Golf in L.A. can blind with star power, but don’t forget about the rest

In 2023, the PGA Tour will make its common cease at L.A.’s Riviera Country Club for the Genesis Invitational subsequent week. That distinctly Cali occasion shall be joined on the 2023 calendar by the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club (June 15-18), simply down the highway. For golfers, each venues are intensely non-public. Anyone can purchase a ticket to look at the tournaments. Not simply anybody can ebook a tee time.

Yet, simply as life in L.A. extends past its celebrities, golf exists there for the plenty too. So, for those who’re planning a visit to take in the sights or the Tour stops, don’t forget your sticks.

In a constellation of stellar munis, Rancho Park and Griffith Park stand out as the brightest — the former was a longtime host of the L.A. Open, and the latter was the handiwork of George C. Thomas, the Golden Age designer of the Riv and LACC. Gil Hanse, in the meantime, is the fashionable grasp credited with Rustic Canyon, an inland format north of the metropolis that brims with the charms of a seaside hyperlinks. Just east of downtown, Industry Hills beckons with a pair of gorgeous beasts, the Ike and the Babe — pristinely saved resort tracks which can be stout sufficient to stage USGA qualifying occasions.

In this a part of the nation, driving is vital, on and off the course. Follow the interstate an hour south and also you come to Los Verdes, a budget-friendly format with million-dollar ocean views. At this level, you may have left the metropolis limits, but you’re nonetheless in Los Angeles County, which appears to stretch endlessly.

Golf journeys are completely different. Eventually, they finish. On your means out of city, strive The Lakes at El Segundo. A ten-hole, par-3 muni alongside LAX, it’s the solely course in the nation operated by Topgolf, and it has tracing expertise on its tenth tee. When you swing, the arc of your shot is projected on a display screen — the similar star therapy the execs get on TV.

Josh Sens

Golf.com Contributor

A golf, meals and journey author, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes throughout all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He can also be the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.