Conditions are fair at best, overall. Greens - which are usually a highlight here and typically much-above-muni-average - have not healed very well since aeration 5 weeks ago. There are plenty of sand... Continue »

Conditions are fair at best, overall. Greens - which are usually a highlight here and typically much-above-muni-average - have not healed very well since aeration 5 weeks ago. There are plenty of sandy spots still, and a fair amount of bobbles too. The upside (if you like it this way) is they are lightning quick, so much so that several putts above the hole were downright unplayable. Set up with your back to the hole, hit it up hill slowly, then watch it dribble back to the hole, then beyond and sometimes back off the green. 2 feet tap-ins from above the cup would end up 15-20 feet past. Interesting.

Fairways are a grab-bag of green stuff, burnt stuff and weeds. They were cut very tight with lots of roll. Rough was hit or miss and kikuya is always fun to chip out of around the greens. Was in 3 bunkers and they all had good sand coverage but littered with smaller stones throughout.

Tees are usually rough given all the iron play they see here with short par 4's throughout. That said, tees #3 (par 4), 6 (par 3), 11 (par 5), 12 (par 3 over mountain) and 14 (par 3) were all recently flattened and re-sodded. While the turf has fully to take as of yet, the flatness of the surface is much appreciated I am sure.

To end, my usual warning about the toughness of this course - it's a little track that punches much above it's weight. 12 holes have OB or hazards close in on both sides; the other 6 have OB or hazards on at least one side. This makes for the equivalent of 30 water hazards to contend with. It would be like playing in a lake peppered with green fairways for you to aim at. One swing from calamity all the time.

Have at it.

Played 11-20-15 early morning joining a threesome and finishing in 3 1/ 2 hours, walking. Tee boxes were in descent shape, mostly level with some divot damage on short 4 pars and 3 pars. Fairways had ... Continue »

Played 11-20-15 early morning joining a threesome and finishing in 3 1/ 2 hours, walking. Tee boxes were in descent shape, mostly level with some divot damage on short 4 pars and 3 pars. Fairways had mostly good coverage with a few thin and bare spots. Rough was hit and miss with short, long, and bare areas. Went into two sandtraps both of which had nice sand, with one having some small rocks in it. Greens were in good shape, most have healed from punching with a couple that are in the shade needing a little more time to heal. They were rolling pretty smooth and fast and holding shots well.

played Sat PM. tee time 1120 but was delayed due to a tournament in the morning. teed off 1145 and finished 4:45. Tee box were stacked 2-3 groups at the beginning and eventually eased after a few h... Continue »

played Sat PM. tee time 1120 but was delayed due to a tournament in the morning. teed off 1145 and finished 4:45. Tee box were stacked 2-3 groups at the beginning and eventually eased after a few holes. Still, 5 hours for debell is too long.

Conditions were ok. Greens were recently punched so you still see the signs of maintenance but rolled pretty decent. Fairways for most part was good except #3.
didn't go into the bunkers but looked ok and decent conditions.

saw the marshall a few times but not sure how effective they were as there were a few groups that were falling behind.

while DeBell is a fun course to play, it might be awhile before we go back.

After reading positive reviews, we purchased a Groupon for De Bell. Maybe we hit it on an off day, but the conditions were poor, the pace of play atrociously slow (two groups backed up nearly each ho... Continue »

After reading positive reviews, we purchased a Groupon for De Bell. Maybe we hit it on an off day, but the conditions were poor, the pace of play atrociously slow (two groups backed up nearly each hole). Didn't even finish 18 holes before it got dark. At least we hadn't payed full price. Some fairways were pretty lush but others patchy. Greens had recently been punched so still very bumpy and full of pitch marks. Chipping around the greens was hit or miss. Some holes did have beautiful views - that's the one positive I can say.

This is one of the best kept public courses you will find in SoCal..especially in this drought California is having. I used to work here as a kid in the early eighties and I have not seen it in bette... Continue »

This is one of the best kept public courses you will find in SoCal..especially in this drought California is having. I used to work here as a kid in the early eighties and I have not seen it in better shape. This course makes you hit the shots. You have to find the fairways and stay below the pins. Play the course the way it was drawn and think old school with it being a Billy Bell design.

Played just after the rain ended today which meant a 2:45 18 for my buddy and I. Didn't see another golfer until the 13th tee (not coincidentally when my game went south). Greens are in phenomenal sha... Continue »

Played just after the rain ended today which meant a 2:45 18 for my buddy and I. Didn't see another golfer until the 13th tee (not coincidentally when my game went south). Greens are in phenomenal shape in advance of the Burbank City Amateur in a couple of weeks. Fairways played pretty well too aside from the mud balls from the rain. I was very impressed at the newly leveled tees on #'s 6, 9, 11 and the reclaimed back tee on 13 (that extra 15 yards changes the hole for sure). Found one trap and they're always pretty good here, today was no exception. Still some light work around the course (#7 springs to mind). Overall, it's a good time to play it. They usually punch right after the City Am.

