I have points to use up on my LA City card and grabbed an 11:55 start on Friday 3/18 as single joining a two-some and another single, all walking. I don't recall any issues finding a suitable spot to ... Continue »

I have points to use up on my LA City card and grabbed an 11:55 start on Friday 3/18 as single joining a two-some and another single, all walking. I don't recall any issues finding a suitable spot to peg it in the teeing areas — mostly covered and level or close enough to it. The fairways are a mashup of grasses that grow at varying rates, so the closer to having been mowed the more consistent the surface. On the day a cut was probably due and a little lumpy. That said, mixed or not, it was generally covered, wintery firm with a fair amount of rollout. The rough was not particularly thick or that much different from the fairways and usually not at all penalizing. The run-ups to the green generally made for tight pitching lies while around the greens it was just a little more forgiving. I was in a couple of bunkers where the sand leans more towards heavy than fluffy, but otherwise fair, reasonably clean and playable. I personally did not see any I would describe as dirt or close to it as previously reported, but maybe I missed those. The greens were firm enough to leave minimal pitch marks, running mostly true at a decent medium quick pace that overall wasn't as brisk as the practice green. It was a good day to play — clear, warmer than usual with no impacting wind. It's flat and a good course to walk. Pace was very good at right around four hours on a busy public course. Almost surprising, really. All the guys in the group were friendly and, except for me, young and hit the ball far if not always straight. It was also a nice surprise that I could use my points for the range balls, so I was nothing out of pocket on the day. It's muni golf, not in peak condition but more than acceptable and I recommend it as such.

Quick review of recent Encino visit, walking and playing the blue tees. First off, had a great customer service interaction so kudos to the team there to take care of the last-minute booking when it c... Continue »

Quick review of recent Encino visit, walking and playing the blue tees. First off, had a great customer service interaction so kudos to the team there to take care of the last-minute booking when it couldn't get done online since my LA City card had just expired the day before. Great job and much appreciated.

Course is definitely showing some wear and tear in the fairways, rough, tee boxes and bunkers. There are a few more dirt patches in prime landing areas that I've never seen here before, and just in general it's a little more thin and yellow than it is usually. The bunkers were mostly dirt with the exception of one or two, and the tee boxes were flat but definitely a bit beat up. Rough was a mixed bag but nothing too penal if you ended up in it.

Greens were actually pretty darn good, rolling medium-fast and holding their lines nicely. They also did a good job of holding shots that were less than perfect on approach. There are some ball marks to contend with of course but overall, considering the shape of the rest of the course, the greens are quite nice and fun to play on right now.

POP was very good at just over four hours with three of our foursome walking (I played as a single and got paired up with a twosome and another single). There was no cart service anywhere on the course and no snack shop other than the one at the main starter's area. Oh yeah, the starter shack during Covid is now closed so the new 'office' is quite roomy and nice.

Price is always right to play this confidence course and it's always a good place to work out some swing thoughts or kinks to help get your game back in order. Par 3s are long beasts but other than that, with the exception of a few holes, it's pretty straight-ahead golf to help get your mind right.

Played on Sunday 1/2 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

As it was about 3 days after recent rains, the course was a little soggy. They let out electric carts toda... Continue »

Played on Sunday 1/2 with a mid-morning tee time. POP was around 4 1/2 hours to play 18.

As it was about 3 days after recent rains, the course was a little soggy. They let out electric carts today. But there were about 3 - 4 holes that were "cart" path only. For example, the 1st hole was totally roped off on each side of the fairway. So you could not drive your carts onto the fairways on these holes. There were so much mud on the fairways. Had to move the balls a lot as the ball was either in mud or in a water patch. The tee boxes were ok to hit off with very good coverage. I found that the bunkers were still rather wet. I landed in one and the ball disappeared into the water in the bunker. On other holes, the bunker was hard packed and wet. Greens were decent but it felt a little spongy as it was still wet. Balls still rolled ok. Have to remember to allow a little more time to play after it rains to allow the course to dry out.

With all the recent rains, we found that a number of trees had fallen down on the course. It does not come into play unless you pulled or pushed your shots.

Played on Sunday, 12-26-21; $42 walking. No carts today as the course was saturated from the recent rainy weather. Plenty of areas of standing water and very soft turf conditions throughout the course... Continue »

Played on Sunday, 12-26-21; $42 walking. No carts today as the course was saturated from the recent rainy weather. Plenty of areas of standing water and very soft turf conditions throughout the course. The pace of play for us was about 4.5 hours thanks to the group directly in front of us. My two playing partners had only heavier cart bags and one push cart so they ended up buying a new carry bag for $199. Ouch!

