Played with my monthly group at 8:15am on Saturday, 1/13/18. Crazy warm weather for January – 80*+ today with clear skies and no wind. [Another 1 million people from the Northeast just decided to move... Continue »

Played with my monthly group at 8:15am on Saturday, 1/13/18. Crazy warm weather for January – 80*+ today with clear skies and no wind. [Another 1 million people from the Northeast just decided to move to CA – great!]. As previous posters noted, the clubhouse and shop are undergoing extensive renovation – the new outdoor patio looks nice, but the shop is skeletal right now, and bathrooms are only in poorly-maintained porta-johns – ugh!! Range balls are chipped/cut/worn, and mats are also pretty worn. Putting green is in very nice condition. Started on time behind a couple 5somes and pace was expected 5 hrs. Not much divot mix provided initially, but we filled up from a bin on #8. Lots of unfilled divots in fairways and rough. At that time of the morning everything is very wet, and the course still shows the heavy rain we had a few days ago, as the soil here is mostly clay and dries very slowly. Almost every shot wound up with mud on the ball. Fairway and rough turf is dormant and/or thin, with lots of scattered bare areas. Not a lot of rollout in the damp conditions. We played winter rules (LCP) but good lies were sometimes hard to find. Tees are also thin, and being wet they were quickly torn up between the markers even this early. Many were also sloping, with the worst offenders the 4th (to the right) and 18th (to the left, when you really need a L>R shot there!). Greens were the best part of the course. They all had good coverage, rolled well at increasing speed as they dried out, and were pretty firm but receptive. Not too many unrepaired ballmarks. I didn’t remember this much slope on some of these greens (I play here just once a year), and the guy setting the pins chose some very slopy areas today! The position on hole #8 was really unfair – just below the crest of the runup to the upper tier. There was almost no way to stop the ball near the hole in any direction, and even putts from directly below the hole stopped near the hole, then rolled back 6-8 feet. I think the 5some in front of us took 18 putts!! Sand was in good condition, ample in all greenside areas, fairly dry, and raked. OK for a casual round.

Played here 12/30/17. Sad to say but this place has really gone downhill since new management company took over. Seems like they have focused on restaurant exterior and have neglected actual course.... Continue »

Played here 12/30/17. Sad to say but this place has really gone downhill since new management company took over. Seems like they have focused on restaurant exterior and have neglected actual course. Clubhouse is depressing with little to no merchandise available. Range balls were PATHETIC (DIMPLELESS @$12 per bucket). Thin fairways with many bare spots make it frustrating to play. I understand it is winter but it was almost as bad a few months ago. No consistency at all with tee boxes-many bare spots and most unlevel. Sand traps and greens were pretty good. Customer service in pro shop/restaurant was very good. Used to be my favorite LA county course but it appears a mistake was made awarding this place to current management company. Will definitely wait to come back.

Played a Saturday round back out at Santa Anita today with a buddy on a $55 GN deal with cart. We ended up playing the blue tees and paired up with two singles on the second hole.

Greens are the h... Continue »

Played a Saturday round back out at Santa Anita today with a buddy on a $55 GN deal with cart. We ended up playing the blue tees and paired up with two singles on the second hole.

Greens are the highlight of the course right now, with very nice coverage, rolling true and holding shots well, and minimal ball marks to contend with currently. There were some tough pin positions though and more contours on the greens than I remember from before.

Fairways are in rough shape with a lot of bare or thin areas, which makes good, clean contact difficult to create. There are also plenty of muddy hardpan areas on the bottom or sides of many of the hills in the middle of the fairways here. The rough is not much better.

I was in a lot of bunkers today and the sand was pretty good. Any trouble getting out was more about my poor day than the conditions themselves. However, the tee boxes could use some serious work. Many not level, and almost all of the others very thin or beat up.

POP was very nice at just over four hours. Surprised there wasn't a madhouse today, but it was a nice, smooth pace. Unfortunately never saw cart service all day, and the pro shop is in a bit of disarray at the moment as they appear to be remodeling.

