Played Encino yesterday with some friends. The greens were the best I've ever experienced there. The course is in pretty good shape for a municipal. They're suppose to aerate at the beginning of ne... Continue »

Played Encino yesterday with some friends. The greens were the best I've ever experienced there. The course is in pretty good shape for a municipal. They're suppose to aerate at the beginning of next month so if you want to play a course that's not to tough with great true running greens, get to it.

Having played Balboa before but never Encino, had the chance to give it a shot and cross it off the list with a 9:52am tee time and hitting from the blue tees. My expectations (especially a day after ... Continue »

Having played Balboa before but never Encino, had the chance to give it a shot and cross it off the list with a 9:52am tee time and hitting from the blue tees. My expectations (especially a day after Rancho San Marcos) were decidedly humble. I know the deal.

I'm not going to say that I was overwhelmed in any way, but we can say that I was pleasantly surprised in a few good ways. The main one was the greens. They are in really great shape. They were not particularly fast at all (but certainly not slow - let's call it medium), but were fantastic surfaces with little to no damage at all, great consistency and coverage, and held shots nicely all the while rolling true. Cheers to the staff for that.

The rest of the course was okay, with some parts not great. There were some good sections of fairway to be found, but mostly a lot was a bit overgrown on the sides and just past the tee boxes, and it was often hard to find the line between fairway and rough. Speaking of the rough, it's rough. There's also a lot of debris around, including many of the fallen trees post storm. Definitely some thin lies to be found as well - not sure how well this course drains.

Tee boxes were what you would expect - a little beat up and in need of attention. And the bunkers were very firm and unforgiving. I was in three bunkers throughout the round and never once needed to take any sand, but instead just picking them clean off the dirt.

But it was a very hot, beautiful day and I was not too disappointed to be there. Having played Balboa before, and despite their obvious similarities, I do think I lean more towards the Encino side as being just a bit more fun and varied from hole to hole - and mind you that's not a big lean, but a lean nonetheless.

Played as a walking threesome on Monday, 2/13. The fairways were quite wet in many areas. The fairway grass is blotchy. You get some decent lies, and some muddy lies. Fairways are in fair winter condi... Continue »

Played as a walking threesome on Monday, 2/13. The fairways were quite wet in many areas. The fairway grass is blotchy. You get some decent lies, and some muddy lies. Fairways are in fair winter condition. We played lift, clean, and place all day. The tee boxes are in decent shape. The two bunkers I was in had good sand. The greens were the best I've seen them. They were lush, green, and rolled medium fast. For a quick Monday round using the walking senior rate of $20, it was OK. There are several very large trees that have been uprooted and have fallen down on a few holes.

Played Encino on a sunny, breezy Sunday afternoon 2/12. I had reserved a tee time through the LA reservation system. Checking in, we found out that due to the rains, they were not allowing golf carts ... Continue »

Played Encino on a sunny, breezy Sunday afternoon 2/12. I had reserved a tee time through the LA reservation system. Checking in, we found out that due to the rains, they were not allowing golf carts on the course. AND all of the hand carts for rent were being used. We called over to Woodley Lakes and learned they were also a "walking only" course. We pushed our tee time, drove home and brought back our hand carts. LOTS of arriving golfers were "quite vocal" about this inconvenience. Most went home. So, while this is not a maintenance alert, be aware that all three courses in the Sepulveda Dam rec area are walking only for the foreseeable future (at least until the rains stop).

We played 9 holes and it was quickly obvious why the golf carts were banned. While there was some standing water on the course, most of the water was just below the grass. Every step left a footprint of mud. The tee boxes were a muddy mess. The fairways were rippled from previous cart wheels...even the push carts were leaving tracks. The rough areas were swamps. Current course rules do not allow you to hit out of the rough. We should have played "lift, clean & place" too. Sand traps were like wet concrete with some still looking like wading pools. The greens were the one bright spot. They were in excellent shape, rolling true and faster than I remember for this muni.

While we probably could have played another 3 or 4 holes, we walked off after 9. Pushing the cart through the mud left our muscles sore and feet wet. I imagine the place will look amazing this summer, but wonder how they will flatten all the mud ridges in the fairway. I would think they should just close the courses for a couple weeks to avoid further damage.

Got out for a round in before work Wednesday, 8/3...teeing off at 7:04am as a twosome. POP was great, we finished in about 3.5 hrs. and waited on maybe two shots all day. Love that!

Overall, the... Continue »

Got out for a round in before work Wednesday, 8/3...teeing off at 7:04am as a twosome. POP was great, we finished in about 3.5 hrs. and waited on maybe two shots all day. Love that!

