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.

Played Encino for a mid morning round on Monday, 10/19. Overall the course is quite playable. Fairways are typical muni; some areas had lush good lies and some were bare or thin and dry. It was a mixt... Continue »

Played Encino for a mid morning round on Monday, 10/19. Overall the course is quite playable. Fairways are typical muni; some areas had lush good lies and some were bare or thin and dry. It was a mixture of all this. But many times I had a nice lie in the fairway. So not complaints here. The rough is mostly just a little longer than the fairway grass, except for some random area here and there that are either a bit longer or thin and hard. Tee boxes are below average. They are beat up. But you could a decent spot to tee up your ball. There are about 6 or 7 tee boxes that were closed due to repair/reseeding. The alternate teeing grounds were often very poor, hard dirt or dead grass. The two bunkers I was in had plenty of firm sand. Nice to hit from. The greens were soft, medium speed, but many were bumpy and slow. For the $20 senior walking rate, it was a good morning of golf.

850 Tee time with some guys from the club.

Range was open and the ball dispenser at least this time took the cash. Last time the dispensers were not working and its way too far a walk to hit balls... Continue »

850 Tee time with some guys from the club.

Range was open and the ball dispenser at least this time took the cash. Last time the dispensers were not working and its way too far a walk to hit balls and be reminded of
how crappy a player I am 30x.

The course was in good condition and they were watering this place all day and everywhere.

The tee boxes were usual but trimmed, clean and level-ish.

Fairways were good and getting water throughout the day.

Sand Traps, they seemed ok, I was only in one and it had been raked by maintenance so it was fine.

Around the greens were the typical kikuyu that I whine about in most of my posts but the stuff
sucks and it makes it a lot harder hitting a sexual wedge shot when needed. The apron area though, is gold! You can spin, flip, dip, do whatever you want as they are super grabby and very useful for said sexual wedge shots. Around the greens on a couple of holes had those turd tubes sprinkled around like after a punch.

Greens were good, looked like there was some micro punch done but didn't affect the roll
too much. Greens were medium speed and the pins weren't tricky.

POP was good, we were slow because there was about 20 bets going and some of my friends
are dicks about not giving some putts. Its not charity you're looking for, just some compassion.

Lastly, I could have sand blasted my nuts with Gold Bond and that still would not have prepared me enough for the sticky valley death heat that was on tap for todays round.

Bring lots of water when you head out this week.

Later

Spent Sunday afternoon at Encino to get some confidence back on a pretty direct, flat and non-tricky course. If you've played either Encino or Balboa before, you know the deal - not a lot of trouble t... Continue »

Spent Sunday afternoon at Encino to get some confidence back on a pretty direct, flat and non-tricky course. If you've played either Encino or Balboa before, you know the deal - not a lot of trouble to get into, wide fairways, few bunkers in play, and manageable greens. The course's defenses are mainly a decent amount of length and some large and thick trees between holes which can often force punchouts if you find them.

POP was not too bad except for bunching up at the par 3s, but it was a busy Sunday with a 12:50 tee time and we rode in carts while playing from the blue tees. Unfortunately no cart service to be found on course despite the crowds and hot temperatures.

Conditions for such a popular track remain quite good and the grounds crew deserves a lot of credit. The greens are in pretty fine shape with minimal ball marks and good, consistent pace to them. Speeds are medium fast and the coverage is very nice. Nothing gimmicky or tricky about the greens at all.

Fairways are mostly in good, not great shape, but you won't find too many bad lies if you're in the fairways. Some of the fringe areas can be a little thin, but it's nice and manageable in the rough and you won't get stuck in there. Tee boxes are just okay with the par 3s being particularly scruffy, while the bunkers I avoided all day looked a little on the thin side.

Not too bad for all the traffic this place is getting and it's most always an enjoyable round here.

Teed off as a foursome at 7:10am on Monday, 8/3. Pace of play was just at 4 hours. As a well used municipal course you don't expect stellar conditions at this course. But I was pleasantly surprised at... Continue »

Teed off as a foursome at 7:10am on Monday, 8/3. Pace of play was just at 4 hours. As a well used municipal course you don't expect stellar conditions at this course. But I was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition of the golf course. Although the fairways had numerous areas that were thin or even bare, most of the fairways were in very good shape. I never had anything but a great lie in any of the fairways I was in. So unless you hit the occasional bad spot, you would find the fairways were mostly pretty lush. Tee boxes were not in great shape. They were hard pan and thin. The rough was also in pretty good shape. It was about 1-2 inches and in many areas had good coverage. There were some bad spots, but I was pleasantly surprised by the good conditions of the rough. The rough around the greens was in very nice shape, easy to chip from. I was in 1 greenside bunker. It had plenty of firmly packed sand. Very easy to hit from. The greens were running medium-slow in the morning, but became medium speed as the day wore on. Unfortunately, there were far too many unfixed ball marks from Sunday play. They affected several of our putts during the round. Overall the greens were OK.