ALERT: (Aeration Alert)
Will be aerating the greens 10/1 & 10/2.
* Please note that although we put a great amount of effort into forecasting course maintenance, we still recommend you contact the golf course to confirm this information.
Rancho Park is an intensely popular municipal layout that dwells in the shadows of Century City and Beverly Hills. From the portion of the course that fronts Pico Boulevard, one would never guess that behind the chain link fences resides one of the nicest city-owned layouts in Southern California. To be fair, most of what you can see from the road is the adjacent par 3 course, and to offer comment on that would be unfair as I have not yet played it.
Opened in 1947 and designed, at least in part by William Park Bell (cohort of the famed George Thomas, credited with the designs of the big-three of Los Angeles golf - nearby Los Angeles, Riviera, and Bel-Air Country Clubs), Rancho Park shares an architectural heritage with some of the best courses in the country. While it would be going a bit too far to award Rancho Park with this lofty status, it's easy to see why this course hosted numerous professional events including the LA Open in it's trophy case.
The front nine is rather non-descript and though solid, is easily the inferior of the two sides, both of which feature soaring mature trees lining each and every hole. The layout truly finds its identity starting with the cross-country 11th and holds serve all the way until you walk off the 17th green. These holes are some of the best in the area, and the compact but not claustrophobic routing makes you feel like you're playing your own country club back nine. While each of the holes at Rancho has what they term an alternate green, they are mostly temporary greens that are rarely in use. The exceptions are the 16th and 17th holes, which offer two distinctly different green complexes, each with the same yardage as the standard green, and each a viable hole in it's own right.
If you're used to municipal course conditions, then you're in for a treat at Rancho Park. On the whole, the city of Los Angeles seems to take better care of this course than they do at their other facilities. The greens are consistently rolling well at a puttable and challenging speeds. Aside from the 7th hole, most of the greens are rather unremarkable, and they lack large tiers or swales. Therefore, I think there is plenty of room to kick the speed a touch quicker to add to the challenge, but they've chosen not to as of yet. While there are soggy areas on the course, especially in some of the "off the beaten path" spots between holes and around the greens, the course is remarkably dry when considering the recent rains. I played New Years Day in addition to this survey round, and despite the pouring rain, the greens and fairways were all well drained and perfectly playable.
Are there straggly areas? Sure - but I think the expectation to performance ratio here clearly favors the golfer. The fairways are kept mowed at a good height, and the rough provides a challenge. The bunkers could use a morning raking, especially when they have gotten damp overnight, but perhaps a better solution is to avoid hitting my ball into it in the first place. With all the criticism municpal layouts can sometimes find flying their way, it's great to see that Rancho Park and their maintanence crew takes pride in presenting consistently playable conditions given the limited funds the city budget provides.
Because of it's position as the only public 18 hole facility on the westside, and of course due to the merits of the layout and conditions, Rancho Park is extremely difficult to get on. Walk-ons can typically plan on putting, chipping, driving ranging, and breakfasting a couple of hours away while they wait for their names to come up. It's worth it, though, if you have the time - Not too many municipal courses can claim a place in the history of the game as Rancho Park can (for evidence, make sure you check out the Arnold Palmer plaque at the championship tee box on the 18th hole). The conditions are as good as can be expected from a municipal layout, and if you don't mind a leisurely 5+ hour pace of play, you'll really enjoy the golf that Rancho Park has to offer.
