Played Santa Anita for the first time today after living in LA for 10 years. WOW, I feel like a moron. I should have been playing 8-10 rounds a year there. The only cons were the fivesomes which creat... Continue »

Played Santa Anita for the first time today after living in LA for 10 years. WOW, I feel like a moron. I should have been playing 8-10 rounds a year there. The only cons were the fivesomes which create the usual Pace of Play issues but everything else was a big pro. It's in phenomenal shape - especially the bunkers. They're manicured like at a private club. Greens all rolled true. I've played Harding, DeBell and Robinson Ranch in the last two months and they're beat to crap. Santa Anita was lush, firm and in nearly perfect condition. Every tee box was level. The practice range was mats only today but it looks like they're grass about half the time. I can't say enough about the design. Probably only second Rancho Park in the LA area as far as public tracks go. There are no hills and yet there are no flat lies. Every hole has marvelous undulation. The two finishing holes are brilliant. I live in Burbank and can't imagine why I'd ever play Griffith Park again. For less money I'll play SAGC every time.

Played today @ 10:45 am. Walking rate of $26 is a great value. The greens looked great, but putted very very slow..maybe a 6.5/7. It was very frustrating smashing putts and having them not run. Ro... Continue »

Played today @ 10:45 am. Walking rate of $26 is a great value. The greens looked great, but putted very very slow..maybe a 6.5/7. It was very frustrating smashing putts and having them not run. Rough is being grown out here...some spots the rough was 2 plus inches. Fairways are in good shape. They are leveling tee boxes today...I just wish they would move the tee markers after shoveling dirt to level the tee boxes so you are not hitting off dirt. Sand traps were average and decent. Pace of Play was 4.5 hours and moving along. No cart girls here, but snack shop is well stocked at the turn.

Went down to Santa Anita a little before noon, hit a few balls as a single and was on the tee paired up with a threesome within about fifteen minutes of putting my name on the list. I found the tee bo... Continue »

Went down to Santa Anita a little before noon, hit a few balls as a single and was on the tee paired up with a threesome within about fifteen minutes of putting my name on the list. I found the tee boxes generally very nice. They were consistently level and, while the grass this time of year tends not to be lush, the coverage was good—not a lot of chewed up or bare areas at all. Fairways have that winter tightness to the lies, but I found it was less wintery than the last time I was here—once again, not lush, but adequate or better. I can't think of a time I was in the fairway that I was conscious of the lie being problem. Didn't hit a bunker all day so I can't address them other than they looked ok. The greens right now are reminiscent of Oak Quarry in that they have a surface pattern going on that can be visually distracting, but the actual surface is on the quick side and rolling pretty true. There were some instances of tight chipping lies around the greens, but the rough was in good shape and a good playable length. I wasn't tracking the time closely, but it was probably just under a five hour round. It was on the slow side but pretty steady with no extended waits, so it really didn't feel overly long. It was a beautiful day and finishing a little before sunset with the mountain backdrop was pretty nice. The course is one of the better munis in LA county, and while the conditions are still reflective of the season, I found it better than I expected and had no complaints on the day. Good times.

played twilight yesterday 2-18 presidents holiday. Teed off around 145 pm and got in 17 holes before it got completely dark. Probably would of finished if the 5some two groups ahead of us moved alittl... Continue »

played twilight yesterday 2-18 presidents holiday. Teed off around 145 pm and got in 17 holes before it got completely dark. Probably would of finished if the 5some two groups ahead of us moved alittle faster. Pace of play was still pretty good for a holiday. I always find that this course is usually pretty decent condition for a city course. Greens are alittle bumpy, but roll pretty good. Fairways need alittle trim, bunkers good(i was told, wasnt in one)tee boxes were level but some were very patchy.

Skipped out of work early today and teed off at 3:15pm as a single. $13 for green fee and $14 for the cart. The course was completely empty due to the rain earlier in the day and the overhanging rai... Continue »

Skipped out of work early today and teed off at 3:15pm as a single. $13 for green fee and $14 for the cart. The course was completely empty due to the rain earlier in the day and the overhanging rain cloud. Ended up raining for 2 holes, but the rest of the round was nice and dry. Ended up finishing 18 in just under 2 hours! That was the best part about the round.

