I'll say one thing for Lakewood, the course is not the greatest, not the worse, but the conditions remain consistent over the years. Poa greens are usually soft but seem to always roll at a decent pa... Continue »

I'll say one thing for Lakewood, the course is not the greatest, not the worse, but the conditions remain consistent over the years. Poa greens are usually soft but seem to always roll at a decent pace. [Speaking of greens, it looks to me like the #3 green is holding up nicely ... I think they got it this time after several re-seeding efforts.] Kikuyu fairways are playable, sometimes thin, sometimes thick (that thick Kikuyu that'll grab your club right out of your hand if you're just a tad heavy). Rough is, and has always been, spotty. Bunkers were well maintained with ample sand. Hey, what else can you say about a M-F sub $30 course. Today was warm, getting hot, without much breeze in the morning. Our 5-some (yep, it's AmGolf), got around in 4:15 teeing off at 6:35, but I'm very sure it took a lot longer later, as the course was packed, even on a hot Friday. Can't beat it for the green fee and it can be challenging if you play it back.

Over to Lakewood playing with the Men with Wood on a gorgeous Sat. morning. Course in great shape, tee to green. Putts rolled perfect today, greens very soft and holding anything and everything. Bu... Continue »

Over to Lakewood playing with the Men with Wood on a gorgeous Sat. morning. Course in great shape, tee to green. Putts rolled perfect today, greens very soft and holding anything and everything. Bunkers were a bit wet but good sand. Rough hit and miss which will not change with all the Kikuyu they have on this course. Really, nothing to complain about, especially with a $38 green fee (walking). Can be very slow PoP here, 5-somes allowed. We played in 4:50 teeing off at 7:30 and there's no doubt it got slower as the day moved on. A whole bunch of stuff going on here today: parties everywhere. Good band playing at the patio, beautiful women strutting around, good food, good people everywhere with a happy attitude ... nice to hang and watch the 3rd round of the US Open. They do it all in style at the 'Wood. Will be back for sure, recommended at this time.

Played this morning in a nice POP of 4 hours. Customer service excellent from check in through round. Started off with cloudy and damp conditions, but sun came out early and started drying things out.... Continue »

Played this morning in a nice POP of 4 hours. Customer service excellent from check in through round. Started off with cloudy and damp conditions, but sun came out early and started drying things out. Tee boxes level/clean. Fairways though damp at first, dried out and started providing good roll. Never had a bad lie all round. Traps were a little damp and crusty but playable. Greens were damp at beginning (some still wet) and appeared to have had a minor aeration tune up recently (but caused no issues). While the greens appeared slow and wet, that was not the case (especially above the hole) as they putted and chipped great and held shots very well. They state they use reclaimed water and they appear to be using it wisely, as the course was very green. Highly recommended at this time.

Was able to call in Thur to get a Fri time as a single at The Wood, $29 walking rate ($2 bump by the county). Drought? You wouldn't know it by playing here. Remarkable how green this course got in ... Continue »

Was able to call in Thur to get a Fri time as a single at The Wood, $29 walking rate ($2 bump by the county). Drought? You wouldn't know it by playing here. Remarkable how green this course got in the past month, and the lake was full. It might have something to do with the dedication to Len Kennett next week ... they're naming the new footbridge on #3 after him and rightfully so, a great all around guy. Course conditions are as good as it gets here at Lakewood, greens were perfect Poa. It's not a country club by any means but the maintenance crew were out in full force cutting and trimming, fluffing up the bunkers (they needed it as they were wet and heavy early in the round). Rough will always be a mixture of different grasses (mostly Kikuyu) but very playable. I really can't say anything bad about this course on this day, except the PoP could have been better (we got around in 4.5 teeing off at 6:45AM). I really believe that playing Muni courses is all a matter of timing re. conditions and PoP. If you play on a day that the mowers are out and the bunkers are worked, then there's a good chance you'll have an enjoyable round, especially if you play early to avoid the clueless, as was my experience here today. Highly recommended ... today.

Played Lakewood on Friday May 29th. Played as a single, walking rate of $29, with a twosome. I have always enjoyed playing here. It's close and normally in good shape. I was very disappointed with ... Continue »

Played Lakewood on Friday May 29th. Played as a single, walking rate of $29, with a twosome. I have always enjoyed playing here. It's close and normally in good shape. I was very disappointed with the course on this day. Fairways looked like they needed some TLC! LOTS of brown thin areas (drought?). Where is the rough? The greens were in very good shape however and the POP was 4 hours which was great. I'll be back later this month for SCGA 4 ball one day tournament. after that it may be awhile before I return.

