BigusDickus

Course is dying. They haven’t watered much. May be a little for the greens at minimum. The rains haven’t been enough to help. No restaurant so they SOMETIMES have a food truck thing at the starter but that’s it. Compared to Encino on the other side, clearly the city didn’t care one bit about Woodley. The range here is trashed, the workers don’t care about the paying customers, they are rude and don’t want to help, doing bare minimum. And this is the only range with real grass, so you would think LA City would want to make it top notch, but nope, typical low end cheap muni treatment. But they’re happy to charge you the same as the other courses. Sad.

A month ago, of course, it was good. Just had had some rains and the course had been kept in decent shape, the greens were nice.
Not any more. The place is dry, hard, and fast, which is fine for long drives and roll out, but at the same time grass is getting thin, the dead dirt patches are rock hard and crusty, and the place is starting to have that drought-stricken look already. Has the City put a clamp down on water use?
The greens were terrible today as well. Many of them were wavy, bumpy, some had been watered a little bit and others totally rock hard. Seems like the maintenance has taken a step back too, which is not a good thing, because overall it’s back to that not-so-fun-to-play situation again with these City courses.
Looks like it’s time to take trips farther out to places like Oxnard and may be, farther out East.
Very disappointed today, especially seeing how good it was just a little while back.

Wow. They’ve really let the place go. Somebody in maintenance management haven’t been paying attention or they just have ignored the course conditions and have not put any work in but are just pocketing the money being lazy. The front 9 is totally trashed. Gopher remnants and dirt patches everywhere. They’re trying to seed some tees but what about the fairways and rough areas and the areas around the greens? Not to mention how bad the greens are!!! Usually the greens have been the one good thing but wow, they had waves and bumps and crud and pitch marks all over them.
Somebody’s head needs to roll, because with the rains we’d had, I was expecting it to be much much better than this but clearly they just let the rain come and go without utilising the water. It’s sad. The worst I’ve seen it in years. And with all the new, bad players out there who don’t fix anything, it’s only going to get worse

Greens were shaggy and slow for this place that’s supposed to have good greens. They haven’t improved since the last time I played, a month ago. They were too soft and nobody fixes hallmarks so they were bumpy, hairy and slow, the worst 3 combinations. Especially around the cup. Really not fun.
The course is being made to dry out??? It’s semi-dormant still after the rains but it wasn’t in the best of shapes all around, sort of thin and grabby grass, and then around the greens, there are areas where the apron (not the actual fringe), but the apron areas that surround the greens are destroyed by the weird grain shag that have real teeth like rails and rails of Brillo Pad looking things that grab the club that make it impossible to putt or chip as the blade would get chunked into the grain of it. Really not a good look, they need to flatten and roll those areas, and those are numerous around many greens.
If the greens were smoother and firmer and quicker it would have been acceptable.
And it was also kinda slow today. Took just under 5 hours to get around, and it wasn’t that windy. Pretty sad. No marshals to push people.
I wouldn’t pay full price. Only twilight.

Teed off at 12:30pm ish. We didn’t finish. Took just under 3 hours for first 9, and there was just no way. Got to see the last hole in the last bit of light. What a total joke. The 3 groups ahead of us had no business being on the course yet but they HAD to play from the blue tees just because their egos, right? Total beginners need to be told to learn to hit it straight and keep pace and/or pick up after 10 strokes, period. This is becoming an absolute travesty of a joke for the industry. Good long time golfers everywhere who respect the game and play by the rules are totally frustrated that we have to deal with these things on a daily basis now. Somebody at the head of the industry have to step up and speak up about how this is going to end up the same train wreck it was when golf lost all those players and courses had to close. Doesn’t matter if the pandemic helped to introduce new golfers to the outdoors game that is golf - there aren’t enough courses to spread these beginners out to the more basic, short ones where they should be learning and being taught the rules and etiquette.
The course is a shambles, they just don’t care, clearly the City doesn’t care, the city managers as recreation department managers must be clowns to take money off people for these horrendous conditions, it’s inconceivable that they can’t put sand in these bunkers, to do something about them. Nah - they’ll just take your money while they plan a heist to remove this course and build more houses on it so that they can line their own pockets.
So totally depressing. What a waste of time that was.