I know that I have seen Santa Anita on better days and I'm pretty sure it'll get there again. And when it does, I'm sure to be back again. It's a fun 18 with plenty of interesting holes and fun layout. It screams 'flat course' but when you're on it, it plays very differently with all of the undulations in the fairways. And a great closing hole.

Is it worth the $55 currently? Probably not, but if you can get it walking for cheaper, or a better online deal, than it's still worth your time.

Got out this afternoon as a single @2:50 and got 11 holes in for twilight before calling it quits. There was no one in sight behind me and the twosome ahead of me moved briskly so I never got close. N... Continue »

Got out this afternoon as a single @2:50 and got 11 holes in for twilight before calling it quits. There was no one in sight behind me and the twosome ahead of me moved briskly so I never got close. No wind, and really a beautiful late afternoon to get a walk in. I'd describe the conditions overall as good but wintery, the fairways in particular. With few actual bare spots, the coverage was generally green but included patches of browned out or drier grass — all of which was generally on the firm, tighter side with the accompanying rollout. I take little or no divot so I was generally fine with it. If you take more divot or need more perched lies, you might have more issue with it. The tightness overall also made chipping more challenging than usual if you were on the fairway short of the green. Areas of rough around the green were more typical, thicker lies. Otherwise, teeing grounds were very good. I missed playing any bunkers but they seemed clean and firm based on stepping into one. The greens were quite decent, pretty clean and true, running a nice medium quick. One has to make the personal decision as to whether tighter fairways create a disincentive. For me, it was not a big factor, the course conditions were consistent, and I enjoyed it.

Decided to give Santa Anita a try on Wed. 11/15 to see if any improvements have been made since the last time I was here. Got there around 10:00 and as a single, the starter got me right out. Real n... Continue »

Decided to give Santa Anita a try on Wed. 11/15 to see if any improvements have been made since the last time I was here. Got there around 10:00 and as a single, the starter got me right out. Real nice guy and he wanted to hook me up with a twosome but they had already teed off. So off I go playing solo. Something seems to have gone wrong here. The fairways were pretty brown with many dead areas and looked very dry. In fact, some were hard pan which was nice only as I got a lot of roll out. Looks like they were working on the fairways and the rough so this may be a maintenance thing? The areas around the greens were in very nice condition however. Tee boxes have definitely been worked on and were starting to grow in nicely. Bunkers are in great shape but it would be nice if people would use the rakes after hitting out of the bunkers (hint: that’s why the rakes are there! :-) Greens were real slow and some were pretty bumpy. I know it’s only been about 2-3 weeks since aeration so not a big surprise. I’d give it a couple more weeks and then let’s see how they roll. Pace of play of was about 4:40. Was moving along at a great pace until hole 7 and then came to a screeching halt. From that point, we waited on every shot. For a weekday, it was pretty crowded. A lot of twosomes followed by a few fivesomes = a long round. Noticed a few changes which I had not noticed before. The restaurant got a nice face lift with paint and they are working on improving the clubhouse. The fairway bunker on #1 was shrunk down a bit and if you’re in it, you're no longer blocked by that tree in the fairway. Also, the OB stakes right of 13 fairway are gone. Good move. IMO, average to just below average conditions. SA is a nice course with a nice layout and its always been a favorite muni of mine so I’m hoping for improvements in the near future.

Played mid AM and POP was 3.5 H. Course is in relatively good shape, with the greens being the highlight at present and glad I played prior to upcoming aeration (shame they have to do them, as they ar... Continue »

Played mid AM and POP was 3.5 H. Course is in relatively good shape, with the greens being the highlight at present and glad I played prior to upcoming aeration (shame they have to do them, as they are nice). Tee boxes were clean/level and posed no issues; fairways a mixture of green/brown (and you will find some dry patches) but provided good lies and roll, throughout; bunkers played just fine, with no issues; greens were in nice shape and receptive to shots, in addition to chipping/putting very nicely. Customer service excellent at all levels. Course seems to be shaping into a very nice course, in comparison to the way it was last year? Work continues on the pro shop and clubhouse and the appearance is very noticeable, from the past conditions. Even the restrooms on the course, have all been redone.