Overall, the course is in very nice shape right now. They're putting a lot of water on the fairways and greens. In some places, maybe a bit too much because we encountered some standing water.
The greens were the best part of the course...very soft and a bit slow, probably 8.5-9 on the stimp. They rolled very true with minimal bumpiness...I rolled in 5 putts over 10 ft, so they definitely were holding lines.
The tee boxes were in pretty good shape, mostly level with nice coverage. Obviously, the par 3's were more beat up than others.
The rough was pretty consistent, about 2-3 inches and thick, and penal. I had gotten out the night before on Balboa for a quick 9, and the rough was almost 5 inches. It was insane. I was happy they had cut the rough down Wednesday morning, because 5 inch rough is way too long for a muni...too much time spent looking for balls just off the fairway.
Sand traps weren't in the best of shape. Mostly fine, loose dirt that had a crust on top. Playable, but not ideal. My partner had to pull his ball out of the trap in front of hole 8...it looked like a small lake.

I was pretty impressed with the conditions for the middle of summer. Most of my golf this time of year is played in Ventura county, but if you can get out early or late to beat the heat, Encino/Balboa is in a good place.

Played 7/18/17 at 8 am and finished in 3:45.

Course was in the best shape I have seen it in a while. Tee boxes were well taken care of, the fairways had good coverage-- only a few dead spots, rough... Continue »

Played 7/18/17 at 8 am and finished in 3:45.

Course was in the best shape I have seen it in a while. Tee boxes were well taken care of, the fairways had good coverage-- only a few dead spots, rough was what you expect from a city course, and the greens rolled well but very very slow. As usual there were ball marks on the greens but not too many, and always took some time to repair stray marks. We didn't wait on a single shot and didn't see another group until we got to the 18th tee. There was a tournament behind us and they were a good 3-4 holes behind us when we finished. Make sure you're not teeing it up behind a tournament if you want an enjoyable round.

Played as part of the match play qualifier. It was hot. The course are really in some of the best shape I have seen in years. The tees are full and have minimal divot damage. They are firm but soft en... Continue »

Played as part of the match play qualifier. It was hot. The course are really in some of the best shape I have seen in years. The tees are full and have minimal divot damage. They are firm but soft enough to get a tee into with ease. The fairways are firm and have good coverage. The ball is sitting up well but you can take a divot and not hurt your wrist. There is some fuzz around the greens but it is well taken care of for the most part. The rough is hit and miss and can be very thick in some of the shady spots. It will usually cost you to be in the rough bu then again that is what is supposed to happen.

The greens were full and lush. They ran medium to a bit slow and were especially slow uphill (as expected). The greens were on the soft side but not squishy. They held a shot well.
The bunkers were VERY dry and powdery is some places and d%mn and packed in others. The biggest issue was the lack of manicuring. I had one lie in a bunker where the ball was sitting in the middle of a big tuft of grass right below the lip. very frustrating.

It was in good shape for a Muni and play kept moving even if it wasn't that fast. If it was always like this I would play here more often.

Met three buddies to play Encino Wednesday, 3/2, for a 2:40 tee time. Starter let us out about 10 minutes early, ahead of the high school players. GK'er "chipper28" posted a review just two days ago s... Continue »

Met three buddies to play Encino Wednesday, 3/2, for a 2:40 tee time. Starter let us out about 10 minutes early, ahead of the high school players. GK'er "chipper28" posted a review just two days ago so I'm pointing you there for a full review (about five back in the thread.). I'm only adding a couple of comments. Since his review they must have cut the greens because I found them medium/quick and not especially bumpy —pretty decent really. Otherwise, what was really noteworthy was that, after letting a single tee off ahead of us on the first tee, we seemed to have the course to ourselves. High schoolers receded in the distance behind us as the round went on, and nobody in sight ahead after the single pulled away from us. We got done in just about four hours, pretty much as we were losing the ability to track the ball in the deep gloom. In summary, greens were decent and the rest was adequate to the task at hand. A muni in winter.

Played an early afternoon round on 3/1/16. The drought conditions persist but was surprised by the courses ability to maintain it greenery. I just walked on and was paired with a regular who said th... Continue »

Played an early afternoon round on 3/1/16. The drought conditions persist but was surprised by the courses ability to maintain it greenery. I just walked on and was paired with a regular who said that the last time he played Encino, the greens were lightning fast. Today...not so much. Greens were much slower than I'm used too, and bumpy to boot. They were in much need of a mow. The fairways continue to be fast and firm, but patchy as you drift off the fairways towards the rough. The bunkers weren't an issue, if a little on the thin side. Fairways are wide open with large welcoming greens, which falsely lures me into believing I'm decent at this crazy game..ha! We could have finished in about 3 hours but were caught behind a sluggardly foursome. But my playing partner Charlie, kept me entertained with his stories as a cameraman during the Oscars. So good times. Come out and play it before they punch the greens next month.