Did you ever notice how many golf courses go out of their way to make sure the first hole looks really nice and then things gradually deteriorate from then on for the rest of it? Rancho Park turned th... Continue »

Did you ever notice how many golf courses go out of their way to make sure the first hole looks really nice and then things gradually deteriorate from then on for the rest of it? Rancho Park turned this notion on its head this week with the first tee box being an absolute disaster, then hitting into a pretty dry and thin first fairway. The rest of the course, to varying degree, followed suit but got better as the day went on.

I was truly excited when I found a late single tee time for my 'home' course that I rarely get to play anymore thanks to the crazy busy schedule that is LA City Golf, but was disappointed to find the course in far less than optimal condition, with the one exception of the now mostly healed greens that were running quite nicely.

I was paired with two gentlemen and another single who were all not the fastest players around, but we still managed to get through all 18 at Rancho in less than five hours, so that's always something to celebrate. As previously mentioned though, we cannot celebrate how dry and beat up so much of the course looks. You're going to find some good lies later in the round and sporadically across this LA classic, but it's been in far better shape before.

The tee boxes are truly disastrous right now, at least from the blue tees which I played. I magically avoided every single bunker on the course so I can't speak to them too much, but did watch those in my group hit from numerous sand traps with no major complaints. The greens are good to go though and played quite quickly and held lines well.

There was no cart service on a busy afternoon and the snack shop at the 12th hole was completely closed, so that was upsetting and will see some points knocked off the course's GK rating. I walked but I did hear once again about GPS issues from our other single, who then switched carts at the turn.

And once again, the 18th hole here with its 1000 range balls in the middle and off the fairway as you inch towards the narrowed green is an absolute nightmare. It's simply no fun to hit a good shot and then spend 3-5 minutes sifting through every range ball while looking for yours and worrying you won't find it in time as the group behind you closes in. Make the fence higher for the love of God!

I'll be back though for sure and hoping things improve.