750 Balboa with a friend and paired with a rando.

Smokey Friday morning and the course was moderately busy. Range was open
but only takes exact change or the key but not a CC card. Not even getti... Continue »

750 Balboa with a friend and paired with a rando.

Smokey Friday morning and the course was moderately busy. Range was open
but only takes exact change or the key but not a CC card. Not even getting into it.

Tee Boxes. tee boxes were good today all pretty lush not seeing anything too mangled.

Fairways, they were pretty good and were well watered. Some of the 70/90 yard
approaches were for sure real wet on the back 9. Like your club will slide through it.

Bunkers, bunkers were super bi polar. Some were raked and pristine others had shovel foot
and others were literally forgotten. Hole 14 green side being one.

Rough, its grabby for sure. Typical city kikuyu around the greens and in the rough. The rough was lush and definitely annoying.

Greens, they were slowish medium, all were pretty wet and watered but not soggy. Pitch marks
weren't too bad either just not snappy although the back had a couple of pin placements that were questionable.

Tee markers on the back were spray painted. Some red, some white, some blue. Couldn't tell if it was a primer coat or if they're changing yardages and some holes had like janky printed ones
on some of the holes on the front. Nice day today, pace of play was 4 hours and we waited a second on a couple of holes. Its always nice to finish rounds swiftly.

Later

740am Tee time for Balboa

Bustling morning with both courses pretty busy.

The course was in pretty good condition but, there are a couple of things.

Tee boxes were whatever, normal city con... Continue »

740am Tee time for Balboa

Bustling morning with both courses pretty busy.

The course was in pretty good condition but, there are a couple of things.

Tee boxes were whatever, normal city conditions,

Fairways and rough were also pretty standard. Hole 3 for sure could use some ground under repair marking, especially by the green, the cart traffic jacked it up pretty well.

The Sandtraps were 50/50. Some of them were raked and others were like sand castles made by retards. Just soggy mounds of old footprints in the bunkers.

The greens, the greens were small punched. Some of them had a pretty excessive plinko
factor yet some how made it towards the hole. The green speeds were rolly but not fast.
Some holes had more left over trim on the greens.

Pace of play was way too slow. Balboa is a short course yet some of these cats teeing it
deep and hitting it short made for a painful morning round. Generally, Ams are quick because
the old guys are trying to beat father death but today I guess they were ready to meet the reaper.

Out early to try to beat the heat, but despite playing in around three hours, by the time we finished, it was already HOT ! I originally was going to play Encino, but considering how poorly I played,... Continue »

Out early to try to beat the heat, but despite playing in around three hours, by the time we finished, it was already HOT ! I originally was going to play Encino, but considering how poorly I played, Balboa turned out to be the better choice, because even this shorter course was all my game could handle.

I was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition. Greens rolled well and were quicker than expected. Fairways had some brown and bare areas, but generally were very playable. Only in one bunker and it had enough well manicured sand. Rough was inconsistent however, and I found a lot of it.

Staff was friendly and check in was efficient and quick. For me the worst part of playing here is the drive to and from south Orange County, but with everyone "working from home", not nearly as bad as times past

Play day was Sunday July 12/20 at 11:40. I lost track of what the temperature was, but we're in a middle of a heatwave. We took a cart and had lots of water and snacks. It took 4 and a half hours t... Continue »

Play day was Sunday July 12/20 at 11:40. I lost track of what the temperature was, but we're in a middle of a heatwave. We took a cart and had lots of water and snacks. It took 4 and a half hours to finish which was expected.

There's not much to add from the detailed review prior to this but I was very pleased to have found the course way better than I played here last which was probably two years ago. It was nice to play this course in its current conditions. Some teeing grounds were a bit soaked in water, but not a big deal, and the grass covering throughout the course were good and green as well as the fairways played nicely with a little run. Very pleased about the greens' condition in smooth and medium fast. Yes, I whished the guys would fix their ball divots, too.

Despite all the restrictions and the clusters of checking in, I would play here again. We had a great time.

I played today with a buddy and his pals; 6:20 tee time. It was a great pace of play, and we beat the heat of the day starting early. The first two holes are brutal tee shots into the rising sun, thou... Continue »

I played today with a buddy and his pals; 6:20 tee time. It was a great pace of play, and we beat the heat of the day starting early. The first two holes are brutal tee shots into the rising sun, though. Good conditions throughout the course from tee to green. Due to the current Covid 19 hysteria, check in was on the slow side so give yourself extra time for that. Social distancing, wear a mask when interacting, blah, blah, blah. Tees: We played the blues. All were level and had good coverage of turf (mostly kikuyu grass). One tee box looked like the markers were not moved in a day or so, but there was ample room to tee from good grass. The other tees looked the same. Fairways and rough: Great roll on most drives. The rough was not too penal for the most part. I never had a tight lie, but early on there were a couple of wet areas as the course was watering in preparation for the coming heat wave. Greens: They were really nice; soft with a medium fast speed. No bumpiness. There were quite a few ball marks to fix. Would have been nice if golfers ahead gave a little bit of a $hit. Bunkers: Most were groomed with a machine. No rakes, obviously. I was in a few and I struggled. There was ample sand, but I could not get a hang of the wetness and the heaviness of it. I left all my sand shots short and a couple were left in the bunkers. Others in my group had issues as well, and they thinned their bunker shots long, so no winning there. All in all, I liked going out early. It made for a great pace of play. Overall, it's better to golf the LA City courses early. We paid somewhere in the low $30 range to walk, so that was nice as well. It has been a while since I played here and I do like the mature trees and park-like setting. Good times with good people.

