Played 3/6/15 w/2 friends. The course was in really good shape. Tee boxes were in some bad slope spots. Fairways and greens were really good, fast and firm. The tree lined course is a little more ... Continue »

Played 3/6/15 w/2 friends. The course was in really good shape. Tee boxes were in some bad slope spots. Fairways and greens were really good, fast and firm. The tree lined course is a little more difficult than you would think. POP was terrible though. 2 many 5somes on the course. Besides the POP, the bunkers were the only other problem. No sand in some, deep sand in others, with no way of telling how deep it is. If they can r-sand the bunkers and play 4's, it would be one of the best courses out there.

Miserable weather and disappointing conditions with my monthly golf group on Saturday morning, 1/10/15, at 10AM. Cool weather, intermittent rain and sun, then steady light rain during the back nine ha... Continue »

Miserable weather and disappointing conditions with my monthly golf group on Saturday morning, 1/10/15, at 10AM. Cool weather, intermittent rain and sun, then steady light rain during the back nine had us putting on and taking off gear, then just getting wet. Greens were very firm but receptive and rolled medium fast , but were plagued by scattered and extensive thin/bare areas and were very bumpy. Every putt was an adventure. Some but not too many unrepaired ball marks. Lies in fairways were generally good, although mudballs were common. Rough was not too long but wet - depending on location your lie could be better than the fairway. Tees were OK. Traps had only a very thin playable layer and were heavy and wet beneath. Carts are very basic. No GPS or yardage book. There are colored blocks in the fairways for 100, 150, and 200 yards. No hidden pins today - flags were near the center of the zone on each green. No marshall today, and POP was about 5 hours, average for a muni on a weekend morning. Long waits on all the par 3s. Saw the cart girl a few times. Also saw a couple instances of players driving carts right up to the green on a long par 3 (#12), and the usual plethora of unfilled divots and gouges and unraked traps.

This will be quick. Hit Santa Anita Sunday a bit before midday. Walked up as a single, got joined with another guy to be second up, and by the time we teed off we were a foursome. Winter conditions on... Continue »

This will be quick. Hit Santa Anita Sunday a bit before midday. Walked up as a single, got joined with another guy to be second up, and by the time we teed off we were a foursome. Winter conditions on the thin, firm and fast side. Generally good lies and coverage with occasional thin areas—at least one of which was thin, muddy and difficult to hit from. Bunkers a tad firm under a thin softer top layer, rough mostly on the short side and playable. Greens looked splotchy but actually rolled pretty well in most cases, and on the fast side for this course. Great weather and the pace was perfect for our group. For this time of year, a perfectly decent golf experience.

Played in a tournament on 12/7. Five hour round as would be expected with the tourney starting at 10:00. I last played this course about 15 years ago and did not remember much of it. What stood out... Continue »

Played in a tournament on 12/7. Five hour round as would be expected with the tourney starting at 10:00. I last played this course about 15 years ago and did not remember much of it. What stood out was how soft it was, possibly from the recent rains. There was mud on the balls often. The fairways were in winter condition with some tight lies and some bare spots. The rough was a pretty long and thick in places. The sand was good in the only trap I was in. The greens were shaggy and relatively slow. It made three footers an adventure. It was weird how bare the tee boxes were. I don't know if they leave the markers too long in one place or what, but most of the tee areas were 80% bare. I am not sure how much I liked the course. It has some interesting holes but the mounding does some strange things to some of the fairways. Balls tended to go to low areas which, with the rains, were not the best places to be. The 18th hole was deceptive to those of us that did not recall it. There was plenty of fairway straight away on the other side of a mound, that was not visible from the tee.

One cautionary note. A member of our group was taken away in an ambulance with food poisoning. We were told he was not the only one afflicted that day at the course. The coffee shop was hopping with Sunday diners, mainly non-golfers, but for whatever reason, the hot dog or condiments did him in. I had a hot dog also but with no adverse effects.

Santa Anita is one of my very favorite courses ! Love the old traditional style of golf, coupled with the parklike feeling. The course was in decent condition, the greens were a little slow for my t... Continue »

Santa Anita is one of my very favorite courses ! Love the old traditional style of golf, coupled with the parklike feeling. The course was in decent condition, the greens were a little slow for my taste. The tee boxes on the front nine were under construction and were over 50% bare dirt. Otherwise the course played very nicely. Pace of play right at 4 hours with a 7:15am tee time. A little slow, but that just allowed me to enjoy a beautiful December day in So Cal.

Played here in a tournament on 9/20. I have always been a huge fan of this course but last week was the worst I have ever seen this place. Greens were horrible and had some kind of fungus which made... Continue »

Played here in a tournament on 9/20. I have always been a huge fan of this course but last week was the worst I have ever seen this place. Greens were horrible and had some kind of fungus which made them slow and very bumpy. Fairways had many patches of just bare dirt. Very disappointed in current conditions so I won't be back for a while.

Update: Greens are much improved since last week...still slower than usual, but should be in good condition throughout the rest of the month when they begin aerating for the fall. So get on while it... Continue »

Update: Greens are much improved since last week...still slower than usual, but should be in good condition throughout the rest of the month when they begin aerating for the fall. So get on while it's still good if you can stand the heat!

Just a heads up...I played here on 8/27 and the greens were semi-aerated. There aren't large holes with sand on the greens but they were all punched with small holes and not mowed, causing the the gr... Continue »

Just a heads up...I played here on 8/27 and the greens were semi-aerated. There aren't large holes with sand on the greens but they were all punched with small holes and not mowed, causing the the greens to be very shaggy and slow. I know that all the courses are dealing with the drought conditions but maybe this is one way their dealing with it. Hopefully they mow/roll them some time in the days after. I'm scheduled to return at the end of this week with some friends and will post if conditions are improved.

First time playing SA today, got around in 4 hours with an early tee time, $27 walking green fee, LA County operation here. Maintenance crews out a bit late, so first 5 holes had shaggy greens, not f... Continue »

First time playing SA today, got around in 4 hours with an early tee time, $27 walking green fee, LA County operation here. Maintenance crews out a bit late, so first 5 holes had shaggy greens, not fun. Looks like they were micro-punched two or three weeks ago. After mowing, they were a somewhat better but not very quick and did not always offer decent rolls ... definitely not the highlight of the course ... they were very soft Poa (and other unknown type of grasses) and held any decent approach ... mostly flat or slightly crowned surfaces with some moderate undulations. Would be super challenging if the greens were firm and fast :-) Fairways mostly had good Kikuyu coverage but there were minimal/matted areas, too. Rough very bare, hit and miss would be pretty accurate ... most of my lies in those areas were on dry or damp hardpan. Tree lined fairways throughout, mostly open off the tee with many valleys, mounds, and undulations to navigate which led to uneven lies just about everywhere on the course ... it's main defense ... I don't recall any water hazards. Only in one greenside bunker, very nice sand. Tee boxes weren't very level or cut so I can't agree with the previous poster ... I had to seek out places to tee it up even when hitting the driver on several holes. Layout-wise, not what I'd call a difficult track, very walkable, and there's quite a bit of street noise on the first 5 or 6 holes. SA has a nice view of the nearby mountains and the course does have some local character ... I'd call it an interesting round, especially with all the mounds and collection areas which is atypical of most muni courses I've played. A bit of a drive but I'd play it again as long as I know the greens are cut and rolling true ... but that can be just a matter of chance unless you're a regular and have figured which are the best days to play. Also, previous knowledge is very beneficial.