Joined up with a friend for a round this afternoon. Booked a 1:24 hot deal time through GN for $20. We were paired with another twosome and teed off on time. Most of the front nine moved very quickly.... Continue »

Joined up with a friend for a round this afternoon. Booked a 1:24 hot deal time through GN for $20. We were paired with another twosome and teed off on time. Most of the front nine moved very quickly. The back nine slowed down a lot as all the groups backed up. Overall we finished in about 4 hours, which was fine.

Conditions were just okay at best. Tee boxes mostly okay enough with level stances. Fairways a have multiple tufts of grass coming in. The ground underneath is super firm, so lots of roll out and tight-ish lies. Rough not much of a factor. Similar to fairways but just left a tiny bit longer. I was in one bunker. The sand was pretty good, but unraked. Greens were best part of course, rolling kind of slow but pretty true.

Definitely not the most exciting course. Good confidence builder because it's SOOOOO wide open, flat and not much trouble to get into.

Great Saturday out at Woodley Lakes with three buddies on a perfect SoCal day. Three months after the last visit here when conditions were pretty poor, thought the recent rains may have done some good... Continue »

Great Saturday out at Woodley Lakes with three buddies on a perfect SoCal day. Three months after the last visit here when conditions were pretty poor, thought the recent rains may have done some good on this track.

Luckily, I was right. Course is in fine shape right now in contrast to mere months ago. Fairways are green with plenty of good lies, the rough is not very penal but makes you work. Tee boxes were all in good shape, while the bunkers seemed to be the one area most in need.

The greens are really terrific right now. Probably running about 8.5-9, very well maintained surface and minimal ball marks or debris from coots. I will say I did find many shots rolling off a good bit, so certainly need to be coming in high and soft.

POP was not great, but anticipated on a busy Saturday. Very good service from the gals working at the snack shop on 8 and bar/restaurant next to the pro shop. Oh yeah, played the blue tees and paid the standard $40 LA city rate. Three months ago that was not worth it, but today? Worth every penny. Not sure how long conditions will stay this good on this wide open, confidence building track (its teeth is its length), so get out there soon.

Back to Woodley for the first time in a long while this Sat for the standard $40 rate from the blue tees at 9:36, praying to beat the rains. Luckily, despite our 3some getting stuck behind a very slow... Continue »

Back to Woodley for the first time in a long while this Sat for the standard $40 rate from the blue tees at 9:36, praying to beat the rains. Luckily, despite our 3some getting stuck behind a very slow 3some, we still got done in 5 hours just ahead of today's showers.

First, the good - the greens are in simply excellent shape right now. Good speed, holding shots, rolling true and minimum ball marks, and consistent coverage throughout. We raved about the greens all day.

That was it, sadly. The fairways are dead. Looking at roughly 85% yellow, dead grass, and 50% of that covered in goose turds. Tight (if not bad) lies are to be found at every turn. It often felt like hitting from a mat at the range. The rough is also very dead but thick, tall, and leaves everywhere making finding your ball an adventure. Tee boxes look just like the fairways - mostly bad. Thin layer of sand in the bunkers - not the worst, but seen much better at LA City courses.

Service at the front was rather 'whatever.' They didn't seem too happy to be there, but we did get out on time. However, despite it being the regular rate, in current conditions it seems a bit high. Lots of water fountains along the way, but no cart girl to speak of.

Layout is wide open and basic, but what should normally be easy scoring is made more difficult by the poor quality of almost every lie. Hope the rains make this place lush because then it would be a pretty fun place to play. But at the moment? I'd skip it if you can until the conditions improve.

Played Friday afternoon before the holiday with some friends. Course was in good shape, and is an enjoyable layout. POP was around 4 hours 15 minutes to 4 and a half hours. Stuck behind a three some f... Continue »

Played Friday afternoon before the holiday with some friends. Course was in good shape, and is an enjoyable layout. POP was around 4 hours 15 minutes to 4 and a half hours. Stuck behind a three some for the front nine, with 2 of them leaving after nine.

The tee boxes are in great shape with very few ball divots, good coverage and fairly even lies. The fairways although are also in good shape considering the drought. The rough varies from sometimes needing to be trimmed to thin, depending on the hole, but my bad for not being in the fairway. Greens held shots well and rolled true (only downfall to the greens is the geese and some of the greens being overrun by droppings especially the 18th.

I would play again, and had a good time. The upgraded restaurant food is good, but at $10 for a quesadilla is a little on the high side, and I will probably find someplace else to eat for the price.

Teed off at 7:05 and played in 3 hours on Tuesday 8/25. The course is in fair to good condition. The greens are the best part of the course. They rolled smooth at medium speed and held shots. The fair... Continue »

Teed off at 7:05 and played in 3 hours on Tuesday 8/25. The course is in fair to good condition. The greens are the best part of the course. They rolled smooth at medium speed and held shots. The fairways had good coverage with a few thin spots. The rough was fair to good with some thin spots. The tee boxes were fair to good. The bunkers appeared to be good, not in any, and I did see maintenance crews working on them. The course has some length but that is its main defense. The course is flat and the fairways are wide open off the tee. The greenside bunkers aren't many and most are set a few yards from the greens edge. The greens have mild undulation and most are elevated. Although the course name is Woodley Lakes the water doesn't really come into play except on 18 which is right of the fairway. Good course to work on your game because it won't beat you up. The staff was friendly.

