[Mike Hendren]

My son's LA bound for college in the fall.  After Rustic Canyon, what are the top public courses?

I'm trying to get pumped up.

Bogey

[Kalen Braley]

I'm trying to get pumped up.

Bogey

You can try these guys...



After Rustic, the drop off is a pretty severe ledge/cliff

[Brian Noser]

Well that was a big help....Wheres he going LA is a large town.

You got some that are decent nothing that is absolutly fantastic GCA wise but there are some fun courses.


Angeles National, one of the best after Rustic. Gonna get bashed for that.........
Moorpark, just Eh cart ball
Rancho Park, long rounds
Los Verdes, great views long rounds
Santa Anita is a fun little muni
Definelty check out Arm and hammer right next to LACC fun little pitch and putt.

Others will chime in I am sure.

[Alex Miller]

Bogey, use your connections and invite me along.

Seriously, there's not much after Rustic. Personally I prefer Robinson Ranch second to Rustic, but Angeles is definitely decent.

[Wade Whitehead]

I really enjoyed Lost Canyons.  It's a bit out of town but the Dye course was pure fun.

WW

[Bill_McBride]

Go a little north and play Soule Park in Ojai.   

Run up the coast to Santa Barbara and play with Aidan Bradley at SB Golf Club, aka "the muni," lots of fun.

Enjoy the weather.   

[Pete Lavallee]

Palos Verdes CC allows outside play. It's pricey, I paid about $250 a couple of years ago. A William Park Bell course with some input from Captain Thomas. Tiny greens and lots of barrancas; very interesting topography. The Kikuyu grass has knitted the sand splash from the bunkers into some mighty impressive faces over the years!

[Mike Hendren]

Nose, he'll be at Otis College of Art & Design near LAX - quite a haul from there to Rustic, no?

[David Kelly]

Nose, he'll be at Otis College of Art & Design near LAX - quite a haul from there to Rustic, no?

Easily accessible from the LAX/Westchester area is Rec Park in Long Beach, which is an interesting Billy Bell design although it is a slow moving muni.

[Alex Miller]

I think if you are near LAX you should check out Los Verdes and if you're willing to pony up for it Palos Verdes CC.

If you can get out early at Los Verdes or are ok with only playing a twilight 9 then pace of play is not dreadful.

[DMoriarty]

I don't venture away from Rustic too much, but that may just be me.   LAX is about 50 miles from Rustic.  Many of the non-true public options you will hear about here are that far or further.

The trouble with the true publics is that they are extremely overcrowded, slow, and have generally been watered down both figuratively and literally. Of these Rancho Park is probably the best city course close to LAX, and as mentioned Long Beach and Los Verdes are close and might be worth checking out on a weekday and/or at an odd time.  Santa Anita is a drive but it is a good county course, despite overcrowding and less than ideal conditions. It is a "template course" in a place one would never expect, a very interesting WPA-type course on formerly flat land which was rtansformed into something else, and a neat story.  (I like to say in partial jest that it is like the old Merion legend, only true.)    The Brookside courses in Pasadena are also not horrible but not great either.  Generally too flat and dumbed down over the years, and not convenient to LAX.

Of the newer daily fee there are many more options but they are generally more expensive and at least as far or nearly as far as Rustic.
- To the west toward Rustic are the Lost Canyons courses , which are two severe Dye-style courses in some land that looks cool but isn't necessarily suited to golf.  Some good holes and good sections and some dramatic holes and then a lot of really bad holes.  Cart golf.  A terror in the wind, but might be fun if you enjoy pain.  Also out that way is Moorpark CC and Tierra Rejada,  both abysmal in my opinion.
- To the north is Angeles National by someone who works for Nicklaus.  It might be walkable except that carts are (or were) mandatory.  To my mind the course looks better than it plays. Lots of environmental areas, stuff that doesn't really make much sense, but again some people really enjoy it.  Further out isRobinson Ranch, which is two Ted Robinson courses known for fast greens and fast greens. Sections of each course are decent but there may only be a handful of good holes among the two courses.    Again though it can be enjoyable golf and some like it.  Also there is TPC Valencia which is worth seeing only to see how bad a course can be.  
-To the east are some decent Curley- Schmidt courses, the cheapest and maybe most interesting design is Goose Creek.  Many fun, strategic holes but the site is very flat and the place smells like goose crap.  Oak Quarry has some dramatic holes but is sort of a mixed bag.  Oak Valley hard, some very good holes, Curley Schmidt in Pete Dye style.    

There are more than these but that is what comes to mind right now.   Don't want to get you too pumped up with these exciting prospects.

[Stephen Davis]

Michael,

I am very familiar with this neck of the woods having grown up in Torrance and movIng from there only two years ago. The quality public golf scene around there is pretty much non existant. The closest decent option will be Los Verdes, which is a nice course and at a great price. Only problem is it will take about 45 minutes to get to the top of the hill, the round will take at least 5.5 hours to play and it is really hard to get a decent tee time. Other than that most of the decent courses are going to be a good drive away. Sorry for the grim news

[David Kelly]

Of public courses with any remaining historical architectural interest you have:

Recreation Park
Santa Anita - but some of us opened our big mouths about it to management and they took that as a sign to bring in the venerable Casey O'Callaghan to work some of his patented magic on the place and now it is a little less interesting than it was but still worth seeking out.
Brookside #1 & #2 - Old Billy Bell courses that have been Harbottled recently.  Tillinghast had some input on at least the #2 course during his short partnership with Bell.
Griffith Park - the Wilson and Harding courses were designed by George Thomas although they are a shadow of what they once were. 

