Got out today in a foursome in which I was invited to play, with a 10:00 am start. The course conditions overall were pretty nice with the big exception of the punched and sanded greens. Did I know ab... Continue »

Got out today in a foursome in which I was invited to play, with a 10:00 am start. The course conditions overall were pretty nice with the big exception of the punched and sanded greens. Did I know about them because of the GK alerts? Yes, from early in the week. And as soon as I found out, I reached out to my hosts to let them know, suggesting they check with the course and see if they wanted to reconsider. They did call the course and whomever they talked to minimized the extent of the aeration to the point of suggesting "they should be fine by Friday". They were not, they lied and an upscale facility like Industry Hills should do better. When I saw the first green —medium sized, sand-filled holes and a topcoat of sand over the entire surface — I elected not to keep my score for handicap submission. We still had a nice time, but this goes as black mark against their customer service in my book. We might still opt to play if we know the greens will be rough, but give us an honest choice when asked directly. I was not aware of any discount either.

All that aside, with the snow on the mountains and the post-storm clouds, the views were excellent.

Finally made it back out to the Babe for the first time in six years and it was every bit as challenging as I remembered it. That Zaharias course at Industry Hills is a target golfer's paradise, but i... Continue »

Finally made it back out to the Babe for the first time in six years and it was every bit as challenging as I remembered it. That Zaharias course at Industry Hills is a target golfer's paradise, but it's also got teeth in some areas made even more difficult by the current conditions.

There's not a short or mild par 3 on the course - you've either got crazy long or lots of trouble in the form of water and/or elevation to judge. The tee shots are very narrow on a great number of holes and being even slightly out of position leaves no shot for success. Hit good shots though and you'll be okay, except that right now the course is not in optimum shape.

The greens are fine - best part of the course. They're rolling nicely at medium-fast speeds, have lots of fun but tricky tiers to them, and require your best effort to keep the three-putts to a minimum. Fairways? They play much better than they look and it's the heart of winter so you can make excuses for them, but they're a pale, dead-looking green and there are also a fair bit of damaged or thin areas. The rough is not as thick as years past so it's quite playable.

The worst part? The bunkers. Simply terrible. No sand, hard-paneed and a little wet even. They were absolutely impossible to play proper sand shots from and weren't much better even when trying to chip out of there. I've never seen so many players hit hosel rockets out of the beach. Terrible. Tee boxes were also pretty beat up (played the blues) but acceptable.

We had cart service come around a few times which was great (they are card only though so keep that in mind), and the carts themselves are quite nice and have a good GPS system to help you judge this difficult track. No complaints there, and the staff all helpful and pleasant.

In top condition, this course is a true gem and a real test of shot accuracy, but right now it's a little less fun and more daunting than it should be based on some of the above-mentioned factors. I would still play it again though as the price ($89) was just fine for the golf experience. If I would have paid more then it would have been a lot more upsetting.

played the Babe yesterday. Funny to see the post Covid shift pricing. Course was in pretty good condition and the greens were really nice. Pace of play was excellent. The biggest gripe is that for an ... Continue »

played the Babe yesterday. Funny to see the post Covid shift pricing. Course was in pretty good condition and the greens were really nice. Pace of play was excellent. The biggest gripe is that for an 80 dollar price tag at least rake the bunkers. All the bunkers were in terrible condition. Its a premium course but having bunkers like that is a huge bummer.

We played this AM after the course was opened last week after overseeding. Still to early to play here IMO. 1) Cart path only all 18. 2) Fairways are lush but have not been mowed and they are very dam... Continue »

We played this AM after the course was opened last week after overseeding. Still to early to play here IMO. 1) Cart path only all 18. 2) Fairways are lush but have not been mowed and they are very damp so lots of mud balls and no roll at all. 3) $69 is not worth it right now. Always great customer service from Al in the clubhouse. The greens were mowed and playable but they putted slow and some still show signs of aeration. The rough is high and difficult. Traps are damp and some even have standing water in them. I love playing here but not under these conditions. I think they course will be much more playable in about 2 to maybe even 4 weeks. I understand the Ike is open and playable so there is always that available if you wish to play here. The one area that really makes it tough to play here presently is CPO. Lots of walking up and down hillsides is totally draining for even the heartiest of golfers IMO. Anyone who has played here knows what I am talking about. So as John says "know before you go" is in effect.

Played here today with a 12:50 TeeOff.com "Deal" time for around $60 after 20% off promo code. Things were running on time and I was paired with another single and a twosome. POP was a little slow as ... Continue »

Played here today with a 12:50 TeeOff.com "Deal" time for around $60 after 20% off promo code. Things were running on time and I was paired with another single and a twosome. POP was a little slow as expected for a weekend at Industry Hills, but not too bad at around 4:50 total. Sunny, hot at times, and hazy, with a little breeze later in the afternoon.