Tee boxes were pretty beat up. What grass they had were very thin. Fairways were decent, with a few brown/dirt spots. The greens were inconsistent. A few were OK, most others (#4 was the worst) were in very bad shape with dirt spots showing and bumpy. Rough areas next to the fairways were pretty thin, but were decent in the areas around the green. Overall condition was better than Alhambra, but still no where close to its peak shape.

Walked on this morning as a single and waited 30 minutes and got on. $26 to walk is one of the better deals in Los Angeles area. Course is decent shape despite winter conditions. The greens were sm... Continue »

Walked on this morning as a single and waited 30 minutes and got on. $26 to walk is one of the better deals in Los Angeles area. Course is decent shape despite winter conditions. The greens were smooth and medium speed (maybe an 8.5) with little ball marks. However, they have been spraying green weed killer on the greens, so don't lick your fingers! Fairways were thin and patchy in many spots, but definitely playable. The rough was between 1.5 to 2 inches and a mixture of dormant and dead grass. Bunkers were in good shape with plenty of sand. They do a great job here of moving the tees around so the tee boxes were in decent shape; even the par 3's. POP was 4 3/4 hours. Customer service was courteous and pleasant. Bathrooms and common area were maintained with diligence. Keep up the good work!

Played in a tournament on Saturday morning, 1/5/13, on a warm sunny day with almost no wind. Frost delay resulted in starting 30 minutes late. Course was in very good shape even after recent rains - g... Continue »

Played in a tournament on Saturday morning, 1/5/13, on a warm sunny day with almost no wind. Frost delay resulted in starting 30 minutes late. Course was in very good shape even after recent rains - greens were very firm and fairly fast - the best I've ever seen Santa Anita greens. Some pin positions were positively devilish where the back of the green sloped away from the approach. Fairways and rough were OK with no real muddy areas; rough was cut pretty short, in general. Good sand in the bunkers. Grass on tees was thin and many tees were worn down in the primary teeing area. POP was ~5 hours - normal for a SA weekend. Greens had a lot of ballmarks and many unfilled divots in the fairways - shame on golfers for not doing their duty. They were renovating the driving range fencing so it wasn't available. Bathrooms on course recently renovated and a great improvement. Computer in the pro shop was down. Recommended.

Played 12/8 (Sat). Reminded me why I don't play here often even though it's less than 10 minutes away from where I live. Got there at 6:45am, put our name down as a 2some and finally got on at 8am. ... Continue »

Played 12/8 (Sat). Reminded me why I don't play here often even though it's less than 10 minutes away from where I live. Got there at 6:45am, put our name down as a 2some and finally got on at 8am. We expected the wait as walkons, so no biggy there. However, the round took well over 5 hours, having to pretty much wait for every single shot. Out of the 3 groups ahead of us, 2 were 5somes. Pace of play here on the weekend is just horrendous.

The tee boxes were a joke. Could hardly find grass to tee off of. The fairways were half decent at best. The greens were slow and ~half of them had heavy damage. The best thing about the course was the bunkers. There was plenty of nice soft sand in them.

Don't expect to be out there again any time soon.

Walked up yesterday just before 1:00 (twilight rates here begin 12:30, $19 to walk) and was immediately paired with a single who had just teed off. We were behind a five-some that generally kept a goo... Continue »

Walked up yesterday just before 1:00 (twilight rates here begin 12:30, $19 to walk) and was immediately paired with a single who had just teed off. We were behind a five-some that generally kept a good pace. Overall conditions were good. Love the large flat tee boxes here and the coverage was good. Fairways were in decent, muni-quality condition. Occasionally a touch tight in spots this time of year, but no real complaints. Rough varied but was a fair challenge on average. Bunker sand was good and not a lot of footprints or neglect. Many greens have faint, visual remnant/imprint of the most recent punching but no actual remaining impact on the roll of the ball. They generally were receptive, rolled true enough and at a medium quick pace. A couple of greens were a bit splotchy with a touch of fungus. The round was a little over four hours and we were the last group to finish 18. Considering I got out a bit later than intended, I was happy to comfortably finish the 18. I was mentally prepared for less. The group behind us probably would have had enough light to reasonably finish also, but they elected to head in after 17. The course is not in prime shape, but generally solid. I have no complaints and would deem it good to go.