Weekend round with a buddy at Woodley Lakes as we had a very specific time frame available and Woodley fit the bill. I rode, my friend walked and we were joined by another twosome. Cart was an absolut... Continue »

Weekend round with a buddy at Woodley Lakes as we had a very specific time frame available and Woodley fit the bill. I rode, my friend walked and we were joined by another twosome. Cart was an absolute shambles!

Course fairways were in pretty good shape still - a bit thinner than my last visit a few weeks back and more tricky, thin lies, but overall not too bad. The rough was nothing to write home about and often preferred. Tee boxes (played the blues) were in good enough shape, while many of the bunkers were thin and just about playable.

The greens, if you found a good line to the pin, were okay. They ran medium-fast and were a bit inconsistent, but nothing too terrible. That is of course only if you landed in the right spot. If you were unfortunate enough to land in the wrong spot, then you were faced with a number of unrepaired (or poorly repaired) ball marks and an incredible amount of goose droppings on just about every green. Is there a goose conspiracy against golfers? I mean, they can poop anywhere, can't they? Why choose the greens so consistently?

POP was not too bad and I was told when I started there would be cart service around during the round but that never materialized. Luckily what looked like it would be a very hot day turned into just a nice, warm one as clouds all afternoon really kept the temperatures down and pleasant.

Woodley remains a solid confidence course that won't test you too much except for making good contact and getting the ball down the fairway. Not a lot of trouble and you can spray just about anywhere. If that's what you need to get going again, I recommend it for now.

In dire need of a confidence round, I found a single time at Woodley Lakes for Saturday morning and jumped on it. I was paired with two other singles with a 9:20am tee and opted for a cart seeing as t... Continue »

In dire need of a confidence round, I found a single time at Woodley Lakes for Saturday morning and jumped on it. I was paired with two other singles with a 9:20am tee and opted for a cart seeing as the temperatures would be soaring into triple digits by the back nine.

Mission accomplished as I played my best round (not saying much) since April, but more importantly is the fact that the course, despite the heat, played pretty darn well. The greens are rolling quite nicely and true, all while holding shots very well. The fairways have ample coverage albeit thin but playable in many spots. The rough is imminently playable and often preferred to the fairways. Bunkers a bit on the thin side but nothing too awful, while the tee boxes (played the whites) were in decent not great shape.

One of the more surprising features on the day was an actual cart service that came around - very much appreciated on a hot day and unusual for LA muni courses. The POP was also not as bad as it seemed while we were playing. Felt like it was going to be a five-hour round but was surprised to see we finished in around four hours and twenty minutes.

All in all it was a good day out at Woodley Lakes and it did the trick.

Friday 5/12, myself and another single were sent out at 2:50 as twosome in a sea of foursomes, but we were happy to get out and played the whites. Overall conditions are OK. I found these to be some o... Continue »

Friday 5/12, myself and another single were sent out at 2:50 as twosome in a sea of foursomes, but we were happy to get out and played the whites. Overall conditions are OK. I found these to be some of the better teeing grounds around as to being consistently level with coverage and room to move around. The fairways, a kaleidoscope of mixed grasses cut to a consistent height, generally offered 95% good lies and runout, with 5% or less exceptions where there might be small areas of thin or slightly depress lies that you might settle into — rare but possible. I was a little spoiled by the lush fairways I recently played at San Dimas and these paled in comparison, but they are OK — green, serviceable and not yet the baked out runways that they could become as the season heats up. Rough varied from minimal to thicker areas of clover that could swallow a ball. I'd say it impacted my recovery about 50% of the time. I was in a couple of fairway bunkers that had decent sand and grooming but missed any green-side to tell about. Short game areas around the green were in pretty good shape and I had a lot of success there. The greens still have the telltale markings from aeration but they performed fine. A touch on the quick side of medium they putt a little quicker than they looked, ran pretty true and I never saw bobble. I jarred a thirty footer for birdie at the last that was pleasure to watch track to the hole. I'd say the conditions alert can be upgrade from yellow to green. They were good and they will get even better. It was a mildly warm afternoon with an intermittent breeze and, being a flat course, I walked as per my usual preference. The course was full, pace sluggish but mostly steady for a round something under 4.5 hrs. A straight forward, open course with nothing tricked up about it, I come here seldom but I enjoyed the directness of it today.

Three o'clock start on Saturday 7/23 with my buddy and paired up with a couple of young guys who were good company. Woodley is what it is — long, wide open, pretty flat and good for walking, with most... Continue »

Three o'clock start on Saturday 7/23 with my buddy and paired up with a couple of young guys who were good company. Woodley is what it is — long, wide open, pretty flat and good for walking, with mostly forgiving rough. Teeing grounds were level and in good enough shape. Fairways are not the most aesthetic visually but the hitting surface is mostly good, usually firm with some run to it. Given the hot weather, I'd have expected worse and the conditions were more than decent. I missed the bunkers and have nothing for you there. Adjacent to the greens was usually green and in good shape for short game but a little further away and it could get tighter, dryer, and commensurately more challenging. Always important to the big picture, the greens were in very nice shape. Running at a consistent, medium pace, they were very clean with a minimum of ball marks. In a sense, the greens are one of the defenses of this open course if only because they are expansive. You can be on the green or immediately green side and still have a long way to judge, setting up potential three-putts or more. A consistent 1+ club breeze made a warm day more pleasant. We were not the quickest and lost touch with the group ahead while occasionally pausing the group behind. By the end, there was just about a one hole opening in front and behind us and we finished in 4.5 hrs on the mark. I played Woodley a few months back so playing it twice within a year is way more than I usually see it, but it was one of the few options available for 18 holes at a reasonable time in the city system when checking five days in advance. Currently going through one of those rare phases of hitting the ball well, it was an opportunity to exploit forgiving conditions and go low which I did. Huzzah. Basic but enjoyable, I'll take a good score any way i can find it.

