Played for the first time today with a 10am tournament. I grew up in the nearby San Gabriel Valley, so I was mystified that I had never heard of Hansen Dam before, let alone played the course. I'm g... Continue »

Played for the first time today with a 10am tournament. I grew up in the nearby San Gabriel Valley, so I was mystified that I had never heard of Hansen Dam before, let alone played the course. I'm glad I rectified that situation today, because I surprised how much I loved the course. The greens were exactly the speed I like to play, fast but not unmanageable. The greens are very large as well, and I could see how holes could play very differently with different pin positions. The greens played very firm, with a couple of my shots bounding off the back of the green. Ball marks on the green were very shallow, the balls not having much to dig into. The holes themselves are very straightforward...what you see is what you get, with no blind shots that I can remember unless you're down in a valley and can't see the bottom of a flag stick. You're given ample room on most holes, and the rough allows you to recover if you do make a mistake. The amount of sand in the bunkers did seem to vary, with most of the bunkers having a ton of fluffy sand but a couple others having only a thin half-inch of dirt (the one behind the 2nd green comes to mind, as well as the bunker to the left of the par 3 16th hole). I didn't see a beverage cart out there, but there is a snack shop at the turn. The staff that I interacted with were all very friendly and helpful. I'd love to play this gem again, especially because the greens putt exactly like how I like them. P.S. I see that the website has this course marked down for aeration this weekend (21st & 22nd) but I didn't see any signs of punching in the greens at all. I don't know if it was done earlier or will be done on a future date.