Crap! Had I seen Ring and Lotrgolfer's recent reviews I probably would've played El Do or elsewhere today, but since I can book a single time at the 'Wood, here I be. Most of the sand on the greens ... Continue »

Crap! Had I seen Ring and Lotrgolfer's recent reviews I probably would've played El Do or elsewhere today, but since I can book a single time at the 'Wood, here I be. Most of the sand on the greens has settled but there's still signs of aeration holes which led to more than one putt moving off line. Speed was medium. PoP about 4.5 hrs. Bunkers are indeed thick and heavy, most were conditioned today. Fairways a patchwork of Kikuyu and whatever, rough the same. New sod on the 10th tee. I'm sure this course will improve in a couple weeks, and the green fee at $27 walking is as cheap as you can find for a course that plays 7000 yards.

Played my GK match with ringworld on 4/29 with a 1:30 tee time.

I suppose I'll start with the good. Fairways and tee boxes were both around what you'd expect for Lakewood: plenty of good grass with... Continue »

Played my GK match with ringworld on 4/29 with a 1:30 tee time.

I suppose I'll start with the good. Fairways and tee boxes were both around what you'd expect for Lakewood: plenty of good grass with the occasional thin fairway patch or divot-clad tee box. Fairways were playing fairly firmer that what I'm used to here. Rough around the greens appeared to be consistently solid with lovely kikuyu everywhere. Fairway rough was hit and miss with plenty of thin areas that were not very penalizing. POP was very good on the front. I didn't check the time but I'm fairly certain it was around 2 hours.

And now the bad...
Back 9 POP was sleep inducing. 2 groups deep on both par 3s and I'm guessing we finished just shy of 3 hours.
Bunkers were a travesty but still not the worst I played this year (Glen Ivy, your lead is safe). Thick in the faces and thin in the bottom with footprints galore.
Greens... ugh. Recently sanded (they were punched last month so that was not the issue), firm, crusty, bumpy and slow. Fan-tas-tic.

The company was good, ring and I got paired with two great guys. The golf was poor (see the GK Cup match recap) and the course was meh. It's still $27 to walk weekdays so they've got that going for them.

Played yesterday. They just recently sanded the greens. They are firm, bumpy and slow. Fairways are thinish with a few bare spots. Rough is thick and very penalizing. Green complexes are lush and... Continue »

Played yesterday. They just recently sanded the greens. They are firm, bumpy and slow. Fairways are thinish with a few bare spots. Rough is thick and very penalizing. Green complexes are lush and sand in bunkers are inconsistent at best.

I saw almost 9 bunkers today -- atypical of my game. Learned how to hit out of thickish crusty sand that embeds the ball along the side walls. I honestly thought bunkers should have a thinner layer of sand along the walls to allow the ball to run to the bottom of the bunker instead of embedding. Sand is inconsistent with loads of wet spots and dry crusty spots. Bottomline it was a challenge to hit out of them since you didn't know what to expect and took a while to figure out the proper shot to execute.

Pace of play was brisk for front but slowed down once we caught up with the last group. One thing that gets my goat though. Whoever hits into the bloody bunker PLEASE CLEAN UP YOUR MESS. Footprints and unraked bunker shots abound. It was a mess because I had to deal with crazy lies all day in the bunkers. Not my cup of tea. Golf is hard enough as it is without the distraction of some idiot not cleaning up their mess. We are after all custodians of the golf course -- Golfers pick and clean up after yourselves. How else are the conditions going to improve if you don't do your part?

Rant over. I played my match yesterday with LOTR and lost 3 with 1 left to play. Made a try at coming back but it LOTRs game came back at the right time. I figure in a few more days the greens should be fine and fast but at the moment it's not what I would call... fun. Play here again? Perhaps in a few weeks.

After getting finished with work early, decided to try out Lakewood on the way back up the 405 around 3:20pm today. Got a twilight rate (I think) for $32 with a cart (would have walked but knew gettin... Continue »

After getting finished with work early, decided to try out Lakewood on the way back up the 405 around 3:20pm today. Got a twilight rate (I think) for $32 with a cart (would have walked but knew getting 18 in would be tight, so splurged).

Pair up with four others who were all very good company. That's always a plus. Was immediately struck by the poorness of the fairways - it's wear and tear and dryness is really showing. The hardpan in some areas is disappointing. The greens were okay, but plenty of ball marks and splotches of overgrowth.

The tee box on the 10th hole is one of the worst I have ever seen - just dirt and good luck finding some grass. The traps were just okay, and the rough was a mixed bag - really kind of all over the place to be honest.

The positives? I really enjoyed the layout. Despite the poor conditions, I did enjoy myself, despite not playing particularly well. I found the place to have character for some reason, and I can't explain why. Would also say the front 9 is slightly more fun and intriguing than the back 9, but each has its quirks.

Finished 18 pretty much in the dark which is always amusing, but will definitely come back as soon as I see the conditions have gotten just slightly better.