Spent Sunday afternoon at Rancho Park with a buddy and another twosome that were really good company all day - very evenly matched round so that helps keep things moving. We had an 11:44 tee time and ... Continue »

Spent Sunday afternoon at Rancho Park with a buddy and another twosome that were really good company all day - very evenly matched round so that helps keep things moving. We had an 11:44 tee time and were of course worried that we may not finish all 18 on a Sunday at RP, but we came in right as the final good rays of daylight were disappearing so it could not have been timed better. We played the blue tees and paid $50.50 with a push cart. Fairways have pretty decent coverage in most areas but you will definitely find a few thin spots or bare areas with thin lies. Rough is thick and penal in a lot of areas, but in others you'll get some hardpan and just plain dirt. But the stuff in and around the greens is pretty grabby at the moment. Some decent roll to be had on the fairways though as evidenced by my 290 yard drive on the semi-uphill 11th hole. Tee boxes were a bit of a mess on a lot of holes with some muddy dirt to contend with while looking for the sparse patches of grass where you could put your tee in. It looked on a lot of tee boxes as if they'd been recently punched, but some of the coverage was atrocious. Sand traps seemed to be in pretty good shape but I was only in the greenside bunker on 10 all day. Greens were in pretty nice shape overall but weren't running too fast, maybe an 8.5 to 9 at best. They seem to have slowed them down from what I understand to help out the POP - rather have people 2-putting than 3 and 4-putting with faster greens. They run pretty nice though - not a lot of breaks at Rancho, even though some appear to be so from the putter's perspective. Still, they held shots pretty well and didn't hear many complaints on the day about too many ball marks. It was a beautiful day out there and it was a nice time at Ranch Park once again. Great snack shop on 12th tee box for all of your snack and beverage needs, which was important as there was no cart service to be seen all day long. Pretty fun day overall.

Played here as a single yesterday and joined 3 others at 11:00. We were sent out after waiting for two groups. Walking we finished in just under 5 hours with no one behind us. I am a big fan of Ranch... Continue »

Played here as a single yesterday and joined 3 others at 11:00. We were sent out after waiting for two groups. Walking we finished in just under 5 hours with no one behind us. I am a big fan of Rancho. It has a great history, it has a great lay-out with huge trees, and it is close to home without traffic. I just don't play there much due to the crowds. I may rethink this since we did okay as walkers. Not much to add from the past two reviewers. Everything here is about 6-10 except the greens were a solid 7. Greens rolled semi fast and smooth with a few ball marks. Tough par threes and positioning off the tee is key here. Will be trying it again soon.

In town for a week and decided on a Sat double hitter. Ran out to Rancho for early waiting list round then head up to Woodland Hills CC for afternoon 18. Rancho greens fast and not 100% back-bumpy. T... Continue »

In town for a week and decided on a Sat double hitter. Ran out to Rancho for early waiting list round then head up to Woodland Hills CC for afternoon 18. Rancho greens fast and not 100% back-bumpy. Tee boxes scruffy. Not in bunkers but usual heavy dirt-ish sand, unraked by all. Fairways excellent. POP 4 hrs joining a group after 45 min wait on list. Fun course requires well struck shots and positioning of tee ball. $45 to walk pricey but will swallow. BTW excellent muffins at 12 snack stop.

Played early on Saturday. POP 3 hours 45 minutes, walking. We had at least two open holes behind us though when we reached the 17th tee, so the later groups did not get to enjoy the outstanding pace ... Continue »

Played early on Saturday. POP 3 hours 45 minutes, walking. We had at least two open holes behind us though when we reached the 17th tee, so the later groups did not get to enjoy the outstanding pace of play.

I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions, especially the greens. They were much faster than usual, rolling really well. Otherwise the conditions were decent. The fairways were pretty good if tightly mowed. There are quite a few kikuyu spots where it seemed bare because the grass was cut low. I did not seen any true bare spots though. The rough was hit or miss. Cut lower than it was last winter. The one fairway bunker I was in was very firm. No complaints from those in the greenside bunkers.

Good facilities including coffee shop and bar. I'll be back.

Rancho used to be a favorite of mine when I can score an early time. I have an LA City card that allows booking early weekend times once a month. NOT WORTH it anymore. The course over the years has be... Continue »

Rancho used to be a favorite of mine when I can score an early time. I have an LA City card that allows booking early weekend times once a month. NOT WORTH it anymore. The course over the years has been stripped of it's teeth, less trees, everything cut back, perhaps it helps speed up play (Needed there.) BUT, the course has never been in this POOR of condition. Fairways- huge bare spots, soggy in some areas, bone dry in others. Tee boxes dirt, chunky uneven dirt at that. Greens slow, although not as bad as the rest of the track. Bunkers hard, with yesterdays hack/footprints still in them. Nothing good to say, $58.50 to ride on weekend. It's very walkable except I have a bad knee can't walk it. No Blue flags for cart either; "out of them." The LA Open was played here in the 60's, it was the best City course in LA. The Seniors played here in the 80's. Very sad. GT

In town on bidness for a week so had company pay for free weekend.
Tampa heat/humidity precludes normal 18 walking at 7am July-Sept so wanted to test legs.

