Just wanting to provide a quick update since no one has submitted a review since my last one. I just played this morning on Sat June 25. The course ... » More

Just wanting to provide a quick update since no one has submitted a review since my last one. I just played this morning on Sat June 25. The course is back in great shape now (for an LA City course). Fairways are giving very good lies to hit from, and the greens are back fully healed and rolling great. Tee boxes are a little chewed up where they placed them today, but really not much of a problem finding a good spot to hit from. The rough is inconsistent which is fine to me. I stayed out of all bunkers so can't comment on them. We were out at 6:00 am, so the pace was very good in just under 4 hours. The gentleman at the pro shop was great as always, and he was on top of calling out groups to the tee which I always appreciate to keep things moving along.
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I didn't have a tee time but got the green light from the missus to play an early round on Father's Day June 19. Showed up at the course at 5:25a, ch... » More

I didn't have a tee time but got the green light from the missus to play an early round on Father's Day June 19. Showed up at the course at 5:25a, checked in with the starter to put my name on the list, and it turned out that there was an opening at 5:40 on Harding, so I was happy. Good thing that spot was there, because there was a big tournament rolling through at around 6:30 and otherwise I think I would have been out of luck. The conditions on Harding are really good right now. Fairways and greens are quite lush, and the greens especially are rolling really nicely with medium speed. As the day went on and the sun started shining, the greens got a little faster and more tricky. The rough was quite long and penal in spots, which is a little unusual for Harding, but it added some challenge to the course. The coffee shop is doing a soft opening right now, so I was glad to stop in post-round for a little breakfast and coffee. Great service there and the food was great too. Definitely recommend heading out there.
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Played here yesterday (May 26) at 7:40am. The last time we played here was about 7-8 weeks ago, just before they aerated the greens, and I was very im... » More

Played here yesterday (May 26) at 7:40am. The last time we played here was about 7-8 weeks ago, just before they aerated the greens, and I was very impressed with the layout and conditions of the course. Yesterday though, we could tell the greens still need more time after the recent maintenance. The greens were very bumpy and the surfaces were dimpled like a golf ball, so putts would not hold their line and would immediately start to hop up and down once they left the putter face. Many putts would abruptly change direction when losing speed as they were approaching the center of the cup. This was true on a majority of the greens except for a few. It was interesting because the speed of the greens wasn't necessarily slow either, so you knew you needed to hit putts hard to hold the line but there was a lot of risk in blowing the putt way past the hole if you missed -- an interesting wrinkle from a strategy standpoint I guess. I'm not an expert on greenskeeping, but given how green the greens actually were, it would seem like they just need to "flatten" the bumps and it will be all good. All other areas of the course were great (the rough is VERY lush and penal, so beware), and the staff here is so friendly and welcoming that it was a pleasure to be out on a beautiful SoCal morning playing golf. I'll probably give it a couple more weeks and give this course another try.
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Played Penmar on Monday 5/16 with a buddy of mine from out of town. Just looking to enjoy some no-stress golf to start off the week. Originally had ... » More

Played Penmar on Monday 5/16 with a buddy of mine from out of town. Just looking to enjoy some no-stress golf to start off the week. Originally had a tee time as two-some at 6:30, and when we showed up to the course, it was completely empty. We checked in with the starter, and he let us go right to the tee and play as two, which was nice since my buddy doesn't play often and didn't mind the "privacy". The course is in decent shape, with the highlight being the greens. Pretty firm greens that rolled very nicely (even fast? for Penmar mind you). The tendency at Penmar is to want to read too much into putts, so mostly just want to keep em straight and they will tend to go in. I found the fairways just slightly disappointing, as I remember times when the fairways here were perfectly green and lush, but yesterday there were a lot of brown patches out there. That being said, the fairway lies are pretty much perfect so not much to complain about for hitting golf shots. But just aesthetically, it's been better. The tee boxes were very chewed up, but that never really bothers me. We finished in about 1hr 40min, and we were taking our time. Overall, Penmar is almost always a great place to play and get some practice in. My buddy was impressed, and said we'd come back when he's in town again. Probably do an afternoon round so we can grab a few beers and food at the pub, which I've had before and recommend highly.
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Played Hansen on Sunday 5/1, because I love this course and wanted to see how the greens are healing after aeration about 25 days ago. Unfortunately ... » More

Played Hansen on Sunday 5/1, because I love this course and wanted to see how the greens are healing after aeration about 25 days ago. Unfortunately the greens are not that great right now. It's playable, but not anywhere near as good as they usually are. The holes from punching are still somewhat visible but getting better, but the sand is still quite prevalent at the surface and the grass itself is somewhat long and makes for some very slow putts. With the grass on the greens being as long as they are, the grain of the grass plays a significant factor which is not normal for Hansen. There were also a couple of holes (#9 and #12) where the front part of the green was soaked by the sprinklers and had a large section with standing water (6:10 AM tee time mind you, so perhaps that was evaporated by later in the morning). Oh and the blue tee boxes were very chewed up, but that doesn't really bother me that much.

On the bright side, the fairways were in great condition overall, so was nice to hit approach shots from good lies. The greens being as soft and sandy as they were, they are very receptive to approaches -- just tough to make birdies with the greens in this shape unless you're right on top of the hole.

Pace was decent (sub 4 hours) but could have been better if the first group wasn't so slow. They picked up the pace after about 7 holes. No one behind us all day. Beautiful weather didn't hurt either.

Again for those who don't mind, it's still playable right now. But for those who are pickier, I would wait a couple more weeks.
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