Santa Anita Golf Course

Golf Course Review Santa Anita Golf Course Arcadia California

Reviewed by: t8fish, Altadena

I got out Friday, 5/10 as part of a threesome with single joining us. I hadn’t been out to SA since last June according to my score tracker. I think this was mainly because it had gotten bit dried out last summer and then seemed to be suffering a bit through the winter — at least according to reviews. In fact, the latest review from a little less than a month ago was pretty negative.

The Review

For whatever reason, I had stayed away more than usual, so I was curious and game to take a look after all the course-improving weather we’ve had. Basically, I was not disappointed instead I was pleasantly surprised. If I was to focus on the weak point first, I would say there are some scattered thin / scruffy patches to be found on many fairways. I mention it but it factored little into my round. They are scattered and not a dominant feature. The great majority of fairway is filled in with green and good lies to be had. I missed the bunkers but they looked OK. Otherwise, good stuff.

Playing from the whites, tees here are pretty level with good coverage and I don’t recall any distracting issues about any aspect of teeing it up. Of particular note were the greens, which have been slagged in reviews for their condition and speed. I found them as good as I’ve seen them in a while, clean with a medium quick speed that was very nice and probably about as speedy as they get there. There were a lot of pin locations conspicuously near the edges of the greens and I don’t know why. That did not particularly bother me but I found it interesting. You have to put them somewhere, and sometimes that made it more challenging, but other times not so much.

Parting Thoughts

As someone who comes here regularly if not overly frequently, I thought it was about as good as can be expected and really enjoyed getting back to it. One of our threesome had never played SA and came a away enthusiastic to return to it again soon. On top of everything, I got out walking (1:50-ish tee time) for $22 which was excellent value for this course right now. Recommended.