Played yesterday with fellow GKer, danoemi, her husband and one of their buddies. Sunday, 9:10 am, 4.5 hr. POP. Decent customer service. I walked for $47, I think.

Greens: Good overall. Soft and m... Continue »

Played yesterday with fellow GKer, danoemi, her husband and one of their buddies. Sunday, 9:10 am, 4.5 hr. POP. Decent customer service. I walked for $47, I think.

Greens: Good overall. Soft and medium to medium, fast roll. Lots of ball marks to fix. There was occasional bumpiness, but not bad. It could have been someone ahead of us dragging their feet.

Fairways and rough: Decent coverage with some overly wet areas. The further off the fairway you got, things could get sketchy for your lie, but that's usually the case with most golf courses. It's almost all kikuyu grass here; it's thick enough to hold you ball up most of the time but you could end up in a divot and get a poor lie.

Tees: We played the whites. Those tees are up a bit; I would say it's playing where the forward tees were before they went to four separate tees. All tee boxes looked level and mostly had good grass coverage.

Bunkers: The sand looked well groomed and I found only one fairway bunker early on. Others seemed to have no problem getting out, so I assume it was all decent.

Overall impression of the course is it's in fine condition for a popular muni. It was not too crowded for a Sunday, maybe because it was Halloween. Check in was quick and the starter seemed pleasant enough. Nice GPS on the carts, although I did walk. It's a nice walk at about 7 miles total, with a handful of small hills. Decent bloody Mary at the bar. No beverage cart seen. I can recommend this course.

Friday, 10/15/21, 12:00pm, our L.A. group had couple of tee times and we made a practice round out of it. It was a busy sunny day and a warm 80 degrees that made for a four hours and 20 minutes pace ... Continue »

Friday, 10/15/21, 12:00pm, our L.A. group had couple of tee times and we made a practice round out of it. It was a busy sunny day and a warm 80 degrees that made for a four hours and 20 minutes pace which wasn’t that bad but there was nowhere to go.
The greens looked good although were quick and it was nicely rolling smoothly. The fairways were pretty nice and lush as well. The bunkers were a little inconsistent but they have sand. The rough was healthy although it wasn’t that penalizing. The teeing grounds were good and lush with some wear from the day’s play on par three.
Good customer service. Carts have GPS.
It was a very good day and it was very nice to play Hansen Dam with good playing conditions.

Teed off at Hansen as a foursome at 8:40am on Monday, 9/27/21. Finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes. It was a decent pace of play, with only minimal waiting. Overall, HD is in good shape. The fairways a... Continue »

Teed off at Hansen as a foursome at 8:40am on Monday, 9/27/21. Finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes. It was a decent pace of play, with only minimal waiting. Overall, HD is in good shape. The fairways are mostly green and lush, with a few thin areas here and there. The rough is a mix of semi-thick and sparse rough. The thicker lies could be a bit of a challenge to hit from. The other lies were usually benign. Tee boxes were good on some holes and very chewed up on others. But, there was no problem getting a tee in the ground. I was in two fairway bunkers, and they had adequate, firm sand. I was not in any greenside bunkers so I can't speak to their condition. The greens were mostly smooth and medium speed. We ran into some occasional bumpiness, but nothing too bad. I do recommend the course for play.

PokerGuy0826 (John) and I played a 11:40 GK match at Hansen Dam Wednesday, 7/7 with another two-some. All are conditions are good. Teeing here is never an issue — level with adequate or better coverag... Continue »

PokerGuy0826 (John) and I played a 11:40 GK match at Hansen Dam Wednesday, 7/7 with another two-some. All are conditions are good. Teeing here is never an issue — level with adequate or better coverage. Fairways were in good shape with good lies. The par-4 fifth hole had more than its share of burnt and thinner patches relative to the rest of the course, but otherwise I just didn't notice too much of that. Rough was OK, generally not long and mostly playable. Missing the fairway within reason didn't usually cost you anything. I was in one bunker, it was in decent shape and I escaped without any issues of note. Green-side areas were generally good for chipping. The greens showed small trace holes from aeration but putted fine at a medium pace. I say that as someone used to mixing up my courses, many times munis, and adapting to pace where medium or medium quick is a good minimum. The holes suggest there is some healing left and perhaps hope for more quickness eventually. John struggled with getting the ball to the hole often because he had been playing better and quicker greens more regularly lately, so there was an adjustment factor for him which is understandable. So be advised. I misjudged some longer putts and gagged on a few short ones, it was me, not the greens. The day was warm but tolerable with some breeze to offset the heat. Pace was somewhere around 4.5 and it was our group's pace because we really only had any kind or wait at all on two holes. No cart service but the cafe section is now open to grab drinks and food. A solid muni in solid shape. Recommended.

