Played on a dewy Sunday morning, got out on time around 8am. With a beginner in our group, the foursome in front of us quickly dropped us. But the foursome behind us wasn't pushing us either, althou... Continue »

Played on a dewy Sunday morning, got out on time around 8am. With a beginner in our group, the foursome in front of us quickly dropped us. But the foursome behind us wasn't pushing us either, although we could see the course backing up further behind us as the fivesomes started to take their toll. We had a slow and steady round of golf that ended up just a few minutes under five hours.

Definitely winter conditions at Santa Anita, with the fairway feeling like mostly sod. Lots of tight lies out on the bare grass, and the greens played very firm. The greens also rolled faster than I normally expect them to at SA, and they only got quicker as the day got warmer. The sand was in surprisingly good shape, not clumping up in the damp conditions. I could have done without the beginner band that was striking up at the nearby park, making an unholy din from the 5th hole until we escaped earshot around the 13th hole.

I've always loved the layout at Santa Anita, one of my favorites in the San Gabriel Valley that I've played for almost 30 years now. It's always a joy to come back and go around the track.

Look, in my opinion, this is the best designed public layout in LA. It has more strategy in it than 99% of courses. You need to pick what clubs and angles to play off the tees on 12/18 holes to give y... Continue »

Look, in my opinion, this is the best designed public layout in LA. It has more strategy in it than 99% of courses. You need to pick what clubs and angles to play off the tees on 12/18 holes to give yourself flat enough lies to attack the flags. And if you do that correctly, you'll score. I want to say that up front before the negatives.

But today...man...today. Had a 12pm tee time on a $45 GolfNow deal. We didn't finish. Ugh. The course is 6300 yards. Finishing on that routing should be no problem before 5. Got through 16 and it was too dark to see (at 5:15). No marshals anywhere. We actually did get out 15 mins late because they ran out of carts and were holding and shuffling people around to accommodate (note: I could walk or ride, I don't care but nobody ever asked).

And, almost even worse, there were more brown spots and dry lies than I've ever seen here. Many of the wonderful little gullies were bare, and as you might guess, that's where a lot of balls finish. Very disappointing. The tees were overseeded recently and it was basically like teeing up on dirt. They'll probably be fine in a month but it just added to the annoyance. Traps and Greens were just fine. They hold shots as they should and ran at medium pace (certain times of year they can be lightning here but not today).

I won't quit after one bad experience because for a thinking golfer it's a great place but I won't forget the agonizingly slow play and off-brand conditions I found today.

I went down to Santa Anita today, Sunday 11/1, around 9:30 as a single and got out pretty much right away with a twosome. Got around in a steadily paced 4.25-ish hours with the only real wait on the p... Continue »

I went down to Santa Anita today, Sunday 11/1, around 9:30 as a single and got out pretty much right away with a twosome. Got around in a steadily paced 4.25-ish hours with the only real wait on the par 3 13th. Rgm2525 just put up a nice, succinct review for a round played a few days ago, so I'm going to point you to it (precedes this review on the course thread, and about 11 back in the general reviews thread) and simply add a couple of comments. I too found the greens running medium but I didn't consider them particularly bumpy this day. Also, I think the drought has had some effect and there may be more burned out and thin areas about than first seems. Most of them are not in the prime playing areas and, when avoided, the remainder of the fairways are pretty good lie, so they may seem less prevalent than they really are. This is an observation and not a complaint. All things considered, (including drought), I thought the conditions were good and I enjoyed the course.

Played 10-27-15 early morning joining a threesome walking in 3 hours 45 minutes for $29. Tee boxes were a little thin but mostly level with some minor divot damage on three pars. Fairways were on the ... Continue »

Played 10-27-15 early morning joining a threesome walking in 3 hours 45 minutes for $29. Tee boxes were a little thin but mostly level with some minor divot damage on three pars. Fairways were on the lush side with a few thin areas and some bare areas mostly on the sides of the humps. Rough was not much longer then the fairways. Found two greenside bunkers that were a little thin. Greens were soft and a little bumpy rolling medium speed.