Raced out TO Rancho at 5:30 Sat morning ... Continue »

In town on bidness for a week so had company pay for free weekend.
Tampa heat/humidity precludes normal 18 walking at 7am July-Sept so wanted to test legs.

Raced out TO Rancho at 5:30 Sat morning as single: out with 3 walkers at 6am. POP 3.50.

Can't really add more superlatives to conditions than prior reviews!
All good, greens great.

Only tempered comment is bunkers,tho not in any. They look tired and neglected,like ex girl friend. I thought I was in courtyard of Grau man's Chinese Theater with all the footprints. Apparently maint does not smooth them out in morning. Sand appeared heavyish.

Otherwise Ole home course still rates as #1 on list.

Played my second round GK Cup with MrKich last Monday this week. Let me say first that he played a solid game on his home course. I however found every which way to NOT give him a run for his money.... Continue »

Played my second round GK Cup with MrKich last Monday this week. Let me say first that he played a solid game on his home course. I however found every which way to NOT give him a run for his money. Great to meet and play. Only wish I could have executed some of my shots a tad better. Greens were on the medium slow side. They rolled true and were amazingly in great shape. Kudos to the staff. Bunkers were a mixed bag of well stocked sand and some with hard-packed. I managed to get both. Knowing what I know now I would have played those shots differently and know what to look for in the bunkers. Fairways were GREEN. Nary a thin lie. Very playable and fun to hit from when I actually did find the fairway. Rough was thick and punishing. The ball would literally sick down and you had to really hunt for your ball along the second cut of the fairway. Green complexes are in tip top shape. Although the greens ran little slower they did run true. Tee boxes were flat and playable. Pace of play was leisurely. We had a single in front and a single behind us. We kept pace with the single in front. Overall I have to say, if you have the opportunity to play this course get yourself over here fast... Conditions are pretty above what I would consider good conditions for a municipal. That means they are better than average ... more above average. Side Note: I knew I was in for a match when MrKich managed to chip his ball within inches of the hole for his birdie and my bogey. Great playing with him. Wish him well on the next round of the GK Cup!

Finally got a chance to play Rancho. A friend called to say he had opening and having never played here, I accepted even though I knew it would be a 2 hour commute home. Had a 10:32 time on Friday 6/... Continue »

Finally got a chance to play Rancho. A friend called to say he had opening and having never played here, I accepted even though I knew it would be a 2 hour commute home. Had a 10:32 time on Friday 6/16 and was on the tee right on time. Pace of play was slow – about 4:45. Not sure why it was so slow but after #12, the pace picked up considerably. Everyone seems to wait a while on 12 as it is a fairly long par 3 next to a concession stand with lots of booze! I was so looking to playing here and enjoyed the course. A mixture of short and long par 4’s with long par 3’s make it challenging. To say this course is old would be an understatement. The layout is nice. Mostly straight away holes but a couple of fairways with slight doglegs. Some elevation changes but not severe. The fairways are lined with large trees adding to the beauty. A lot of brown spots out there. The kikuyu fairways were cut low so there was some roll out. There wasn’t much rough to speak of as it was dried out but miss a fairway and you could end up in tree roots. Was only in 1 bunker and it was in good condition. That’s always nice to see. The greens were really nice. Smooth but kind of spongy and they were really holding. Not a lot of undulations on the greens so breaks were subtle. Had fun today with some good friends. If it wasn’t so far traffic wise, I’d be playing here more I’m sure.

Played Rancho Park today for my GK Cup match with nodoubles22, along with Kassper7 and another buddy. We walked the blue tees and took off on time around 11:12 am.

POP was brilliant. Yes, brilliant... Continue »

Played Rancho Park today for my GK Cup match with nodoubles22, along with Kassper7 and another buddy. We walked the blue tees and took off on time around 11:12 am.

POP was brilliant. Yes, brilliant. At Rancho, on a Sunday. We never really waited on a single hole after the first and even passed up a nice group of guys near the snack bar on the 12th tee box who were just chilling and said 'go ahead.'

Conditions at Rancho are very good right now. Greens are in excellent shape. Hold shots well, medium-fast, but great rolls and and very few ball marks to speak of if at all. Maybe the best shape I've ever seen the greens here, even with all the traffic.

Very good lies on the fairways all day as well. Some browning here and there, but not really any bad lies whatsoever in the short stuff. The rough is a bit of a different story as there's definitely some thick stuff around the greens that will mess you up, and some thin areas near the trees that is no fun. Bunkers were avoided all day but watched others and they looked okay, but not great. Tee boxes were a bit on the shaggy side but not terrible. At least level.

Always a fun course to play if it's within the four to five hour range, and it truly has been that the last 5-6 times I've played here. Whatever it is they're doing to speed play up, it's working great. But hole 18 remains the worst closing hole for a great course in LA. Please, for all of our sakes, make that driving range fence higher and/or tighter so that it's not ball potluck after your second shot. It's so aggravating. But outside of that rant, go play here right now as it's about as good as it's gonna get for a long time.