Greens weren’t as quick nor smooth as they can be here, on this day. Been about 10 days after the rains so we expected the course to be in good shape, but it was just average. The lakes all have water in them! Which was nice to see. Made you think about your shots because of that, you weren’t getting away with it.
The rest of the course was a bit moist also, the course must have watered it overnight or something as the place didn’t run out as you might expect from dry winters.
I’m sure it’ll be back in tip top shape soon.

I don’t want to pay double what County Muni charge for the same, if not, worse conditions. Fairways and rough are totally trashed. Bunkers are half and half, rock hard and no sand or too many pebbles. Don’t really care if the greens are good. Plenty of places are half this price and have good greens like this and actually have good grass to hit off.
The only work they’ve put in is to put some grass on some of the tee boxes but not all. They literally do the bare minimum maintenance to the course here and pocket the rest of the money.
Don’t waste your time or money here. It’s a disgrace.

I love this course. One of the best designs around, anywhere. Challenging but fair, and visually interesting and stimulating and has awesome twisty hole designs of many varieties, up and down and around the hills. If you can hit it well, then it’s not that hard, but most people complain about the place because it can be difficult if you’re not a mid to low handicap.
The course is in much better shape than it was during the last few years of drought!! I’m glad the course is almost back to how it should be. Grass is growing in all the right areas that needed it. Obviously the owners are working hard to take care of the place.
With the rains the course should be in even better shape for the next couple months!! Grass is growing well on the tee boxes and all the fairway and rough areas that need it. Obviously there are areas that have been purposefully designed to be dead areas with either dirt or wood chips, and the point is avoid them. I didn’t hit any of those areas but my playing partners did, but they had no problems, that’s how it’s designed..
Greens were a bit moist today, so they didn’t roll as quick I would have liked or have seen in the past at this course, but nothing major to moan about, as many places are still trying to dry out from the few days of seriously heavy rains we had.
I’m just happy that the course is coming back to how it’s supposed to be. May the course stay forever.
I’ll be back.

Course is drying out. GreensKeeper is doing a fine job around the greens but the fairways are getting a bit crispy.
POP was bad today, it was a Friday and lots of people were out, so unfortunately it took just under 5 hours with a lot of waiting. A real shame overall, a couple of fairways are almost too shaggy dry again with the weird weed, like on hole 15, they should just cut away that crabby weed off the top, that thing just needs to be done away with. It’s like some heather type that just shouldn’t be there.

Driving range was closed due to too much water.
The greens on the course were a bit too bumpy for my liking. Some of the tee boxes need a bit more grass, it looks like they haven’t really looked after them recently, they were a bit thin. Not in the best of shapes all around at the moment, we all know it’s usually better than this.

I don’t understand all the negativity thrown at this place. As far as layout, I love it. Sure the front 9 lakes no longer have water in them. But the holes are interesting and the backdrop is spectacular always, especially when it’s crisp and clear like it was today. And the back 9 is just as tricky as most of the holes have lakes next to them that come into play. Yes Hole 11 has been changed many times, and in its current form it’s a weird little Par 3. But the greens are all mostly good, certainly better than most of the LA city courses, lets say. As far as the “dirt” patches or whatever people complain about - have they played Los Verdes??? That place is the same dirt rough and hardly any grass under the trees type thing - but that place is always packed. Camarillo’s conditions are no different. I have no problems with it. Especially at this price point. I think the GreensKeepers are doing a decent job, all the bunkers had been machine raked today, after the soaking we got yesterday, and the sand was very playable, so I commend them on that. Yes there are dead dirt patches such as down the right side of 16, but again, places like Los Verdes have that on a few holes too.
People are missing out on just being able to play golf, as so many other places are packed - and they’re prepared to pay almost double at Olivas or Rustic and those places are popular because they’re much easier courses. People don’t like Camarillo because it’s too difficult for them so they complain about the conditions.
If Camarillo would charge the same as those other courses, I’m sure they can make this place much better, we all know that. But people aren’t prepared to pay that much.
Hopefully with the rains we’re having finally and a colder winter, that will all help to get the grass growing again.
I’ll be back. I missed the course.

