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I'm travelling to Long Beach the second week of November looking for some places to play. I'm considering Pelican Hill, but the north course is closed. Is the south course worth the $175 greens fee? I'm also considering Tustin Ranch, Coyote Hills and Oak Creek, but finding courses that are not being aerated around this time is getting tough. I'd love to play Palos Verdes, as I am a student of golf architecture, but the $205 visitors green fee is just too steep. I would appreciate any insight to courses in LA or Orange county. I considered Lost Canyon, but the trek through LA to get there is probably not worth it. I am also considering Torry Pines, but again, the hour and a half drive to get there is not appealing.

There's a public course at Palos Verdes called Los Verdes... It's pretty nice, and for the price (21 bucks weekdays), you cant beat it. They finished aerating their greens, and they are nice and smooth now. THe only problem is, its almost impossible to get a tee time there.. You have to call a week inadvance at 6am (6am thursday for a tee time next thursday)... 6am because that's when the pro shop opens and start taking tee time reservations and they usually fill up by 7..
But if you walk on as a single, it's much easier because they just throw you in a group of 2 or 3.. it's a slow course as far as pace of play (although recently, there havent been ANY golfers, so it's pretty quick.. ) and has a specatular ocean view on the back nine..

Robinson's Ranch in LA County is pretty nice.. Torrey Pines from Long Beach is way too far.. almost 2 hours..
Strawberry Farms in Irvine is Mark McGwires home course.. I hear its nice there..
Long Beach has a buncha courses..i think 5 or 6, never played any of them tho....

try this website http://www.greenskeeper.org/courses/index.cfm ... They try to keep up with Aeration alerts in Socal... and they tell you the prices/pace of play/playing tips/conditions of the courses/etc. I notice that almost all of them have Aeration alerts, but if you click on the course, most of them had them in early October and are okay now..

Hope you enjoy your stay..

Thanks Trudat,
Strawberry Farms was at the top of my list until I called them and they said that the greens would not be recovered from aeration until well into November. How far is Robinson's Ranch from Long Beach and what is the traffic like?

Traffic all over LA is KILLER.. of course, this depends on the time.. During rush hour, forget about it... Robinson's Ranch is about an hour from Long Beach, but if you get stuck in traffic, esp the 405, youre dead..
So in hindsight, dont go there..haha..

If you want some close to Long Beach, look at the site...there's a bunch there.. They give you all the phone numbers and prices, so you can check the aeration alerts, etc.

The Los Verdes course isnt bad, especially for the price..

OC courses are generally nice also..
you can also find deals on them thru the internet usually..