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Roosevelt Municipal Golf Course (Grifith Park) – Executive

2650 N. Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-2011

9 holes (par 33)
Yardage: 2,478 yards
Hours: Dawn to dusk, 7 days
Green fees: $14.50, $19 on weekends and holidays

This course is located in in Griffith Park, by the Greek Theater. You can reach it by heading up Vermont Ave, north of Los Feliz. Roosevelt is regarded as one of the better executive golf courses in the LA area. The course is built into the hills, so you get plenty of exercise walking up and down the slopes of the various holes. Roosevelt is a scenic course and there is also a good chance you will see wildlife, such as deer or coyotes on the course. 

Roosevelt is a long executive course at 2,478 yards, with the shortest hole being 156 yards. Due to the length this course is probably best played by a golfer with intermediate ability, rather than a beginner. I suggest that you are able to consistently hit the ball 200 yards off the tee before playing at this course.


As it is a City of Los Angeles course it is relatively reasonably priced. We went during the week. We walked straight up and started with no wait. But there started to be a backlog around hole 3. At each hole there was about a 5 minute wait to tee off. The whole round took the two of us about 2.5 hours to complete. I have read other reviews of people who play here at the weekends and they say it can get very busy. It is probably advised to book a tee time for peak times and plan your playing time accordingly. 

The course itself was very enjoyable. As mentioned earlier it was long, but the fairways on most holes were wide, so it is forgiving if you are not totally accurate. It is deceptive as when you start the first hole you can not see anything else of the course. The course twists around the hillside with good separation between each hole. There are several dog legs and very few straightforward holes. There are no water hazards on the course, but a few bunkers spread throughout. Each bunker was well placed and in a challenging location.

For me one of the best holes was hole 6. It is 310 yards, straight but drops down significantly in elevation. This hole is actually quite narrow and tree lined. I have pictures and a video of this hole, further down in the post. Hole 8 has a nice view of the Griffith Observatory in the background.

There is a putting green and chipping area at the course. There is also a little cafeteria by the starters office. I did not go in, but they had a neon beer sign in the window. Which indicates that they most probably sell alcohol. The parking lot is not all that big, but there are plenty of other parking spots in the local vicinity.


Richie says… “I enjoyed playing here. It is really long for an executive course. You get a great workout as this a hillside course. My heart was really pounding and I was sometimes breathing heavily walking some of the holes! They have a good twilight special, just $8.50 during the week.”. 

Albino says… “It’s a good course. It is a big course and you get to use all of your clubs. Also it is well maintained. It’s awesome.”

Hole by Hole

Hole 1 – 275 yards
Hole 1 – green
Hole 2 – 392 yards (green is about 150 yards over brow of hill)
Hole 2 – second shot (200 yards out)
Hole 3 – 156 yards
Hole 4 – 340 yards (dog-leg right)
Hole 4 – 2nd shot (130 yards out)
Hole 5 – 339 yards (dog-leg left)
Hole 5 – 2nd shot (150 yards out)
Hole 6 – 310 yards
Hole 6 – 2nd shot (80 yards out)

Hole 7 – 158 yards
Hole 7 – the green is behind the bunker
Hole 8 – 346 yards (dog-leg right, note Griffith Observatory in background)
Hole 8 – 2nd shot (130 yards out)
Hole 9 – 162 yards

The Proper Golf Grip

The grip is an important part of your swing mechanics. Without the proper balance in your hands your golf club can do a number of bad movements in your golf swing from beginning to the follow through. According to the PGA, 70% of golfers need to correct their grips.

Here is a video from the Golf Fix. This is an instructional show broadcasted on the Golf Channel on Monday’s at 7pm. The Golf Fix is hosted by PGA 2012 Teacher of the Year, Michael Breed.

www.free-online-golf-tips.com

Practice Center Review #3 – John Wells (North Hollywood)


11501 Strathern St
North Hollywood CA 91605
(818) 767-1954

Hours: M-F 8am-10pm, weekends 8am-9pm

Medium bucket (66 balls): $7
Large bucket (120 balls): $10
Jumbo bucket (220 balls): $16
Big John (550 balls) $35
*Before 4pm, “all you can hit” – $20

The range is located off the 5 freeway in North Hollywood (although in reality it is more Sun Valley). It is not in the best of areas and overlooks the picturesque cement works. The range has a large parking lot and plenty of spaces. They claim to be one of the best public golf driving ranges in the Los Angeles area. I am not sure who/ how that was determined. I think it may be a tagline which John Wells created themselves to market the business.  


This range is very large (60 stalls). It is single story and you hit off mats. The mats seem to be in decent condition. Whenever I have been to John Wells it has always seemed pretty quiet with plenty of stalls available. They use good quality balls and they seem to be replaced regularly. There are plenty of metal picnic tables and chairs behind the hitting area. Allowing you to rest while hitting, or for people to sit and watch.

