!

Played Hansen Dam at the last minute (Super Twilight) with a potential client last Thursday and I was actually impressed with the track. I haven't had many positive experiences with courses that are rates with a single "$" and was a little worried. But, I have many friends that have played the Los Angeles County supervised courses and say that they are not bad at all.

I made a tee time for 5:00 PM and was quoted a residence rate of $12.00 to walk. My client wanted to walk, so I figured the price was a steal for a decent length course. The course was not crowded at all and we had a twosome waiting for us on Hole 1.

This track is not hard but, has a few challenging holes. There are some slight elevation changes and a few guarded greens but, for the most part is inviting for golfers of all skill levels. Single cappers could shoot red numbers here and mid cappers can flirt with break 80's as a nice confidence booster!

After making bird on Hole 1, I thought it was going to be a great round. The pace was decent on the front but, blazing fast on the back. We finished the round in under 4-hours walking. After a triple and two-doubles, I ended up with an 83. Not bad, but disappointing to myself.

If you're ever in the area and are looking for a nice county course for real cheap, this place has your name written all over it. Definitely walkable but, pull cart recommended. No beverage cart person at all. Green were a little on the slower side. Practice greens seemed faster. They do have a driving range and plenty of close parking.

Enjoy and hit 'em long!

Played here on Thursday (06/02) to finish collecting on the birthday swag - thanks again GK. Tee'd off in the afternoon at 3:00 PM for a nice twilight rate for my buddies at $25.00 including cart. Birthday boy was complimentary! Decided to play the longer of the two courses (South) and it was in great shape heading into the summer.

This Par 74 course plays about 7300 yards from the blue and offers a slope rating of about 134. Not the easiest of tracks but, it's wide fairways compensates for the long yardage - especially those that like to really put their woods to work!

Hole #1 and #2 are Par 5's and birds are very likely if you can keep it somewhere down the middle. Wide greens can add confidence when looking to land their third shot. Pin placements on these two holes have always been generous with minimal protection from bunkers. The greens are relatively flat with virtually no undulation.

The course is in great shape. Aerification was performed about 3-months ago and the greens have healed and are rolling medium to medium/fast. I still don't understand why people don't fix their own ball marks! Fairways are nice and tight and will allow for some decent roll. Bunkers have nice fluffy sand were actually raked each time I landed in the beach.

Seems most (if not all) of the construction is finished. Fairways and rough were nice and green (with minimal browning) which, shows me their irrigation system is being used! You can score on the back 9 because it seems easier IMO.

No beverage cart attendant but, there is a nice snack bar before the turn. I always recommend loading up on snacks before the round because most courses are cutting back due to the economy. Pace was alright and we finished the round in just about 4-1/2 hours.

Overall, a great day. 54-holes of complimentary golf in 3-days. Probably the best birthday round(s) I have ever experienced. I can't say enough how valuable this site has been in terms of maintenance alerts, member reviews and the birthday round list!

Take advantage of the swag. Heck, I even got free ice cream from Baskin Robbins to top it all off.

Played here Memorial Day right after my complimentary birthday round at Monarch Beach Golf Links as a continuation of "the wife said I could play as much as I can" golf fix. My brother had set up a quick 18-hole, twilight round at his local track located in the city of Alhambra just north of the 10-freeway.

After finishing a round at a 5-star course located next to the Pacific Ocean, I was wondering how this track would stack up. To my surprise, it is not too bad. Although not nearly as challenging, this track will keep your short game in tune. We tee'd off at 3:00 PM and it wasn't crowded at all.

Most of the Par 4's are driveable and there is at least one or two Par 5's that are reachable in two. Fairways were in good condition and the greens were medium to fast which, was rather surprising. Tee boxes could use some work. There were a few tee boxes where the ground was so hard, I had trouble getting a tee into the ground.

This track has a fair share of beginners so, errant shots are common. They do have a 3-level driving range, chipping and putting area. They have a snack bar but, no cart attendant.

We finished the round (walking) in just under 4-1/2 hours. The front nine was relatively flat compared to the back. All in all, I had a great time and would definitely play here again during the twilight hours.

Played here on Memorial Day for my birthday after finding out that Monarch Beach offers a complimentary round right here on GK! As soon as I could find some buddies that were willing to pay to play, it was all set.

This was my first time playing here and it was definitely 5-star from the moment you drive into the facility. Valet porters come out to the car and unload the clubs and take them to your cart. The valet porters were extremely friendly and eager to make sure they "spoiled you."

The scenery is fantastic and a definitely change of pace - especially, if you are like me and play at courses built on sides of mountains! First glance walking into the club house was the Pacific Ocean. Already, I had a kool aid smile and knew it was going to be a nice day.