Played a weekend round with three buddies back at Hansen Dam this weekend and enjoyed a very fun, warm and revealing round. We played from the black tees this time (which were almost all matched up wi... Continue »

Played a weekend round with three buddies back at Hansen Dam this weekend and enjoyed a very fun, warm and revealing round. We played from the black tees this time (which were almost all matched up with the blue tees for some reason) and all walked with hand carts. Easy check-in and a decent driving range adjacent to the starter's office. We had a 12:10 tee time. First thing that absolutely needs to be said - the greens currently at Hansen are the best and fastest they have ever been. I have never seen the greens here roll so pure, so quick and so true. It was a real treat but so unexpected that I had a pretty terrible day statistically speaking as I must have rolled far past the pin on at least 10-12 greens trying to catch up to them. But yes, they're great right now. Long may it last. The rest of the course is also in good shape, but not as great as the greens. Fairways are mostly good with a few thin lies here and there, while the rough can also be a mixed bag, especially when you're down amongst the big trees on the front nine that bisect the course. Tee boxes were in good shape with flat areas and easy access, while the bunkers seemed a little hard but I managed to avoid all but one for the day. Pretty fun little layout at Hansen and wildly improved with the current course routing. There was no cart service all afternoon, but the snack shop at the turn is open and has everything you might need. I would definitely choose to go play Hansen now if in the area to take advantage of the greens.

I walked the blue tees at Hansen on Monday, 6/7/21, with an 11:30am tee time. The first few holes were played in a chilly light rain. It remained cool and cloudy for the remainder of our round. I like... Continue »

I walked the blue tees at Hansen on Monday, 6/7/21, with an 11:30am tee time. The first few holes were played in a chilly light rain. It remained cool and cloudy for the remainder of our round. I like the layout at Hansen better than any of the other LA City courses in the SFV. Usually, the conditions here are also better than the other courses. But I'm afraid the drought, lack of watering and proper maintenance, have reduced the quality of this course. The tee boxes are very chewed up, with many bare spots and difficult to get your tee in the ground on numerous holes. The fairways are about average for the typical LA city municipal course. There are substantial areas of decent green grass, along with bare and thin areas. There was very little run out on most drives. The rough is either much like the fairways or it is somewhat long and thick. I had a few lies just off the fairway that were difficult to advance. The two sand traps I was in had decent and adequate sand. The greens were quite slow and somewhat bumpy on many holes. Some were smoother and less bumpy. I found it difficult to hit it hard enough to get to the hole. The same is true for chip shots. The greens are a weakness of this course right now.

Got out yesterday, 6/1 at 9:40 as part of the kassper7 (Perry's) GK meet and play foursome. Overall conditions are good here. Tee boxes pretty consistently level with adequate coverage. Fairways are p... Continue »

Got out yesterday, 6/1 at 9:40 as part of the kassper7 (Perry's) GK meet and play foursome. Overall conditions are good here. Tee boxes pretty consistently level with adequate coverage. Fairways are predominantly green with good coverage and more often than not the rough was easy to play from. One of two bunkers I was in was firm with damp sand while the other had dry, firm-not-hard sand that interacted well with my club face. In both cases, the ball perched up with little or no settling. Area around the greens was grown in and cut down to a suitable length, but you have the kikuyugrass factor to create some uncertainty. As mentioned in the previous review, the greens are in late recovery and still look it, but they are definitely playable. I found the speed was pretty consistent and better than expected — call it medium. I didn't have any noticeable issues with balls bouncing or not holding their lines. If there was any residual sand I just didn't notice it. They are not pristine but neither are they a reason to stay away. As they finish healing, and with additional pace, they should round into pretty nice shape. The weather was unexpectedly warm, but a 1-club breeze came up that kept it reasonable. Pace was OK with occasional delays for most of the round, but with more waiting on the last few holes. I think the end result was 4.5+ hrs. (a guess). I like the course and the group was all good company, so it was a good outing. Recommended.

Played yesterday Sat May 29, and I was a little surprised to see the greens are still recovering from punching and sanding earlier in the month. Definitely playable but greens are taking a little lon... Continue »

Played yesterday Sat May 29, and I was a little surprised to see the greens are still recovering from punching and sanding earlier in the month. Definitely playable but greens are taking a little longer to recover than the other LA city courses (I played Harding 2.5 weeks after their maintenance, and greens were close to perfect condition). Greens here were rolling pretty slow, sand was visible just beneath the surface, and putts were rolling inconsistently unless struck very hard. The greens were very receptive to approach shots with very little release due to the sand. Fairways were immaculate, the rough is pretty penal in certain spots. This course is one of my favorites in LA, and I imagine it will be back in good shape in another couple weeks.

I didn't play the course, but stopped by yesterday 5/6 to use the driving range and wanted to confirm the current notification on GK. The greens are as heavily sanded as you can get, including the pra... Continue »

I didn't play the course, but stopped by yesterday 5/6 to use the driving range and wanted to confirm the current notification on GK. The greens are as heavily sanded as you can get, including the practice greens. All you could see was sand and none of the grass beneath. Near the edge of one practice green, I could see traces of the punch holes. What amazed me was a fairly steady stream of golfers teeing off.