Played Sunday, October 5, around 7:00 am. Started late after they put a gap group in front of us and they were a hole behind after one hole. About the 5th hole though, they took off and started playing at a good pace. It was like a tag team and a group that had an interest in pace substituted in. Ended up being a 4 hour pace. Snack shack was open when I we went by after the 2nd... » More

Played Sunday, October 5, around 7:00 am. Started late after they put a gap group in front of us and they were a hole behind after one hole. About the 5th hole though, they took off and started playing at a good pace. It was like a tag team and a group that had an interest in pace substituted in. Ended up being a 4 hour pace. Snack shack was open when I we went by after the 2nd hole, nice to see as it was not open early the last couple of times I played here. I made sure to buy something when we made the turn to give positive reinforcement for the good behavior.

I knew from Greenskeeper that they had punched the greens on Monday and Tuesday. It was a heavy punch. Interestingly, the greens were still pretty firm. Lots of hops and change of direction to the putts. I thought they were faster than the practice green. The fairways were pretty tight, almost winter like condition with some bare spots (looking at you #16). There is quite a bit of lush rough but also some areas with bare spots. I had a couple of nasty lies, on dirt between clumps of grass. The bunkers were also a mixed bag including several that had insufficient sand. I was in one fairway bunker (#13) where a heavy rake job left me with a teed up lie. I lost no yardage on the shot, ending up in the back bunker that had less sand than the fairway one. At least this time here I did not end up near one of the crazy steep edges they bunkers have (last time here I had to play a bunker shot on my knees outside the bunker, lunging down at the ball). The tees were lush and level.

Overall, not as good tee to green as I have seen it and the aerated greens are what you would expect from the large punch. I enjoy Lakewood but I may delay my return until the greens heal.
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Played Harding yesterday with a 3 randos.

Nice early round, cool and overcast and finished pretty warm out.

Course was in ok condition. Not too many gopher holes or anything, just lots of cut grass.

Tee boxes were fine, sand was good I guess, I wasn't in it. Greens were micropunched a week or so ago, They rolled ok so not too much to complain about... » More

Played Harding yesterday with a 3 randos.

Nice early round, cool and overcast and finished pretty warm out.

Course was in ok condition. Not too many gopher holes or anything, just lots of cut grass.

Tee boxes were fine, sand was good I guess, I wasn't in it. Greens were micropunched a week or so ago, They rolled ok so not too much to complain about.

POP was was ok, busy groups in front of our 855 tee time.

Typical Griffith Day at Harding.
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Mountain course currently closed for overseeding, so all recent rounds have been on Canyon. Course continues to be in nice condition even with over seeding within a few weeks. Milder temps and uncrowded conditions make this my favorite time of year to play here. I am sometimes practically the only person on an entire 9 on weekday afternoons. Tees and fairways lush and well main... » More

Mountain course currently closed for overseeding, so all recent rounds have been on Canyon. Course continues to be in nice condition even with over seeding within a few weeks. Milder temps and uncrowded conditions make this my favorite time of year to play here. I am sometimes practically the only person on an entire 9 on weekday afternoons. Tees and fairways lush and well maintained. Sand near immaculate. Rough mostly clumpy Bermuda mowed low. Lies can vary from looking like it was teed up to sitting down so much advancing it with a longer club is unlikely within a small area. Bermuda greens slower than usual. Firm and medium speed, not as smooth as in high season. Almost no ball marks, putts still roll very true. Easier to putt than when they are quicker, it's amazing how many more putts I can hole when the greens are even 10% slower. Restaurant good for a golf course. Customer service excellent both inside/outside the club. Practice facilities and the GPS on the carts both excellent. Men's lounge nice place to have a meal or get a drink with numerous big screen TV's in a friendly atmosphere. Newly renovated gym is a nice addition as well. Highly recommended.
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Got done with work early yesterday, Monday, Oct 6 and went out to Balboa and put my name on the wait list at 1:30 as a single. Proshop got me out in about 20 mins, tee off at 1:50. POP was quite nice at 4hrs 15mins. Only one group waiting on number 6, which is a miracle. We waited a little bit on about half the other tees, but things moved pretty well. $36 to walk as a res... » More

Got done with work early yesterday, Monday, Oct 6 and went out to Balboa and put my name on the wait list at 1:30 as a single. Proshop got me out in about 20 mins, tee off at 1:50. POP was quite nice at 4hrs 15mins. Only one group waiting on number 6, which is a miracle. We waited a little bit on about half the other tees, but things moved pretty well. $36 to walk as a resident is well worth it.

The course is still recovering from quite a bit of work. The greens were very bumpy from recent aeration and late in the day footprints, but they held shot well and were on the faster side. These greens should be good to great in a few more weeks, especially if they can keep the speed up.

The tees were fairly level for the most part and had good to great coverage, no complaints.

Fairways are like the greens. Definitely a work in progress with some bare spots, wet spots, and some GUR. In a few weeks, though, these fairways should be really good. They showed a lot of moments of brilliance and promise.

Rough wasn't too penal except for the areas around the greens. Seems like the Bermuda grass isn't going dormant (maybe because the weather has been so nice and warm) and it's still very healthy. Balls around the greens will nestle down in the Bermuda rough making chipping a little more challenging.

I found one greenside bunker and it was great. Nice new fluffy sand.

No frills customer service, no bev. cart. Everyone in the proshop was just great. Thanks for working me in. Looking forward to getting back out here in a few more weeks when it should be in great shape.
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Out for my monthly round at Spanish Bay with Bob. We tee’d off at our normal 9ish time in another beautiful day. No fog all day and about a 1 club wind on the last 6-8 holes. Course remains in great shape tee to green with the greens being maybe a touch better than last month.

We were paired with a 10 year old (soon to be 11) phenom!! Her name is Teagan... » More

Out for my monthly round at Spanish Bay with Bob. We tee’d off at our normal 9ish time in another beautiful day. No fog all day and about a 1 club wind on the last 6-8 holes. Course remains in great shape tee to green with the greens being maybe a touch better than last month.

We were paired with a 10 year old (soon to be 11) phenom!! Her name is Teagan Tudla and she is the real deal. She’s won several titles in the under 10 category and next week will be her first tournament in the big girl class (11-13). Teagan and her parents were absolutely wonderful people to be around. My game stunk to high Heaven but it was so awesome watching Teagan tear up the course. She came within a few inches of a hole in one on #8. I can’t wait to tee it up with Teagan again. But next time she’s giving me 5 strokes a side! And if we ever do another GK Cup team event, well sorry Peter, but I know who my new partner will be!!

As far as the course goes, each month there’s more and more talk about what the new design will be like. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information. At least not from a reliable source. If Jeff (head pro) does know, he’s not telling us.
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