Played 4/12. Tee boxes were really, really hard. Like breaking tees hard. Fairways and tee boxes thin, greens were nice. Comparatively, Balboa was in much, much better condition a few weeks ago when w... Continue »

Played 4/12. Tee boxes were really, really hard. Like breaking tees hard. Fairways and tee boxes thin, greens were nice. Comparatively, Balboa was in much, much better condition a few weeks ago when we played there. No marshals on the course whatsoever, so lots of waiting with groups way out of position, but I guess that's to be expected here. One of our group parked by the driving range and had their car broken into. Good times.

Out early as usual, trying to get ahead of the crowds. One of the nice things about the two Griffith Park courses is that neither come in after nine, so I do no have to deal with back nine play. Plu... Continue »

Out early as usual, trying to get ahead of the crowds. One of the nice things about the two Griffith Park courses is that neither come in after nine, so I do no have to deal with back nine play. Plus I love the park like setting of these two courses. Great old style traditional golf courses, a pleasure to walk.

Prior review was spot on, although I did not have too much trouble with the firm tee boxes. (Maybe because I play from the tips?) Fairways were a mix of nice grass or thin lies. Greens were not smooth, but puttable. Maybe after they punch next month they'll improve.
Rough was spotty, a mixed bag.

Wilson seems to get all the play, but there is nothing wrong with Harding, and because of the lower demand, much easier to get out on.

Played on 3-30-19 (Saturday) morning. 8:08 tee time and hardly anyone gathered at the first tee box. My twosome wasn't joined by anyone and we had to wait on the 4-some in front of us for most of th... Continue »

Played on 3-30-19 (Saturday) morning. 8:08 tee time and hardly anyone gathered at the first tee box. My twosome wasn't joined by anyone and we had to wait on the 4-some in front of us for most of the round (can't be helped). POP was about 4:25. Fairways were overall fair to good although some parts were quite bumpy. Dirt patches here and there but not too intrusive. Greens were OK, again pretty fair. A few had some fungus-like circles but again not too intrusive. Bunkers had some heavy-ish sand but again, ok. Fairway rough was not too penal at least when I was in there. Biggest negative was that a few tee boxes were close to rock-hard, making pushing a tee in quite a chore. Weather was perfect and overall the course looked green which is a plus.

Played Harding again on Sunday with Kassper7 and was quite excited after the recent rains to see the course in a much more verdant state since the last reviews and my own experience there a few weeks ... Continue »

Played Harding again on Sunday with Kassper7 and was quite excited after the recent rains to see the course in a much more verdant state since the last reviews and my own experience there a few weeks (months?) back. Unfortunately it was quite disappointing as the fairways still had plenty of thin and dried out areas and none too green either overall.

But that's not to say it's all doom and gloom at this Griffith Park staple on the local golfing scene. You can find some nice areas of fairway as well, just not as thorough as one expects after so much rainfall. You'll also find some thin areas around the greens which makes chipping quite tough. Rough is a mixed bag of lush, thin, dirt and whatever else in between.

Tee boxes were in some pretty bad shape on some holes but always flat and level. And the bunkers had a working amount of sand in them. How about those greens? Not too bad, actually. They were in nice shape and rolling medium-fast with some very tough pin positions for Harding. There are a few that are quite sloped and when the pins are there, it's very tough to get the right speed … and that 'keep the pin in' rule is starting to look good on holes like these.

No cart service that I noticed all day but the snack shop between 8 and 9 has everything that you'll need to get through the day. Oh yes, we walked the blue tees and got out early as there was some marathon around there causing some delays getting to the course.

Overall it was a beautiful day though and I always enjoy playing this track.

Arrived well before 6am and was surprised how crowded it was ! Even so I was able to get out without too much difficulty.

I was very disappointed with the overall condition of the course. The fa... Continue »

Arrived well before 6am and was surprised how crowded it was ! Even so I was able to get out without too much difficulty.

I was very disappointed with the overall condition of the course. The fairways were awful, lots of bare areas, uncut areas, and just a mix of poorly maintained grass. Same with the rough. The greens were the best part of the course, but they were bumpy in many spots. In all fairness, they were much quicker than they appeared.

I've always enjoyed the two Griffith Park courses, but I don't know how many more times I'll make the trek from Coto. Just too many "uncertainties"

Played today, 1/7/19 with a tee time around mid-morning. POP was just under 4 hours to play 18. Not bad for a public course. It had rained overnight and early morning. Course was very wet and it w... Continue »

Played today, 1/7/19 with a tee time around mid-morning. POP was just under 4 hours to play 18. Not bad for a public course. It had rained overnight and early morning. Course was very wet and it was drizzling when we played.

