Played on 7-3-14, mid-afternoon. Course was pretty empty so our threesome finished in 2 hours. Due in part to the very low rating, I didn't expect much but I found the course to be in good condition... Continue »

Played on 7-3-14, mid-afternoon. Course was pretty empty so our threesome finished in 2 hours. Due in part to the very low rating, I didn't expect much but I found the course to be in good condition overall - flat tee boxes, fairways reasonably lush, and smooth greens. I hadn't played here in a couple of years, and I found the course to be much more enjoyable this time. Perhaps the low rating is due to conditions past? I would definitely play again, especially with the very reasonable green fees.

Hadn't played here in about 10 or 12 years. I remember it being a nice, well-maintained 9-hole course with reasonable rates. Wow have things changed! This course is now in terrible shape. Fairways are... Continue »

Hadn't played here in about 10 or 12 years. I remember it being a nice, well-maintained 9-hole course with reasonable rates. Wow have things changed! This course is now in terrible shape. Fairways are 50% hard dirt, sand traps are terrible, greens are thick and bumpy with many brown spots. and you can't distinguish the rough from the fairways. Nothing attractive about this course anymore. What a disappointment! Don't waste your money to play here. $20.25 on a Sunday afternoon to walk this barren wasteland.....What a shame!

Got out for super twilight around 3:15 this afternoon (Sunday) for $9.50, along with a buddy and an amiable single. This is not a course to go out of your way to play right now, although it is not wit... Continue »

Got out for super twilight around 3:15 this afternoon (Sunday) for $9.50, along with a buddy and an amiable single. This is not a course to go out of your way to play right now, although it is not without its merits. With minor exceptions, most of the tee boxes offer a nice, level start with enough grass. The greens are in pretty good shape overall and running a brisk medium speed. There is some fungus around some of the greens' edges that have been treated with a white sand coating to the affected areas, but there were only a couple like this and the issue was generally out of the way. Fairways had a lot of roll, winter conditions with some tight lies and the occasional bare area. A lot of rough tends to be dirt or lightly covered hard pan as well as some extensive dirt areas immediately in front of a few of the tee boxes that shouldn't come in to play. The bunkers here have reasonably soft sand, but there are a lot of small pebbles and the occasional small stone that one needs to be aware of—not fastidiously groomed, but not a hot mess either. It all sounds rather underwhelming, but it is still quite playable and, considering the price at super twilight, I rated well worth the green fee even as I dinged it on some particulars. Like I said, wouldn't go out of my way to play here, but I don't have to go out of my way—it's local. The pace was good with no one immediately in front of us to hold us up or pressing from behind. It was a still, mild, late afternoon, an amazing sunset, we finished in the late dusk with the moon coming up over the mountains, and I shot a personal best for the course despite some challenging lies. I had a great time.

Played Saturday October 5. Fun little 9 hole layout but never seen the course in this bad condition. The greens were especially awful. Pro shop said a fungus got them. Scheduled to aerify on Monda... Continue »

Played Saturday October 5. Fun little 9 hole layout but never seen the course in this bad condition. The greens were especially awful. Pro shop said a fungus got them. Scheduled to aerify on Monday October 7. Hopefully that helps and the course can recover. A real shame today.

Started playing here again to see what the new management has done with this course. Last time I was here was last year just before the old management left. It is nice that the driving range netting... Continue »

Started playing here again to see what the new management has done with this course. Last time I was here was last year just before the old management left. It is nice that the driving range netting has been replaced. It was no fun just hitting irons on the driving range before. It is great that you can still hit off grass on the driving range for what I noticed during the week when I come here to practice on the driving range.

One of the biggest change here was the extended tee box on hole #2. If the tees are way back, this hole can be very challenging. Also another change on this course was new tee box for the back tee on hole #9. This tee box is not too far away from the hole #8 green.

We played today twilight time. One of the things I don't like now is that on several holes, it is almost just dirt for the first 50 - 75 yards in front of the tee boxes. Don't know if the management is planning on making this area a waste area or not. Otherwise the fairways were average for this time of year with the hot summer weather. The fairway grass did seem a little dry when we walked the course today. Greens seemed to be ok, but some felt squishy and slow. The green on hole #9 was just awful. There were so many dry grass (white) patches on this green. It looked terrible.

Played twilight walking. It doesn't cost too much on a weekday. It cost us around $12/each. I like coming here to work on my short game. This 9 hole course is also long enough with a few par 5's. You can also practice your long game too. It took us just over 2 hours to play 9 at twilight.

I went over to Altadena to get a late Sunday afternoon nine in and got out second up, joining up with the single waiting on the first tee. As previously noted, there is new management, and I hadn't be... Continue »

