Went to SA as a walk on today and got hooked up with an older twosome. A couple of great guys and had a great time. SA has always been a favorite muni of mine. Ed Howard is the head pro there and ... Continue »

Went to SA as a walk on today and got hooked up with an older twosome. A couple of great guys and had a great time. SA has always been a favorite muni of mine. Ed Howard is the head pro there and if you are ever there, say hello to Ed. A really great guy. If you walk on, he always does his best to get you out without having to wait forever. Also say hello to Patty in the restaurant. One of the nicest people you will ever meet.

The course is actually in ok shape. Pre drought, SA has always been known to have lush fairways and thick rough. Well now, there really isn’t any rough anymore but the fairways are in ok shape. There are some bare spots out there but not as many. The brief rain we had must have really helped. Sand traps were in good shape also (I should know. I hit 7 of them today! :-(. Tee boxes are a bit ragged.

No one ever goes to SA because of their greens. At best but they are only good but today they were very slow, bumpy, did not roll true at all and it looks like they had some “stuff” growing in them. Some of them were also a bit beat up. Hope they get this issue resolved soon.

This course is not difficult but it is fun. With the exception of #4, the par 3’s are lengthy. Easy to walk and is usually backed up but today we got around in 3:45. Nice pace.

Played here Saturday morning, 1/16/16, at 9:20am with my monthly club. We generally play here every winter, and I should score better here, but I don’t. Course is very flat and an easy walk, and most ... Continue »

Played here Saturday morning, 1/16/16, at 9:20am with my monthly club. We generally play here every winter, and I should score better here, but I don’t. Course is very flat and an easy walk, and most holes play pretty straight. Some scattered fairway bunkers but most are easily avoided – most of the sand is around the greens. No water. And not that much length even from the blue tees. But I don’t.

Lies everywhere on the course right now are thin verging on bare. Grass is dormant and it’s easy to have a thin/no grass lie in the middle of the fairway. Rough is thin and benign. Tees are fairly wide, mostly level, and in reasonable condition. Sand in the one bunker I was in was damp and fairly firm, but with an adequate depth. Greens are overly firm and very thin, not even holding full wedge shots, and in some cases shots trampoline off the impact. Greens have many subtle movements that defy the eye and apparent slope and gravity.

Minimal carts; range on mats; adequate bathrooms; adequate water available; no ranger. POP was ~5 hours, usual here for a weekend. On-course greens were faster than the more lush practice putting green.

Rarely get my wife out to play, but she joined me for a round at Santa Anita on Christmas day, where we were joined by a single, teeing off around 11:40-ish. On a perfect, clear, cool California winte... Continue »

Rarely get my wife out to play, but she joined me for a round at Santa Anita on Christmas day, where we were joined by a single, teeing off around 11:40-ish. On a perfect, clear, cool California winter day, it was nice to have any excuse to be outside. It seems we are squarely in the middle of winter conditions, so there were no surprises. Good teeing grounds, fairways with a lot of patchy and thin areas that provided a lot of roll out. Thinnish rough and seemingly decent sand in the bunkers (I missed them this day). Best part was the greens: generally clean and in pretty decent shape, reasonably true, and probably as quick as they get here — actually a nice speed. You are not going to find the word "lush" thrown around this time of year at the great majority of courses, and I was fine with that. I only adjusted my lie on a few occasions, but choosing to play winter rules on the fairways made the round more relaxing, and I was out to have fun day with my wife. I never normally play ball adjustments, but under the current course conditions it seemed entirely appropriate. There were a couple of foursomes ahead of us, but everyone kept pace. We got around in about four hours. It's winter, it was quite playable, we had a good time. Merry Christmas.

Played on a dewy Sunday morning, got out on time around 8am. With a beginner in our group, the foursome in front of us quickly dropped us. But the foursome behind us wasn't pushing us either, althou... Continue »

Played on a dewy Sunday morning, got out on time around 8am. With a beginner in our group, the foursome in front of us quickly dropped us. But the foursome behind us wasn't pushing us either, although we could see the course backing up further behind us as the fivesomes started to take their toll. We had a slow and steady round of golf that ended up just a few minutes under five hours.

Definitely winter conditions at Santa Anita, with the fairway feeling like mostly sod. Lots of tight lies out on the bare grass, and the greens played very firm. The greens also rolled faster than I normally expect them to at SA, and they only got quicker as the day got warmer. The sand was in surprisingly good shape, not clumping up in the damp conditions. I could have done without the beginner band that was striking up at the nearby park, making an unholy din from the 5th hole until we escaped earshot around the 13th hole.

I've always loved the layout at Santa Anita, one of my favorites in the San Gabriel Valley that I've played for almost 30 years now. It's always a joy to come back and go around the track.