Course was in decent shape today. With early morning rain, the fairways had a lot of puddles here and there. It was not fun seeing a big splash when your ball landed in a puddle on the fairway. Tee boxes had fairly good coverage. The fairways had average coverage today. Thought it would have more grass coverage with the recent rains. But we encountered a number of bare muddy spots, pools of water, and thin lies on the fairways. Didn't land in any bunkers but the bunkers looked wet and some had puddles of water in it. Greens were in great shape and were rolling pretty good. Some of the greens were pretty large and it was nice playing under the new rules where you didn't have to remove the flag stick.

Our golf cart was not handling too well in wet conditions. It would skid a lot while braking and the golf cart was looking a little old and would rattle a lot. There's a driving range here and the restaurant here is pretty good.

Saturday round at Harding this weekend and the course is in fair to good shape. Played the blue tees with a push cart at the regular weekend rate. Course was not as crowded as was expected, but it was... Continue »

Saturday round at Harding this weekend and the course is in fair to good shape. Played the blue tees with a push cart at the regular weekend rate. Course was not as crowded as was expected, but it was still a four and half hour round.

Fairways are mostly in fair condition with some lush areas, but mostly good at best with many splotchy, thin or just dirt areas to find yourself. Greens were in good shape and running slightly faster than expected. Bunkers could use some sand and the tee boxes on many holes are pretty beat up.

Was expecting a little more lush conditions after the recent rain, but was not too disappointed as Harding is still a fun track to play with plenty of opportunities to score low, but also enough challenge to create problems and run up a big hole now and again.

I also used this opportunity to take up-to-date pictures of all 18 holes since there were just a few in the gallery at this high-traffic, very popular local course.

If your expectations are modest and you just want a fun round of good golf, you should have no hesitation going to Harding right now.

Played an early morning round last Saturday, around 7:00. Walked up to the starter and was teeing off about 15 minutes later. Always good service here in my experience, starter and F&B staff, and to... Continue »

Played an early morning round last Saturday, around 7:00. Walked up to the starter and was teeing off about 15 minutes later. Always good service here in my experience, starter and F&B staff, and today was no exception. Good POP at 3:55.

The course was in pretty good shape. Some bare spots in the fairways, tees a bit beaten up, and the one trap I was in had good sand on my first shot and no sand in my (alas) second shot from three feet closer to the hole. The rough was cut down in most spots with it being more full on the clubhouse side of the road. The highlight of the course were the greens. My not having putted before the round killed me because the greens were quite fast. They were very wet with dew when we started out and did not look close cropped but my first putt went 15' by the hole. Surprisingly fast. There is enough slope on some of the greens to make it fun. The held approach shots well though.

Good experience so recommended.

Played a twilight round at Harding with two friends ahead of the Labor Day weekend festivities and found the course to be in good shape overall. I still prefer this 18 to Wilson any day of the week an... Continue »

Played a twilight round at Harding with two friends ahead of the Labor Day weekend festivities and found the course to be in good shape overall. I still prefer this 18 to Wilson any day of the week and this round did nothing to sway me from that opinion. I found fairly/mostly lush fairways throughout the course with occasional areas that were somewhat thin or dried out, but rarely had a bad lie to deal with all day. The rough was nice and thick but far from penal. Tee boxes were in good shape overall with plenty of flat areas but some extra care might be taken here to get them spruced up a bit. Bunkers I avoided all day but heard no major complaints from my playing partners. The greens were in really nice shape overall, putting at medium-fast speeds but nothing too crazy or undulating to worry about at Harding. They held shots very well and seemed only minimally bumpy. Ball marks? Sure, a fair bit, but that's on the golfers there not taking the time to make the course a better place to play. No cart service all day but there's a great snack shop at the 8th hole 'turn' and the gal who works in there was an absolute delight. The pro shop is pretty well organized and run as well as they deal with a lot of people between the two courses. What could use a lot of work? The range. It's really simply 'functioning.' The optics there are pretty awful, but again, you're not spending your day playing there. Fun layout as always with a nice combo of long and short holes and some good scoring opportunities on the par fives. Go check it out. (Also need to remind myself again that it's a shame this course only has five pictures! I always forget to take shots of all 18 holes but I will definitely do that next time!)