Hit up The Ike for a solo round this past week as I had some work in the area and decided to stop over for an afternoon tee time, joined by two other singles. Just an FYI - driving range balls are CAS... Continue »

Hit up The Ike for a solo round this past week as I had some work in the area and decided to stop over for an afternoon tee time, joined by two other singles. Just an FYI - driving range balls are CASH ONLY, but kudos to the attendant who called the starter's office and added my range balls to my regular greens fees and just got me a bucket out of the machine.

Check-in was smooth and I am pretty sure that this course is carts only due to the very large (and uphill) distance between the nines. I don't recall seeing any walkers so I'm almost 100% sure of this, but I wouldn't go to court and swear on it. Fortunately said carts are in nice shape and have a good GPS system, although my battery was near dead by the 8th green and someone showed up to replace it without me even calling it in - top marks!

The Ike is such a fun and engaging layout - it's really got it all. Elevations, doglegs, tricky greens, strategic bunkers and length depending on the tee box you're choosing (I played from the whites on this day). It's definitely one of those 'use every club in your bag' type of courses, and it's a ton of amusement. You can't go wrong if the conditions are good.

Speaking of conditions, really great greens that are some of the more challenging you'll find in SoCal. So many tiers, tough reads and consistently fast speeds that I had more three-putts on the day than is normal for me. There are absolutely no gimmees on these greens, but they're really fun to navigate. Fairways could definitely be more lush - they have good coverage, but a lot of even prime spots feel thin. Rough is in good shape and playable, while the fairways bunkers were pretty rock hard but the greenside ones played okay - could use another layer or two of sand, but manageable. Tee boxes were fine.

POP was a bit on the slow side because the group in front of us was not exactly tearing it up in terms of pace, but they didn't have gaps in front of them either. The group behind us must have been absolutely pissing off the groups behind them because we rarely ever saw them behind us until most holes were done. Cart service came around 2-3x which is all you could want from a hospitality and service perspective.

All in all it was another great outing at Industry Hills and I look forward to getting back out there once again, only this time with some good friends to share in the experience.