Played today with three others. We had a 7:30 tee time and the weather was perfect. It seemed like we had the course to ourselves all day. Not sure why but am guessing the rates are little high and pl... Continue »

Played today with three others. We had a 7:30 tee time and the weather was perfect. It seemed like we had the course to ourselves all day. Not sure why but am guessing the rates are little high and playing in the wintertime on a Monday might also be a factor. I have to say though the course is in great shape! The fairways are dormant but really playable, the tee boxes are mostly level, the sand is good, and the greens are excellent. We always leave this course wanting more and can't wait to come back.if we could find a $50 rate here we would play more often. Had lunch afterwards on the outdoor patio and enjoyed that too. It would be great if GK could get some deals here!!!

Played here on Nov 24. Conditions were very good, especially for a $65 greens fee. Tee boxes were B+, bordering A-. Fairways A...and please don't be thrown off by the dormancy and brown color. Lie... Continue »

Played here on Nov 24. Conditions were very good, especially for a $65 greens fee. Tee boxes were B+, bordering A-. Fairways A...and please don't be thrown off by the dormancy and brown color. Lies were fine and the ball sits up niely. Bunkers A-...all of them were well raked and consistent. Angeles has reduced some of the ESA areas on the course and replaced that with wood chips in certain interior areas. It's a free drop off the wood chips. I think this is a good idea; Angeles is tough enough off the tee, and if your ball lands in the chips, it's easily findable. Greens were A-...rolling pretty smooth and abt 10-10.5. Service was very good, starting with the attendant just outside the cart barn, Jimmy. Overall, a well-conditioned course and well worth $65 midweek.

Played here for the first time on Monday Nov 9. Great really fun course that I would recommend. A lot of unique holes that offer a good test of golf in all facets of the game. Many well placed bunk... Continue »

Played here for the first time on Monday Nov 9. Great really fun course that I would recommend. A lot of unique holes that offer a good test of golf in all facets of the game. Many well placed bunkers, dog legs, risk/reward holes, and sloping greens.

The tee boxes were level but beware that they are reseeding all the boxes so the blacks/blues/whites are all playing from the same place. Looks like they have them set up at the blue locations. I would expect they will be this way for a month or so. Almost every hole has well placed fairway bunkers that force you to place a well hit drive or use a fairway wood. Long hitters, 270+, should play from the blacks or this course will likely play much easier for you.

Fairways are starting to go dormant and combined with water restrictions they are more of a yellow green color. Your ball will run farther than you expect but the coverage was very good and playable. Rough was mowed pretty short and generally wasn't too penalizing.

Greens were fantastic and really fun. A lot of slope and many multi teared greens made each hole interesting. Pace was medium fast. I didn't find the greens that difficult mostly because I found they very easy to read.

I really recommend this course but I think the prime time rack rate is a little over priced, at least for my wallet. I'd play here monthly if it was 80 or 90. I guess it's still worth. $120 on occasion.

Played Angeles yesterday with 3 others from the blue tees on a perfect day. This course is a joy to play. Great layout, great views on the National Forest, and a challenge. Course conditions right now... Continue »

Played Angeles yesterday with 3 others from the blue tees on a perfect day. This course is a joy to play. Great layout, great views on the National Forest, and a challenge. Course conditions right now are very good especially the greens. The tee boxes were just seeded so they are not very green but they are all level and played fine. I would give the entire course a 7 of 10 rating on conditions right now and it will only get better so find a deal and get out to play. We played for $65 which is the 55 and over rate.

Played late afternoon on 8/28/15. It was probably THE HOTTEST day of the week. My car temp said it was 112F! Took my father in law, who was in town from Japan. Why not take him to Hideki Matsuyama's h... Continue »

Played late afternoon on 8/28/15. It was probably THE HOTTEST day of the week. My car temp said it was 112F! Took my father in law, who was in town from Japan. Why not take him to Hideki Matsuyama's home course!

It's been a couple years since I played last. Challenging setting, need some distance to score, and knowing the course is a must. Greens are always challenging, and if you make a mistake, you do get punished. Course condition was pretty good for the summer. Fairway and rough was doing well in this drought. I noticed that they put in a lot of woodchips around the course (did get punished for hitting a shot there!). Sand condition was pretty good. Greens rolled pretty well. It wasn't the fastest green that I've experienced there, but rolled well and controlling speed was key. I thought the greens were a little firm. I do spin the ball, but it bounced and rolled on a couple of holes. Very satisfied with the condition.