Played this course on 6-20-22. Greens were in good shape, soft due to the fact the greens keeper was soaking them during the round, but very smooth surface albeit slow. The fairways are in need of som... Continue »

Played this course on 6-20-22. Greens were in good shape, soft due to the fact the greens keeper was soaking them during the round, but very smooth surface albeit slow. The fairways are in need of some work, patch in some areas and very dry (gonna have to get used to this, this summer with watering regulations coming into effect) pace of play was 4:15. All in all a good day and will definitely be back for another round.

Looking for a weekend tee time late in the week I grabbed a single spot at Woodley for 3:50 on Saturday the 14th. Just wanted to get out and accepted that 18 might not be in that time frame but, somew... Continue »

Looking for a weekend tee time late in the week I grabbed a single spot at Woodley for 3:50 on Saturday the 14th. Just wanted to get out and accepted that 18 might not be in that time frame but, somewhat surprisingly, our foursome did 18 in just about four hours. Conditions were actually pretty good all around. Playing from the whites, teeing grounds were level and coverage was fine. The fairways were on the firm side, also with pretty good coverage and fair rollout. I don't recall being in the fairway at any point and having a lie issue. Rough was pretty consistently playable so between the wide fairways and forgiving rough, the opportunity to have a good round was expanded. I don't think anyone in our group visited a bunker, so no intel there. The greens were good, clean, minimally marked and looking like they should run medium but were a bit quicker than that. Green-adjacent was pretty good for chipping and pitching. I was the only one dumb enough to walk and it was over 90º when we started but it was subsiding at that time of day as we progressed to sunset. The pace on the front nine was pretty much unimpeded. The Back nine was relatively more congested but not by much, and the 4-hour final time was a pleasant surprise for all of us. I don't go out of my way to play here — much less than once a year typically — but I was in the mood to play someplace with legitimate length that would allow more margin for error to build up some confidence. Oh, and there was tee time available — duh. Woodley didn't disappoint. Shot my best score in at least couple of years. The guys I played with were pleasant company and pretty good players as a group. As the sun and temps went down, the full moon came up to complement an orange sunset so it was a really nice finish to a good round. Open, predominantly flat and good for walking, the expansiveness may not have the more classic visual interest of a contoured course, but there is an interesting, more spare aesthetic to it that I enjoyed as a change of pace. Recommended.

I played Woodley today with Kassper7 and two of his friends. I’d only played here once before, several years ago. I remembered nothing of the course so it was really like playing it for the first time... Continue »

I played Woodley today with Kassper7 and two of his friends. I’d only played here once before, several years ago. I remembered nothing of the course so it was really like playing it for the first time. We got out right at our 11:00 tee time.
The course is completely flat so is perfect for walking. It’s a bit long for me at 5689 yds from the yellows but at par 76 and with the help of my new driver, it was very do-able. It’s pretty basic with wide fairways, very few bunkers and just enough trees to keep it interesting. There was, however, an overabundance of goose poop everywhere!
The fairways are a mixture of grasses with some thin-to-bare areas but overall had good coverage. The rough was short. I would have enjoyed having the grass a little longer around the greens to make for easier chipping as I’m not so good with the bump and run shots. The greens were in good condition with only an occasional ball mark.
I enjoyed playing here. It’s a nice no-pressure course. Good fun. Recommended.

Short review for today's round at Woodley Lakes. First off, make sure to eat and bring drinks because the cafe is completely shut down and there is no cart service to be found. You're on your own! Whe... Continue »

Short review for today's round at Woodley Lakes. First off, make sure to eat and bring drinks because the cafe is completely shut down and there is no cart service to be found. You're on your own! When the round finished, there was a food truck near the starter's office so that was good, but it was not there for the 8am tee time.

Course conditions are about what you would expect at Woodley this time of year, but the greens were actually running a little nicer than I expected. They were slow in the morning with all the dew, but got much quicker as the day warmed up nicely. They are in quite good shape and rolling true, but of course there's not much to worry about on Woodley greens as they're about as basic and flat for the most part as you'll find anywhere.

Fairways are in decent to good shape depending on the hole, but you're definitely going to find some thin lies out there. The rough is not penal and in fact can be better for chipping than the thin areas around the greens. I avoided every single bunker today so I can't be too sure of their quality but did not hear any complaints from my friends. Tee boxes beat up as one would expect but flat and level.

Not many layouts more basic and up-front than Woodley Lakes so it's a great place to really try some new things out or just work on getting some aspects of your game back. You're never going to WOW anyone by bringing them here, but it's a solid course that has enough length (we played the blue tees) to keep you honest.

I walked Woodley Lakes on Monday, October 18, 2021. This golf course is in POOR condition. Tee boxes are beat up and hard. The fairways are mostly dirt and extremely thin grass, with the occasional so... Continue »

I walked Woodley Lakes on Monday, October 18, 2021. This golf course is in POOR condition. Tee boxes are beat up and hard. The fairways are mostly dirt and extremely thin grass, with the occasional somewhat decent lie in the fairway. Many of the holes on the back 9 have had the fairways punched and cut up. If you were in any of those many areas, you would need to place your ball somewhere else. The rough is like the fairway, only sometimes it was in better condition! I was in one greenside bunker. It had very firm and heavy, damp sand. The greens were painfully slow. You had to hit your putts with significant force to get them to the hole. This removes most of the break from every putt. The greens were very soft. Approach shots landed, causes a huge ball mark, and stuck. The greens were also somewhat bumpy. I had at least two putts that were tracking into the cup only to bounce one way or the other and just miss the hole. I will not be going back to Woodley any time soon. I do not recommend playing here.