Having written two recent reviews for SA, I would not normally be here this frequently but the preference of a buddy who had not played here in years who wanted to revisit it, and the tee time availab... Continue »

Having written two recent reviews for SA, I would not normally be here this frequently but the preference of a buddy who had not played here in years who wanted to revisit it, and the tee time availability meant teeing up again Friday, 4/1 as a threesome at 1:45. With the very recent reviews, I will add little. It continues to fill in and gets increasingly lush. The only "problem" on the day was that it was too soon after the recent rains to get the mower around the fairways and the grass to a consistent fairway height. Still good to play but after a mow, the fairways will be as good as they have been here in years. According to my partners, the practice green was quicker than the actual greens on the day. That said, they were a nice speed and I thought cleaner than the previous round. Otherwise, all the same as the previous report. The course was crowded and I think it ended up a five-plus hour round, but it was steady and unlike my last go here, there was no threat of playing any night golf at the end of the round. Definitely recommended.

This is late and mostly brief. Got out last Friday at 2:00 as a threesome plus a single joining us. In a nutshell, the rain has had its effect and the overall conditions keep improving. Any thin or ba... Continue »

This is late and mostly brief. Got out last Friday at 2:00 as a threesome plus a single joining us. In a nutshell, the rain has had its effect and the overall conditions keep improving. Any thin or bare spots (usually off in side spots) are now the anomaly. It is hard to find a bare/thin spot on the fairways, which are green with good lies and no brown patches. My last review was pretty recent and not much else has changed. Greens are running a nice medium quick with a firm surface. They are good but not pristine and you'll get a muni bump in the tracking of your ball at some point in the round, but that is part of muni golf. I was lag putting very well on the surface. Definitely recommended.

The nonsense part: With the starting time, we thought we'd get at least 15 holes in but the pace was definitely slow. One of our threesome had to leave at the turn, another at the end of the 13th, around 5:45 sunset, leaving me and the single Matt, an ex-pat Brit and good golfer, to soldier on into the dusk. Starting the 14th was a no brainer with the promise to finish 15 in the last usable light. After 15, it was pretty dusky but Matt said we have to walk that way anyway, so we pressed on through 16, barely tracking the initial direction of our drives. After 16, I said "3/4 moon and range lights, let's finish 17", which we did with little ability to track much. You had to be within 20' to even see your ball sitting on the green. After 17, Matt was ready to quit, but I said no, no, this is a Caddyshack moment — play until you can't find your ball. I never found my tee shot on the 18th, but we found Matt's, who put his second shot next to the green and got up and down for the par. I played 14 — 17 one-over with two of three pars basically in the dark. It's a sickness, but really fun.

Sure, was nice to get back out to Santa Anita. I really enjoy this course, as it affords wonderful ambiance, and the surrounding hills provide such a wonderful setting. One of my favorite LA County c... Continue »

Sure, was nice to get back out to Santa Anita. I really enjoy this course, as it affords wonderful ambiance, and the surrounding hills provide such a wonderful setting. One of my favorite LA County courses. While not overly difficult, because of the many rolling fairways and well protected green complexes, it still provides enough of a challenge to keep your interest.

Prior reviews were spot on. Have to admit that the overall condition was better than expected. Greens firmer than I recall them being, which made the approaches much more difficult. Fairways much improved from my last round here.

Staff was accommodating and combined with the great senior rate, made for a most enjoyable day.

Played here Sat 1/28 with two other singles. Had an 11:30 tee time but the tee box got a little backed up and we wound up getting out around 20 minutes late. A sign of things to come on this day as th... Continue »

Played here Sat 1/28 with two other singles. Had an 11:30 tee time but the tee box got a little backed up and we wound up getting out around 20 minutes late. A sign of things to come on this day as the POP was about as bad as I'd experienced, with us barely finishing before sunset. In total a 3 hour front and 2.5 hour back. Pretty brutal. Other than that, to piggyback on t8fish's review, the course is actually in pretty good shape. Tee boxes can be a little thin but in general the fairways had good coverage and I didn't find myself with a bad/thin lie all day which is a rarity there. Greens were firm so approaches tended to come in hot and bound off the greens. Sand was generally coarse and thin but playable. In spite of waiting around a lot, it was a beautiful southern california day and the views of the san gabriel mountains reminded me that things could always be a lot worse. Definitely recommend giving this track a try while it's still in pretty good shape

Got out with a buddy Friday, 1/27, with a 1:46 start. In my previous review I said I would stay away until we got some rain and a little recovery time, and such was the case. Overall, I'd say SA is fa... Continue »

