Played Sunday morning, 7:44 tee time; got out on time and there was virtually no waiting after the 2nd hole. Finished in a leisurely 4:40, with no one pushing us. Tee boxes were sufficiently level. ... Continue »

Played Sunday morning, 7:44 tee time; got out on time and there was virtually no waiting after the 2nd hole. Finished in a leisurely 4:40, with no one pushing us. Tee boxes were sufficiently level. Fairways were mostly fine, with decent coverage in areas you should be playing from. Still dealing with gopher holes but not as bad as 6 months ago. Greens were pretty smooth and not many ball marks either. The bunkers looked ok, at least not hard packed. Overall, Wilson is in better shape than it was last year, and the course just did not seem too crowded throughout the round.

Played here today with a 10:00 TeeOff.com “Deal” time minus 28% off promo code. Great deal! Checked in and the pro shop guy moved me up one group to even things out because we would have been a fourso... Continue »

Played here today with a 10:00 TeeOff.com “Deal” time minus 28% off promo code. Great deal! Checked in and the pro shop guy moved me up one group to even things out because we would have been a foursome following a twosome. Ended up teeing off around 9:56 with two nice guys who play here often. Hot but bearable with a little breeze most of the day. POP was decent at just a bit over 4:30.

Conditions are generally good. Greens are very healthy, maybe a tad grown out today. They rolled smooth for me but one of my playing partners had a few bouncy putts. They are soft and running about medium speed. Overall quite good, definitely much better than the previous review. Fairways are less consistent. As a whole, the course seems in better condition on the clubhouse side of Crystal Springs Drive than the freeway side. (This also applies to the design/interest level of the course.) I hit a lot of fairways today and almost always had a good lie. The kikuyu rough is mostly healthy and can be grabby. I wasn’t in a bunker but they looked decent. Tee boxes varied from decent to really good on a few holes.

I’d played Harding probably 25 years ago but had never played Wilson until today. Imagine if you walked in a restaurant, they seated you and quickly gave you a few incredible appetizers… but then the rest of the meal was all microwaved corn dogs and Sloppy Joes. That’s how I feel about Wilson. The aura around the clubhouse was great, the location is beautiful and the first two holes feel like you’re in for something really special with wonderful contours and ground movement. Then, it just gets really ordinary from there. Then, when you’re right next to the freeway, it kinda sucks. It finally returns across Crystal Springs Drive for No. 14 and things get a little better. Those next few holes reminded me of Elkins Ranch, but not as interesting. I guess it’s obvious by now I was a little underwhelmed by Wilson today. I was surprised at how few bunkers are on the course, and how completely boring the bunker shapes are when they do exist. On the plus side, the heavily-undulating 10th green was pretty cool. I also liked the 18th hole quite a bit. I didn’t expect a George C. Thomas masterpiece, but having read that 11 of the holes are still his original design, I hoped for something more interesting. Still a great deal and conditions are worth playing right now.

I created a Flickr photo album of 29 images that can be viewed here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmjZvtnU

I find it troubling that us Saturday golfers pay a premium and find greens in horrible condistion. Wilsons greens were soft, lumpy and extremly slow. These condistions are souly on the managment of th... Continue »

I find it troubling that us Saturday golfers pay a premium and find greens in horrible condistion. Wilsons greens were soft, lumpy and extremly slow. These condistions are souly on the managment of the course.

took advantage of the overcast weather of saturday 5/12 and teed off just before a 1 PM tourney that was starting. the girl in the shop who doubled as the starter was super nice and told me when i cal... Continue »

took advantage of the overcast weather of saturday 5/12 and teed off just before a 1 PM tourney that was starting. the girl in the shop who doubled as the starter was super nice and told me when i called around 12:15 that i get there by 1, she'll let me out. went out solo walking and caught a 4 some of beginners on 1st green who let me through. great guys for letting me through, as i had to wait 10 mins on 1st tee for them to even get out of range. by 6th hole i joined a 3 some of push carters and that was my group. we waited a bit to hit on holes 8 through 13 or 14, before the 4 some of carts in front of us just disappeared. huge wait on 11 but i presume that's expected here as there were 3-4 groups on tee including ours when we arrived. greens were slow, fairways just decent. rough is rough so no issue there and the 1 trap i was in was fine. played from tips and thought layout was good but didnt live up to the hype given its george thomas / william bell bones. think rancho park is much better. however i know i stole one from the city so to speak to play wilson so quickly. felt walking fee of $45 was fair. easy course to walk and everything is right out in front of you as i had never played there before. i do think greens sped up as day went along, or some were just granier than others. would not be willing to play a 5+ hour round here, that is for sure.

