Finding myself in the valley late in the afternoon, rather than fight traffic to Orange County, decided to try to play a twilight round at DeBell, as it had been forever since I last played here. To m... Continue »

Finding myself in the valley late in the afternoon, rather than fight traffic to Orange County, decided to try to play a twilight round at DeBell, as it had been forever since I last played here. To my surprise I was able to find an open time and despite the slow pace, it was a beautiful evening, and I enjoyed it far more than sitting on the 5 freeway. Course was in better condition than I expected or remember it being. Greens rolled well, or maybe I just made enough putts to make it seem that way? Good coverage in the fairways. Several tee boxes were a bit chewed up with divots, but nothing too severe. Both bunkers I found had adequate sand but were not raked. While I would not choose to make this a steady diet, the course is interesting and fun. Recommend if you have not played it.

Played 6-12-26 early morning as a single for $25 (senior rate), finishing in about 2 1/2 hours on this short semi hilly course. Tee boxes were decent shape with most of them having good coverage, with... Continue »

Played 6-12-26 early morning as a single for $25 (senior rate), finishing in about 2 1/2 hours on this short semi hilly course. Tee boxes were decent shape with most of them having good coverage, with some divot damage on short par fours and par threes. Fairways were mostly green and in good condition with some minor bare and thin spots. Rough for the most part was in good shape playing 1-2 inches and lush with some holes having some thin and bare spots. Was in one greenside bunker that had a good layer of soft sand, but hadn't been groomed yet and had a lot of unraked footprints. Greens were in good shape rolling medium pace and playing on the soft side. They are very green right now and rolling pretty true. Overall course is in decent shape and worth a play.

Played as a twosome with my buddy on Thursday 9/11 wit a 2:30 start. At his preference, we played the whites but not much distance between them and the blues generally. The clippings that were a major... Continue »

Played as a twosome with my buddy on Thursday 9/11 wit a 2:30 start. At his preference, we played the whites but not much distance between them and the blues generally. The clippings that were a major issue for Inkybeme1 in the previous review were gone when we played and the overall conditions were good. One consideration is that a handful of the tee boxes have new sod laid over them and those tees were moved forward of the usual teeing grounds — in the case of the par-5 8th hole, somewhat dramatically. That temp tee also made for a seriously tilted surface that was an exception to the rest. So a course that tops out at 5.600 yds played even shorter overall, with holes 8 and 15 especially so. The majority of the tees were good. Fairway conditions were mostly good and usually no issues if you landed there, but there were some overwatered muddy patches distributed over the course that included some fairway. The rough here varies greatly from playable to thick to encroaching wild that can be dirt and/or thick brush. It's one of the challenges here and reinforces the penalty for getting off line on this target course. I was in a bunker and it was OK. Green surrounds were inconsistent as to lie quality but mostly good for short game. Greens themselves were good. Quick enough but not overly so given the contours of some of the greens. Bottom line, not having been here in a good while, I enjoyed the course, maybe because I got beat up a little less than usual. But between the sodded/temp tees and wet spots, the course is not playing close to peak conditions right now. Good for casual option, but I suggest monitoring until they have activated the re-sodded tees. They should be a nice improvement over the old teeing surface and it's good to see they are making improvements.

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... Continue »

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.

Played 5-29-25 early morning as a single walking in under 3 hours for $22(senior rate). Tee boxes were just okay, with some having been re-sodded, others on the thin side, and some with good coverage ... Continue »

Played 5-29-25 early morning as a single walking in under 3 hours for $22(senior rate). Tee boxes were just okay, with some having been re-sodded, others on the thin side, and some with good coverage and level. Fairways were decent with some bare and thin spots, but good lies when on the green stuff. Rough was kind of a mix of everything, from some bare spots to some areas of 5-6 inches with everything in between. Was in one greenside bunker that had a decent layer of sand but heavy and wet in the morning. Greens were okay rolling a little on the slow side and a little bumpy with some bad areas on the edges on some. Looks like they re-sodded the back portion of the third green and it hasn't taken yet, hopefully it fills in over time. Overall the course is a little rough, but looks like they are working on getting it in better shape.

Snuck out for a solo round at De Bell in Burbank this weekend after finding a single time online the night before. I played from the blue tees and joined a threesome with a 12:00 tee time. If all went... Continue »

Snuck out for a solo round at De Bell in Burbank this weekend after finding a single time online the night before. I played from the blue tees and joined a threesome with a 12:00 tee time. If all went smoothly then finishing should have been no problem, but we had some very slow groups in front of us and essentially were the last group to finish with enough light - barely.

It was my first time back to De Bell in four years and of course I was quickly reminded why. The front nine is such a bizarre set of holes and when you're not simply perfect then it gets incredibly frustrating quickly. Luckily the back nine is a little more traditional and saves the round. It would also be more enjoyable despite the quirks if the conditions were great, but that's simply not the case.

