Wednesday afternoon round at Griffith Park Harding today with an old friend who was playing a GP course for the first time. Had an 11:04am tee time, grabbed a cart and hit from the blue tees with anot... Continue »

Wednesday afternoon round at Griffith Park Harding today with an old friend who was playing a GP course for the first time. Had an 11:04am tee time, grabbed a cart and hit from the blue tees with another really enjoyable pair of gentlemen.

Bit of a rollercoaster day on a personal level with a great front nine and an absolutely abysmal back nine, but the course stayed consistent throughout. It's about what you might expect right now from one of LA County's busiest and most trampled upon courses.

What kind of shape is Harding in right now? Not bad. The fairways are definitely thin in some areas but for the most part you will be rewarded with serviceable lies - not lush, but serviceable. A few dried out spots called for 'winter' rules, even though it was close to 100 degrees outside! The rough is thick in places off the fairways and definitely grabby around the greens. Tee boxes were in good shape for the most part, and traps were average to slightly above average depending on the hole.

Greens were rolling pretty well but definitely too many ball marks and golfers simply not doing their part to keep up the nice work the grounds crew is doing. Some surface damage visible on the 11th hole green, but for the most part they were soft and holding shots well, running relatively straight and hitting a speed I would guess around a 9 to a 9.5.

No cart service all day which is a shame with that hot weather, however the great snack shop between Harding and Wilson is accessible from the 5th hole tee box and 8th hole green, so you can stock up there with all you need. Harding also remains a fun layout - not crazy or quirky in any way, just a solid all-around golf course with the solid player in mind.