Got out Sunday 10/17, 8:50 as a foursome on a cool, still morning and still damp golf course. First time back to Balboa in seven months, which feels about right. Conditions are mixed, for a net rating... Continue »

Got out Sunday 10/17, 8:50 as a foursome on a cool, still morning and still damp golf course. First time back to Balboa in seven months, which feels about right. Conditions are mixed, for a net rating of just OK. Tee boxes are generally level with coverage and present suitably as launching pads. My impression of the fairways was was 70 to 80% grass lies and the rest thin, bare or browned out. The grass was on the firm and tighter side but presented good lies and a fair bit of rollout. Classic muni condition of generally serviceable and a bit unsightly at times. The rough could be anything from bare, to non-punitive light coverage, to a little fuller and sticky, to occasional grabby and punitive where more grown in — mostly on the thinner or less lush side. Bunkers could have been better raked, but reasonable clean, decent sand. I managed to avoid footprints and found them firmish and playable with most I was in dry and one moist. The green-side areas were more lush for short game and the kikuyu fringes could check up in-coming shots. The greens were in pretty decent shape overall and ran at a medium-on-the-quick-side and I found them enjoyable to play. Pace was steady and I'm guessing somewhere shy of 4.5 hrs. A beautiful, clear day, it warmed and dried out quickly, starting out windless and developing to a +1 club or more breeze at times towards the end of the round. This is quintessential muni golf — a little under-irrigated overall and less than visually pristine, but it is what it is. Not a destination course to go out of your way for, and the "just OK" rating not withstanding, I had a good time playing it. Sometimes just OK conditions is more than good enough. Good greens also helps. Mostly generous fairways, reasonable length, straightforward with no water hazards or anything tricked up about it, and very good for walking. Perry, Wendy and Tom were excellent company and thanks especially to Perry for reaching out with the open tee time.

Played Balboa on Monday Oct 11 at 7:20. Hadn't been to this course since they reopened the pro shop and the starter moved into the shop. So it's been a few months for me.

Course is playing great ... Continue »

Played Balboa on Monday Oct 11 at 7:20. Hadn't been to this course since they reopened the pro shop and the starter moved into the shop. So it's been a few months for me.

Course is playing great right now. The greens especially were nice and smooth, and rolled very true. Fairways were pretty good -- I hit into a few bare spots but I usually just take relief and reward myself for good tee shots if I find a bad lie. Our pace was very good -- just under 4 hours.

Definitely recommend playing here right now.

Walked the white tees at Balboa today at 7:00am. Our foursome never waited on any hole. We finished in 3.45 hours; very nice pace of play. Overall, Balboa is in nice condition. Tees are fine. The fair... Continue »

Walked the white tees at Balboa today at 7:00am. Our foursome never waited on any hole. We finished in 3.45 hours; very nice pace of play. Overall, Balboa is in nice condition. Tees are fine. The fairways are mostly lush, with some bare of thin areas. I never had anything but a very good lie when in the fairway. The rough ranged from very lush and about 3 inches in length to thin and spotty. But mostly it was in good shape. The rough around the greens is that sticky kikuyu grass. It was thick and lush and very grabby. The bunkers on the course are in very poor shape. The fairway bunkers and greenside bunkers are similar. They are crusty and wet, with a lot debris and weeds growing in them. They were inconsistent and a challenge to hit a good shot out of them. The greens were mostly in good shape. Although they were a little bumpy here and there, they were medium speed and soft. They held shots well and mostly rolled well. I do recommend playing this course right now. For the price, it's a good deal.

Played Balboa 7/13, 8*00am Tee Time. LA City still using 10 min tee times, works out beautifully! Easy check in, got out on time.

Last time I played here, year or so ago, it was bad. Much improved... Continue »

Played Balboa 7/13, 8*00am Tee Time. LA City still using 10 min tee times, works out beautifully! Easy check in, got out on time.

Last time I played here, year or so ago, it was bad. Much improved.

Tee Boxes were in poor condition overall. Need leveling.

Fairways were ok, mostly lush with some bare or dry spots. Much better than last time out.

Rough is not great, lot of dirt/weed/hardpan/gopher damaged ground, especially further from the fairway. Still playable.

Greens are BIG. They are the highlight of the course. Med speed, mostly flat but decent roll.

Areas around the green are mostly Kikuyu grass. Very sticky stuff. Chips don't get through it. Shaved areas can be putted through. Thick stuff like a bunker shot. Very good condition.

POP was 3:45. 4some following 3 2somes, best pace ever on a City course.

No refreshment cart. Restaurant is open, I didn't use it.

Overall, it was fun to play this less challenging course. Nice day on the links, close to home.
Wouldn't drive far to play it, but glad it's here.

Walked the blue tees this morning (5/6/21) with a 7:10am tee time. Overall, Balboa is in just fair condition. A number of tee boxes were unlevel and had a lot bare areas. Some were fine. The fairways ... Continue »

Walked the blue tees this morning (5/6/21) with a 7:10am tee time. Overall, Balboa is in just fair condition. A number of tee boxes were unlevel and had a lot bare areas. Some were fine. The fairways are not in good shape. They have a mix of grasses, and many bare areas and coverage is typically thin and hard. They were playable, but looked and played like the middle of winter conditions.

The rough is mostly thin with some areas of thicker grass. Usually not a difficult shot from the rough. I was in one greenside bunker and one fairway bunker. Both had adequate heavy darker sand; good to hit from. The greens were punched a number of weeks ago. They were medium speed and held shots OK. But they were still a bit bumpy and our balls wobbled at times. In its current condition, I don't recommend playing Balboa. Encino and Woodley are in considerably better shape.