Played the Wilson course Saturday 4-21-18. Its a crying shame what has happened to this course. Such a great layout but in just TERRIBLE condition. Apparently they had a gopher village attack at th... Continue »

Played the Wilson course Saturday 4-21-18. Its a crying shame what has happened to this course. Such a great layout but in just TERRIBLE condition. Apparently they had a gopher village attack at the course two summers ago but what is taking so long to recover? Whoever is taking care of the course is doing a terrible job. Too bad, was always a treat to play the Wilson and Harding courses...

Played on Sunday March 18. Had not played at the course in 30 years so I was looking forward to playing, esp. after playing the Harding course a few times. The first few holes before you cross the str... Continue »

Played on Sunday March 18. Had not played at the course in 30 years so I was looking forward to playing, esp. after playing the Harding course a few times. The first few holes before you cross the street and the last few coming back are in okay shape but the holes in between are just awful. I have never seen such a bad gopher problem. It is so bad that I couldn't find my ball in the middle of the fairway. The gopher holes and mounds make it so bumpy that they can't cut the grass properly. Hence, my ball was hidden in rough length grass in the middle of the fairway! Note: you can take relief from gopher damage, but this is out of control. Gopher damage in the fairways happened many times. There are huge sections (like 20 yards by 20 yards sections) that are damaged. Harding is bad too but not this bad. I heard from regulars that they aren't allowed to use poison on the gophers. LA is so freakin' controlled by environmentalists (can't kill coyotes either). This is going to get worse and worse. It's too bad because the courses are kind of nice. I would certainly play there regularly if not for the gopher damage. Greens were so so. Some good. Some bumpy. I don't know about the bunkers as I did not hit into any of them. I don't mind gopher damage in the rough, but not in the fairway. I cannot recommend this course at all.

Played Saturday, 1/27. It was a tournament type event and took almost 5 hours. Customer service was good. You have to go into the pro shop now to get balls for the driving range. The pro shop has ... Continue »

Played Saturday, 1/27. It was a tournament type event and took almost 5 hours. Customer service was good. You have to go into the pro shop now to get balls for the driving range. The pro shop has been upgraded, hopefully they do the same to the range.

The course is in spotty conditions. We were told we were getting free drops from gopher mounds and I can see why. There were quite a few. There were also some sandy stretches on #7 from which the men's club was also taking a drop. There have been several trees that have fallen making the course more open, notably on #6 and #7. Too bad, those were two holes you had to think about before.

The greens were great. Was not in any sand but did not hear any complaints from playing partners. The rough was generally lush but we had no problem finding balls.

Overall, I have seen it better. Hopefully, they can get the upper hand on the gophers.

I want to make this a quick one. Teed off around 9:40-ish, 1/21, with a couple and another single for what was a bit over five-hour round. Having played Harding not too long ago, I think it is in bet... Continue »

I want to make this a quick one. Teed off around 9:40-ish, 1/21, with a couple and another single for what was a bit over five-hour round. Having played Harding not too long ago, I think it is in better shape than the Wilson I played today, particularly in the fairway department. An arbitrary estimate would be a 70% chance of a good lie vs. 30% for a funky lie overall. Extensive expanses of decent surface were offset by some thin, bumpy and sandy stretches, in some cases the negative was more extensive. The seventh fairway was particularly crappy overall. Otherwise, good tee boxes, mixed rough (from playable and green, to dirt and gopher holes), groomed bunkers, generally good chipping surfaces around the greens, and the greens themselves are actually in pretty nice shape.

Played a Saturday round this weekend at Wilson with Kassper7. We played the blue tees and were paired up with two Asian gentlemen who were nice company throughout the day. I was surprised on a busy we... Continue »

Played a Saturday round this weekend at Wilson with Kassper7. We played the blue tees and were paired up with two Asian gentlemen who were nice company throughout the day. I was surprised on a busy weekend day that there was little organization or a starter at the first tee, but we just jumped right in when the opportunity presented itself.

As for the course itself, it's definitely been hit by the lack of precipitation the last six months. Fairways are very dried out and thin lies are all over the place. There's very little green in the fairways except maybe late on the back nine, and far too many dirt patches altogether. Around the greens it was often better to be chipping from the rough that was slightly more cushioned. But even that had a lot of burned out areas as well.

The tee boxes were okay, a few rock hard and beat up, but mostly flat and workable. The sand traps I avoided all day so can't speak to their condition. As for the greens, they were definitely the best part of the course this weekend. Ball marks aplenty, sure, but they were running medium speed at best, however held shots well and weren't too bumpy. Not bad.

No cart service all day which was again surprising on such a busy holiday weekend I would have imagined. POP was right around five hours, which really isn't too bad for this place. I think it was actually our group who was slowing down the group behind us a bit thanks to plenty of wayward shots and ball searching forays.

Wilson is long from the blue tees but a very fair and fun course if conditions are even just slightly better than they are now. I would go in a pinch but definitely this place could use some more watering or a few rainy days to smooth out the rough edges.