Lately, it seems like I'm following Nickesquire around playing courses either with him or right after him ... I think we're on the same wavelength. So, naturally, I'm out to De Bell (which I play onc... Continue »

Lately, it seems like I'm following Nickesquire around playing courses either with him or right after him ... I think we're on the same wavelength. So, naturally, I'm out to De Bell (which I play once a year with da Boyz) just a few days after he and RGM played it. Their reviews are spot on for this course, I can only add my own views for Saturday when I played. We teed off a bit late and finished in 4.5 hrs. Cart girl was around as was the marshal, good to see. Greens rolled at a decent medium pace with a few bumps to throw an occasional ball offline. I agree that the Kikuyu rough can be difficult to chip out of, but that's Kikuyu for you. Never in a bunker, looked okay and no complaints from my playing partners. As mentioned in many reviews, it's a tight course right off the start, especially that front 9 (2-4 are uber tight). Course knowledge and accuracy off the tee are essential to score here, otherwise you end up wondering how you got a 6 on a 295 yard par 4. For me, De Bell once a year is okay mostly cuz it's a tough drive to Burbank. That said, if it was closer, I'd still wouldn't play here too often ... it's a course that takes the driver out of your hands just a bit too much. Recommended ... if you enjoy target golf.

Played 9-30-15 afternoon with Nickesquire for a $15 cart fee special in around 3 1/2 hours. Tee boxes are what they are at Debell, short four pars have a lot of divot damage while long four pars are i... Continue »

Played 9-30-15 afternoon with Nickesquire for a $15 cart fee special in around 3 1/2 hours. Tee boxes are what they are at Debell, short four pars have a lot of divot damage while long four pars are in pretty good shape. Fairways were in nice shape with an occasional dry area. Rough was around 1-2 inches off the fairways, and anywhere from 1-4 inches around the greens. Sandtraps looked to be in descent shape. Greens were in real nice shape rolling medium/fast a pretty smooth. Overall course is in very nice playable shape.

Played the Blues (5608/68.9/122) with RGM2525 for $15 including a cart through a course E-Mail promotion. We played through 2 groups & finished in 3H, 30M on a hot, fairly still afternoon. The layout... Continue »

Played the Blues (5608/68.9/122) with RGM2525 for $15 including a cart through a course E-Mail promotion. We played through 2 groups & finished in 3H, 30M on a hot, fairly still afternoon. The layout is quirky, tight and very hilly, the holes are constantly up/down. The course is carved out of a mountain with tremendous views of Burbank, Glendale and downtown L.A. Older course that has never been modernized (lengthened) and likely never will due to space constraints. There are many blind shots, even a par 3 where you can not see the green or the flag hidden over a hill. It would take several rounds to get a feel for this course. Where to aim and how much club to hit off different tees because of fairways that are often severely up/down hills that then slope to sidehill lies. Miss the already narrow fairways by more than a few yards and there is a generous amount of OB, red stakes and barranca waiting to add penalty strokes to your score. Accuracy is definitely a premium even though there is no water on the course. Local knowledge on numerous greens, where to aim over blind areas and how much club to hit off numerous tees is essential to playing well here. The tees were poor overall, many were thin and needed divot repair. Probably because it is a shorter course, there are many more tees chewed up with divots that you would expect on par 4's and even par 5's. The fairways and rough were about 50/50 lush/thin but had good coverage overall. The sand traps were playable, average. The greens are very small and also VERY severely sloped on numerous holes. The greens were the best part of the course, firm, medium fast and they putted relatively smooth. Very few straight putts, be ready to aim outside the hole to way outside the hole on even shorter putts. The kikuyu aprons and the rough close to the greens are treacherous to chip over/through even though they are not that high. Short = yes, but this is far from an easy course. The slope rating is too low in my opinion. Longest 5608 yard course I have ever played because depending on the hole, you may be hitting a short iron, a middle iron, a long iron and only occasionally a driver off the tee on par 4's. You need to be able to accurately curve balls in both directions to be able to play longer clubs on many of these tee shots. The customer service was excellent, they got out out soon after we arrived. Mediocre range, mats and cannot hit longer clubs. Fun, scenic course that seeing it for a 2nd time allowed me to trim 7 shots off my 1st attempt. However, I would be hard pressed to ever shoot a great score here.