The greens don't appear to have been rolled in quite some time so that led to lots of slow, bumpy putts and even some greens that had large cuts right through the middle of them. It's up to the player to adjust to some degree, but the degree of inconsistency from green to green is just deflating at best. Fairways were also in mediocre shape with many large dirt areas starting off each fairway, so any miscues were highly punished. Rough was okay in areas but mostly non-existent as there's OB on all sides here. Bunkers get top marks though as they were very fluffy and easy to play from - great job there. Tee boxes? Meh.

No cart service and no GPS on the carts, while the driving range is simple but more than adequate. The pro shop is well appointed and there's a very nice restaurant and snack shop on the upper level - no complaints about that aspect of the course at all.

But ultimately, I'm reminded again why I rarely come back to this course. I did at the very least enjoy my best-ever score here, but that's not saying much.

Played today 10/17/24 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

Beware this course is still doing a lot of work on the course. Saw so much yellow tape on this course tod... Continue »

Played today 10/17/24 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

Beware this course is still doing a lot of work on the course. Saw so much yellow tape on this course today. They are replacing a lot of the concrete cart paths especially near the tee boxes and some behind the greens. It was a challenge just driving the cart around all the detours.

We started on the back 9 this morning, which is hard as these 2 holes play uphill. On hole #11, the cart path behind the 11th green was closed. You had to park your cart about 60 yards in front of the green and then walk up to the green. Then hole #12 was using a temporary tee box. So all the tees were together playing around 70 yards. Course conditions were in decent shape with good coverage from tee to the green. Greens were in decent shape except for a number of unrepaired ball marks on the green. The sand in the bunkers had decent amount of sand. Been playing on courses with sand being so hard packed or dirt.

Hole #1 had a detour due to concrete cart path near the tee taped off for replacement. That was a challenge navigate cart through back of red tee box and down the hill. Hole #2 they were finally repairing the rough on the right side of the fairway near the drop-off but that area was ground under repair. Also on hole #2, the concrete path behind the greens were under repair and roped off. Hole #3 was a mess. You could only drive your cart to the area before the carry to the green. You had to park your cart here and then walk on the bridge to the green to finish this hole and then walk back. They are also working on the cart path behind hole #3. Hole #4 had temporary tee boxes as the area near the original tee box is under repair for concrete cart path replacement. On Hole #6, regular player mentioned not to park near the top of the cart path next to the street. Member have reported that some of the stuff were getting stolen off their cart while they were putting out on hole #6. Hole #8 they are working on fixing the rough on the left side on hole #8 near the green as this area was ground under repair.

Got notice that the course is being aerated next week. Once these repairs are all completed, this course will be fine to play. But I'll stay away until these repairs are all done. Also didn't check to see the hours the driving range are open. With today being Thursday, I didn't know the driving range didn't open until 10 am. Still had fun playing today as POP was great at 4 1/2 hours. I'm so used to POP being around 5 hours or more.

Buyer beware: many tee boxes under repair and temporary tee locations definitely not in the best spots (slopes, dead grass). The signature “bell” par 3 plays as like a 75 yard chip shot from rough in... Continue »

Buyer beware: many tee boxes under repair and temporary tee locations definitely not in the best spots (slopes, dead grass). The signature “bell” par 3 plays as like a 75 yard chip shot from rough instead of the blind over the hill. The holes that were in normal playing condition were fine. Normal wear and tear on tee boxes, mostly good fairways and roughs. Some chunks of greens missing on fringes, but overall not bad divot wise on greens. Wouldn’t recommend until repairs complete. Golf cart fleet is also definitely in need of replacement. Very bare, no windshield or ice chests.

Played today as first off. POP 3 H. Have not played here in perhaps 2 years after a bad experience. That was not the case today. Excellent customer service on check in and $35 Sr rate. Course is in re... Continue »

Played today as first off. POP 3 H. Have not played here in perhaps 2 years after a bad experience. That was not the case today. Excellent customer service on check in and $35 Sr rate. Course is in really nice shape. All good tee boxes. Good coverage, lies and roll out on the fairways. Greens were outstanding and fast. Only negative was the traps had not been raked or attended to. As many know this course is really different from what most of us are use to. But a little local knowledge and thinking can really make playing here enjoyable. If you score well on the front you can play conservative on the back and still have a good round (which I did). The one negative I really faced today was some of the holes I use to reach in regulation are not reachable that way anymore (LOL) due to the elevation changes on the back 9. Oh well thats life and at least I am still playing and that beats the alternative. If you are able to get a tee time I recommend playing here. And the food in the clubhouse restaurant upstairs was reasonable in price and service was excellent.