Played 10-13-16 for $19 walking. Teed off at 12:25 with three other singles and finished in about four hours. Tee boxes were in descent shape, a little thin but mostly level. Fairways were very nice g... Continue »

Played 10-13-16 for $19 walking. Teed off at 12:25 with three other singles and finished in about four hours. Tee boxes were in descent shape, a little thin but mostly level. Fairways were very nice green Kikuya with some minor yellow areas. Rough was not that long and in good shape. Was in one bunker on 16 that was a little crusty, but had a descent amount of sand. Greens were a mix of Poa Annua and bent which left them a little bumpy and slow in the afternoon.

Nice little Saturday out at Hansen Dam with fellow GKer Mattias, playing from the blue tees with a 10am tee time and a $47 rate with push cart and a bucket of balls. It was a pretty hot day so it was ... Continue »

Nice little Saturday out at Hansen Dam with fellow GKer Mattias, playing from the blue tees with a 10am tee time and a $47 rate with push cart and a bucket of balls. It was a pretty hot day so it was a bummer that there was no cart service at all throughout the day, but there were a decent number of water fountains around the course to accommodate that.

Conditions at Hansen Dam were actually pretty darn good. Was expecting much more dried out fairways, but actually the coverage of green was pretty nice. There were some dried out patches and actually some areas with standing water from overwatering, but overall they were good. The rough is very playable and isn't an issue. Sand traps were just okay, but enough to work with if stuck in one. Tee boxes? Level, a bit dried out, but not too much to complain about.

Thought the greens were actually in very nice shape. They looked much chunkier than they played, but the speed was good and they were quite receptive to shots coming in from high angles. Fixed a few ball marks here and there but must say I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't find all that many throughout the 18.

One thing of note - they did not have any proper scorecards but instead a black and white single sheet copy of them all around. Why? Apparently word on the street is that they are going to reverse the nines once again, making the current hole #10 back to the opening hole #1 and so on. I think it's a great idea at the start, but I don't like the idea of a place like Hansen closing on a par 3 (current #9 hole). I also think it's bad for business as there is a long walk from the current #9 hole to the restaurant/clubhouse with the parking lot in between, which means many will simply skip the 19th hole and just go straight to their cars.

Of course, the current #1 hole is not a very good opening hole at all. So what's it all mean? There are pros and cons of course, but ultimately as long as golf is being played, everyone should be happy.

Sorry for the aside. Good day at Hansen Dam. It's in pretty good shape throughout right now. Go play 18 and enjoy it, albeit with a crappy scorecard.

This is late since barkinesq wrote a review for his Monday round and I went out a day earlier on Sunday, 9/4, @11:15 with a couple of buddies and an added single. His review is only a little ways back... Continue »

This is late since barkinesq wrote a review for his Monday round and I went out a day earlier on Sunday, 9/4, @11:15 with a couple of buddies and an added single. His review is only a little ways back in the thread so read it. I pretty much agree with it with very minor additions. While most of the greens were pretty good and running a brisk medium pace, at least one (5) was bumpy due to mixed grasses and a tad worse for wear. However, there was a crew of four working on patching and edging it even as we played through. The brown spots on the fairway were remarkably few and small relative both to the expansive nature of many of Hansen's fairways, and the condition of fairways I've seen on other courses lately. Those spots may have been a little brown or dry yellow, but they still had cushion and I personally didn't notice any actual bare spots. It definitely doesn't feel like drought conditions there. Sunday was a surprisingly uncrowded round in the middle of a holiday weekend. To second Monday's review, a solid muni experience.

Played Monday 9/5/2016. Teed off at 7:15 am and finished about 11:30 a.m. For a muni track, Hansen Dam is in very good shape. Fairways are green with only a few bare spots. Tees are in good shape and ... Continue »

Played Monday 9/5/2016. Teed off at 7:15 am and finished about 11:30 a.m. For a muni track, Hansen Dam is in very good shape. Fairways are green with only a few bare spots. Tees are in good shape and the greens are quite good as well. They make very good use of recycled water. I have always like the layout of the course. For most players the course is not easy, nor hard. Lots of elevation changes and doglegs. The people who man the starter's window are always courteous and helpful.

Played 7/16/16 at 5 pm. Finished in 3 hours.

The course was in overall decent condition, if you completely ignore the greens. Most of the tee boxes were flat, most of the fairways had grass, most o... Continue »

Played 7/16/16 at 5 pm. Finished in 3 hours.

The course was in overall decent condition, if you completely ignore the greens. Most of the tee boxes were flat, most of the fairways had grass, most of the rough was thick but not unkempt. The greens, however, were all covered in ball marks, fairly bumpy and had a lot of damage from a history of unrepaired ball marks. Given the super twilight rate and wide open course, I would probably play it again if I had to, but wouldn't suggest it over other public courses around town.

The two nines are very different and presented a fun layout. On the front nine there's a lot of elevation change, both up and down hill on the same holes too. Doglegs both directions and some straight holes. This course is low on the city course list of priorities but could be a real gem if it ever rains again (and then the course gets taken care of)

Played this LA Municipal on Sunday July 3rd. Was one of the first groups out around 6:15, and finished around 9:45, so POP was excellent. You can usually get around this track in less than 4 hours i... Continue »

Played this LA Municipal on Sunday July 3rd. Was one of the first groups out around 6:15, and finished around 9:45, so POP was excellent. You can usually get around this track in less than 4 hours if you are one of the early groups out. After 7am you are likely looking at a more than 4.5 hour round.

