Played on 8/24/10. Rates have gone up but all city courses have a summer discount. 5 dollars off the round between 11am - closing. Paid $28 to walk 18holes. I remember when this course cost 21.50 ... Continue »

Played on 8/24/10. Rates have gone up but all city courses have a summer discount. 5 dollars off the round between 11am - closing. Paid $28 to walk 18holes. I remember when this course cost 21.50 to play on the weekday and now it cost $33. Nuts if you ask me. Course was not busy at all but the pace of play took a little over 5 hours to play. Teed off at 11:10am (11:06am tee time). I was paired with a Asian couple and one of the club regulars from Rancho.

Side Rant:

Forget what the guys name was but he had no golf etiquette what so ever. On two occasions he putted out and just walked off the green. Never once got the pin. On one occasion he could not see his ball and I was away. So as I'm about to hit he starts to say stop that's my ball. I flinch and pull my shot left into the rough. Then he realizes he is standing right in front of he ball. Total rude MF. On the next tee as I'm starting to tee off he grabs my clubs from my bag and starts hitting practice shot flinging dirt all over my push cart and bag. This guy was a joke. I had a feeling when I asked him if he wanted to play from the blues or blacks he states "blacks definitely blacks." I out drove him on every hole and he averaged only 215 yards off the tee (used my GPS to track his tee shots). The Asian couple wanted no part in this guy so they kept to themselves and on occasion we would speak Korean to each other and laugh at this guy. These are the regulars at Rancho Park. That's the crap shoot in playing in a muni course. I have not had "normal" playing partners at Rancho in a long time.

Course review.

The day was hot. Temp was around 85 degrees but it felt like 95. A little muggy. Greens were slow for rancho standards. Found out that the greens keepers were watering the entire course in fear of it drying out. Greens felt like I was putting on shag carpet (even the 14th green that is super fast from left to right was slow).

Fairways were in decent condition and the lies were good. Rough was cut nicely and were easy to get out of. Bunker was powdery and consistent, (100% better than Alondra G.C.). Over all I think this course is in great condition, pace of play has definitely gotten better since the rate increase. Is it worth $33 for a weekday round? Maybe. Would I spend over $50 with a cart on the weekend? No, better courses out in the Valley or Simi that offer better services and faster rate of play for less.

Playing again this Friday. Well see......

I really like playing this course. If you do as well, get ready for the rate increases. It’s really slick what the city is doing. It’s designating Rancho Park and Wilson “premium” courses (and I can’t... Continue »

I really like playing this course. If you do as well, get ready for the rate increases. It’s really slick what the city is doing. It’s designating Rancho Park and Wilson “premium” courses (and I can’t stress the quotes enough) and those will be more expensive to play than the city’s other “non-premium” courses. Check the courses and city’s website for the complete breakdown. Rancho and Wilson will now be $33 for a weekday round while the rest of the city’s courses will only go up to $30. I guess if there’s a group that cash-strapped governments can conveniently exploit, it’s us golfers.

The course itself is in its very good muni condition—the greens especially. Though I noted 1 or 2 inconsistent greens they were all in fantastic shape and rolling medium fast to fast, but holding shots very well for the most part. Some of the fairways looked in well-maintained country club condition. You should expect a lot of unrepaired divots as there are a lot of walkers, but I found the fairways to be excellent to hit from all day. I can tell they’re trying with the rough; it wasn’t very high but it was punishing enough that if your ball is heading towards it, keep a good line on it because it might be hard to find. The traps were in pretty good condition. The tee boxes needed help however. Lots of damage, but since you can use tees, I’ve never cared that much about their condition.

With my 7:30 tee time, my round was about 4:40. From my and others’ experiences, that’s probably not too bad for this course. Very nice day except for one down note. Got to the snack shack after the 11th hole a little before 10:30 and the hot dogs were not ready yet. A lot of microwaving of the dog and the bun. Hastily ate a burning hot dog before the difficult par 3 (and ALL of the par 3’s on this course are difficult) and that is what I am blaming my poor tee shot and subsequent triple bogey on.

Solid as always, but 5 1/2 hours for a 7am tee time is pretty brutal.

Solid as always, but 5 1/2 hours for a 7am tee time is pretty brutal.

I played Saturday and teed off at about 9am. It was only the second time I have played here. The layout is great and really appealing to the eye. Course conditions were overall very good considering t... Continue »

I played Saturday and teed off at about 9am. It was only the second time I have played here. The layout is great and really appealing to the eye. Course conditions were overall very good considering the amount of play the course gets. Service was good. Pace of play ... five hours. Greens good, but not real fast. I like the fact that they are encouraging people to play the correct tees.

Got on as a single at 6 and went around in just over 3.5 hours. Course overall is in decent shape. Rough is bare in parts, but great in others. Bunkers are a bit moist and hard to do a real sand sh... Continue »

Got on as a single at 6 and went around in just over 3.5 hours. Course overall is in decent shape. Rough is bare in parts, but great in others. Bunkers are a bit moist and hard to do a real sand shot, more like a pitch to get out. Greens are pretty good from the aeration, but could use a rolling. Fairways were good and once in a while you will be in a hole or divot. Course layout is nice, lots of trees that magnetically attract balls, they are not 70% air around here.

Played yesterday, 4/20/10 and got rained out after 8th hole. Greens were somewhat bumpy and slow after recent aeration.

Played yesterday, 4/20/10 and got rained out after 8th hole. Greens were somewhat bumpy and slow after recent aeration.

Conditions good right now. Aerification next week, so get it while you can. A great track. The best of the Los Angeles City courses.

Conditions good right now. Aerification next week, so get it while you can. A great track. The best of the Los Angeles City courses.

Played yesterday 2/25/10, walked up at 7:15 and got right out. Played in 3 HRS. 50 MIN. Course is in very good condition and fun to play.

Played yesterday 2/25/10, walked up at 7:15 and got right out. Played in 3 HRS. 50 MIN. Course is in very good condition and fun to play.

Played on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again. This is probably the finest LA City course. Finished the round just as the rain started from an expected trio of s... Continue »

Played on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again. This is probably the finest LA City course. Finished the round just as the rain started from an expected trio of storms. Temporary tees on hole 5 moved us 50 yards up the slope. Greens were rolling smooth and held shots well. The left, front of 7 green was a little thin, but not terrible. Fairways and rough (kikuyu grass) were not quite dormant and left decent lies pretty much everywhere. The one bunker I was in was o.k. and the rest looked to be in decent shape. Our group fixed a lot of ball marks on the greens, but they were fresh. That tells me someone in a group ahead of us did not bother to fix. The only other thing I can say is there were a lot of range balls on 18 fairway. Not just near the fence, but all over the last 150 yards. I guess the left side of 9 may have been just as bad. Just about 5 hours to walk on a Sunday. I aint cryin' about the pace, because I know it can get worse here.