Played 5-20-15 with Nickesquire in the afternoon in a little under 4 hours. Unfortunately there not much good to say about the condition of the course. Tee boxes, fairways, and rough are all dry and t... Continue »

Played 5-20-15 with Nickesquire in the afternoon in a little under 4 hours. Unfortunately there not much good to say about the condition of the course. Tee boxes, fairways, and rough are all dry and thin. The one sand trap I went in green side on eighteen had the must footprints I have ever seen in a sand trap, there was no why you could hit a ball into it and not be in a footprint. Greens were very slow and very bumpy, impossible to keep a put on line. You would think this being one of the L.A. City premium courses they would try to keep it in good shape. But then again it is city run.

Played the blues (6419/70.7/124) with RGM2525 through GolfNow for $20.49 including a cart on a beautiful weekday afternoon in the low 70's. Overall POP was great, 3H, 45M. However, we zipped through 6... Continue »

Played the blues (6419/70.7/124) with RGM2525 through GolfNow for $20.49 including a cart on a beautiful weekday afternoon in the low 70's. Overall POP was great, 3H, 45M. However, we zipped through 6 holes in barely an hour then waited on nearly every shot from the 7th hole on. The poa annua greens look nice. However, they were both medium slow to downright slow and bumpy. No real severe breaking putts, but playing 6" to 12" of break was not uncommon. More ball marks that I usually encounter on most courses I play. Both the fairways and the rough were more thin than lush, but had decent coverage. There are areas under trees in the rough that are hardpan. The tees were a mixed bag. Many were lush, a few were thin and most of the par 3's had alot of unrepaired divots. Luckily for them, I had 5+ minutes on every tee to fix divots before we could tee off the last dozen holes. The sand traps had a decent amount of good sand. However, typical city course conditions, you could tell they were not regularly maintained by the course and far too many golfers were not raking their footprints. The trap right of 18 green looked like the beach on a holiday weekend, you would be hard pressed to put a ball in that trap and NOT find a footprint. Looked like people had been practicing out of it??? and not raking afterwards? Love the traditional, tree lined layout even though it is a par 71. Constantly up/down rolling hills. The only holes that curved were basically 4,5,10 & 18, the rest were straight. There are numerous holes where you tee off over the top of a hill to a blind fairway, which because they were straight, I did not see as an issue. Only three par 5's, and an oddity is that two of them are #17 & #18, both of which are very scoreable. 16 & 17 haver alternate greens, so I saw some different looks than when I played here a few months ago. The customer service was excellent, they got us right out on the 1st tee ahead of our prepaid tee time. Snack stand and numerous water stations on the course. Fun course, I like the layout. I had read the recent mediocre reviews and the conditions were not as good as when I played here a few months ago. I expected more than I got today and it may be awhile before I come back again.

Ok...Played today 1/13 because they were not aerating until the 20th. Not so. 5,6,7, and 8 were done today! Got a lower rate! Believe it or not, my buddy and me went out at 9:30 as a twosome! So fun... Continue »

Ok...Played today 1/13 because they were not aerating until the 20th. Not so. 5,6,7, and 8 were done today! Got a lower rate! Believe it or not, my buddy and me went out at 9:30 as a twosome! So fun... slow day but hey, it's Rancho! We both posted low numbers, 69,76 respectively. Course needs some love! Fairways were dry and thin and in need of some water. They have started to aerate the greens and will be doing two to four holes a day. Had a temporary on 6. Tee boxes were fine and the greens that were not being worked on were great! Isn't that always the case? Right before they aerate them, they are in perfect shape! I love this old classic track. It is only 5 mins from the house but I only play it once or twice a year because I can drive for an hour anywhere else and still be home by the same time I would if I had played there! Always pretty slow and most of the "Players" insist on playing the Blue Tee's which to this day still boggle's my mind. Any way, FYI they have started to aerate the greens there!!

Played in an scga event today that was over thirty minutes late starting because rancho had to squeeze every last player in before the tournament. POP was over six hours (just another reason never to... Continue »

Played in an scga event today that was over thirty minutes late starting because rancho had to squeeze every last player in before the tournament. POP was over six hours (just another reason never to play this course). Many tee boxes were damaged from divots and the traps had playground sand in them. Greens were very bumpy and somewhat slow. Many areas in the fairway and rough were bare and yet no where on the course were there any groud under repair markings. As this is considered a premium course by LA city it sure does not provide a premium golf experience. If the mayor of LA is looking for ways to reduce water consumption maybe he should consider closeing this course. I'm aware this course has historic or nostalgic value, but it may be time to move on and use this valuable piece of property for something other than a run down non-maintained golf course.

Played Rancho Park yesterday on a beautiful "winter" day in So Cal. Sorry East Coasters. Tee time was @ noon but our group arrived early and to our surprise there was nobody on the 1st tee (as opposed... Continue »

Played Rancho Park yesterday on a beautiful "winter" day in So Cal. Sorry East Coasters. Tee time was @ noon but our group arrived early and to our surprise there was nobody on the 1st tee (as opposed to the usual 2-3 groups milling around). Check in was great and starter told us we were up anytime we were ready...Am I in a twilight zone? This can't be Rancho can it?? So off we go and literally don't run into anyone until #8. Overall POP was just under 4 hours! It's the strangest/greatest feeling I've ever had here. That was definitely the highlight and may never happen again playing in the middle of the day here. Anyway onto the course conditions. In a word...meh. Everything is just your typical city muni. Fairways were probably the best part with good coverage in most areas. Some thin areas off to the sides of some fairways. Greens on front were bumpy but much better on the back. Overall conditions are a mixed bag 5/10. Not worth what they charge non-residents but then again I'm spoiled by courses like Industry Hills, Goose, Empire Lakes, Glen Ivy, etc. which can all be played for the same price or less on weekdays and are much stronger layouts. If you're on the westside I suppose it's fine. My buddies live there and invited me but other than that, I'm not making a special trip just to play it.