Because the Flea Market was there, the 9th Hole was a Par 3, playing 150, because otherwise there’d be too many balls being sliced or hooked into the Rose Bowl from the proper tees LOL. So make a note of it!
The driving range is too small, especially when they have a ¼ of it blocked off for the Men’s Club event on a Sunday like this, so if you had planned to hit some balls 30 minutes before your tee time, you weren’t able. Too many people waiting in line. And on days like this, they should have limited the buckets per individual walk-ups to a medium or something until it cleared, because there were people hitting a couple large buckets and they weren’t giving up their space, even though they’re not getting ready to play out on the course.
The course is ok, it’s in decent shape considering the football season had just gone through it.
Bunkers though….. why are there two completely different types of sand? It’s spread out, some have one type of the old brown sand and others have the new white. Strange.
POP was just ok, started out slow just after noon, but it picked up on the back and we just barely managed to finish before dark.

Course is not in as good a shape as I played it in the past. I don’t play the course very often, but this is the worst I’ve seen it. Did they even punch the greens this year? May be not. They didn’t roll very well and most were a little bit on the thick side and very grainy, and coupled with the softness and moisture, with nobody fixing ball marks nor spike marks, they just looked damaged in the spots where they always put the pin. They need to spread it out and change it up a bit to get better conditions.
Pace of Play was the worst today. Just over 5 hours for a tee time just before noon. No reason was given, no marshals. We assumed it was because there was thick fog this morning is why there was back up, and total slow down. Waiting on every shot on every hole, watching and catching up to the group ahead at the tee and then to wait for them to finish - you know how that goes. Obviously the club doesn’t care.
Tee boxes are just ok, some do need work. Some of the fairways were bad - so many divots not filled and also dead patches spread out on some holes that badly need attention. For a course that charges slightly more than other munis, the course should be in better shape. Coupe if bunkers I hit barely had any sand, hard bottom under a very thin layer.
Very disappointed overall. Especially the pace, seeing as it’s a weekday.

The course was in ok shape. Some tee boxes need work, barely any grass on them. Greens were decent, they were soft and receptive but rolled well. But nobody fixes divots….. you know the story.
Mostly good coverage on the fairways.
The range and the mats though….. how embarrassing. Is this the look that American Golf and LBC want to present?? Tattered old mats that have been there for years, and the range is most dirt. The range picker kicks up so much dirt it wafts in the wind. Pretty sad. But this is a low level local muni and they treat it like dirt, you get those kinds.
I heard they had double booked some tee times, so I guess they’re having a problem with their computers between GolfNow and Foreup.
A bit pricey for the place at holiday pricing for non-residents.

The Lakes:
The punching/seeding didn’t seem to work on a few greens, it seems. The greens are divided into ⅓ nice, ⅓ average and ⅓ that need some serious repair. The ones that need repair either didn’t grow back from the punching, or they have very strange patchy areas that are spread all over the green like some weird patchwork quilt. They either need to be totally re-done or need a whole lot more sanding and rolling to get them to be the same as the good ones.
Today, some GreensKeeper must have spaced out, because the pin on 16 was on a literal side slope and everybody commented that it’s like mini-golf, where’s the windmill??? You would putt uphill to the hole, and if it didn’t go in, then the ball came back down to your feet off the wicked slope!!!
The worst green was 17, the Par 3. That one needs to be completely re-done. It’s so bad.

Fairways had a LOT of grass. A bit too much. Almost like thick-ish carpet. So there was no roll. Which made some holes really long. Especially when the usual wind came in.
The greens were also quite lush, had not quite come back from the punching. Playable, but the remnants of the punching is still quite visible. Just need some more cut and rolling to smooth them out.
Tee boxes are mostly nice. Again, LOTS of grass.
Pace was a tad slow, waited on a lot of shots, probably about half, so it took just under 5 hours. On a Tuesday mid-morning tee time.

Unfortunately today, the greens were a bit too moist. I guess they had micro punched them 3 weeks ago or so, and some of the greens still had signs of that. Greens played like all the rest of them, a bit spongy and slow.
The fairways are the best of the LA city courses. Green and lush and nice, not as many dirt patches as the others.
Should be in great shape this coming winter though!