Encountered good two good group. One was 5 ladies, and they were playing on their pace, couple looked like more of a beginner. They let us go after 5 holes. Then we ran into a group on the 11th. They had one person that had to leave and they were waiting for the cart to come back. Then we got to the 16th (no one was playing in that insane hotness) and the 4 some was EXTREMELY slow. Took more than 10-15 minutes to finish putting. Then the next two holes were the same. After every shot, we waited at least 10-15 minutes. We found on the 18th green that they were playing for some money, but who in the world would take that long for four people to finish hitting/putting even with money on the line???? The nice group caught us up on the 18th, and accidentally shot into us later on(couldn't see us because we were on the other side of the hill). And they did not repair anything. Left the sand with foot prints and divots, greens divots were not repaired as well. My father in law was really getting mad at this group. I was glad we only had to deal with them for 3 holes.

First off, can’t say enough about how much fun and what a pleasure it was to have our GK Cup Final on Angeles National Golf Club 8/5. Thank you everyone that participated and Angeles National for bein... Continue »

First off, can’t say enough about how much fun and what a pleasure it was to have our GK Cup Final on Angeles National Golf Club 8/5. Thank you everyone that participated and Angeles National for being our host. Hope you have been checking out the recap photos/videos posted in the forums.

I played Angeles National a few weeks before the GK Cup Finals round and found the course in very good condition then…now the course is in even better shape. Although the greens were still on the slower side for my taste, they were quicker and smoother than a few weeks back. I found them very enjoyable. The fairways although a little thin in spots where overall in better shape and mostly lush throughout. The rough, greenside excellent and lush, adjacent to the fairways mostly thin with occasional lush areas. I did not find the rough punitive and it was simple playing from it. As for the bunkers, and I was in a lot of them! – lol – good quality sand but mostly thin and firm to make for easy escapes. Be careful although when playing from the big bunker on 13 near the green, it’s actually a waste bunker and the sand if very thin. I made the mistake of not digging my feet in and kindly knocked my shot over the green. Lastly are the tee boxes, we played the blue tees, I found them level, cut tight and lush. Overall I think the course is in great shape.

As far as the layout, it’s fun, challenging and now that they added the “bark chips” adjacent to the rough bordering the hazards on most holes which afford a free drop and can help prevent your ball from going into the hazard, I like it even more. This was always my beef with the course, having decent shots run through the fairways and into the hazards (which btw are ESA so you can’t play from them). I found myself on the tee less concerned about missing the fairways which made for a more relaxed round. Still, you got to be accurate off the tee and approach shot with this course to have any chance of scoring. It’s still a very demanding course as far as accuracy and distance control. Once on the greens, they are undulating but not too severe. They are well guarded and make for some difficult up-and-downs. But they are a blast to play.

After our round we had “Happy Hour” in the restaurant. The food was excellent and, along with the drinks, affordable. Our service was great and I will plan on eating there again after my next round.

As far as price, I've been seeing some good deals on the Angeles National website, and feel the course is totally worth those prices. I think for those that want a high golf experience, Angeles National delivers. If you just look at the “rack” rate you might cringe but seriously when is the last time you played golf and paid the rack rate anywhere other than a local muni? There are always deals to be had if you look for them.

Overall I highly recommend this course.

Angeles National is in great shape. Thanks to Dan and his staff at Angeles for some righteous treatment and customer care. You're top notch. Greens are slowish for this time of the year. Ball roll... Continue »

Angeles National is in great shape. Thanks to Dan and his staff at Angeles for some righteous treatment and customer care. You're top notch. Greens are slowish for this time of the year. Ball rolled very true. Just remember to be aggressive. Fairways are thin but playable. Stay out of the woodchips for a free drop. Bunkers are tricky. Most have an overhanging lip around the green complexes. It requires a very high shot to clear the bunker and rough. Sand is compact. Tee boxes are flat and lush. Play for a longer shot so roll the ball. Conditions are great. Would I play here again? yeppers :D

Played with the GK Cup 7 final match with JohnnyGK, lotrgolfer48, and HmtGolfGuy on a hot, sunny, breezy Wednesday, 8/5/15. I had never played here before and, frankly, was wary of the course based on... Continue »

