Played 9/26/21
Heartwell... the 18 hole par-3 course where Tiger learned as a child! Holes ranged from 70 to 140 yards this day, most of them in the 100-120 yard range. I played there quite a few tim... Continue »

Played 9/26/21
Heartwell... the 18 hole par-3 course where Tiger learned as a child! Holes ranged from 70 to 140 yards this day, most of them in the 100-120 yard range. I played there quite a few times when I lived in Long Beach 20 years ago and was just starting to learn golf and it was fun to go back and reminisce. There's a tiny little chipping area, two good putting greens and a wide range that is also lit at night where you hit off of mats. If you want to use your driver, you need to bring your own rubber tee or buy one in the Pro Shop ($2). Even as an out-of-towner, my walking rate was only $21- a good walk and a lot of fun for the price!
It's still much the same as I remember, your typical muni course with large trees bordering the fairways and several different grasses interspersed throughout each hole. You're just as likely to be buried in 5" of wet greenery as you are to find a decent lie whenever you miss the putting surface. Sand traps looked undragged and basically packed, wet, muddy-looking sand. I completely shanked my only bunker shot, so I can't comment on the playability (yech!)... The greens this day looked like pressed mud and some tight greenery, with a few scruffy spots and the usual pock-marked unfixed ball marks, but actually putted just fine- in fact I had a hot putting day there, making 6 out of 7 from 5-8 feet. Not my usual 40% or so. Curiously, 4 of my 6 chips kicked sideways when they landed on the green. Go figure. Maybe I didn't read the landing spots well? Trust me, I don't have the skill to spin chips!
The one real drawback was the tee boxes. Just a rolled & pressed muddy surface with little clumps of pressed crabgrass all over them. Almost no grass at all, anywhere. I kept hitting sky-high balls off the tee short of my anticipated distance until it finally dawned on me that teeing my ball a little off the muddy surface was making me impact the ball a couple of grooves up the face of my wedges. Well whaddaya know... *slap my head*
I was paired up with a real nice gentleman named Mike this day and "returning to my roots" was an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday when I couldn't find a tee time elsewhere in town.
Recommended for beginners, families with kids and people who want to practice hitting wedges off of tight, muddy lies (lol). But you know what? I still had a ball !