Played today using my handy dandy GK Coupon for Santa Anita. Tee off after 1:30PM. Finished around 4:30PM with loads of light to spare and before the twilight crowd. Caught the late morning groups... Continue »

Played today using my handy dandy GK Coupon for Santa Anita. Tee off after 1:30PM. Finished around 4:30PM with loads of light to spare and before the twilight crowd. Caught the late morning groups after 7 holes.

Greens in pretty decent shape; very receptive. They rolled well with medium/slow speed. Green complexes have that sticky kikuya grass so mind your release. Fairways may look a little yellow-ish but there was sufficient cushion underneath -- No thin lies here. Rough is a mix of thin to thick to bare but it's rough so stay away. Bunkers had compact sand. Difficult to get my club underneath but after a few shots in the bunkers you always figure a way of of those hazards.

Pace of play was brisk. Started as a single, ended up as a 5-some as the groups behind kept coming.

This was first visit here. Heard a lot of positive things about this course so I wanted to check it out for myself. Love the layout. It's fun, challenging and conditions I was say as pretty good for this time of year. Not bad for you folks in the San Gabriel valley. Play here again? You betcha! Recommended.

Had another doctor’s appointment in Duarte and while out here, had to play SA, particularly after reading the last few reviews. The last couple of times I played here I was pretty disappointed with t... Continue »

Had another doctor’s appointment in Duarte and while out here, had to play SA, particularly after reading the last few reviews. The last couple of times I played here I was pretty disappointed with the course conditions as this has always been an old, favorite muni of mine. Walked up and registered as a single and the starter mentioned I would need to wait a bit unless I wanted to go out as a single. Only waited about 10 minutes and other single checked in and off we went. Nice older gentleman and we had fun. As a twosome, we finished in just over 4 hours which was surprising being that we waited on every hole. We were behind a pretty slow foursome. Example: On hole #8 a par 3, we walked up to the tee box and found the group ahead of us sitting eating lunch while the green was open. I mentioned to them that the green was open and they can hit. They jumped up and scrambled to grab clubs to hit. Oy Vey! Well, I am pleased to say that there are some nice improvements out here. The fairways are in very nice condition. And they are filling in many of the bare spots around the green with sod (looked like kikuyu). Sand traps are nice but they have always been good here. Tee boxes were really nice. Good coverage on all of the tee boxes. Greens are better but still very slow, bumpy and grainy. The good news the ball would stay online for the most part but not sure why they are so slow. Overall, I was impressed with the improvements. It’s clear they are trying to improve the operation here. The restaurant and bar has been upgraded a bit and there are little things out there that make the course look clean. SA has never been noted for their greens but I’m hoping one day they will get to a point when someone would say “boy those greens at Santa Anita are great”! One day!

My buddy got an 11:30 GolfNow tee time for today, 8/20, at $40 per with cart and we went out as a twosome. It was was surprisingly wide open. The foursome ahead had a few holes lead and we saw no one ... Continue »

My buddy got an 11:30 GolfNow tee time for today, 8/20, at $40 per with cart and we went out as a twosome. It was was surprisingly wide open. The foursome ahead had a few holes lead and we saw no one behind us until the 16th tee when a twosome came up the 15th, seemingly out of nowhere. The conditions continue to be pretty good and much the same as recent reports by myself and others. There are some occasional brown and thinner areas on the fairways but even those provide a good hitting surface in most cases. Actual hardpan is hard to find and most of the fairway areas are green and fairly lush with good lies. There are some good sized patches on a number of fairway marked as GUR and newly sodded. It's nice to see the effort to maintain and/or improve the conditions. The rough, more often than not, was not overly punitive, and the bunkers I visited were clean but a bit firm under an inch or two of softer top sand. The greens were receptive, reasonably clean, and ran pretty true at a medium speed. I don't know why the course was so open, but I'm not complaining. We got around in about 4.25 hours. This is the third time I've been here in a little over a month, so I'll probably give it a rest for a while, but I still recommend it.