Look, in my opinion, this is the best designed public layout in LA. It has more strategy in it than 99% of courses. You need to pick what clubs and angles to play off the tees on 12/18 holes to give y... Continue »

Look, in my opinion, this is the best designed public layout in LA. It has more strategy in it than 99% of courses. You need to pick what clubs and angles to play off the tees on 12/18 holes to give yourself flat enough lies to attack the flags. And if you do that correctly, you'll score. I want to say that up front before the negatives.

But today...man...today. Had a 12pm tee time on a $45 GolfNow deal. We didn't finish. Ugh. The course is 6300 yards. Finishing on that routing should be no problem before 5. Got through 16 and it was too dark to see (at 5:15). No marshals anywhere. We actually did get out 15 mins late because they ran out of carts and were holding and shuffling people around to accommodate (note: I could walk or ride, I don't care but nobody ever asked).

And, almost even worse, there were more brown spots and dry lies than I've ever seen here. Many of the wonderful little gullies were bare, and as you might guess, that's where a lot of balls finish. Very disappointing. The tees were overseeded recently and it was basically like teeing up on dirt. They'll probably be fine in a month but it just added to the annoyance. Traps and Greens were just fine. They hold shots as they should and ran at medium pace (certain times of year they can be lightning here but not today).

I won't quit after one bad experience because for a thinking golfer it's a great place but I won't forget the agonizingly slow play and off-brand conditions I found today.

I went down to Santa Anita today, Sunday 11/1, around 9:30 as a single and got out pretty much right away with a twosome. Got around in a steadily paced 4.25-ish hours with the only real wait on the p... Continue »

I went down to Santa Anita today, Sunday 11/1, around 9:30 as a single and got out pretty much right away with a twosome. Got around in a steadily paced 4.25-ish hours with the only real wait on the par 3 13th. Rgm2525 just put up a nice, succinct review for a round played a few days ago, so I'm going to point you to it (precedes this review on the course thread, and about 11 back in the general reviews thread) and simply add a couple of comments. I too found the greens running medium but I didn't consider them particularly bumpy this day. Also, I think the drought has had some effect and there may be more burned out and thin areas about than first seems. Most of them are not in the prime playing areas and, when avoided, the remainder of the fairways are pretty good lie, so they may seem less prevalent than they really are. This is an observation and not a complaint. All things considered, (including drought), I thought the conditions were good and I enjoyed the course.

Played 10-27-15 early morning joining a threesome walking in 3 hours 45 minutes for $29. Tee boxes were a little thin but mostly level with some minor divot damage on three pars. Fairways were on the ... Continue »

Played 10-27-15 early morning joining a threesome walking in 3 hours 45 minutes for $29. Tee boxes were a little thin but mostly level with some minor divot damage on three pars. Fairways were on the lush side with a few thin areas and some bare areas mostly on the sides of the humps. Rough was not much longer then the fairways. Found two greenside bunkers that were a little thin. Greens were soft and a little bumpy rolling medium speed.

Played at 10:15A today. Hardly anybody there when we got there. With just the twosome, we finished our round in 3H and 25 minutes despite had to wait for a few minutes each hole on the back nine. T... Continue »

Played at 10:15A today. Hardly anybody there when we got there. With just the twosome, we finished our round in 3H and 25 minutes despite had to wait for a few minutes each hole on the back nine. The greens that normally smooth and semi fast are slow, grainy and bumpy. It's close to the time of the year when they usually punch and sand their greens. Fairways have several brown and bare spots caused by draught, extreme heat and lack of water. Aprons around the greens are hard and bare which make it extremely difficult to chip and pitch. Bunkers are thin on some holes. You are better off missing the green long or short than trying to hit a thin sand shot out of the bunkers.

The starter is great and courteous as usual.

Went over to Santa Anita this morning Sunday, 8/2, sometime before 10 and after a reasonably short wait was put out with another single as a twosome. The foursome ahead of us was about two holes out, ... Continue »

Went over to Santa Anita this morning Sunday, 8/2, sometime before 10 and after a reasonably short wait was put out with another single as a twosome. The foursome ahead of us was about two holes out, we caught them at the par-3 fourth hole where they let us play through. It put us in an open pocket and it wasn't until the 16th tee box that we caught up with the main herd — so it was nice pace all day for us. Most of the conditions here were status quo as far as good tee boxes, average rough and good greens running at medium speed—a bit slower than their optimum medium-quick pace. I thought it noteworthy that the fairways are showing a bit of drought effect — more noticeable brown and exposed dirt patches here and there. Most are out of the way of general play, but not all. That aside, the fairways were generally OK, with a fair share of good lies — sometimes even setting up. Hitting into a couple of bunkers caused me to notice that they were well kept. Slightly firm but nicely playable sand with groomed surfaces and not a footprint in site. It was nice to see. As always, a pretty solid muni experience.