One course to play in LA area on Monday 15th

[ceyoung]

Thinking Rustic Canyon any other suggestions?

I'm visiting my brother, thinking Rustic Canyon cause we can play 36 holes for about $60. Anyone know if it is busy on Monday mornings?

If you could only play one course would it be Rustic Canyon? Or should we look somewhere else? budget <$110

[SilverSowan]

Angeles National is a good track. You can post a good number and the layout is very fair with some very challenging holes (especially from the tips). Greens aren't too fast but they roll nice. I think $79 on Monday. Lost Canyons is a hell of a place, too. Sky Course there is a real beast, especially if it's windy. And the greens are super firm, and super fast. Definitely worth playing at least once. I think it's $59 or so, maybe a little more. Both courses include the carts, with GPS.

[Shortgame]

[quote name='ceyoung' timestamp='1288847512' post='2773613']
I'm visiting my brother, thinking Rustic Canyon cause we can play 36 holes for about $60. Anyone know if it is busy on Monday mornings?

If you could only play one course would it be Rustic Canyon? Or should we look somewhere else? budget <$110
[/quote]

Rustic Canyon (a links style course) is a good choice. The conditions are usually quite good. The greens are very large and are clearly the most difficult part of the course. Angeles National is also a very nice course. However, it's much more expensive. A Monday round before twilight will cost you more than $100. In my opinion, it's not that much better than Rustic. Lost Canyons has two Pete Dye courses. They're definitely challenging. If you like mountain course (lots of elevation changes and great views) I strongly recommend Moorpark Country Club. I play alot around So. Cal. This is one of my favorite courses. It's not very far from Rustic in Moorpark, CA. It has 3 nines. I would play this over Rustic Canyon. It's challenging but fair, and the conditions are superb.

[ceyoung]

Moorpark CC looks interesting. I like the 27 holes, would be good for a replay. Looks good from the website too.

We played Lost Canyons about 18 months ago. I liked the layout, but it was in pretty bad shape. Lots of brown spots in the fairways. Heard they were having budget problems at the time. Any word if the condition is in better shape now?

I think Angeles National is out because I've heard mixed reviews.

[DocChoi]

Robinson Ranch Valley is really good. Great Greens. RR Mountain course is a big shorter/tighter.

Moorpark is good. I think they have Tuesday discount prices all day.

Lost Canyon usually is good. Sky is favored over Shadow (not sure if you played both). Wednesday is Pay for 1 round, 2nd player is 10 bux.
-The caution with Lost Canyon is if the wind is whipping, its is impossible to play.

Angeles National is good.

Inland there is Industry Hills Golf Course. They have 2 courses. The Ike and the Babe. Babe is shorter narrower.

A good site is
Greenskeeper.org

If you look up the courses they will know if anything has been punched/seeded recently. This is actually the time of the year alot of courses do that.

[sabram]

Rustic Canyon is a good choice and great value.

I don't know about the reference to mixed reviews on Angeles National. I like it a lot and would recommend it, other than its not as good a bargain as Rustic Canyon

The comment about Lost Canyons being a beast in the wind is 100% correct. it can be a real slog. Difficult and slow. I played there on a windy day and it wass so backed up Imade it to the fourth tee an hour after teeing off.

Industry Hills and Robinson Ranch are good choices too, but I'd sya go with Rustic Canyon

As mentioned above the Greenkeeper website has lots of good info, reviews and photos of all the LA area courses.

Here is another site for photos of LA courses:
[url="http://golfcoursephotos.weebly.com/california.html"]Cal Golf Course photos[/url]

[Tingting]

I second the Industry Hills 36 holes. On Mondays greenfees can be as low as 50 dollars and I guarantee you wont be dissapointed.

[Shortgame]

[quote name='ceyoung' timestamp='1289017845' post='2777044']
Moorpark CC looks interesting. I like the 27 holes, would be good for a replay. Looks good from the website too.

We played Lost Canyons about 18 months ago. I liked the layout, but it was in pretty bad shape. Lots of brown spots in the fairways. Heard they were having budget problems at the time. Any word if the condition is in better shape now?

I think Angeles National is out because I've heard mixed reviews.


[/quote]

I just played Lost Canyons Sky Course on Thursday, 11/4. It's in pretty good shape. You can see my complete review and rating of the course on [url="http://www.greenskeeper.org"]www.greenskeeper.org[/url]. However, I would play Rustic or Moorpark CC before I'd play Lost Canyons. Both of those courses are in better shape, especially MCC.

[evanrfid]

If you're going public it's gotta be Rustic. Even if it was the most expensive it would be the choice.

[holem]

I have played both Moorpark CC and Rustic Canyon many times over the past 5 years. They are both great courses to play. They are quite different however.

Rustic is more of a links style course, relatively flat with huge greens. Actually the fringes around the greens are huge and you can putt on them. I have had 90 foot putts before on this course. The greens are very undulating and are quite difficult to get used to if you don't play those types of greens on a regular basis. It can be a frustrating experience. It's a great track though and a lot of fun to play. You really have multiple options on many of the holes so you can be real creative in your shot making and approaches.

Moorpark CC is more hilly but unlike Lost Canyons the uphill holes are very gradual and mostly do not affect your choice in club play. There are many elevated tees hitting down to generous fairways or greens. Several holes have forced carries over canyons and river beds and can be quite challenging. The greens are large and some have some mild hills, ridges and undulations but it in nowhere as crazy as Rustic.

Moorpark is usually in better condition. The fairways are always lush and the greens are usually fast and in tournament condition.

Rustic is quite a bit less expensive than Moorpark. You should check the weekly rates at both courses and sometimes Moorpark runs weekly specials.

You can walk Rustic but you will defintely need a cart at Moorpark.

I have played both Lost Canyons courses. I'm a 5 handicap and can tell you that these courses are over the top difficult...and the course conditions are not as good as Rustic or Moorpark. For me it's a great 1 or 2 time experience but the other courses are a friendlier and much better choice.

Angeles National is expensive and I believe over-rated...and they have natural vegetation (bushes and brush) in the middle of some of the fairways that allow a free drop but c'mon. Fairways should be open in the middle and not subject to intereference by natural habitat. That's just goofy.

[ceyoung]

Thanks for the info guys. I think we're gonna hit up Rustic Canyon early in the morning and if we're up to it play a back 18 at either Rustic again or head down the road to Moorpark CC.

Next trip looks like it will be Industry Hills.