Played Balboa on Monday morning at 8:30 as a foursome. Overall, the conditions are good. Although the fairways have multiple grasses, and are multi-colored, they are actually in good shape. For the mo... Continue »

Played Balboa on Monday morning at 8:30 as a foursome. Overall, the conditions are good. Although the fairways have multiple grasses, and are multi-colored, they are actually in good shape. For the most part, the fairways have nice coverage, with a good cushion under your ball. There are some bad areas, but they are in the minority. Tee boxes were fine. The rough is a mixed bag, with some lush and some spotty areas, not very penal. I wasn't in any greenside bunkers, but my playing partners said they were in good shape. The greens were medium speed with occasional bumpiness. Overall, a fun day with a course that is in good condition.

Member mdames posted for his 1.2.20 morning round and, as it turns out, I was there in the afternoon, getting in 13 of Balboa's holes before dark ended the round. I was in the area, hadn't been out to... Continue »

Member mdames posted for his 1.2.20 morning round and, as it turns out, I was there in the afternoon, getting in 13 of Balboa's holes before dark ended the round. I was in the area, hadn't been out to Balboa in years and was curious to revisit either it or Encino, and ended up on Balboa. Functionally, I actually thought the course was in a bit better shape than Mike did, so I'll put in my subjective two cents and let the reader draw their own conclusions. Playing the blues, my main concern with teeing grounds is how level they are — and they were all pretty level. Since I'm pegging it up, the coverage is less of an issue to me so I don't recall any concerns when I was teeing off. Some tees were more bare than others but, critically, the one par three I played had decent grass coverage and so it never was an issue for me when it counted. The fairways were visually a chaotic, multicolored, patchwork of grasses for sure. It was predominantly covered and, visuals notwithstanding, I generally found the hitting surface decent — definitely wintery with a fair amount of rollout — playing much better than they looked. I didn't feel I had many poor lies, or that they were as hard and thin as previously described in the main. I may have a more shallow strike than Mike and so experienced the fairways a little differently overall. Rough wasn't generally penal and I missed the bunkers. Total agreement on the greens which were quick and in good shape. Fun and consistent to putt on, I uncharacteristically bombed in several putts so there was no complaint about the roll. Course was busy with the main delays being to tee off on the first hole and a backup on the par 3 fourth hole. Otherwise it actually moved along steadily at a comfortable pace. So, for me a course that looked very much like Cali winter but not so off-putting that I didn't enjoy myself or the conditions. Not being a regular at Balboa, and a bit of golf slut, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Got out for a quick round on Thursday morning (1/2/20) at 8:24 as a foursome. We finished in just over 4 hours. Balboa right now is in poor shape, except for the greens. Tee boxes are thin and grass c... Continue »

Got out for a quick round on Thursday morning (1/2/20) at 8:24 as a foursome. We finished in just over 4 hours. Balboa right now is in poor shape, except for the greens. Tee boxes are thin and grass coverage is spotty, at best. Fairways are very thin and hard, with poor lies everywhere. You can find some decent lies, but it's pure luck if you do. You will get plenty of run out on a drive in the fairway. The rough is a mixture of grasses, and not too penal. I was in too many bunkers today. Some of them had very nice soft sand. Others were thin and hard. So little consistency. The greens were, by far, the best part of the course. They were much faster than normal(medium fast to fast) and rolled very smooth and true. Approach shots needed to be landed at the front of the green or just short to keep your ball from running past the hole. Overall, course is in poor condition. The $20 senior walking rate is acceptable. But I wouldn't pay any more than that.

Played Balboa on Wednesday 10/23 at noon as a foursome. Since we were the first group out at the reduced twilight rate, there was no one in front of us at all. We completed the round in 3 hours, 20 mi... Continue »

Played Balboa on Wednesday 10/23 at noon as a foursome. Since we were the first group out at the reduced twilight rate, there was no one in front of us at all. We completed the round in 3 hours, 20 minutes. We never waited on a single shot. I was surprised at the conditions of the course. Although this is not a country club course by any means, the conditions were far better than I expected. Tee boxes were lush and green, as good as I've ever seen them.

The fairways had some very nice grass as well as some blotchy areas. But I encountered many good lies when in the fairway, easy to hit from. The rough is a mixed bag of semi lush and clumpy/bare areas. Not very penal. I was in one greenside bunker. It had plenty of nice firm sand. The greens were running very smoothly, about medium speed, soft and quite receptive to approach shots. For a quick, stress free round Balboa was fun to play.