Got out with a buddy Friday, 1/27, with a 1:46 start. In my previous review I said I would stay away until we got some rain and a little recovery time, and such was the case. Overall, I'd say SA is far from prime, but fair with a reasonable level of playability. Playing the whites, I recall no issues with teeing grounds, which is a good sign. They have varying degrees of tight coverage but are generally pretty level. The fairways are greened up some with a mix of thinner and lusher lies and running on the firm side. There are some hard exposed dirt areas but usually in non relevant areas like near teeing grounds or off to the side. In the fairway proper you typically had a decent to good lie. Rough varies here from nicely playable to hardpan and I found myself playing off pine needles on two occasions. Short game from the fairway fronting the greens was tight but better around the green. I was in a couple of bunkers and the sand was OK, softer than I would expect. The greens are worth special mention and description. It is not unusual that the greens here can be reported on the sluggish side but on the day they were quick — about as quick as you can expect to find here and consistent with the practice green, so pay attention there. They were firm and looked it with a tight, spare surface that was a little unsightly but performed well. There were numerous light, unfixed ball marks that needed attention, but after fixing any in my path, I found the ball tracked well. Bottom line, I really enjoyed the speed and challenge of the greens. We knew with a 1:46 start finishing 18 holes was not in the cards, but we got through 13 and then the 18th was conveniently open for us to shortcut home for a total of 14 holes. Bottom line you are dealing with the expected, slightly spare, mid-winter conditions of SoCal golf, but it is a good layout and with reasonable expectations, I think the course is now worth playing.

Got out Friday as a twosome paired with a twosome around 2:00pm. Hadn't been over to SA in a while and it is a bit worse for wear currently. The tee boxes are generally pretty level with coverage and ... Continue »

Got out Friday as a twosome paired with a twosome around 2:00pm. Hadn't been over to SA in a while and it is a bit worse for wear currently. The tee boxes are generally pretty level with coverage and where the coverage is thin — so what? — you're using a tee. The fairways had more dry, hard, dirt patches spread about than I recall ever seeing. The relative positives being that they were liberally outlined as GUR and the majority of non-GUR areas were decent grass lies. Additionally, most of the bunkers were outlined in white and marked as GUR. They didn't looked particularly bad (i.e. missing sand, etc.) but neither did I try to play out of any marked ones. There were a few unmarked green side bunkers, and they seemed OK. Rough was anything from hardpan to a little thick. Green side areas were inconsistent as to surface quality and made chipping unpredictable. The greens were serviceable at medium speed, but a bit unkempt as to surface quality. The other twosome was pleasant, pace was good at around 4.5 hrs, and we got it done with plenty of light to spare. While I've definitely seen worse in general, not this bad at SA in particular. I would be in no hurry to go back until we've had some rain and recovery time to grow back in. It's playable but not pretty — definitely stressed and dog eared. I can find other, equivalent courses with better conditions for now.

I played here today with a 7:53 tee time and got out right on time. That is about the only positive thing I can say about the course. Thee tee boxes are chopped up and thin. The fairways are more dirt... Continue »

I played here today with a 7:53 tee time and got out right on time. That is about the only positive thing I can say about the course. Thee tee boxes are chopped up and thin. The fairways are more dirt than grass. What grass there is is dry and thin. You had to get very lucky to have a decent lie to hit from. The rough is about the same The bunkers are mostly hard packed dirt. The greens were not punched last month and I was told there is no plan in place to do them because of the hot weather. They have lots of poorly repaired ball marks and very inconsistent speed. I will not be returning here any time soon.

One of my favorite L A County golf courses. Love the walk. Nice surroundings with the hills and the traditional style of the course is what I grew up playing. Having played here for years, I kind of k... Continue »

One of my favorite L A County golf courses. Love the walk. Nice surroundings with the hills and the traditional style of the course is what I grew up playing. Having played here for years, I kind of know what to expect. Conditions were about normal, but I thought the greens were better than I expected given the recent reviews. Fairways were mostly good, but there were bare areas. Both bunkers I found had playable sand.

I understand that Santa Anita can be a bit polarizing, because of all the undulations in the fairways, but I find that to be part of the charm, not something I encounter on a regular basis. It does present some unusual lies I must admit, which I am frequently ill equipped to handle correctly. Just a nice mix of holes and not just back & forth mundane 400+ yard par fours

Played 8/13 at 7:50am as a single paired with 3 other singles. Even in the middle of summer with a drought the course seemed to be in better shape than the last time i played it back in May. Noticeabl... Continue »

Played 8/13 at 7:50am as a single paired with 3 other singles. Even in the middle of summer with a drought the course seemed to be in better shape than the last time i played it back in May. Noticeably the greens were much nicer than I remembered with fewer divot marks and rolled a lot better, about medium speed. Still a couple of par 3 greens that have a bit of wear but overall they were a bright spot. Tee boxes were generally all in very good and level condition and the fairways were in decent shape as well. The undulating nature of some of the fairways leaves some areas with dried out dirt patches but nothing too terrible. Bunkers seemed to be in good shape, nicely raked and with enough sand that you could actually splash a shot out. POP was adequate at 4 hours 20 minutes. Pro shop staff super friendly. Not an exceedingly challenging track but enough length on the par 3s to keep it interesting. If you can keep shots on the fairway and avoid tree trouble it's a place you can go low.