I went over to Altadena to get a late Sunday afternoon nine in and got out second up, joining up with the single waiting on the first tee. As previously noted, there is new management, and I hadn't been over here in a while so I was curious to see how it was going. There are definitely signs of improvement and I found a few items noteworthy. First, there is improvement in the fairways as to delineation and condition. All the fairways have been edged so as to give them a clear distinction from the typically short-ish rough. The visual effect is to accentuate the fairway shape and gives it a cleaner, more manicured look. The fairways themselves still have areas that can be a bit thin or bumpy, but they are less frequent. There are now more extensive stretches where the grass is even coverage, nicely mowed, and really just pleasing to the eye as well as to play off. There are still some extensive areas, primarily non-fairway, that are raggedly or under-watered, but they are generally in areas that you shouldn't typically find your ball. It may be a calculation on management's part as a way to focus the resources where it matters most. For example, the 450 yd first hole from just in front of the tee boxes, to where the fairway begins about 100 yds out, is scruffy, bumpy and dry but the fairway is pretty good, per the above comments. The nice, new, second hole tee box was playing the blue tees well back—a good 30-40 yds further than the back end of the old tee box. I guessed it was about 200 yds to the green center from there. One issue is that the scorecards have not been updated and they haven't posted distance markers there yet to acomodate the change. Another significant change is that the ninth hole has been reconfigured from a funky, long, par four to a par five—which it originally was. It now plays around 500 yds, slightly uphill to an elevated green. As mentioned, the card hasn't been updated to a par 5 yet. The new tee box is nice, flat, and well covered, and from which the hole frames nicely to the eye and plays more reasonably. So much so that even the waste-ey area just in front of the tee box almost feels intentional and complements the view. Looking up the fairway you have a backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains and at 7:00-ish in the evening, with the late sun, it borders on stunning. The greens were running medium, which is slower than usual for here, but it was late on a Sunday and they were probably due for a trim. All the punching and effects are long gone and the grass is nice and thick (not bumpy) and healthy. I was in one bunker and it was OK. Improvements are relative and no one will mistake this for a resort course—it's a local muni—but the enhancements are continuing and they are noticeably improving the place. The course was not crowded, the pace was perfect and unhurried, the other guy was pleasant company, and finishing up in the warm glow of the late day's light, the air was still. At the end of the day, I didn't score well, but I found what I was looking for.

Played Altadena yesterday for the first time in a while, along with a buddy, on a cold windy afternoon. The course overall is in fair shape. At this time of year, because of the rain we've had areas t... Continue »

Played Altadena yesterday for the first time in a while, along with a buddy, on a cold windy afternoon. The course overall is in fair shape. At this time of year, because of the rain we've had areas that are usually either brown or bare have greened up. This is a little offset by the winter quality and tightness of the fairway lies. Greens were pretty decent at a medium fast speed and a good, generally even surface. I avoided the bunkers so I can't address them, and the teeing grounds were generally good. Most noteworthy are the signs of improvement planned or in progress by the new management. The second and third hole tee boxes have been completely rebuilt—the latter still closed for use and a temp set of tee markers on the fairway. The second hole tee box is in use and it is beautiful—almost three time longer than the original teeing area, perfectly flat, with completely new sod. The length creates entirely new options for the hole playing length. The blue (back most) tee used be marked as 167 yds. We played from 177 on an area of teeing ground that didn't previously exist, and there must have been twenty or more yards of pristine, unused box behind us. The third tee box was notorious for having a hump down the middle and now, while keeping the old foot print, is of like quality to the new second tee box. There were a lot of orange line markings around the course suggesting adjustments fairway edges, bunker and green sizes, and there may be some concrete cart path additions in the plan. There isn't a lot of room for big layout revisions, with the second tee probably providing the most dramatic increase in options, but a general upgrade to the quality of the facility could ultimately make this a little jewel of a local course. The current work and indications make we wonder how extensive the facelift will ultimately be and what they will do to the restaurant.

I was out at Altadena to hit the range, which is significant and worth mentioning here even though I didn't play. The range netting had been seriously damaged in last year's wind storm and so the rang... Continue »

I was out at Altadena to hit the range, which is significant and worth mentioning here even though I didn't play. The range netting had been seriously damaged in last year's wind storm and so the range was operating off of scruffy mats set in a permanent line with a 150 yd hitting limit. Well, they recently did a full repair and all the netting is up and in place, and they are back to hitting off grass and moving the stations around. Particularly worth mentioning is that the grass has had a chance to fill in for the year the nets had been damaged. Right now they are placing the hitting line over areas that have been untouched by clubs in that time. The long-time operator recently lost the lease with the county and a new operator is in. The new operator still does not have a website or email notification set up, so the fact that the range is in full operation is a bit of a word-of-mouth secret. I hope to play the course soon to give an update of the general conditions, but with the rain we've had, for what it is, this is when it's usually in its best condition.

Went out for $7.50 super twilight yesterday a little after 5:30 and just about got the nine in as the last group to finish before dark. Generally this is a modest local course, reasonably challenging,... Continue »

Went out for $7.50 super twilight yesterday a little after 5:30 and just about got the nine in as the last group to finish before dark. Generally this is a modest local course, reasonably challenging, generally good to fair conditions, usually easy to get on and a good deal for twilight and super twilight rates. Usually the greens are a strong point for being medium fast, in pretty good shape and fairly challenging, but currently they are suffering from what looks like some kind of fungus. There are bald, recessed patches scattered over the greens. The pins are placed in the better portions of the greens, but the bad bits can come into play from further away. The tee boxes are usually good with a couple un-level, but some of them are also currently shaggy and in need of a mowing—better than too little coverage, but you have to pick your spots. If you are looking to get some practice play in and you know what to expect, it is worth it at the twilight rates. But frankly, it's sub-par from it's usual conditions—not gone to hell, but in need of some TLC to get it back to normal. I feel bad for them because last years winds knocked down large portions of their driving range poles and the range use is now limited to 150 yd clubs or less. Their range income has to be seriously reduced as a result. As a muni, there hasn't been the budget restore the range. The chipping green is serviceable, the practice bunker good, and they have a nice practice putting green. All that said, I was happy to get out, shot a good score and generally enjoyed the course for what it was.

Altadena Golf Course Review
Altadena California Golf Course Reviews