I've played and watched the golf course mature all throughout the dormant fairways of the winter and the recent punching and overseeding of the green complexes, and like "bassvista" mentioned in the p... Continue »

I've played and watched the golf course mature all throughout the dormant fairways of the winter and the recent punching and overseeding of the green complexes, and like "bassvista" mentioned in the post below this one, they are now lush and are very close to being in perfect shape. As much as I play this golf course, it's no mystery to me that I feel overwhelmingly pleased with every round I've played in the last month. I actually saw very few ball marks other than my own and when I did see others I fixed them.

The greens still need a week or so, but with the high temperatures and windy conditions of late, I imagine that the greens will firm up quite a bit and will soon be absolutely immaculate. Currently they roll true but are just a hair slow for my taste. I like my greens like billiard tables. And you know what? These greens are getting there!

The fairways are perfect. They are firming up quite well. I'm hitting drives from 310 to 345 with the extra bounce and roll for the last two weeks.

The back tee bxes on #1 and #9 are now roped off again for over seeding. The rest of the tee boxes are in great shape. I havent notice any eyesores with the exception of the areas at the start and end of the concrete cart pathways. These areas are bare of any grass, and it seems impossible to prevent further damage since most or all of these areas are in the direct path of access to entryways and exits of the cartpaths. Besides that, Santa Anita is playing like country club conditions.

Part of the ongoing renovation proect at Santa Aninta is upgrading the bunkers surrounding all the green complexes. True, this sand is currently very fluffy and requires getting adjusted to, but give that sand some time so settle and these bunkers are going to being some of the purest bunkers for any local municipal course, and even for some of the higher end courses out there.

Right now the project to replace all sand and perform all necessary repairs to the greenside bunkers is about 70% complete.

The fairway bunkers. like the one on the left side of hole #1 could use just a little bit of the new sand mixed in to reduce the contrast between the shades of color in the sand.

I think it would be logical for the most part to leave the fairway bunkers in the condition that they exist today. They provide a firm hitting surface which I think seems preferable when hitting a full shot into the green or even when laying up.