To my surprise, there is no driving range on the property. However, they had a hitting cage with mats, plenty of range balls and a net about 10-feet away. You can get yourself loosened up in here but, you will not be able to gauge any distances or shot shaping. I guess the purpose is to stretch out and make sure you aren't hitting the balls fat!

The first hole is very nice parallel to the ocean and the giant club house. The St. Regis hotel is located here and there are people out walking on the paths. After snap hooking my drive, I decided to leave the ball in the planters and take a drop. This course looks like one of those places where you really can't just go looking for errant shots! LOL.

The fairways were well manicured and mowed tight. The ball just ran forever. There are plenty of bunkers and a few holes with split fairways. Pin placement was challenging on more than a few holes and the greens were well guarded with false fronts and more bunkers. The sand in the bunkers was in real good condition.

Hole #3 is their signature hole and is the closest to the beach. You can hear the waves crashing and the folks on the sand. Unfortunately, not all of the holes are close to the ocean. You can see the ocean but, nothing like Hole #3. There are plenty of holes lined with what appeared to be million-dollar homes. Again, very nice eye candy.

Overall, with a slope rating close to 140 this course was challenging. Especially for someone who has never played here. But, being that the round was complimentary I have absolutely no gripes at all. My three buddies shot well for their first time there and had a great time as well.

Thanks GK for having an ongoing list of the courses that participate with birthday rounds. This course and a few others actually honor the "birthday round" one week before or after your actual birthday. How cool is that?

Played Industry Hills "Babe" Course today (01/29/11) and was not disappointed with course conditions at all. After playing 18-holes at L.A. Royal Vista earlier this AM at a different course, my group decided to take on another 18-holes at a track with superior conditions. What better place than Industry Hills?

For those that have never played the Babe, bring your "straight game." Fairways are much tighter and has more dog legs and blind shots than the Ike. If you are long with your driver (280+) you might be able to drive a few of the Par 4's. There are plenty of well protected greens with false fronts, multi-levels (3) and challenging pin locations. This track will give you and your fairway woods a great workout!

This track is in great condition. Fairways were nicely manicured with very little to no brown spots, rough was a little on the thick side, bunkers were full of sand and the greens were rolling true. However, there was one green (#4) that looked as though it had some sort of treatment on the surface and caused a bumpy roll.

Again, with the amount they charge for green fees you would think that you would get a deluxe golf cart with GPS. The cart we had was horrible. The battery started to die by Hole #6. We called the pro shop and they had a new cart for us by the time we were ready to tee off on the very next hole.

The pace of play was pleasantly fast for a Saturday afternoon. We finished the round in just over 4-hours. We saw the cart attendant just once. The Babe course has no snack bar so, bring your own snacks and/or a small cooler with beverages.

Overall, this course will not let you down. The customer service is fantastic. The snack bar food is better than "good." The practice putting greens are true. The practice chipping area is very nice. You will be surprised at how green this place looks in spite of all the recent rain and cold weather in Socal. Most of the other courses I have played recently are slowly turning brown in the fairways.

Enjoy.

Played Diamond Bar GC with my buddies for a twilight rate of $37.50 w/ cart today and I honestly thought that it would be fairly wide open at about 11:30 AM. Boy, was I wrong! I don't understand why courses allow 5-somes after 5-some. If they were to spread out the starting times a bit, it might make it a little easier. I heard that American Golf managed companies allow 5-somes to go out.

This track is a popular track and judging by the amount of golfers out today, you would not have thought we were in any kind of recession. Nonetheless, it makes the pace of play ridiculously slow. So slow, we were about to give up at the turn.

Hole #1 is a dog left, par 4 that is reachable in two if you can keep your drive in the fairway. I actually did and par'd the first hole but, it took about 20-minutes to tee off and putting out. This was a tell tale sign of what the rest of the round was going to be like.

The course is not in horrific condition but, I have seen this course in much better condition. Tee boxes were not level and had plenty of divots. Fairways were tightly mowed, starting to brown but soft. The greens were in decent shape but had plenty of un-repaired ball marks. Luckily for me, I didn't hit a sand trap at all but, my buddy told me that it was not a sand trap but, a baby gravel pit.

Again, the pace of play was bad. Too many 5-somes with plenty of mixed walkers and riders. I also attribute it to golfers playing the blue tees when they honestly should not be. Our fourth player was a walk-on senior that played from the whites and he kept up with our pace of play and we kept creeping on the group in front of us which complained by the way about the group in front of them.

All in all, the round took way too long - 6 hours. What a joke. We putted out the last ball as it was getting real dark. Would I play here again? Probably so because it's so conveniently located BUT, I would have to be one of the very first groups to go out. Weekends are guaranteed worse. Golfer's beware! If you have time for a 6-hour round, than you will be fine. But, for those that are affected by slow play - find another track.

Enjoy!