Teed off at 3:20 Sunday as a foursome playing the whites on a nice afternoon. This was the first time I've played Balboa in a good many years with the exception of 13 holes of twilight back in January... Continue »

Teed off at 3:20 Sunday as a foursome playing the whites on a nice afternoon. This was the first time I've played Balboa in a good many years with the exception of 13 holes of twilight back in January 2020. Quintessential muni golf, the conditions were not in any way plush, but generally serviceable with some high points. Teeing grounds were large and predominantly well covered — also as consistently level as any I've played in a long time which I really appreciated. The fairways were a tight, mottled combination of grasses that provided a lot of rollout. If you take a lot of divot or need a fluffy lie, you are going to experience them as problematically tight. I don't, and generally found the hitting surface pretty satisfactory all day. Even with the general tightness, there were few actual bare or hardpan areas in the fairways. I had good results and enjoyed them for what they were. The rough was frequently only a little thicker than the fairways and no penalty from which to play. Managed to avoid the bunkers but they seemed reasonably playable, albeit with footprints to consider. The greenside areas were more tight than lush on average, mostly set up well, but pitching/chipping up from the fairways was tight. The greens were pretty good and had a nice pace — a medium on the quick side and true with not a lot of pitch marks. They were nothing like the heavier/slower practice green, but pretty consistent on the course. Since they were playing competitively and yapping excessively, my playing companions' pace was a bit more sluggish than I would have liked, but so was the course, so we were never too far behind. We just finished 18 in the gloom of last light and the glow of the driving range. The tree-lined course is pretty straight forward and flat for walking, has some length and generally wide fairways, the latter encouraging you to unclench and swing a little more freely. Not a destination course or a first choice, but I wouldn't avoid it. Nothing too tricky, so a good course when you have group of varying abilities. The driving range is fully functioning and the the short game practice areas are back in play. I admit I was generally striking it well and had a good time. I will eventually return.

Spent Saturday with three old friends from past work so the catching up was of course more memorable than the course experience at Balboa, but everything was 'fine.' We used the driving range which se... Continue »

Spent Saturday with three old friends from past work so the catching up was of course more memorable than the course experience at Balboa, but everything was 'fine.' We used the driving range which seemed to be fully open, but most of the carts were gone for our 11:10am tee time. We did manage to get the last one which was good.

As for the course conditions, again, everything is 'fine.' Not terrible, not great. The greens are in fine shape, running just a tick above medium speed and holding shots pretty well. The fairways are fine, pretty nice in a few spots but mostly thin but playable. Rough was fine in parts with some thick areas, some thin ones - you get what you find. Tee boxes were mostly okay but there were some temporary ones between tee box areas while they're doing some maintenance. Bunkers were fine ... playable but far from fluffy.

On a busy Saturday the POP wasn't too terrible actually, but there was no cart service, no snack area open anywhere, no water available and the turn is pretty far away from the bar/snack shop so it's pretty vital to bring everything you need with you when you show up.

It's not a destination course by any means, but it's worth a round now and again.

750 Balboa with a friend and paired with a rando.

Smokey Friday morning and the course was moderately busy. Range was open
but only takes exact change or the key but not a CC card. Not even getti... Continue »

750 Balboa with a friend and paired with a rando.

Smokey Friday morning and the course was moderately busy. Range was open
but only takes exact change or the key but not a CC card. Not even getting into it.

Tee Boxes. tee boxes were good today all pretty lush not seeing anything too mangled.

Fairways, they were pretty good and were well watered. Some of the 70/90 yard
approaches were for sure real wet on the back 9. Like your club will slide through it.

Bunkers, bunkers were super bi polar. Some were raked and pristine others had shovel foot
and others were literally forgotten. Hole 14 green side being one.

Rough, its grabby for sure. Typical city kikuyu around the greens and in the rough. The rough was lush and definitely annoying.

Greens, they were slowish medium, all were pretty wet and watered but not soggy. Pitch marks
weren't too bad either just not snappy although the back had a couple of pin placements that were questionable.

Tee markers on the back were spray painted. Some red, some white, some blue. Couldn't tell if it was a primer coat or if they're changing yardages and some holes had like janky printed ones
on some of the holes on the front. Nice day today, pace of play was 4 hours and we waited a second on a couple of holes. Its always nice to finish rounds swiftly.

Later

740am Tee time for Balboa

Bustling morning with both courses pretty busy.

The course was in pretty good condition but, there are a couple of things.

Tee boxes were whatever, normal city con... Continue »

740am Tee time for Balboa

Bustling morning with both courses pretty busy.

The course was in pretty good condition but, there are a couple of things.

Tee boxes were whatever, normal city conditions,

Fairways and rough were also pretty standard. Hole 3 for sure could use some ground under repair marking, especially by the green, the cart traffic jacked it up pretty well.

The Sandtraps were 50/50. Some of them were raked and others were like sand castles made by retards. Just soggy mounds of old footprints in the bunkers.

The greens, the greens were small punched. Some of them had a pretty excessive plinko
factor yet some how made it towards the hole. The green speeds were rolly but not fast.
Some holes had more left over trim on the greens.

Pace of play was way too slow. Balboa is a short course yet some of these cats teeing it
deep and hitting it short made for a painful morning round. Generally, Ams are quick because
the old guys are trying to beat father death but today I guess they were ready to meet the reaper.