Conditions are pretty great! (Seems like this is prime time for course conditions everywhere, right?) The greens show the tiniest bit of evidence of aeration but roll smooth and fast, and accept full shots really well. People need to fix their ball marks but otherwise the greens are great right now. Fairways have really good coverage and are pretty firm and fast. Rough is well defined and a couple inches deep, enough to take spin off the ball and make you think. I was in one bunker and it was decent. Blue tee boxes are currently the lowlight out here. Many had big sandy areas and tons of divots. Some are good, but enough are bad to rate them poorly.

Ike looked to be in similarly good condition and I'd love to get out there while it's good. Definitely recommended, especially at "Deal" prices.

played over the weekend with a buddy, got paired with another 2some. course was in good condition and greens were quick. course is super narrow, better bring your tee game and it starts off on hole ... Continue »

played over the weekend with a buddy, got paired with another 2some. course was in good condition and greens were quick. course is super narrow, better bring your tee game and it starts off on hole 1. we played the whites and the tee boxes were in decent condition with a few uneven spots and divots on 3s, but there were maintenance folks filling in divots while on course. fairways were mowed tight with a good amount of roll on drives. rough was only about an inch, most of the time you could get a decent lie it wasn't too penalizing. bunkers were rocky and wet, some with standing water. i elected to play my buddy's kirkland wedge out of the 2 bunkers i was in instead of my brand new sm9s. greens are large and undulating with lots of crazy breaks and multiple tiers. running a decent speed, some pitch marks unrepaired. overall a fun round, course is in good condition.

Course isn’t in good shape right now. Maybe due to the excessive plays since they’re running specials on the weekdays. Tee boxes were patchy and it was a challenge to find good spots to tee off on the... Continue »

Course isn’t in good shape right now. Maybe due to the excessive plays since they’re running specials on the weekdays. Tee boxes were patchy and it was a challenge to find good spots to tee off on the par 3s. Roughs were inconsistent. Fine in some areas, bald spots galore in others. Fairways were decent with some brown areas but didn’t impact the swing too much. The greens were on the slow side and there were so many divots it was like the surface of the moon. We teed off at 7am, so plenty of these were from the previous day. So there’s no greenskeeper or marshal going around to fix leftover marks from inconsiderate golfers. POP was right around 4 hours. Saw 2 cart girls and everyone was very nice.

Played this AM as they are running another special at $64. Check in was prompt and excellent both inside and out. Pace of play at 3.5 H and nice to finish when it started getting warm. No tee box issu... Continue »

Played this AM as they are running another special at $64. Check in was prompt and excellent both inside and out. Pace of play at 3.5 H and nice to finish when it started getting warm. No tee box issues other than they were wet. But the course, like many in S CA is overwatered due to the heat. Virtually no roll out on the fairways, though they are well covered and absent many bare areas. Many balls even plug in the fairway upon landing. Rough is wet and sticky in the AM. Traps were all playable. Greens are soft and spongy. They leave huge divots when the ball lands. And I was surprised to see so many unrepaired divots that early in the AM. They do chip/putt well. I enjoy this course, but not when it is so wet like it was this morning.

Played my first round since July 2 today on the Babe. (Slept wrong one night and tweaked my shoulder, which made it seem like it would really hurt to swing a club.) Found a great rate of $52 minus 20%... Continue »

Played my first round since July 2 today on the Babe. (Slept wrong one night and tweaked my shoulder, which made it seem like it would really hurt to swing a club.) Found a great rate of $52 minus 20% promo code, so paid less than $42 for a 12:30 Saturday. Check-in was super smooth and I was paired with another single and a twosome. Had to share a cart with the other single; really nice guy who thinks we played together one time many years ago. Small world! Pace started pretty good and slowed throughout the round. By the 9th tee, the group two groups ahead had barely left the tee when we arrived. Things evened back out somewhat but we waited all day and finished in a little under five hours.

Conditions are mostly nice, especially where it matters most. Greens and fairways are both very nice. Greens are smooth, medium speed, and quite soft. Full shots left giant ball marks and stopped quickly. There were some unfixed ball marks but not too many. Fairways had great coverage, some occasional off color spots but almost always really nice cushion under the ball. Rough was much more inconsistent including bare spots and different grasses. Blue tee boxes were a mixed bag, some good and some pretty terrible. I wasn't in any bunkers but they looked good.

More holes than usual were CPO, including the par-5 6th, where I sprayed my drive right and lost sight of it. With the cart path on the left, I scrambled to search for my ball but never found it and had to take a lost ball. Five holes later, it was sitting in the adjacent 11th fairway about 20 feet from my drive on 11. Weird coincidence and especially surprising nobody picked it up that whole time.