Got out Sunday, 11/10 around 11:30 as a threesome on a really nice, not overly warm day. They seemed to be doing reseeding type work on some of the tee boxes, so most of the markers were moved a few y... Continue »

Got out Sunday, 11/10 around 11:30 as a threesome on a really nice, not overly warm day. They seemed to be doing reseeding type work on some of the tee boxes, so most of the markers were moved a few yards ahead of the respective monuments. Usually not a big shift and the hitting areas were pretty level with good coverage, so thumbs up on the tees. Fairways were nice hitting surfaces on the whole, also with coverage tight enough to give some good rollout. There were scattered browned areas and isolated wet spots. At one point, I ended up in a small area of shallow standing water, took my drop and played on — no biggie. The 16th fairway was the exception in that there was an extended stretch in the vicinity of the 150 mark that was soggy — mostly playable but a little squishy. Rough varied a little between somewhat punitive to not punitive at all and was pretty green except for some bare ground in the tree lines. I missed the bunkers but they looked clean and seemed firm based on observing my companions' results. The greens were in very good shape and actually running pretty quick — fair and challenging. The light breeze early in the round faded to still by the end of the round and the temps fell off a bit, so the nice conditions early became beautiful conditions by the finish, with the sun's angle lowering. Pace was steady and surprisingly good. With minimal waiting I think we finished our loop in something around 4 hrs. A very enjoyable round, I would definitely recommend it for the overall conditions.

October 20 2019 LA City Senior Tournament. It was a two day event to play both courses- a well ran tournament. Both days were a beautiful conducive day for golf with a nice blue skies with temperatur... Continue »

October 20 2019 LA City Senior Tournament. It was a two day event to play both courses- a well ran tournament. Both days were a beautiful conducive day for golf with a nice blue skies with temperatures in the low to mid 70s and a very light wind. No one had any excuses as for the weather. It was a great weekend. Course conditions here on Harding is better than the usual for the past ten years or so. The greens were smooth although it didn’t putt anywhere close to fast. It was spongy and receptive and easy to chip in to as ot didn’t roll much. If you can spin the ball, it will check easily. This is a much different greens condition than anything in the high desert, Las Vegas, or the lower desert- Palm Springs. These are not firm greens at all- it looks like bent grass not Bermuda grass also although I am not an expert. Bunkers were filled with sand (thumbs up), the fairways were mowed close. Most had some roll and ran, some were over watered leaving muddy areas in puddles and some areas prevented the rolls- frustrating. The teeing grounds were fine and it was a pleasure to tee it near or on the markers. The kikuyu rough was not that tall although it was still tough to play from. All in all it was a pleasure to play in. The staff were great and helpful. The tournament committee were great although they dropped the ball from emailing a few people for the re scheduled tee time the following day, but no big deal. I’ll give it another chance next year. Hopefully, the courses here would continue to improve their conditions. Although being it’s a city course I have my doubts but I hope I’m wrong. (The current conditions of Wilson & Harding course are much the same @ this time)

It was Saturday 09.07.19 our tee time was 09:20 on time. Sunny, humid but not terribly hot with very little wind at times made it a good walk on the course. My friend carried and I took a push cart ... Continue »

It was Saturday 09.07.19 our tee time was 09:20 on time. Sunny, humid but not terribly hot with very little wind at times made it a good walk on the course. My friend carried and I took a push cart with. Never letting the group ahead out of sight, but still ended up in a 5 hour round- no surprises and as expected. Nothing special about the conditions of this course other than it is playable and not bad. The greens were medium slow and you might fix a few ball marks, but it's not bad. They were soft and receptive on approaches. The bunkers around the greens have sand/dirt but it works. The fairways are okay, you might see different types or ununiformed types of grass and uneven growth but again, it works. The teeing grounds are okay they are level and not chewed up from the back tees. the roughs are either thick or thin with kikuyu and will be tough to get out of from those healthy areas. It's just a good enough condition to play a match in. $42 to walk (what is that just a little over a couple of bucks per hole?). I'm not submitting to the 5 hour round, but if that's the only place I could meet a friend for a round without much planning, I could do this once in a while. The staff at pro shop were fine, there are no beverage cart. What/where do the water on their little pool/lake come from? ...extra brown/green and foaming. ugh! On the 18th, same brown water from the zoo flows across the 18th fairway in an open gutter. Hmm... yuck!

