I don't consider myself a course snob. In fact, I love cheap golf. But I was a bit disappointed by the condition of this course last weekend. $40 to walk. Tees and greens are okay, but oftentimes the ground was pretty bare and hard about 50 yds from the green and in. The starter was friendly enough but definitely was more concerned with his conversation and enjoying his cigar than checking people in at sunrise. I'm giving an extra star because my cousin and I had a 6:12 tee time (3rd group of day) but the other twosome let us go off first and there was nobody ahead of us. This works both ways though as you might think you'll be first off at 6am only to find some people arrived early or walked on and were allowed to tee off before you. read more

Just saw a commercial of the driving range with explosive targets. That would definitely bring a crowd.. But golf course is adequate for being public. Busy most weekends. But you'll always find stragglers everywhere read more

The main reason why I give this course a one star review is because of a man named Jim who works in the starter. He constantly makes rude remarks about us, demands that we give him exact change, and is just an all around asshole who would rather waste his time checking his fingernails than creating our tee time. He also gets incredibly offended and irritated whenever we "look" at him while he does his job. Honestly, I think there's something very wrong with him. His IQ is lower than a fish, and he takes 5 years to just give us range balls. On top of that he gets extremely angry and tell you off if you tell him that you want golf balls. This is what happened: my son asked him if we could have 2 medium buckets of range balls, and he replied, "I know. You guys have been coming here a lot. I don't need you guys to tell me how to do my job. Jesus." If you see him, be prepared for your day to be ruined by this piece of human filth. read more

This could be a nice place but the employees are surly and pipes are breaking. It looks like they are trying to breed mosquitoes instead of provide a quality golf course. read more

It's a LA muni, so can't have too high expectations. Pretty flat course, easy to walk if the temperature is ok, golf carts are very old with bald tires. Layout is pretty uninteresting. Not a difficult course and you can score a bit easier here. Fairways/greens/rough/tee boxes were very average muni style. Not horrible, but not great, just kinda there and not memorable. Bunkers range from sand to hard dirt. Over 5 hours on a weekend, and for the price you can play much better courses if you drive a bit more. read more

Hit the driving range today, it was just OK. Kind of a big dust bowl and you can't see the distance signs. Bring your own rubber tee and a tall one most mats don't have their own. The course is lovely and I have enjoyed playing it and Encino both. Parking is easy. The proshop guy is really nice. read more

This golf course was honestly full of crap. The front desk was very rude at Balboa and I honestly don't understand why. My friends and I were very polite and it's like there job is to be rude all the time for some reason. Not only was that an issue but the golf carts policy of having to be 18+ older is honestly bull crap. Like why the hell should I have to be 18+ to ride a golf cart when the legal age to drive a car is 16+ which is way harder. How hard is it to drive a golf cart honestly like just think about it. A 12 year old could drive that for real. This isn't just for balboa but for ALL the public golf courses. They should really change the golf cart policy for all courses. Alongside with that, everyone at Balboa are dicks and are constantly telling us to hurry up and are very impatient. There was even one person who threatened to hit my friend with the golf ball using his club which is outrageous. Don't come to Balboa for the course trust me. read more

Wonderful golf course but the restaurant doesn't open for early golfers. We wanted to get breakfast and then go play but the restaurant doesn't open until around 7. Next time there is a dennys near by read more

I called this morning to inquire about a lost putter. The gentleman I talked with was extremely rude. I understand I am a wife calling about her husband's lost putter, but as a frequent golfer myself, I would never go back to this course based on the phone call I had this morning. To be honest, someone with this must attitude should really think twice considering this is a public golf course paid by my taxes and that there are far superior courses and ranges of lesser cost in the Los Angeles area. Bottom line Balboa, your greens aren't that great for Gary to be that pompous and elitist. read more

Course isn't bad n has its difficulties at times. Down side is this course is what it is. Its smack dab in the middle of the valley. It's always packed with players from all walks. Some devoted golf enthusiasts and others hacking away in a tank top yelling at each hole. This course is only worth it with the twilight price. Greens are just ok. Course is well maintained, but you see the occasional crunched beer can here or there. The balboa course is the one I usually play. The encino side isn't as fun in my opinion. read more

VERY DISAPPOINTED in my experience with this golf course and maybe others in Los Angeles if they are also like this. NO KIDS ALLOWED unless they have had Golf Training and a Certificate from the city. I found this out today after showing up to the course to play golf with my wife and bringing my 8 year daughter to just watch and learn the game. Immediately I was told by the Starter that my daughter could not be on the course unless she had golf Training and a certificate from the city even if she was just there to watch. I am not from Los Angeles but I have been playing golf my whole life and never experienced anything like this. Aren't we supposed to be motivating kids to learn and be part of the game golf and not turning them away from it. The starter said it was a liability issue because they have been sued previously when something previously happen to a kid but that doesn't seem like a good excuse to me since an adult can sue the golf course if something happens to them as well. I told the starter that if they are this scared about getting sued then they should have a liability form you sign before you play in order to not hold the golf course responsible under any circumstance. Play at your own risk document. He said that is good idea but doesn't know why that hasn't been done. City of Los Angeles maybe you should consider this liability form if you are so scared of being sued and quit turning away kids who want to learn the game of golf. A kid should not have to have training and a certificate to experience the game of golf with their parents. City of LA time to change this and make golf more accessible to children going forward. Sincerely, Disappointed and Upset Golfer read more