Played at 10:15A today. Hardly anybody there when we got there. With just the twosome, we finished our round in 3H and 25 minutes despite had to wait for a few minutes each hole on the back nine. T... Continue »

Played at 10:15A today. Hardly anybody there when we got there. With just the twosome, we finished our round in 3H and 25 minutes despite had to wait for a few minutes each hole on the back nine. The greens that normally smooth and semi fast are slow, grainy and bumpy. It's close to the time of the year when they usually punch and sand their greens. Fairways have several brown and bare spots caused by draught, extreme heat and lack of water. Aprons around the greens are hard and bare which make it extremely difficult to chip and pitch. Bunkers are thin on some holes. You are better off missing the green long or short than trying to hit a thin sand shot out of the bunkers.

The starter is great and courteous as usual.

Went over to Santa Anita this morning Sunday, 8/2, sometime before 10 and after a reasonably short wait was put out with another single as a twosome. The foursome ahead of us was about two holes out, ... Continue »

Went over to Santa Anita this morning Sunday, 8/2, sometime before 10 and after a reasonably short wait was put out with another single as a twosome. The foursome ahead of us was about two holes out, we caught them at the par-3 fourth hole where they let us play through. It put us in an open pocket and it wasn't until the 16th tee box that we caught up with the main herd — so it was nice pace all day for us. Most of the conditions here were status quo as far as good tee boxes, average rough and good greens running at medium speed—a bit slower than their optimum medium-quick pace. I thought it noteworthy that the fairways are showing a bit of drought effect — more noticeable brown and exposed dirt patches here and there. Most are out of the way of general play, but not all. That aside, the fairways were generally OK, with a fair share of good lies — sometimes even setting up. Hitting into a couple of bunkers caused me to notice that they were well kept. Slightly firm but nicely playable sand with groomed surfaces and not a footprint in site. It was nice to see. As always, a pretty solid muni experience.

Played on 6/06 (D-Day!). One of the coolest, funnest courses one can play in all of So Cal. Interesting and fun fairway movement, and some very neat greens, like 7 and 13. Great value for money and a ... Continue »

Played on 6/06 (D-Day!). One of the coolest, funnest courses one can play in all of So Cal. Interesting and fun fairway movement, and some very neat greens, like 7 and 13. Great value for money and a type of course you will not see often (sadly). Considering the water restrictions, the course was in solid shape. Play it!

Went over on my own Sunday morning 5/31, mid morning. After warming up with a small pile of balls, I checked in as a single and, like my previous experience here, had to wait for more players to show ... Continue »

Went over on my own Sunday morning 5/31, mid morning. After warming up with a small pile of balls, I checked in as a single and, like my previous experience here, had to wait for more players to show up before they would put me out. I knocked around the putting green for what seemed like twenty minutes and was just about to head over to Alhambra when a threesome showed up and I was sent out with them. Tee boxes were all pretty good as far as level, some were nicely green and a few were more thin and dried, but all were suitable for teeing off. Fairways were generally good with the occasional thin brown spot floating out there, but nothing at all unreasonable. I noticed numerous areas around the periphery marked with white paint as ground under repair, which I thought was good. It meant that in some cases, where you hit a particularly rough or unsuitable patch, you had a no-penalty recourse. I was in a few bunkers and they were all reasonably playable, even as there was some variance in sand quality. As always, rough was a mixed bag but I would generally rate it as good with many opportunities (not always) to save par from off the fairway. The greens were in nice shape. Running a crisp medium speed and pretty true, they were very receptive with soft pitch marks that were easy to repair. Overall the course is in solid shape. Worth mentioning was the lack of traffic. I'm not sure when we got out — call it 10:30-11:00 — but the group ahead must have been at least three or four holes out, and we never saw anyone behind until a single appeared two holes behind us as we reached the 15th. We kept a casual pace and I'm guessing it was something under 4.5 hours. I had called ahead to confirm that there were no outings or tournaments, which can sometimes be the case, but we were all amazed at how open the course was on a Sunday. I believe they may have just bumped up the fee a couple of bucks. Does a couple of bucks make that much difference? For whatever reason, the course was worth it. The threesome was good company and I enjoyed the round.

Played today with my brother Tony and two buddies. Pace of play was 4:40. Greens look and putted smooth, but slow at maybe a 8. Fairways had decent coverage, and rough was not too penal but occasional... Continue »

Played today with my brother Tony and two buddies. Pace of play was 4:40. Greens look and putted smooth, but slow at maybe a 8. Fairways had decent coverage, and rough was not too penal but occasional hardpan and funky lies. Tee boxes were average as they are slacking in moving tee boxes around. Was in a few traps today and they would be rated average at best. This is my home course so i enjoy the round and company nonetheless.