[Mike Hendren]

Dang, sounds like Nashville on steroids.

Thanks, gents.

[Bill Seitz]

Angeles National, one of the best after Rustic. Gonna get bashed for that.........

FWIW, when I played it over the holidays, Angeles was in a condition that would have been universally praised by this group.  Very firm and fast, and the greens were excellent.  The conditioning at that time of the year was every bit as good as Rustic.  It's pricey, though, and not as good as Rustic.  My parents are live about two miles from Santa Anita, so Angeles is a lot more convenient, but I'd still rather make the drive to Rustic.

I haven't actually played Santa Anita in about 15 years, but I played it a million times in high school (it was our home course, and the home course for about three other schools in our league), but I need to get back and see it again.  It seems it would play a little differently when I was hitting a Burner Plus and balatas.  The last big change they had made was switching the driving range and first fairway.  I was actually born about 250 yards from the fifth/seventh greens at Methodist hospital across the street. 

[Tim Leahy]

I haven't heard Malibu CC mentioned and it is not that far away and a nice drive up the coast if you don't go by 101. Fun public course that is not too expensive. Also Industry Hills Ike course is a tough test and not too far of a drive if the traffic is light. Knollwood in Granada Hills is a good public layout with some changes in elevation and used to be a countryclub owned by Dean Martin way back when. I always play Hansen Dam near the Burbank Airport as a warm up for Angeles National when I visit. It is a rolling public course that is a good test and OJ used to play during his trial with about 8 body guards.

[David Kelly]

The conditioning at that time of the year was every bit as good as Rustic.

Talk about damning with faint praise.

[Joel_Stewart]

Of public courses with any remaining historical architectural interest you have:

Griffith Park - the Wilson and Harding courses were designed by George Thomas although they are a shadow of what they once were. 

I've wondered why these courses don't get more attention?  I've always thought they would be prime restoration candidates, such as Bethpage, Torrey Pines, Harding Park, Brackenridge Park that could be significant.  Seems like a metro area such as LA should have at least one big time public course?

[Ted Cahill]

I would suggest that LA is probably the worst municipal golf location in the US for a large city. Too little for way too many people. Wilson and Harding courses are fine- but good luck finishing in less than 6 hours.  When I lived in LA, I would play Roosevelt in Griffith Park- a quirky canyon 9 that can be fun- not $$$ and doesn't take the whole afternoon to play.

[Alex Miller]

Of public courses with any remaining historical architectural interest you have:

Griffith Park - the Wilson and Harding courses were designed by George Thomas although they are a shadow of what they once were. 

I've wondered why these courses don't get more attention?  I've always thought they would be prime restoration candidates, such as Bethpage, Torrey Pines, Harding Park, Brackenridge Park that could be significant.  Seems like a metro area such as LA should have at least one big time public course?

I had heard talk about a renovation/redesign a couple years ago, but obviously nothing has come of it so far.

I think they could turn those courses into a fantastic 27 hole facility (augment Wilson and alter Harding into a 9 holer), of course that would mean it'd be less profitable so it'll never happen.

[DMoriarty]

Of public courses with any remaining historical architectural interest you have:

Griffith Park - the Wilson and Harding courses were designed by George Thomas although they are a shadow of what they once were. 

I've wondered why these courses don't get more attention?  I've always thought they would be prime restoration candidates, such as Bethpage, Torrey Pines, Harding Park, Brackenridge Park that could be significant.  Seems like a metro area such as LA should have at least one big time public course?

Geoff Shackelford did a LA Times article a few years ago on this topic. I don't have it handy but I'll try to post it if I find it.   One of the issues is that some land was lost to the freeway, but I think Geoff thought that could be overcome.  Another issue is that these courses don't get the focus as comparable courses on the East Coast.   Also, whether the reputation is deserved or not might be debatable, but Rancho Park is generally considered to be the best municipal course, and so it gets more attention that the Griffith Park courses.   Rancho has a more recent history of hosting PGA and senior tour events.    Unfortunately the original design was severely compromised in the 1940's and it is has had many hands messing with it ever since.  I guess they could restore what is there now, but to what I am not so sure? 

Alex, no doubt they could do a terrific 27 hole layout there, but I agree it will never happen.  Even setting aside the income, there aren't enough 18 hole L.A. muni's as it is so I'd expect rebellion at the suggestion that they might lose one.

[DMoriarty]

Here is a link to Geoff's April 9, 2007 article on the courses, "A Good Design Spoiled"

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/09/sports/sp-griffith9

[Joe_Tucholski]

Until reading the article I didn't realize Thomas paid for the completion of the course.

Also glad to hear the openers on the Wilson course are original.  The first time I played the course I thought I was playing a "great" course after the first three holes.  Something about the visuals of the first with the hill to the right and the movement of the land is striking.  The second is a short fun little hole with a blind tee shot that requires some shot making if you miss the correct line.  On the third I had an LA SportsCenter anchor yelling feathers as the putt dropped in the cup.  Unfortunately it was downhill from there.

[Tim Leahy]

The last time I played Wilson was on a Sunday afternoon and it took 3 hrs to play six holes and I walked off, never to return. When I lived in Glendale the public courses were so busy on weekends that my buddy and I would drive an hour south to play Oak Valley in Beaumont to play a four hour round rather than fight the crowds at Brookside, Griffith or Hansen on the weekends.

[Stephen Davis]

This thread has reminded me of everything I hated about LA golf. It has been interesting reading Thomas' book and seeing quite a few LA courses featured in the pictures. Now days I think there are only a few LA courses that are worth mentioning and all of those are so private that most golfers will never even see inside the gates.

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