Booked ahead Saturday night for a single, 9:20 tee-off at Wilson for Sunday morning, 1/29. Never got close as I tried various approaches and discovered all entry to the area was blocked until 12:00 du... Continue »

Booked ahead Saturday night for a single, 9:20 tee-off at Wilson for Sunday morning, 1/29. Never got close as I tried various approaches and discovered all entry to the area was blocked until 12:00 due to a half marathon and 5K. Headed over to Santa Anita where a men's club tourney was going off until 11:00, and so ended up at a busy Alhambra, where I teed off with a threesome around 10:50. Whew! I usually give this course points for consistently decent maintenance, conditions and good customer service — it's generally a nice shorter course — but today the conditions were more winter doldrums and probably the low point of the year. Tee boxes were fine, with good coverage and most nicely level. The main negative was short, frequently thinnish grass with a fair amount of exposed dirt patches distributed around the fairways. With all the rain, the soil was a bit sticky, resulting in the occasional heavy shot as well as frequent incidents of mud bits on one's ball. This is not to say there was complete absence of coverage or decent lies. The coverage was more often adequate with some better areas, but something of a mix. Rough could be anything from a bit grabby and sticky, to nicely playable, to hard pan, although it was OK more than not. I avoided the bunkers all day, but they seemed in good shape, a tad firm judging from my partners' results. The best aspect was the greens, which were generally clean, quick enough to get your attention and nuanced enough to keep it. As mentioned, it was busy, a little over a five-hour round, and the threesome I played with were good company. The weather was gorgeous and there were frequently beautiful views of the snow-capped mountains to the east. Overall, it's not in terrible condition but, personally, I won't be back for a while. Some time to dry out will allow some offset to the winter thinness of the fairways by offering a fair amount of rollout and an absence of the tackiness in the underlying soil. While the rain has been a godsend, it's understandable that this is not the best time of year for conditions at many, otherwise solid, courses.