The tee boxes were in fairly good shape, they do a good job of rotating the tee locations at this course. They also have the benefit of having some of the larger tee boxes in the LA city muni system, so this gives them the luxury of having the space to rotate them. The only exception being 3 of the 4 par 3 holes, which are a bit more cramped, and a bit more beat up.

The fairways here are mostly good. There are definitely some thin spots on several fairways, and generally my ball ends up on these thin spots. Other players seem to be doing a good job replacing their divots, and filling with sand. The rough is quite thin, and I suspect they do this to keep the pace of play moving. There is not a ton of punishment for going into the rough as opposed to the fairways here. Although there are some exceptions on several holes where one side of the fairway will have thick rough.

In general the greens here are doing quite well. Most divots are repaired, and they are rolling pretty smooth, and on line. They are not fast, but that is expected at this type of course.

In general this is a good course that is fairly wide open and will not punish you too badly for an errant drive. The greens can be somewhat challenging to read on some holes, as you have to remember everything, and I do mean everything breaks away from the dam.

Played 4-4-16 afternoon riding as a twosome in 3 hours 15 minutes. Got a GN deal for $23.49 including cart. Tee boxes were in descent shape a little thin but mostly level. Fairways were in okay shape... Continue »

Played 4-4-16 afternoon riding as a twosome in 3 hours 15 minutes. Got a GN deal for $23.49 including cart. Tee boxes were in descent shape a little thin but mostly level. Fairways were in okay shape, a little dry but still had good lies. Rough was cut pretty low with some bare spots. Found one fairway and two greenside bunkers all of which were a little thin and had different consistency of sand. Greens were soft slow and bumpy. They are going to punch the greens next week, hopefully that will help get them back in to good shape.

Played on Saturday afternoon with GKer, DKnight. We used a GN Hot Deal at $33 including cart and GN fee of $3.99. Right now, I wouldn't pay more than this as the course is not in as good of condition ... Continue »

Played on Saturday afternoon with GKer, DKnight. We used a GN Hot Deal at $33 including cart and GN fee of $3.99. Right now, I wouldn't pay more than this as the course is not in as good of condition as it could be. There is plenty of water and the grasses are growing well. Good coverage almost everywhere. The greens are not very good right now. There is a fungus on most of the greens; most likely due to too much water combined with warm temperatures. It's not horrible, just not as good as I remember them. They appear to be off in color and small rings of fungus could be seen. Still, they rolled medium slow with an occasional bump. Lots of poa annua mixed in with the bent here; it has always been like this. The tees were mostly level with some that needed divot mix, mostly on the par threes. The Bermuda/kikuyu grass fairways and rough were mostly lush, sometimes thin, but almost always giving a good lie. I remember the days when these fairways were hard and dry; not anymore, at least not this day. Somewhat wet and squishy was the feeling I got. It was real easy to take huge divots out of this relatively tough grass. We each visited a bunker and I thought the sand was thin and there were many foot prints that needed raking. Pace of play was basically terrible: 3 hours from the first tee to the tenth; then another two hours and fifteen minutes to finish for a total of 5:15. With so many other choices, I may wait to come back any time soon.

I called ahead to Hansen Sunday morning, 2/21, to make sure there were no tournaments and see how tough it would be to get on as single. No tourney, but the starter said it was pretty busy and only ha... Continue »

I called ahead to Hansen Sunday morning, 2/21, to make sure there were no tournaments and see how tough it would be to get on as single. No tourney, but the starter said it was pretty busy and only had a couple of singles slots showing between 10:30 and 11:00 — couldn't guarantee they would last. Well, I planned a backup and proceeded anyway. As it was, I arrived right around 10:00 and got inserted into a group of Korean ladies for a 10:18 tee time. Since they mainly spoke in Korean amongst themselves, it wasn't overly sociable for me, but it wasn't required. They were pleasant and they played well. My comments are qualified with the understanding that winter conditions prevail generally. That said, I was very pleased with the overall playing conditions and really had no complaints. Tee boxes generally had good coverage — tight, like the fairways, but good. Some were less than perfectly level, but not off enough to really be an issue. The fairways were tight, of various shades of green and dried grass, but generally provided a good hitting surface with a fair amount of rollout. I saw very little / few actual dirt or hardpan patches anywhere on the fairways. Rough was on the thin and sometimes lumpy side, but generally more playable than punitive. I was in more than my usual quota of bunkers and, while not fluffy, they were suitably playable, groomed, clean and reasonably consistent. I thought the greens were pretty good — fairly quick, on the firm side, minimal ball marks, and ran truer than they looked. Pace of play ended up being about 5:20. I was mentally prepared for a longer round so it didn't bother me much, and because the pace was generally steady, it didn't seem that long. As a pure muni, it's one of my favorites in the LA area. I wasn't disappointed and I'd recommend it before they aerate next month.