The surface of the range is very unusual. As you can see from the pictures it looks like hitting on the surface of the moon. For whatever reason the entire hitting area is covered in what appears to be sand. I presume there is grass underneath. The hitting area is large and very wide with plenty of targets to hit at. I personally can not adjust to this hitting area. Call me weird, but I like hitting on regular grass. It just seems so unusual to look out at this landscape. There is a small putting surface, but it is pretty much useless. It is in disarray and need replacing.

They offer lessons at John Wells and have several professionals with bio’s listed on their website. Private lessons are $40 per half hour, 6 for $200. Which is reasonably priced. However if you want the video analysis they charge an extra $5 per lesson. From my experience the video analysis is a must. You can really see your swing mechanics and what needs to be corrected/ improved.

John Wells has a lot of promotions. They have an “all-you-can-hit” for $20 if you go before 4pm. Also they have a website and Facebook page where they have coupons and other promotions. I noticed they have a marketing campaign linked to hitting a lot of golf balls – with a basket containing 550 balls! I could not imagine hitting anywhere near that many in one sitting. When visiting a range it is about quantity not quality. You should take your time and think about each hit, using your usual pre-hit routine. If you just step up and fire off balls like a machine gun, you are not really going to achieve to anything from the practice session.

Overall the range is in good condition and very large. The back fence is 260 yards. I just wished they replaced the hitting surface with conventional grass. As it stands I would personally rather just go to the De Bell range which is 10 minutes down the road in Burbank.


The World’s Longest Par 3 Hole (Legend Golf & Safari Resort)

Legends Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa is the home of the highest and longest par 3 golf hole in the world. The 900-yard (yes, that’s right) par 3 features a tee atop Hanglip Mountain and a green – shaped like the African continent – 1,410 feet below. The fairway is seeded with Cynodon grass, and has been landscaped to direct the ball towards the green and the green is surrounded by a large waste bunker.

The par-3 is actually a 19th hole and is used to settle ties. Its tee is accessible only by helicopter. Because of its extreme height, balls hit off the tee are estimated to have a “hang time” of 26 seconds or more. The severe drop requires spotters on the ground to find tee shots, which are usually made with a driver.

  • Vertical Height – 430m (1,410ft)
  • Horizontal distance from foot of mountain to back of green – 400m (437 yards)
  • Horizontal distance from foot of mountain to start of fairway – 280m (306 yards)
  • The vertical drop from the start of fairway to the front of the green is 21m (23 yards) 

Sinaloa Golf Course – par 3 (Simi Valley)

980 Madera Rd
Simi Valley, CA  93065
(805)581-2662

9 holes (par 27)
Yardage: 1,088 yards

Hours: 7am to 7pm
Green fees: $10, $12 on weekend 

This week we decided to take a road trip and headed to the Sinaloa par 3 golf course in Simi Valley. Simi Valley is about an hour drive north of downtown Los Angeles (with no traffic). The course is located south of the 118 freeway, Madera Rd exit. Just follow signs for the Reagan Library once you exit the freeway.

 
This course was a good find. It was not really that well known about. I stumbled upon it while searching the depths of the internet. I didn’t have much expectations, but the course was really nice and we enjoyed our round. When we paid and got the scorecard we noticed hole names on the card. We asked the starter and he explained that each hole was a replica of a real famous par 3 in world golf. They include shorter versions of the 12th at Augusta National and the 10th at Riviera.


The course was super quiet. The parking lot was basically empty with just a few people on the range and out on the course. We went on a Sunday morning at 10am. We walked right on and played. There was really minimal delays/ wait on the course and we completed our round in an hour and a half.


The course was in decent above-average condition. However the grass needs watering and replacing/ repairing around the tee boxes. The greens however were superb. Immaculate condition and super fast running. In fact I would say the greens are probably the nicest we have placed in the LA area on a par 3 course. The greens were good size, but hard to keep the ball on due to the speed. The course is wide open with holes close together. There were really few trees and the holes were not divided with trees, like you find with many par 3 courses in the area. There was a water station on the 8th tee box, but only two ball washers on the whole course.


Sialoa had a lot of bunkers and there was water behind the back of the 9th green. Some of the bunkers are very deep with steep sides (links style). It was fun, yet a challenge to play. I would recommend that you have at least some minor golfing ability to play here. If you have never really swung a golf club much and looking to start, I would recommend you try somewhere simpler like De Bell par 3 first to get your feet wet.

The highlight of the course for me was the 6th hole. You have to walk up a path to an elevated green. You tee off about 30ft higher than the green and it is a short 87 yard hole. It is a copy of the 11th hole (called Eden) at the Old Courss, St. Andrews. It was a lot of fun and probably in the top 5, or possible top 3 of holes I have played in Los Angeles.

Richie says… “A nice surprise. A really enjoyable and fun course to play. I love how quiet it was and the fact that they tried to model real classic golf holes. I would certainly play here again.”

Chris says… “Overall I liked the course. Usually I do not like wide open courses. I like courses which have natural boundaries like trees or even fences. But overall a good course. The 6th hole is one of the best par 3 holes I have ever played”.


