Lakeside GC in Los Angeles

[Nick Pozaric]

Wondering if anyone had any info or expereinces with Lakeside GC in LA?  What do you think, how does it stack up with LACC or Bel-Air Country Club?

[Tom Huckaby]

Nick - we've discussed the course a few times in here.  The man you need is Tommy N.  I played it a LOT, many years ago, but I hear it's changed a little.  In any case, each of the courses you mention has great historical value and a great pedigree, with only LACC seeming to carry its past glory into the current day.

If I had to rank them on how they are today (remember I haven't played Lakeside in a long time and I'm just relying on updates from others), well it is clearly #3 among it, Bel-Air, LACC North.  But still it is a pretty darn fine golf course... fantastic greens.  As I recall though from Tommy, if we could have played it way way back when, it might be #1.

TH

[David_Tepper]

Nick -

I played 3 rounds at Lakeside over a weekend in June, 2004.  It was the first and, so far, only golf I have ever played anywhere in the LA area.

I thought the course was very good. It definitely has a traditional, "old-school" feel to it - a nice mix of shortish and long holes, small greens, etc. The land has a nice amount of movement to it, with a good number of swales and slopes.

Play there for sure it you have a chance.

DT    

[Tom Huckaby]

David - well said, that's how I remember it.  Oh heck yeah, only the snobbiest of snobs would turn down a round there.  It's a nice oasis in the midst of the urban sprawl of the SF Valley there in Toluca Lake... and you described the course perfectly from my recollection.

That being said, assuming your description does jive with my recollection, the course is very nice but not quite in the league of Bel-Air or LACC, not to mention Wilshire or Riviera among the better-known LA private clubs.

Rustic Canyon is also a superior golf course overall.

BTW, when you were there did you see any celebs?  I have a fun story about playing through Bob Hope's group there when I was in high school.

Also, understand that when you were there in June 2004, you were within 5 miles or so of where I grew up.  I assume you paid sufficient homage.

 

[A_Clay_Man]

I was wondering about this course the other day. The last two tidbits I recall reading on here was that Geoff Might be doing some work there. And second,, That a certain articualte Armenian and his designer sidekick went there, sat down with some higher-ups. Told them what they needed to do to restore some of Max's principles. Wereupon they were looked at with odd faces and left.

How radical was this course in it's hey day?

[Tom Huckaby]

Knowing the Lakeside membership - and I believe I do know it well enough - well.... I'm pretty shocked they even let the Armenian and sidekick on the door.  They're not a bastion of out of the box thinking there, let's just say.

BUT, hope springs eternal if indeed Geoff is doing some work there.

Jeez from what I recall of what Tommy posted the course was MUCHO radical in its day.  Isn't it also mentioned in one of the Wexler books?  I'm gonna check it out.

TH

[Nick Pozaric]

another ?  If one would want a hotel somewhat close to Riviera, Bel Air, LACC, and that person is flying into LAX, where should I look

[Michael Robin]

Nick - Try The Beverly Hilton or something in the Beverly Hills/Century City neck of the woods. I think there is a Loews on Pico that's probably not too expensive. Century Plaza is nice, but probably full on PGA Tour types since your coming during The Nissan.

[Michael Robin]

Re how radical this course was in its heyday, didn't MacKenzie comment that this was one of the best courses he'd seen or something along those lines?

[Nick Pozaric]

i was looking at hotwire and hotels.com and the areas are airport, downtown, beverly hills, which do you reccomend?

[Michael Robin]

Beverly Hills.

[JC Urbina]

Nick
I toured the course about 5 or 6 years ago.  I thought the course had a lot to offer and I enjoyed visualizing what it must have played like in its prime.  Some very interesting features with some very nice green sites.  The hazards and topography probally made the course a challenge to play at 6,500 yards.  Tommy will tell you that when they changed  the river by lining it with concrete and changing some tee locations it took some of the fun factor out of it.  I disagree with the idea that the green sites being small made the course challenging.  The green site locations I saw led me to believe that some of the greens were as big as 7,000 and 8,000 sq ft.  The course superintendent showed the original routing and plans of the course and I was amazed the thought process that was going on.  The super had told me back then that Graves was being considered for the work they were planning to do but that was many years ago.  I thought it would have been fun to work on this course but the river channeling probally changed a lot of the character of this course.

[Wayne Freeman]

Lakeside has an incredibly storied history and the clubhouse is worth the whole trip there- all kinds of neat pictures of celebrities.  Joe Pesci, Sly Stallone, and guys like that hang out there.  The course is very good-  an old traditional layout with very small greens, often well bunkered, and some terrific par 4's.  You can see it from Universal Studios-  it's right across the street.  If you have a chance to play don't pass it up.  But it doesn't rate compared to Bel-Air and can't touch LACC..

[john_stiles]

NIck,

In Beverly Hills you might also consider   Le Meridien  , a Euro hotel chain.  It is on La Cienega,  just off Wilshire.  Sometimes you can find some good fly/hotel agency combos with them.

Also, if airline tickets are not purchased, you might consider flying into  Burbank  if connections allow.  Much smaller airport and more convenient in my opinion.  Very much like an airport from the 1960s and service is good.

[Pat Jones]

I heartily agree with Wayne.  The history of this course, essentially built by movie stars who were turned away by LACC, is actually more interesting than the golf.  I played Lakeside a couple of times and honestly can't remember a damn thing about the layout. (Note: I must confess that, unlike many on this site, I suffer from golf-nesia and can rarely recall many specifics about courses.)  But, indelibly etched in my memory are stories like W.C. Fields "playing" seven-hour rounds at the course with a bag full of clubs, guns, fishing rods, pool cues and booze.  I'd love to have Mr. Peabody put me in the Wayback Machine and go back to caddy at the place in the '30s.

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