Out early on a really beautiful morning. Gotta love Southern California winters. Course is in pretty decent condition Not perfect, but better than usual. Greens seemed to roll smooth and quick, or may... Continue »

Out early on a really beautiful morning. Gotta love Southern California winters. Course is in pretty decent condition Not perfect, but better than usual. Greens seemed to roll smooth and quick, or maybe it was because I made a bunch of putts? Most of fairways had good coverage, with some exceptions. Santa Anitia has always been one of my favorite County courses. Enjoy the parklike setting and diversity of holes. Ad long as you get out early, and avoid the crowds it can be nice way to spend a winter morning.

Monthly golf group got together at Santa Anita this past Saturday and we played from our customary white tees with two groups starting with a 9:30am tee time. All pretty seamless at the start with ran... Continue »

Monthly golf group got together at Santa Anita this past Saturday and we played from our customary white tees with two groups starting with a 9:30am tee time. All pretty seamless at the start with range and practice putting time and an on-time start.

Course conditions are actually quite good right now if you're comparing to past visits. No, it's not perfect out there but if you've played Santa Anita enough times then you know how to appreciate solid fairway coverage, smooth and fast greens and functional bunkers. What you won't find right now though are great tee boxes as they're level well enough but very thin - at least from my set of tee boxes.

No cart service all day, functional not fancy carts and a decent driving range that could really use a bit of a revamp, especially with all the stray balls going over towards the left side of the 10th fairway. But overall pretty solid day under the mountains.

First time playing Santa Anita and was quite impressed. The layout, the condition of the course, just about everything was great!

Fairways are pretty wide open but even if you miss the fairway t... Continue »

First time playing Santa Anita and was quite impressed. The layout, the condition of the course, just about everything was great!

Fairways are pretty wide open but even if you miss the fairway the rough isn't so penal.

Greens were nice and rolled true. One of my issues playing it for the first time was where to hit it on the greens. Can't wait to play it again with my newfound knowledge. lol

The range was okay, mostly dirt but the mats were in ok condition.

This course is on my tourney list for next year so looking forward to coming back out here!!

Super short review. Teed off Friday 11/15 from the whites. Course is in nice winter conditions. Some odd dirt or thin stretches mostly in out of the way places, the coverage is mostly good. Hit one bu... Continue »

Super short review. Teed off Friday 11/15 from the whites. Course is in nice winter conditions. Some odd dirt or thin stretches mostly in out of the way places, the coverage is mostly good. Hit one bunker and it was OK. Greens were quick side of medium and in good shape. Perfect, invigorating, Cali winter day with spotty clouds, clear, cool air and even a spot of rain. Dug it. Recommended.

Out with first group this morning. Two people wanted to play slower so two of us moved out and had a nice POP of 3 H. No issues with back 9 players either. Check in nice and smooth and great service. ... Continue »

Out with first group this morning. Two people wanted to play slower so two of us moved out and had a nice POP of 3 H. No issues with back 9 players either. Check in nice and smooth and great service. Course was damp from overnight dew and watering but that was the only issue all round. Tee boxes all in good shape. Fairways good coverage but damp so not a lot of roll out. Traps were all clean and playable. Very little rough to deal with outside of the fairways. Greens though damp were firm and had good speed all round. Some of the best conditions I have seen on this course in a long time. Sr rate with County cart $39.75 with cart. $23.50 to walk. Playing early here is the key as I noticed lots of players on the front when we made the turn and lots of players waiting to tee off when we finished.

Friday 9/20, 2:15, me and a buddy tee off from the whites with two singles taking the blues. As SA goes, overall conditions are good and recommended with a few notes. Fairways are mostly in good shape... Continue »

Friday 9/20, 2:15, me and a buddy tee off from the whites with two singles taking the blues. As SA goes, overall conditions are good and recommended with a few notes. Fairways are mostly in good shape but on a couple of holes on the back nine, there are sections roped off where they are repairing/replacing the sod — the 13th and 14th, if I recall correctly. If you hit into the GUR, take your drop and move on as there is plenty of available non-GUR fairway and I didn't see it as a big issue. It is good to see the attention to improving/maintaining the conditions. Bunkers have a thinner layer of soft sand over a firmer base — balls tended to sit up. Greens were not pristine but had no serious issues, ran pretty true at a good medium/quick pace and were fine and fair by my standards. Busy Friday meant a sluggish pace, we got around in something like 4:45 and were probably the second to last group to have enough light left to comfortably finish.

Nice to get back out to Santa Anita, one of my favorite walking courses. Love the setting, and the interesting layout. Greens better than expected. a bit too firm for my liking, but still playable. De... Continue »

Nice to get back out to Santa Anita, one of my favorite walking courses. Love the setting, and the interesting layout. Greens better than expected. a bit too firm for my liking, but still playable. Decent coverage in the fairways. Both bunkers I found had thin sand coverage. Rough was inconsistent. Sure, wish we had some of these old style traditional golf courses in Orange County. Also wish that we had a few courses with senior rates like LA County offers.

Out Friday with a buddy and a single for a 1:33 start, teeing up on the whites. Pretty good experience overall and the course is in good shape. Teeing grounds are mostly level and more green than not,... Continue »

Out Friday with a buddy and a single for a 1:33 start, teeing up on the whites. Pretty good experience overall and the course is in good shape. Teeing grounds are mostly level and more green than not, with a few minor exceptions. Fairways are in good shape. Rough varies from lush to thinner to some dirt areas but is much more good than not. I only hit one bunker which was firm-ish but good. Mostly I found good lies in the green surrounds for short game and the greens are in nice shape, running the quick side of medium, firm and generally resistant to pitch marks. For a Friday afternoon most surprising was the pace. We got around in a leisurely 4.5 hrs, with only brief delays on a couple of par 3's, otherwise mostly open shots ahead and never pressed from behind. Kudos to the mixed foursome ahead of us who moved efficiently when not impeded from the front. Service here is friendly enough and they seem to run it pretty efficiently. Recommended.

Played Santa Anita for the first time in a while this past week and was very pleasantly surprised with the vast majority of the conditions, while the POP left a lot to be desired.

Three friends an... Continue »

Played Santa Anita for the first time in a while this past week and was very pleasantly surprised with the vast majority of the conditions, while the POP left a lot to be desired.

Three friends and I set off with a 10am tee time from the blue tees and found a course with fairways in much better shape than previous visits this time of year, and fast, clean greens that were in really nice shape overall despite the heavy play. The tee boxes are a little thin in areas but flat and level, while the bunkers could use another layer or two of sand as they're playable but a little too much on the thin side.

POP was a serious issue as we had sometimes up to four groups on a hole and the waiting on the par 3s was often excruciating. A marshal came over on the 4th hole asking everyone to wave up the next group, but this was quickly abandoned by all for holes 8, 12 and 15. Ultimately the round took just over five hours which is disappointing.

Was it worth it though? Absolutely. We played a classic old layout in mostly good conditions for just under $40 walking. That's an absolute steal and this course really does challenge you despite its 'flat' reputation. It's anything but once you're in the fairways with some very significant hills and mounding that can make an ordinary shot quite challenging. To this day this course continues to always have my number as I've not once ever broken 90 here. It makes no sense! Alas, we keep trying ...