Like I said, the course was saturated. Note to self, in the future do not book anything in the Sepulveda Dam Basin (Woodley, Balboa, or Encino) during or after rainy weather. The Los Angeles River runs through this area and the drainage is not good. It's about the lowest part of the valley and there's going to be standing water and wet turf.

Now, with my griping out of the way, let me tell you that the conditions were so-so. It was playable. The starter said the previous day they did allow carts but the golfer did not adhere to cart path only protocol. Actually, there aren't any continuous cart paths, so it must have turned into a free-for-all.

Greens: 6/10: They were okay; soft, and medium fast. A couple of bumps here and there, but okay.

Fairways and rough: 4/10: Wet turf is not easy to make great contact. It was a guessing game for me if I could even make good, ball-first contact. Not my best, so I'm rating it on the low side as this is a flat course without proper drainage.

Tees: 6/10: Mostly good; not too wet and fairly flat. Some were moved up, but I wish they all were.

Sand: 3/10: Well, it was wet. Some (a lot) of the bunkers had standing water. Otherwise, it was hard packed with foot prints (rakes were available).

Overall, it was a nice day otherwise. Beautiful skies, fresh air, and open spaces. Did not expect such wet conditions but I really should know better as I grew up in the Valley. It did not rain that much, but this is LA, right? Back to StormWatch 2021!

Played a Friday twilight round at Encino and found the course to be in good, not great late season shape. Everything was more or less fine, but of course you can nitpick with a lot of the small detail... Continue »

Played a Friday twilight round at Encino and found the course to be in good, not great late season shape. Everything was more or less fine, but of course you can nitpick with a lot of the small details, but you don't because you're paying $25 for a solid round of golf.

They have moved the starter's office back indoors which is a nice change, and now you get your carts over at the cart barn near the 18th green instead of them being stacked near the old starter's hut. I was paired with three other singles and we had a nice afternoon.

Fairways are of course a little on the dry side and you're going to get some thin lies, but for the most part the course is playable and very straightforward. The bunkers were thin and most unraked, while the tee boxes were also a bit beat up but easy to find a flat surface (easy considering there's not an elevation on this course). Rough varied but mostly of the thin variety with a few overly-lush sections where nature's been doing its thing.

The greens were running medium-fast speed and once again proving better than this course's usual (and often times unfounded) reputation. It's not a difficult course by any means with minimal danger and length being its main defense, but if conditions are good then it's even more scoreable and fun to play. There isn't much trick to any of the greens but you'll still have to work at getting the varying speeds down even if you're not too worried about slopes or tiers. It's all quite gettable.

Encino remains a great option to get your swing back and still have a good time while building back your confidence in your game.

Awesome T - Thursday at Encino... This is my preferred LA City System course and really enjoyed my round and the course itself. Encino is a mature championship style course that features many large m... Continue »

Awesome T - Thursday at Encino... This is my preferred LA City System course and really enjoyed my round and the course itself. Encino is a mature championship style course that features many large mature trees that line fairways. The course is flat and great for walking. It's close to 7,000 yards from the tips, which challenges you to bring your long game. Encino has reasonably wide fairways that are lined with rough and trees. Greens are large and were fairly soft. Bunkering on this course is primarily greenside. Despite its generosity, this course demands that you hit the fairway, or you will be blocked by 50+ foot tall trees and in 5 inch rough. Really love the give and take of this course. The course plays about 5-10 yards longer on most shots due to the heavy SF Valley air, and due to the fact that the course is at baseline level proximate to the Sepulveda Basin. The course was in good condition for LA Muni standards. For my taste, the course layout is rated a 4.5 out of 5, conditions are rated a 3.25 out of 5. I note the following: Tee Boxes: Mostly level and lush, limited divot damage. Grass a bit long at times. Fairways: Green generally, very limited bare spots and divot damage. Greens: Green, slow in speed, soft, and a bit long cut at times. Speed about a 9. Sand: Maintained, medium-firm, and heavy. Rough: Maintained, about 3 - 5 inches. Driving Range: The range is off mats but very solid. The course also includes 2 nice chipping areas and a practice bunker. Practice Putting Green: Reasonably large and in excellent condition. Speed was consistent with course. POP: 4 hours – no wait was encountered on any hole. Thu. 8 AM Other: restaurant and the golf shop are good to go if the services of either are needed. Given the conditions recently encountered, I won't turn down playing Encino. Looking forward to my next outing here in the near future. Thank you Encino!

