Golf in Orange County or LA

[Art Roselle]

I have one and possibly two afternoons free in the LA area this week.  What courses are worth trying to play (that a single could get on on short notice)?  I would love to see Rustic Canyon, but it may be too far out of the way for me.  I will mainly be south of LA, more towards Orange County. I have played almost nothing in that area except Pelican Hill.

Also, anyone want to play (Wednesday or maybe Thursday afternoon)?

[Jon Spaulding]

I WOULD LOVE TO TEE IT UP BUT LARRY ELLISON AND HIS GOONS FROM ORACLE HAVE TAKEN OVER MY LIFE FOR THE NEXT 1-2 MONTHS .

[John Kavanaugh]

I have no idea on logistics but have come to the opinon that value wise Santa Anita nudges out Rustic for best play.

[David Stamm]

Wow, JK. That's quite a statement. I haven't played SA yet. Why do you say this?


Art, Rec Park (Billy Bell), Meadowlark (Max Behr, not Bell like they advertise), San Clemente (Bell jr and Bell sr) are good inexpensive bets. I would encourage you if you can to play Rustic. It's very worth it and the conditions now are from what I've heard are very good. You could try to get on as a single if no one joins you from here on Rancho Park (Bell) or Griffith Park's 2 courses (Thomas). Stay away from Los Verdes as the conditions are terrible as of late because of the construction going on.

[Tom Huckaby]

David:

Santa Anita is around $27 on weekends, Rustic is what, $55 or so?

And Santa Anita is a pretty darn interesting course, or at least was when I last played it (probably 20 years ago).  I can see someone calling it the best golf "value" in SoCal - as JK seems to have.

I can't see anyone calling it a better golf course period than Rustic...

But we'll see how JK follows up.  As you know he is rarely predictable.

 

[Tim Leahy]

Strawberry Farms and Arroyo Trabuco have been getting good marks as publics in OC if you don't want to fight traffic. Green fees are not cheap but conditions are very good there. I just played Industry Hills Ike course and it is in great shape after a remodel and there is 36 holes there with easy freeway access.

[John Kavanaugh]

I think Santa Anita is a bit cheaper as it was $22 to walk.  While the views are not a pristene I enjoyed the sound of the race track.  I enjoyed the fairway movement more than what I remember at Rustic.  The greens were a toss up.  Of all the par threes at each course I would say the redan at Santa Anita is the best of the lot.  I didn't play the courses to compare each to the other and came to this conclusion when I arrived back home.  Poor ole he who shall not be mentioned shit a brick when our playing partner told him the same thing.

I just hate the 16th at Rustic to the point that I would skip the walk to the tee if given the choice again and Santa Anita did not have a single routing flaw.  The only problem with the course is that it is so crowded nobody goes there anymore.

[John Shimp]

Art,
I played Rustic Canyon front 9 on a similar sneakout from work (I'm going to tell everyone...).  Really not too bad a drive from LA.  I found the course really fun.  Front is actually flat but with a lot of interest around the greens. Liked all 3 of the par 3's on the front quite a bit.  Greens were not in great shape when I played though.  There is also a lot of wind to contend with and many of the iron shots tended to play a bit longer than they looked.  Pace of play was slow, but I started playing at about 4pm with rented clubs.

Isn't there a MacKenzie course within 10mi of RC too?
JS

[David Stamm]

Isn't there a MacKenzie course within 10mi of RC too?
JS

Unless I'm an idiot, the closest MacK course to RC would be Valley Club.

[John Kavanaugh]

David:

Santa Anita is around $27 on weekends, Rustic is what, $55 or so?

And Santa Anita is a pretty darn interesting course, or at least was when I last played it (probably 20 years ago).  I can see someone calling it the best golf "value" in SoCal - as JK seems to have.

I can't see anyone calling it a better golf course period than Rustic...

But we'll see how JK follows up.  As you know he is rarely predictable.

 

Huck,

Would you agree that Lakeside is better than Rustic.  If you would then I think my argument is easy to follow.

[Tom Huckaby]

David:

Santa Anita is around $27 on weekends, Rustic is what, $55 or so?

And Santa Anita is a pretty darn interesting course, or at least was when I last played it (probably 20 years ago).  I can see someone calling it the best golf "value" in SoCal - as JK seems to have.

I can't see anyone calling it a better golf course period than Rustic...

But we'll see how JK follows up.  As you know he is rarely predictable.

 

Huck,

Would you agree that Lakeside is better than Rustic.  If you would then I think my argument is easy to follow.

Your argument was easy to follow even without making that comparison.  I got it right, didn't I?  

[R_Paulis]

Courses lacking decent drainage may be a bit mucky. The last week brought substantial rain. Passed through Moorpark a few times this weekend but did not make it off the freeway so not sure how RC or other tracks north of LA faired.

Not one to complain about the rain for it ended an 11 month drought in SoCal.

[Art Roselle]

Thanks for the feedback.  I will figure out something.