Played with the GK Cup 7 final match with JohnnyGK, lotrgolfer48, and HmtGolfGuy on a hot, sunny, breezy Wednesday, 8/5/15. I had never played here before and, frankly, was wary of the course based on past GK reviews and comments from other golfers regarding the difficulty of the course. In addition, I haven’t had very good fortune on most other Nicklaus design courses I had played – my impression is that you generally need to hit high soft approach shots to be able to play Jack’s courses well, and I don’t have that game. But the course wasn’t the fanged monster I feared, and I found it to be very playable and enjoyable. We played from the blue tees and the yardage is hefty (card distance 6600 yards), and much of the yardage includes several long par 4s that play into the wind AND require approaches over native areas. Also, the two par 3s on the front side are long and play into the wind. If you can hit solid drives on these holes and negotiate them without too much damage, there are a lot of opportunities for scoring on some shorter par 4s and 5s, downwind holes, and accessible par 3s. [Or if you consistently stripe it down the middle, hit almost every green, and make putts from everywhere like Matt, you can score that way!] Greens were not as severe as I expected, and the fairly significant undulations were moderated by the fairly slow speed of the greens – the course is keeping the grass a little longer to keep the greens from burning up in the heat. Green speeds were very consistent, and the medium-slow speed minimized downhill runouts and allowed everyone to be more confident and aggressive with their putts. Fairways were wider than I expected and provided plenty of playing area. There were traps to be avoided but hitting lanes were generally available. On several holes there are peninsulas of rough that intrude on the fairways, and these need to be avoided, as the rough here really grabs your ball and costs you distance off the tee. I found a few of those and wound up with 180-200 yards to greens on my approaches. In rough areas the ball could sit up, be on thin or bare ground, or sit down in a bushy lie that was difficult to get a club on. Beyond these areas there’s a lot of environmentally sensitive areas where you aren’t likely to find your ball, although it looks like the coursed recently added some “barked” transition areas between the rough and ESA where you get a free drop. We didn’t lose too many balls on Wednesday. I wasn’t in the sand (Johnny was in enough traps for all of us, I think[!]), but sand quality and quantity appeared to be adequate. The POP was unhurried as the course was not crowded, and we were behind our first group and were passed only by a couple of singles during the round. I’m not a big fan of the huge palm tree that blocks the approach to the 18th green – I guess the uphill shot, a big lake next to the severely angled green, and the big green contours weren’t quite enough! The closest comparison I have to other Nicklaus courses I have played is the PGA West Nicklaus Tournament course (an earlier review called this an Arizona desert course in a Los Angeles riverbed). I’d definitely recommend the course and would enjoy playing it again, but the commute from south OC across LA during work rush hours was brutal. The course needs more water available for golfers – on this hot day, I drink a lot of water, and I ran out on #5 – I got pretty toasted by the end of the front nine, and there’s no water on the back nine after the 13th green. Good food in the clubhouse afterward, as well. Thanks to Johnny for setting up this round and to Angeles National for hosting it. And a big congratulations to Matt for a stellar round – worthy of a champion.

I played in the spectator group for the GK Cup Finals yesterday. Big thanks to Dan and Johnny for setting this up. The greatly reduced rate made taking most of the day off work well worth it. It has b... Continue »

I played in the spectator group for the GK Cup Finals yesterday. Big thanks to Dan and Johnny for setting this up. The greatly reduced rate made taking most of the day off work well worth it. It has been a number of years since I last played here and I am very impressed with the conditions and how this course has been taken care of since then. Before the new club house was built, it appeared that conditions were declining. However, now I am happy to report that ANGC is looking as good as ever (minus Sheryl Vargas :(, of course). Detail wise, there is not a lot to add to the other fellas' reviews. I enjoyed making firm putts on the somewhat slower greens. The only drawback is there were a ton of poorly repaired ball marks and staff is forced to apply green sand to smooth them out. Bad golf etiquette by many golfers before us. I will not venture to say anything about their attitudes on privilege or lack of common courtesy. Oops. That said, the greens were soft enough to fix a fresh ball mark with your thumbs and a tee or tool. Great coverage throughout the course. The fairways ran forever. The rough ranged from nicely mowed to slightly long and thick (it could really grab your club, making good contact difficult). Many blind shots and ESA/hazards to avoid. Beautiful scenery and no houses near by, except on the hill to the south. I will be back with some kind of discount if I can find one. Thanks!