I’m in Santa Monica, let me know if you keep doing your Westy runs, I might be interested.
The one I always champion that no one else seems to bring up is Angeles National. About 40 minutes from us first thing in the AM, and when you could get a reservation for 60-70 bucks mid-week it was worth the occasional splurge–now that it goes for 90 or so during the week (130 on the weekends?), it seems a little overpriced.
But it should be mentioned. And stay away from Balboa and Encino, unless you really like one anonymous par 4 after another.
Can confirm one can lose balls on many, many holes. Including the 1st. Why put an OB environmental no access zone in the exact spot lazy drives will slice into?!
Have to say, I had a tough time at Rustic in March. I was jet lagged to fuck and struggling badly to get any timing in my swing, and that place just fucking kills you if you’re not on it. The greens are also insane. If you don’t know them you can putt right off the green constantly. It’s a kick in the balls to the point that I’m not sure I’d be in a rush to go back.
@bilspacecadet I have also played LA National. I didn’t adore it. Nicklaus mixed with desert golf isn’t top of my Love List! But I enjoyed my round there and as you say, it’s not too expensive. It has some fun holes and I liked the clubhouse. It’s also pretty easy to get to if you’re in the Valley.
Quite the contrary these days, it’s the most expensive public course in the LA area. $156 weekend rate any time of day. Probably related: the only course in SoCal with a wide open tee sheet.
I played there back in 2016 and thought there were a number of good holes. Some wild greens, some fun semi-blind shots, all in all a nice spot. Being from Arizona, I’m accustomed to the desert golf style of the course more than most Angelenos will be, though even I have to say having most (all?) of the non-irrigated areas play as “no entry” areas was a bit much. The course is pretty wide, but not wide enough to make that OK.
But reports of the current price point are kinda horrifying. No way is that course worth 150.
Yeah, I think that’s an accurate assessment. GolfNow has the “hot deals” where you can get it as low at 50 bucks, which I think is more than fair. And like I said, used to be mid-week for 65 to 72, if I recall, which was not ridiculous.
As someone who “grew up” on Penmar greens, getting to play Angeles was quite an eye-opener. Watching putts barely slide by, then keep going for three, four, six feet–that was a very different style of golf than I had played before.
@ghost Definitely hit up Rancho if you can find a tee time. There’s some great bones there. Conditions are not always the best but the layout is spectacular.
Times are released at 6am so you need to be on top of that shit, like on the second!
Always willing to tee it up!
@ghost I would add the Long Beach courses to the list (El Dorado Park, Big Rec, & Skylinks) and #1 at Brookside in Pasadena. Goose Creek is the best on that list of @stewy (TBF I have not played Simi) but Norco is a haul from the Westside. Make sure and avoid Industry Hills - Babe (one of the par 5s is the worst hole I have ever played).
@bilspacecadet just played Westchester last night. I try to be there every Monday night around 7/7:30. And noted on Angeles National. Given the price, I’ve noticed it’s a bit easier to get tee times relative to the city courses.
@stewy thanks for the list! Am eager to get on Rancho if I can find a time. Guess I’ll have to start setting an alarm for 6AM. And I played Hansen Dam last week, and it wasn’t so bad. #10 felt a little gimmicky to me.
@lbrowne96 thanks for the LB courses. Haven’t explored down there at all yet. Those courses are a pretty close drive for me relative to some of the others in the area. I played Olivas Links last week, and the drive coming back was brutal.
Yeah, 10 at Hansen is super dumb.
I played the back nine at Tierra Rejada last week and #10 is similar there. Don’t bother with Tierra. They ruined a perfectly nice mountain by putting a golf course on it.
The big problem currently is the COVID. All the LB courses (along with Lakewood which is right there as well) are managed by American Golf and they have had to go with strictly 4 somes at 10 minute intervals and tee times are ALOT harder to come by. The Long Beach Golf Festival is the best amateur golf event in southern CA. All 3 of El Do, Big Rec and Skylinks are enjoyable golf courses. I would assume there are some decent money games there as well if you ask the right people.
You can usually find a time at Rancho for singles but you just have to keep refreshing for a cancellation. Most times i’ve played there it’s when i find a spot a day or 2 prior.
I am in the Men’s Club out at Mountain Meadows and the County is not currently allowing us to book a block of tee times (this is happening with every club based out of courses located in LA County). I get up at 4:45AM to book tee times starting at 5:00AM for the group for the following Sunday. By 5:10AM the following Sunday is booked until 2:00PM. I am sure some folks cancel because they are now requiring a CC to book.
There is a conspiracy theory that LA County employees have gamed the booking systems to get a majority of the prime times. Who knows.
I’ve heard that theory as well. I think the Parks and Rec department sent an email in, like, June or something saying you weren’t allowed to use automated software to book times. How they went about enforcing it, I have no idea. I’m sure they didn’t and just hoped a sternly-worded email would do the trick.
It’s a cascading problem because now when I’m looking for tee times, I’ll just book anything at a course I even half-like that I see available and then sort it out on Thursday/Friday with the rest of my group - what times were you able to snag, okay we’ll play this one and cancel the other one. It’s a real shame but I’m not sure what the solution is.
Definitely the best strategy right now is wait until a day or two before you want to play, or book at the exact minute you’re allowed to.
Apologies for the northern intrusion here, but if any of you lowcal folks are looking for an excuse to bag a Norcal golf trip - here’s a good event to build around (1 NIT spot up for grabs):
Corica South is a local favorite. An Australian sand belt style course by Rees Jones.
Surely a solid anchor on your way through Pasatiempo, Monterey or the City courses
If there’s anyone in LA/OC/SD areas that wants to get involved with some local meetups, shoot me a DM and I can get you added to our local WhatsApp chat. Putting together a match play tournament.
