Altadena Golf Course has been lost to the Eaton fire.

[Matt Schoolfield]

From the club:

It is with a heavy heart that we share the loss of Altadena Golf Course. During this time we’re focused on supporting our community, employees, and everyone affected by this tragic event.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the brave firefighters, first responders, and volunteers who are working through this.

(source, with video of damage)

[David Kelly]

If they want to they can get the course operational relatively easily compared to the many houses and business that are a total loss. They would need to clear the rubble and burned trees, and replace the equipment but they could operate out of a trailer pretty soon. However, I don't know that they were operating on a high enough profit margin that they will want  to despite what they are saying now.  Their calendar wasn't exactly packed to begin with. https://www.playaltadena.com/outings-events/event-calendar/eventsbyyear/2025/-


About 20 years ago almost every inch of the Rustic Canyon course that was not through the green was burned and you could have played 18 holes the next day.  The subsequent mudslides that later hit and were a direct result of the canyon having burned were another story.


Much of Altadena Golf Course is built on the remnants of the old Pasadena Golf Club, one of the original SCGA clubs and something like a SoCal Pinehurst #2 as it was built on sandy ground with a lot of exposed sand everywhere.  Billy Bell did work on it in the 20s but it was severely damaged in the 1938 floods that altered so many Southern California courses.  Bell eventually was brought in to turn it into the 9 hole Altadena course.

[Tal Oz]

Sorry for derailing this thread right away. @David, could you send me some info on that first at Rustic Canyon? I play there almost every week and have heard so much about the 05 flood (just last week a guy I was paired up with sent me photos he took after the floods!) but haven't heard about the fire preceding it.

[David Kelly]

Sorry for derailing this thread right away. @David, could you send me some info on that first at Rustic Canyon? I play there almost every week and have heard so much about the 05 flood (just last week a guy I was paired up with sent me photos he took after the floods!) but haven't heard about the fire preceding it.

It happened on October 25, 2003.  All the RC buildings were missed by the fire but all the natural areas were incinerated - the hillsides and everything that wasn't irrigated.  There were thousands of burnt golf balls that looked like toasted marshmallows litering the burned out areas.  In fact you might still run across one while searching for your ball in the gunch today.  Thankfully the course acted as a fire break and protected the neighborhood to the south of hole #4.  The super turned on the courses sprinklers when he knew the fire was coming and that and the short green grass stopped the fire.


Some GCA threads on the fire:
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=6730.0
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=6713.0

Discussion of the before and after the flood 7th hole which includes some hard to see Photobucket pictures of the course immediately after the fire:
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,50868.25.html

More on the 7th hole changes
https://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=69209.0