Rude! Rude! Rude! That's all I have to say about this place. Grumpy old men that work here. I'm from Orange County, was visiting my father and brother so we figured it would be great to play a round and catch up. Guy at the check-in started off by making a comment about my last name. Down hill from there. I was going to leave but since we were already there and had our clubs out of the car figured we won't seem him again, even the guy we turned in the golf carts to was rude. Not sure what their problem is but I can assure you we will never go back there. I run a business and I don't understand how company's would hire people like that. read more

One of the better courses from LA City. Never too crowded, and has good personalities at the Starter shop. I like the balance of wide fairways yet some tricky holes. Very good course to improve your game on. Not a huge fan of hitting into the dirt on the driving range, which kicks up lots of dust on windy days, but at least there's tons of putting, chipping and even sand to practice with. read more

This is a nice little muni course situated in a nice area of the Valley, just off the (101). Clubhouse is really only a dinky little building, separate from the restaurant. Not much selection, IMO. But everyone we spoke to was polite and cordial. We got a tee time at 6am and we were third out. Walked the course as it is generally flat. One thing I noticed throughout the course is that the rough is quite thick, even in the second cut off the fairways. In actuality, it could be downright unfair. There were a few golf balls lost in deep rough just off the fairway on decent shots. The fairways were generous and if you can keep it there, you're in pretty good shape. Course was in nice condition. Greens were quite fair and pin placement on this Sunday was good. Pace of play was okay, about 4:15. Finished in time to get home to watch Adam Scott choke away The Open!. You can really score well here and build your confidence. Slope rating was only 117 from the whites, not as difficult as some of the other local courses. One thing I did like was the consideration the groundskeepers showed. A number of the sprinklers were running on a few of the fairways and greens and they were nice enough turn them off as they saw us approach and tee it up. I did think 40 bucks to walk before the sun comes out is a bit too much for such a simple course, though. As with most muni courses in So Cal, it could use some work. And I would have appreciated a course cart person, especially in the summer. But I will definitely return. read more

Great place to an alternative from the super packed gyms in Los Angeles county, hands down. On top of it all you're getting to see mother nature at its finest. Fresh air and it will have you coming back for more, try not to stay here too late otherwise there's people living in the bushes across the street. read more

Bothers me that so many of the reviews for these courses are so pretentious, you've come to a municipal course, not a country club silly geese. The courses themselves are in phenomenal condition and the grounds staff works hard to maintain these conditions. Understandably, the driving range is a source of frustration. It's disgusting and disastrous. The owner refuses to make any fixtures and you're hitting into dirt.....atleast lay a rug!! Boycott the range. Please don't contribute to the negligence. BUCKETS ARE OVERPRICED! read more

Balboa and Encino are the worst municipal course of the LA parks and Rec. system.From the driving range( worn out all balls full of mud) , to the starters ( rude jokes and attitude) , the fairways are a mess, Green are just patches of low cut grass. No dress code, so if you have cut off jeans bring them, it's the course attire. Drive to Griffith Park, or Simi Hills or better go out for a walk . The sad part is that as a golf course design its a decent one with Mature and old Eucalyptus trees . As a bussiness they are making money , always busy from local Senior golfers that prefer this substandard conditions that drive or wait in a better maintained course. read more

The course is in really poor condition, not sure if anyone is to blame or if the sun is just brutal in the valley right in that spot lol, other courses in the valley are much better. Its just really really mediocre golf. People there seem to be zombies, cars going by and its super loud, airplanes overhead. Hardly an escape, not sure why I would want to ever come back, very very boring course. read more

I am no Tiger Woods, but drove down for the USC game and got in early enough to tee off on some balls. Since I suck, I was glad to see that there were a lot of other people that were old who wouldn't care so much about my skills...or lack there of. Not a snooty person in sight, considering I was totally dressed like some puck ass kid who may be kicked out of any country club. Nevertheless, the peeps were chill and we all minded our own bizz. The squirrels were a trip. They remind me of the rascals in the movie, Caddy Shack...lol. This ol' dude unloaded a whole jar of nuts and left what looked to be a 100 yard trail of nuts in some random line...they both (the old guy and the squirrel) looked to be enjoying themselves. The guy calling for the next party for tee times was hilarious too. He kept saying, "Bob raise your hand...is that you on lane 13? Oooops thats not you, carry on..." Hahaha. All in all $10 balls and a public driving range is the way to go. Let's see if my standards change if I actually get better at this some day. read more

Fun course. Not too challenging but always a good time. Can get slow at times.

I had a terrible day today so Later decided to play golf to finally blow off steam. I drove 30 min to get there at 6:30 which is 3.5 before they close. I got to the pro shop and the balding manager wouldn't open the door. He was busy counting money. I needed to break my $20 so I could buy a bucket of balls with $10 since that's thats what the machine takes. I even asked the guy loading balls in the machine of he would ask baldie for me. I watch then talk since the pro shop is all windows and he came back and told me that baldie had the money but wouldn't break my 20. The ball guy didn't know why either. That experience made my day worse. Never going back there again! read more

Crap course need to mow greens, cant play hole #18 construction going on and they don't tell you. I wanted to ask for a refund but just had to get out of there. read more