I hadn't been back here in several years. Had thought that the price was not appropriate for the place. I'd been avoiding the place because of that, and because of the way they had been dealing with customers, mainly, poorly. There's too much hype with the place, and clearly, it has gone down, way down over the past few years, and that's not because of Covid. They actually had an opportunity to fix a few things during the downturn, and the course should have grown in, but they've wrecked a lot of it, and it just looks and plays way worse.
Starting with the Range: the range has been cut in half!!! So there's only about 12 hitting stalls, if that, if there's lessons going on, there's about 8. Which is nuts, because when this place was busy, 5, 6 years ago, the range easily had 25 spots, and it was always packed, all day long. Today the range was empty in the afternoon. Shocking. Part of it is the price of the balls. Ridiculous to charge $14 for a medium bucket for scrappy range balls that are all hodge-podge varieties. Double shocking.
There was no attendant at the range. There was no club-washer bucket at the range. There is no shuttle to the range like they used to have it from the parking lot cart area. The range machine takes credit card only. The range putting green was closed.
There was nobody to greet anybody to pick up bags to place into carts, so you had to walk all the way down and then into the shop. Which is fine, but there was a small tournament going on there today and there was nobody there to help these players. Shocking.
The putting green in front of the shop was good. I expected that to be the same out on the course - it wasn't.
The Course: There's no starter. Just be sure to tee off at the set time for your group, as it warns you on the LCD screen!
Some of the tees were lumpy and not flat, and had dead spots, and some of the tee markers had been specifically placed on those dead spots. Crazy. And some of the tee markers were all the way at the back of the tee box that there was no 2-club length to drop back, you literally fell off the tee if you teed it back too far. Clearly the greenkeerpers have not been educated about the rules of golf!
The fairways were decent. A bit soft compared to what they would be in the summer, when it's dry and hard, and the same went for the greens. The greens looked nice, but we know they can paint them, and they looked painted, not cut too much, and were very grainy, and so were not as fast or smooth as they should be for a course that charges this exorbitant price.
Hole 5's bunkers were under-repair, the one near the green had the underlay sheets being placed but there was no warning or sign about any of the work. Same went for the 18th, the bunkers around the greens had mounds yet to be flattened, but no sign or warning.
There was a little sign at the 17th green about GUR, but it was a little sign stuck to the edge of the front bunker, but it was hard to tell whether it was about the new bunker, or the new grass around the bunker which was soft and wet.
For the prices they charge, you would have expected everything to be in place, like they used to be. But not any more, I guess. Which is why I hadn't re-visited. I wouldn't pay full price here, ever.

All of the “county” run courses seem to be damp lately. Overwatered. So many areas just totally soaked. So you either get no roll, or you have to deal with the splash shot. Some areas were so soaked you had to move the ball 50 yards to find a dry spot.
The greens were also way too damp, moist, soaked, the ball would land and sit in its own ballmark.
At least this place had decent bunkers with sand in them, unlike the last couple county courses I played (see my other review).
But, you have to love this track. The layout is fantastic.

What happened to this place? The bunkers are dead. They are rock-hard, concrete caked-mud like you find at Montebello. And people who’ve played Montebello know what I’m saying. It’s the same bunkers!!! Today, the course was extra extra wet. Too wet. Over-watered and water-logged on some holes. Such as hole 10, down the right side fairway about 150 from the green, that whole stretch about 50 yards is coned-off because it’s totally a wet mud pile. And that’s not the only area like that. There were many others. Dunno what’s happened to this place. It’s the worst I’ve seen it. Half the tee boxes are thrashed and thin and uneven, not cared for. We finished close to 2 o’clock in the afternoon and the back 9 fairways were still soaked, and the bunkers were still totally wet and muddy and more than a few had mud puddles in them still!! Quite shocked to see them this way. The fairways were also too lush, as in, not cut, so they almost play like light rough, and with the moisture underneath it was hard to gauge what the ball would do as the club would dig right down into the soft mud under the ball. If you were just a hair fat the ball would either come well short or would take off low like a rocket knuckle ball flier, and you didn’t have to do anything different to the swing, it’s all because the mud wouldn’t engage the bounce of the iron. Terrible stuff.
The greens were also way too soft, too wet. They rolled mostly decent, but due to thr inconsistency of the moisture, the speed varied greatly. So many ballmarks all around, as you would expect. Giant ballmarks on landing.
The bunkers though….. LA City courses have nicer, playable bunkers than this! And cheaper. It’s not worth it right now to play here.