IN DEFENSE OF WOODLEY LAKES People generally decry Woodley as a "dog track". But that's just wrong. A dog track as to any golf course should refer just to its grass and its routing. And both of these ... Continue »

IN DEFENSE OF WOODLEY LAKES People generally decry Woodley as a "dog track". But that's just wrong. A dog track as to any golf course should refer just to its grass and its routing. And both of these factors are fine with this course. It is flat. It is open. But that doesn't make it a mutt. Now Woodley does have a grass range that is a bit sandy and nothing like the course. Sometimes it can be so iffy I will hit all my warmup shots off a tee. And the putting green is sloping and hilly, fun to practice but again nothing like the greens in the course. They do have a grass chipping area with a practice bunker. People bash Woodley because it's wide open with flat big greens. What's wrong with that? If you hit an errant tee shot here the odds are very good you will have a playable lie unblocked by any of the relatively young, intermittent trees that line every fairway. The fairways are a patchwork of differ kinds of grasses and lies, from hard pan to Palm Springs fluff. The grass overall is better than almost all City courses. You can take a divot without breaking your wrist in the fairway and you can find your ball in the rough usually without the help of your playing partners. The greens are large and flat. You will have some very long putts. When I played last Thursday they are rolling true at about 8-9. The routing of Woodley is fun, especially since they removed the interior out of bounds. The par fives are reachable for good players but demand placement of the tee shot on a proper side of the fairway to get there. Three of the par threes are long. From the blacks you have over 200 on two and the other is a carry over water and reeds to a totally blind green about a buck 75 out. There a holes that require right to left tee shots and holes that call for a cut tee shot. And when you're talking back to back tough, there is no more difficult combination of a two hole stretch in the City rota than numbers nine and 10 at Woodley. Many a golfer has come to nine at even or better and then stepped on the 11th tee three or four shots worse for wear. Par par on those two is the hardest test there is of any City or County course. Now Woodely is not Wilson or Rancho. It's a challenge for sure, especially if the wind is blowing. Woodley is where you go to build confidence and try things out on the course for the first time after a lesson. It's a confidence builder and it's fun, very fun. I play there at least six times a year and love it. It's right by Ban Nuys airport so if your into 100 million dollar private jets taking off and landing that's an extra bonus of the course. The new restaurant is trying to be high end. The food is good but expensive relative to other courses. The halfway hose in the course doesn't have ice which seems impossible, especially because Woodley temps routinely top 100 in the summers. No other course attracts birds like Woodely, so be prepared to decontaminate your shoes and pushcart of the Canadian Goose crap. Another good thing about Woodley is you can always get on. Not many tournaments (any?) and never a wait. Average stroll during the week is about 4.5 hrs. Look at the yardage and look at the slope and rating. Woodley is very very fun course that deserves to be played.

Played the Woodley today. Had a Saturday Morning 9 AM Tee Time. We almost started on time, teed off at 9:06 AM. Pace of play was reasonable for a Saturday morning round, 4 hours and 35 minutes. Sl... Continue »

Played the Woodley today. Had a Saturday Morning 9 AM Tee Time. We almost started on time, teed off at 9:06 AM. Pace of play was reasonable for a Saturday morning round, 4 hours and 35 minutes. Slow down in play was because of the group of ahead of us. They were brutally slow and not exactly great ball strikers.

As it just rained this week, the course was wet as expected. Course was in good shape for an LA Muni. Tee boxes were green and level, fairways were green and full for the most part, rough was defined but patchy at times, greens were rolling well with minimal bumps that are expected at an LA Muni track, and the bunkers were fine though I fortunately did not visit one all round. Overall, I really enjoyed the course and the player friendly layout.

***Please note, they have re-opened the restaurant. It has been totally remodeled and modernized. The food was amazing! I had one of the best Tri Tip sandwiches I have tried in years. It tasted freshly smoked off the grill. I was advised that Woodley has a new chef who really takes pride in his craft and it showed in the flavor of the food. We were fortunate enough to later meet the chef and provide our compliments. Members of the my group had a gourmet burger, cabaret sandwich, and a Greek Salad. Totally top notch! If you take anything from my review, please try the new restaurant. It was a foodies delight.***

Needed to get out of the house today so Woodley is always a good bet. Got out right away. I love to play this course when all you want to do is hit the ball without thinking to much! Not a super chall... Continue »

Needed to get out of the house today so Woodley is always a good bet. Got out right away. I love to play this course when all you want to do is hit the ball without thinking to much! Not a super challenging course but good to air out a new Driver, or practice your approaches, as the greens are very large. POP was dismal but hey, it's Saturday. Greens are getting really good here as usual. Practice greens in the back of the starter office were perfect. Greens on the course were getting there. Most were smooth and fairly fast. Fairways were pretty dry and had some good roll out. :) Tee boxes are in decent shape and so was the rough. Some leaves on the sides of some of the fairways and a little dry but over all playable. I like the wide open feeling here and if you don't mind the POP it is very relaxing. Not bad! ;)

Finally got back to Woodley Lakes to redeem myself after my New Year's Day debacle. Course was in much better condition than back then, but of course the drought shows here like anywhere else in SoCal... Continue »

Finally got back to Woodley Lakes to redeem myself after my New Year's Day debacle. Course was in much better condition than back then, but of course the drought shows here like anywhere else in SoCal.

Overall though it's very playable and, while far from pristine, it's a good day out to work out the kinks. The greens were not fast, but actually in good condition. Rest of the conditions? If you've read any LA Muni review of late, you know the drill - dried out areas on fairways, a few chewed up tee boxes, decent sand and rough.

Actually finished in just over 4 hours on a Sat afternoon, so that was nice. But now that I shaved off 18 strokes from my last visit, think it'll be a while before I come back. Just too many other options in So Cal.