Bit late on this review but played a twilight round at Harding last Friday and found the course to be in pretty good condition overall, but the real problems were back in the clubhouse where the line ... Continue »

Bit late on this review but played a twilight round at Harding last Friday and found the course to be in pretty good condition overall, but the real problems were back in the clubhouse where the line was huge because their systems were down, credit card transactions took forever, and of course the cafe/snack bar is closed so you have to use the food truck that's stationed outside for now.

Fairways are in pretty good shape overall and the greens were in serviceable, medium speed condition with a decent amount of ball marks to contend with though. Sand was just okay in the bunkers and the tee boxes are level but in some need of TLC.

POP was right on four hours as we finished up on 18, so that was good. No cart service around and the new ownership (I think) means that you can't purchase booze at the snack bar at the turn (8th to 9th hole actually), but that might be a question of the time you're trying to buy beers.

Always a fun time at Harding though which I continue to enjoy more than Wilson overall. But that's just me ...

Played the morning of 7/27 with my club. Side note, an operating/management change at the restaurant means there is no alcohol (THE HORROR!!) at the present time. Their notice is posted however so it ... Continue »

Played the morning of 7/27 with my club. Side note, an operating/management change at the restaurant means there is no alcohol (THE HORROR!!) at the present time. Their notice is posted however so it should be hashed out pretty soon. They are also renovating the restaurant near the pro shop so a food truck has taken up residence on the premises. Okay, now on to golf.

Pleasantly surprised by the conditions. Most county run courses play pretty much the same at all times of the year in my experience but Harding seemed to be a notch above in most aspects on Saturday. Tee boxes were firm, but level with plenty of good area to tee. Fairways were solid pretty much all day with lots of good lies in the kikuyu. Rough was patchy with quite a few gnarly thick areas that needed to be avoided at all costs. Was in one bunker (greenside #18) and had no issue with that one. Greens were very receptive and running medium to medium fast but you had to be very wary of downhill putts. POP ended up right around 5 hours which seems to be about normal for a weekend at Griffith Park, especially when it's 90 degrees and everyone is moving a bit slower.

Not having been out there for a good while and inspired by more positive trending reviews, I ran over to Harding Sunday afternoon, 6/16, somewhat spur of the moment. Arrived as single sometime after 2... Continue »

Not having been out there for a good while and inspired by more positive trending reviews, I ran over to Harding Sunday afternoon, 6/16, somewhat spur of the moment. Arrived as single sometime after 2:00 and was teeing off with another single and a twosome around 2:30 at $25 to walk. I only get over the Griffith Park occasionally, but enjoy the classic, muni vibe, and I was quite pleased with the conditions I found there. Tee boxes were in good shape, with grass and level. As has been noted, a few on the back nine have a bit harder ground for inserting your tee, but I really didn't find it a serious issue. Fairways were nice — good coverage/lies/and rollout. With some areas of exception, the rough was mostly not punitive and being a little bit off the fairway wasn't going to cost you much. This was something of a relief after getting beat up by the rough at Brookside a couple days earlier. Bunkers seemed on the firm side with the ball sitting on top, but upon striking, I found them softer than they appeared. One in our group complained about a bunker he was in as being like concrete, but I think that was an outlier. They were generally pretty playable. Greens were in nice shape — generally clean with a minimum of pitch marks and running a good medium quick speed. Burying the lead here, it turns out they were wrapping up an LA City tournament that day (13th thru 16th), so we were following on tournament-ready conditions. Safe to say, it was about as nice as one could expect at Harding. As a bonus, the guys I was paired up were all enjoyable company. If you ever have had Harding in your rotation, now would be a good time to revisit it.

Played Sunday morning at 8 am, 6-9-19. Our 4-some got off right on time, and it was smooth sailing. We finished in about 4:30, with basically no waiting at any holes. Fairways were in really good c... Continue »

Played Sunday morning at 8 am, 6-9-19. Our 4-some got off right on time, and it was smooth sailing. We finished in about 4:30, with basically no waiting at any holes. Fairways were in really good condition, giving many plush lies. Some of the bunkers had some heavy sand and a couple of tee boxes were quite hard (but better than before). The rough was not very penal with making decent contact relatively easy. The greens were overall smooth; slow-ish but no complaints. The 4th player, a single who joined us, turned out to be a former college player who shot a very easy 69 (could easily have been a 66). It was very entertaining watching someone that good up close.

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.