Having just played Balboa last Sunday I wasn't expecting to be at this complex so soon, but I scored a rare single spot on Friday 4/16 at 3:35 on about a days notice. I had taken note of the GK aerati... Continue »

Having just played Balboa last Sunday I wasn't expecting to be at this complex so soon, but I scored a rare single spot on Friday 4/16 at 3:35 on about a days notice. I had taken note of the GK aeration notification of about nine days previous, but decided to go anyway and work on other aspects of my game. So there I was teeing of on Encino with another single and twosome. In short, it was better than expected. The teeing grounds were all level and in good shape with more than adequate coverage. Fairways were a step up from Balboa. The grass was more consistent as to type and coverage, offering better, not so tight lies as Balboa and an overall healthier look. Still some decent runout. Rough was more distinct from the fairway here although most of the time not punitive. I was in one fairway bunker on the corner of #14 and found it in good, playable condition. The green side areas were in decent shape and reasonably consistent for short game. The greens themselves were a pleasant surprise. Yes, the waffle pattern of sand filled holes was still evident, but the pace was a good medium, the lines were surprisingly true and there were few instances of any hops in the rolls. I was prepared to bang away on velcro and instead found the surface playable and consistent and had a pretty good putting day. I'd play them again tomorrow, but give them a week and they should be very nice even if there are still visual traces. The group was very pleasant socially and with similar playing skills. The group and course pace moved along well at just a little over four hours and we finished 18 as the light and depth perception were fading. Encino is the bigger brother of the two courses with a few hundred more yards of length. Per my recent review, Balboa is definitely playable, but Encino generally seems to be the better maintained of the two, particularly as to the fairways. Both are generally flat and very walkable. With the qualifier that the greens are recovering, I still recommend the course as in good shape. While it had no impact on my review, I just remembered and had to mention I got out walking for a Senior Twilight rate of $12.50. A ridiculous deal.

Played a Friday twilight round at Encino this past week in spurts of rain and a constant chill that was unpleasant for much of the round, but the weather cleared for most of the back nine so that was ... Continue »

Played a Friday twilight round at Encino this past week in spurts of rain and a constant chill that was unpleasant for much of the round, but the weather cleared for most of the back nine so that was nice. I'm sure the rain this week has done wonders for the course.

Check-in went smooth and we played from the blue tees while getting a cart for around $42. The carts themselves are amusing as they've placed a plastic barrier in makeshift fashion between the seat to separate players who most likely drove there together in a car. A nonsense, but what isn't right now?

As for the course conditions, pretty standard stuff again at Encino. You're going to find non-pristine fairways that are plenty okay though to play golf from, some thin lies around the greens, simple but ample rough, tree-lined but fairly wide-open fairways with lots of room to spray the ball, average bunkers, pretty beat-up tee boxes and greens that are surprisingly good in terms of coverage, speed and trueness of line. Always surprised how well they keep the greens here despite all the traffic. Ball marks always an issue though with more 'budget' golf.

Encino is a great course to really get your confidence back after some rough rounds though and it's just interesting enough to have a good time. It's as flat as can be and very straightforward, but what it lacks in charm it makes up for in value and consistency. I never blow off a chance to play here over and over again.

My friend and I found an early morning tee time today at Encino. We teed off at 6:45am. It was VERY cold to start - 39 degrees! As the second group out, following a very quick threesome, we finished ... Continue »

My friend and I found an early morning tee time today at Encino. We teed off at 6:45am. It was VERY cold to start - 39 degrees! As the second group out, following a very quick threesome, we finished the front 9 in 1 hour and 10 minutes. We caught some back 9 starting groups, but still ended up with a brisk 3 hour and 5 minute round.

Encino is in deep winter condition. The greens were soft, holding shots pretty well, and rolling medium speed. I was in one greenside bunker, and it was in good shape. The rest of the course is thin, with spotty grass and many bare areas. Although, I will say that when in the fairway there was enough cushion under your ball to get a good strike on it. The thin and ragged fairways were not hard pan. So, you were able to get a good strike on the ball. Tee boxes were pretty chewed up. But never really posed a problem. For a quick, early round at $20 for the senior walking rate, it was decent.