When do you get to finish at Rancho Park in 3 and a half hours on a Sunday? When it's pouring rain! The rains started around the 7th hole and really never let up until the end. At one point there was ... Continue »

When do you get to finish at Rancho Park in 3 and a half hours on a Sunday? When it's pouring rain! The rains started around the 7th hole and really never let up until the end. At one point there was some severe thunder and a few flashes of lightning that made me and the guys I ended up playing with (two singles after my original two partners called it quits) think twice about staying out there. But we persisted.

At the end of the day, rain is good, and Rancho could certainly use it. There are plenty of dried up areas on the fairways (which turned into mud today), and the tee boxes are just plain awful. Sand was fine until the rains came, then it was just that awful sticky stuff. Greens were in pretty fine condition but tough to play of course with the downpour - really had to adjust for speed, and of course on approach shots with the ball just dying.

Strangely though I always enjoy this course as the layout is great. There is one major issue though that RP should somehow address - the amount of balls from the adjacent driving range on hole 18 is ridiculous. There were literally a hundred range balls in the fairway as it narrows towards the green. Finding your ball amongst them all is a joke. Luckily my second shot ended up closer to the street side and I saw it all the way, but for the others it was like a lottery. Not sure if they can just make the fence higher or something, but it's bad. Same issue on hole 9 but not nearly as annoying.

I have never played a round in rain like that and it was certainly not ideal, but I'm glad I stuck with it and finished. Soaked to the bone after it was all over. Surprisingly, despite constantly feeling like the club was going to come out of my hands on every swing from the wet grips, I actually played a better back 9 than front.

Also, got a deal on TeeTimes.com for just $24 to play and got on early at 12, finishing at 3:30. That'll probably never happen again if the sun's out. But hey, even a bad weather day golfing beats just about anything else you could be doing.

Had walked this course back in the early 1980's the last time the L.A. Open was held here, but had never played it. Played the blues (6419/70.7/124) through GolfNow for $38.49 including a cart on a be... Continue »

Had walked this course back in the early 1980's the last time the L.A. Open was held here, but had never played it. Played the blues (6419/70.7/124) through GolfNow for $38.49 including a cart on a beautiful afternoon in the low 70's. POP was an issue even for a weekday, 4H, 45M, waiting on nearly every shot from the 3rd hole on. Loved the traditional, tree lined layout even though it is a par 71. Constantly up/down rolling hills. The only holes that curved were basically 4,5,10 & 18, the rest were straight. There are numerous holes where you tee off over the top of a hill to a blind fairway, which because they were straight, I did not see as an issue. Only three par 5's, and an oddity is that two of them are #17 & #18, both of which are very scoreable. The greens putted nice, relatively smooth for poa annua, medium speed. No real severe putts, but playing 6" to 12" of break was not uncommon. They consistently had some of the tightest pins I have seen for a non tournament round set-up, there were 5-6 that were barely on the green. Only downside for the greens were the sheer amount of ball marks on some greens, which is a golfer more than a course issue. Both the fairways and the rough were winter thin, with both occasional lush and hardpan thrown in. The tees were a mixed bag. On the holes that were in the sunlight, they were good. Luckily this covers 80% of the holes. On a few tees that were in the shade, they were basically dirt with some occasional grass, very poor condition. The sand traps had a decent amount of good sand. However, typical city course conditions, you could tell they were not regularly maintained by the course and far too many golfers were not raking their footprints. Customer Service was excellent, they matched me up and got me right out on the 1st tee on time. Snack stand and numerous water stations on the course. Fun course, not as tight as I remembered/expected, I would play here often if I lived closer in spite of just OK conditions.

Back out to RP today and our POP 3:30. Course conditions a little damp due to persistent overcast which took awhile to burn off. The dampness made the rough very very tough to play out of, when missin... Continue »

Back out to RP today and our POP 3:30. Course conditions a little damp due to persistent overcast which took awhile to burn off. The dampness made the rough very very tough to play out of, when missing the fairways and greens. Put it in/on the fairway and you were provided a decent amount of roll and mostly good lies. Fairways are filling in but you will find the occasional thin lie. Sand traps were raked and playable. Tee boxes were mowed, most of them level but it would be nice to see RP do what Los Verdes did and rebuild all the tee boxes (LA city course so don't hold your breath) which is needed and long overdue. Greens had been mowed and putted and chipped well but not very fast, until they began to dry out. Customer service from restaurant staff and starter was excellent.

Played today in 4 hours. Course was acceptable and more so as the day wore on. A little damp when we started and no maintenance today, so had to wait for mother nature to dry it out. Tee boxes were a ... Continue »

Played today in 4 hours. Course was acceptable and more so as the day wore on. A little damp when we started and no maintenance today, so had to wait for mother nature to dry it out. Tee boxes were a batch of hit/miss. Some good, some not and some poor. Fairways were OK and starting to fill in, with the warmer weather and sun, but you could still come up against some dry areas and thin lies and they needed mowing. No real issues with rough. Sand traps all needed raking (not in any thankfully). Greens looked good, but were in need of mowing. Extremely slow and frustrating to putt on (had they been mowed perhaps another story). They held shots well but did not offer good chipping. Customer service was very good from everyone (starter/restaurant). Weather was exceptional, to say the least.