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.

Last golf day for a few weeks ahead of trip to Europe, so got in a very late twilight round at Balboa on Tuesday with a buddy who happened to be playing it solo with a 3:30 tee time. $30 to ride the b... Continue »

Last golf day for a few weeks ahead of trip to Europe, so got in a very late twilight round at Balboa on Tuesday with a buddy who happened to be playing it solo with a 3:30 tee time. $30 to ride the black tees - no worries! Could we finish in time? Go figure - courses tend to be pretty quiet on Tuesdays so we buzzed through the entire course in just three hours. Fantastic! Balboa is actually in very nice shape right now in relationship to expectations for this heavily-trafficked course. Fairways, while a bit thin in places and somewhat burned out, provided mostly good lies with the exception of the frequent divot damage from a clientele that does not use the sand in the carts. But there were also a few nice sections with great coverage. Rough was very thick in some places but inconsistent overall. Greens were rolling pretty nice as well and held shots perfectly. A few too many ball marks of course (see divot damage remark above), but overall the simple and straightforward greens here with minimal adventure to them played quite nicely. Medium-fast even. Solid job from the grounds crew. Worst part of the course as usual are the bunkers with their thin layer of hard-pack sand, and the tee boxes which seem to rarely be rotated and are beat up pretty good, but at least they're very flat and you won't spend all day trying to find a soft spot to dig your tee in. No cart service unfortunately on a very hot day, but understood for a quite Tuesday afternoon. Luckily there are drinking fountains all over the course, but they take a minute or two to get 'almost' cold enough to be refreshing. Overall, not a bad time to play Balboa at all. Oh yeah, it was also kind of wild seeing the local fire raging in the distance off the third hole tee box. Looks like LA's finest though did a good job of putting it out pretty quickly - thanks for all you do!

These courses (Balboa Encino) are just close enough to my parents house that I don't quite go crazy sitting in traffic going to or from them. I have really enjoyed playing here on and off for the last... Continue »

These courses (Balboa Encino) are just close enough to my parents house that I don't quite go crazy sitting in traffic going to or from them. I have really enjoyed playing here on and off for the last several years. The greens, like now are in good shape. They are not fast. Balboa right now may be slightly faster than Encino. I rarely hit a bump on the green or find a bad lie in the fairway. It is easy to get out as a single. They have replay rates. The driving range is much much improved compared to about 2 years ago. They have an extensive chipping area and nice putting green. Even though both courses boast easy layouts you still have to golf your ball to score well.

Played 3/22. First time in a long time. I know it's a very busy public course, and it is what it is. The process of getting out is pure chaos. Starters are overwhelmed, customers/players were difficul... Continue »

Played 3/22. First time in a long time. I know it's a very busy public course, and it is what it is. The process of getting out is pure chaos. Starters are overwhelmed, customers/players were difficult and often rude. People trying to change groups and courses last minute, b$tch y singles demanding to get out, trying to know who goes when, carts brought up one at a time, leading to confusion as to who gets what carts. Chaos.

As far as the course: Greens were great! Smooth, true and fun. I had many crummy lies in fairways due to uneven turf. Sometimes I had better lies in the rough at times. But totally playable. Tee boxes were OK. Avoided the sand all day, so nothing to report there. Surprisingly, we got around in a little over 4 hours on a Friday aternoon. I always enjoy playing out here since I get to so rarely.

The biggest surprise was the driving range. Last time I was here, it was a dirt field that you hit into from mats not much softer than the concrete. Now it is fantastic, and worthy of being a destination-range. Very, very nice. Cash only on the machine unless you pre-pay for a key. Bring single bills.

One tip to patrons here: Please play from the appropriate tees. 'The tips' are for skilled players with single digit handicaps, not people who think they need to play from the tips. There is no associated enhancement to your manhood, and you are indeed a source of jokes and ridicule to the group waiting behind you as you walk into the adjoining fairway to play your next shot. Also, quick update on the laws of probabilities: If your drive went 240 yards, and you are 260 yards from the green, there is likely very little chance that the folks on the green ahead of you are in any imminent danger from your next shot. As much as those of us behind you would look forward to commenting as you play your third shot from 50 yards short of the green you held us up to wait clear, please go ahead and hit to keep it moving. This course is great for all skill level of golfers, please have some consideration for everyone else.

All in all, it's always fun to play out here. Not crazy difficult, super convenient, affordable and the people are a gas to watch.