Looking for a solid public track near Malibu to play in early December

[1puttTUT]

I've got a chance to play one round while out in Malibu for my wife's work Christmas party. I'll be playing with her and her boss. Neither of them are great; she's decent and he's just getting into golf.

I'd like to play somewhere they can handle, but not something that will bore me. I'm a solid 4 and don't want to lug my clubs out for one round on a forgettable track.

Public is a must and I'd like to keep it under $150 if possible. An hour away tops would also be ideal...any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[ryu123]

Rustic Canyon is a walkable links-like course. It usually plays firm & fast with interesting greens.

[southbay]

Check out Rustic Canyon. Also Sandpiper in Santa Barbara.

[raynorfan1]

Rustic Canyon is about 45 minutes from Malibu, traffic dependent. Far and away the best option.

[1puttTUT]

Sorry, I screwed up and we're actually staying in Santa Monica. I'm not sure if that affects our options.

[raynorfan1]

Increases the drive to more like an hour and makes it much more traffic dependent. I think it's still probably the best choice.

[dankil13]

I played Sandpiper 5 or so years ago and it was amazing. The golf shop said the greens were rolling at 12 on the stimp and he wasn't kidding.

[1puttTUT]

Wife's boss mentioned Moorpark CC and Rustic Canyon as the best options. Any opinions on Moor?

[rangersgoalie]

nothing against Moorpark, but Rustic is far more a great experience.

 

But that drive can be a bear

[mark174ace]

Interesting is an interesting word to use describing those greens! I only played there once, but I remember having three birdie putts inside of 15 feet that I was grateful making par haha.

[rangersgoalie]

realistically, Rancho Park is close enough and is an interesting course.

 

Not great shape, but newer golfers would be ok and the price is ok if you can manage to find a tee time

And it doest have that drive!

[Schley]

I second Rancho Park it is a historical public course that I believe has more rounds played there than any other course in the country. Pretty playable as well. Traffic is very demotivating to me in SoCal so if you have to play make it closer IMO. Also Sandpiper is a LONG way from Santa Monica, thus that is out.

[ButterCutter2]

greenskeeper dot org has a deal for the saticoy club for $100 (albeit its only avail tue/wed/thu). if u can do that, that's your best bet. its up the 101 toward ventura but its a top 10 private club in greater la area for sure.

[raynorfan1]

The problem with Rancho is that pace of play is glacial. From Santa Monica, your total time commitment is probably the same for Rustic and Rancho - the question is just whether you’d rather spend the time in the car or sitting in a cart.

[Schley]

True you are looking at at least 5 hours at RP. I would rather be on the course myself and RP is a bucket list course for those who enjoy muni's. However if you are playing on a Sat/Sun traffic will be less to go North. You could also go south and play Trump or further and hit Orange County, but OC will be a tough commute as well.

[ButterCutter2]

it depends what time and what day you tee off at rancho. i played there quite a bit in 2018 and actually didn't have 1 5 hour round. this included teeing off at:

8:30 am on an overcast gloomy saturday with light rain in the forecast (clearly scared off most of the natives)1 pm on memorial day, this was a stunner to be done before 6 pm.numerous times teeing between 2 & 3:45 in the spring & summer

RP's done a good job speeding up pace of play in recent years, i would say through my experience, it's no worse than rustic. as awesome as the rustic layout is, having the first hole as a 5 that's gettable in 2 and the 3rd hole as driveable par 4 doesn't help the pace there (not to mention 4 is a par 3). additionally, the visuals off the tee make it deceiving as to how far out the group in front of you really is. they could look to only be 225 out when in actuality they're closer to 270, meaning players wait too long to tee off. couple that with devilish big greens and it can be a slow round. don't get me wrong, i wouldnt change a thing about the RC layout, but these are just the facts of it.

 

 

[nealkb]

I’ve heard some good things about Palos verdes too. Haven’t played there yet, but coworker recommended it

[southbay]

Los Verdes is very slow but has some amazing views. Hilly and fun muni. I would call a week in advance to secure a tee time starting at 6am for weekdays and 5am for weekends.

[Schley]

True you are looking at at least 5 hours at RP. I would rather be on the course myself and RP is a bucket list course for those who enjoy muni's. However if you are playing on a Sat/Sun traffic will be less to go North. You could also go south and play Trump