I have played DeBell many times over many years and know the course well. On 8/22/2025, I played and did something I have never done at any golf course. I left after the 13th hole because the course had too many grass clippings and covered most of the fairways. I am not talking about a few clippings here and there. I am talking about hitting a perfect drive that lands in the center of the fairway and being unable to locate my golf ball because of all the grass clippings in the fairway. The heavy clippings added to the "thickness" of the fairway and created conditions as if I was hitting out of the rough.
Also, the rough was very thick with piles of grass clippings... EVERYWHERE! If I did hit an errant shot that ended up in the first-cut of rough, finding my golf ball was nearly impossible because it was buried within all of the grass clippings (8" to 12" deep). After losing 3 golf balls in the fairway grass clippings and rough (piles of grass clippings and heavy grass), which would have been easily found if the conditions were similar to previous years, I decided to leave after the 13th hole because the round was not enjoyable. To all that are thinking, gee hit better shots. No, that's not what occurred. It is one thing to not play well and have a tough day on the course. But, hitting good golf shots that are in the fairway, or the first-cut of rough and not being able to find a golf ball is unfairly penalizing the golfer. Positioning tee boxes or placing flag sticks in tricky positions to set up a course to be more/less difficult is one thing. But penalizing golfers because of poor maintenance and neglect is something else. This is not the U.S. Open. It is a municipal golf course in Burbank.
Like I mentioned, I have played DeBell many times over many years in a variety of conditions. Sometimes the greens are bit burned out (especially in summer). Sometimes the bunkers are packed hard with dirt instead of sand. What I experienced on Friday was disappointing and I recognized that it would be better for me to leave and call it a day vs. trudging along wondering how many good golf shots would be unfairly penalized and how many golf balls I would eventually lose because they were buried in grass clippings. DeBell has a lot of work to do, and I certainly hope they address the problem. It is a good course, with nice people, and I do enjoy playing there. However, I will not be back in 2025.
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