Hole by Hole

Hole 1 – 100 yards

Hole 2 – 95 yards (10th at Rivera)
Hole 3 – 137 yards

Hole 4 – 130 yards
Hole 5  – 135 yards (12th Augusta)

Hole 5 – green

Hole 6 – 87 yards (11th at St. Andrews)

Hole 7 – 107 yards
Hole 8 – 132 yards
Hole 8 – green (bunkers are to the left and right of green)
Hole 9 – 165 yards (water directly behind green)
Find the Best GPS for your golf game at Golfsmith

X-Blade Tee Review

I recently got myself some of these X-Blade unbreakable tees. They are manufactured by a company called Stonehouse Design. I previously used the cheap generic tees from Target. Each hole I would have to use a new tee as the one I just hit from usually breaks. So the idea of an unbreakable tee appealed to me.

The tees come in two sizes; 2 3/4″ and 3 1/2″. A pack of 20 retails for $5.99.

Due to the shape of the tee it can also be used as a divot tool, which is handy. The tee’s I received came in a multicolored pack but I believe you can also get them in an individual color. When trying them on the course I did find the red ones hard to pick up against the grass color – but I am slightly colorblind, so that probably did not help the situation. I think in the future yellow or white would probably work best for me.

While initial testing the tee’s worked well. With each tee shot, the tee remained in the ground and did not fly 10ft from my hitting location like with a conventional tee. There are height markers molded on the side of the tee’s. Personally I did not have the need to use this feature. The top of the tee has four prongs which the ball rests on. I found that ball remained pretty stable while sitting on the tee.

I tried them out over several holes of play and did not break any tee – so I guess the product does what it claims! I really like these tee’s and right now will continue to use them. My only hesitation is that the tee is pretty big, so I am curious to see how they will work with the hard Southern California ground in the summer. I have a feeling that they could be hard to push into the ground. Do they increase drive length and accuracy?? Well my swing is not consistent enough to determine that. I think they will need to be tested in a controlled environment to see if that is the case.

They are millions of golf gadgets/ improvement devices etc. Many do not work or help. But I like these tees and will continue to utilize these tees and update my progress later in the year.

X-Blade tees can be found at many of the usual online retailers.

Street Golf – Brazil (via France)

From the country which gave the world parkour, I present to you French street golf (although this team from France filmed the video below in Brazil).

From redferret.net; “Street Golf is a fast growing urban pastime. Forget yer fancy clubhouses and velvet greens, what these folk want is a good rough sidewalk and a lamp post or two. Your route can go through backyards, alleys, roof tops, beaches, parking lots, etc. Only your imagination and the police regulations sets the limits. The rules are simple! the most trustworthy are chosen to keep score, the flag hole is placed within 20-200 m of the playoff mat and you tee-off. The person to go 9,18 or 27 holes with the least hits is the winner. There are no handicap or par”. 

Practice Center Review #2 – Aroma Golf Academy (Koreatown)


3680 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010
(213) 387-2111

Hours: M-F 6am- 11pm, weekends 7am-11pm

Pricing: see below for various “scenarios”

 

The Aroma Golf Academy is located in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles (Wilshire/ Serrano). If you are staying in downtown Los Angeles, then this is probably the most convenient location for you. As it is in the center of the city parking can be tough. There is an underground parking lot and at the time of this post, it is free for 3 hours if you use the golf facilities. In addition there is street parking with parking meters varying with 1 and 2 hour time limits.

This range is the kind which you see on TV in places like Japan. It is high (4 stores, each with 15 stalls) and crammed into a dense city area. I am not a big fan of heights, so try to keep to the lower levels if possible. The range can get extremely busy. In fact I would recommend that you probably should avoid it at peak times. They have recently started an allocation system. Which means when you pay they give you a stall number. So there is no longer the experience of walking up and down all of the stairs (there is also an elevator) in order to find a vacant stall. Talking of paying, you literally need a degree in mathematics to figure it out. It is so overly complicated. They have three different plans and then the price changes according to your stall. The higher you are, the cheaper it is.

The range is 150 yards long. That is a negative for me as you can not really see how your drives turn out. That being said it is good for practicing irons. You hot out into the range which has a giant net at the bottom. The net is sloped so that all of the balls roll back to be collected. There are a few flags indicating distance, but generally due to the size of the range and the netted hitting area, there are no greens to shoot to.

Now, the best part of this range… it is automated! The balls automatically pop up from the floor and onto the tee. As it is automated there is no need to bend down and pick up a ball to put it on the tee. This is clever from a business sense as it speeds up the process. People hit more balls – thus spend more. As it is all automated, there is obviously no need to buy or bring tees.


 

There is a smoothie bar at the range; then additional food/ drink places (including Starbucks) located in the adjoining building. I believe there is also a spa, gym and swimming pool at this location. But a membership is required to use those facilities. The other people frequenting this location and some of the staff are not that friendly or engaging. It is pretty much a place where you put your head down and just concentrate on hitting your shots. I love all of the technology, but due to the popularity of the place, traffic in Koreatown (some of the worst in the country) and my dislike of heights, I do not go to Aroma all that much.