Golfing News & Blog Articles

The County of Los Angeles owns the largest and busiest public golf course system in the nation with 20 courses across 18 locations. Not only does LA boast some of the best public golf in the U.S., but what would a town built on Hollywood aspirations, champagne wishes and caviar dreams be without its fair share of high-end private courses and clubs?

From bucket-list private clubs that Hollywood’s elite call home to local public favorites, here’s a list of some of the best golf courses near Los Angeles.

Riviera Country Club – Pacific Palisades, CA

Course Architect: George C. ThomasSlope Rating: Blue – 74.6/135, White – 72.2/130, Green – 70.7/126, Gold – 70.0/124Yardage: Blue – 7,040, White – 6,526, Green – 6,136, Gold – 5,725Green Fees: Private

A perennial top-25 course in the U.S. and top-50 course in the world, Riviera Country Club has hosted the U.S. Open (1948), PGA Championship (1983, 1995), U.S. Senior Open (1998) and U.S. Amateur (2017). Currently home to The Genesis Invitational, Riv will also welcome golf’s elite during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Greats like Arnold Palmer, Hale Irwin and Johnny Miller have been in awe of the course that opened in 1927 with Palmer considering Riviera “one of the great tests of golf.”

Bel-Air Country Club – Los Angeles, CA

Course Architect: George C. ThomasSlope Rating: Golf – 74.3/138, Blue – 72.5/134, White – 70.9/130, Green – 68.5/125, Red – 67.6/122Yardage: Gold – 6,800, Blue – 6,505, White – 6,180, Green – 5,790, Red – 5,650Green Fees: Private

Winding through the canyons of Los Angeles, simply navigating around Bel-Air Country Club is a feat of its own with golfers needing to rely on tunnels, an elevator and the city’s most famous suspension bridge to get from hole to hole. Originally designed by George C. Thomas along with William Bell, Bel-Air has gotten facelifts from Dick Wilson, George Fazio, Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Tom Fazio over the years, though it’s remained true to its throwback design and Thomas’ splashy signature bunkering.

Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) – Los Angeles, CA

Course Architect: George C. ThomasSlope Rating: Long – 75.7/143, Championship – 75.4/143, Black – 74.6/139, Bell – 73.0/136, Blue – 72.4/135Yardage: Long – 7,272, Championship – 7,211, Black – 7,010, Bell – 6,631, Blue – 6,486Green Fees: Private

Sprawled across 300 acres of prime real estate in Beverly Hills, the exclusive Los Angeles Country Club opened its doors as host of the 2023 U.S. Open. While there’s no mention of joining fees on its website, some reports estimate the cost between $250,000 to $300,000. The course has also reportedly refused entry to celebrities including Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx and Hugh Hefner. The first nine plays up and down a shallow canyon with holes going back and forth across a dry barranca, while the second nine loops across a more spacious upland section with the par-3 No. 11 playing nearly 300 yards while another, No. 15, at just 90.

For the first time in four years, Vice Golf has updated and changed its golf ball lineup. Much of the lineup will feel familiar. The PRO PLUS, PRO, TOUR, and DRIVE models have been updated, while Pro Soft has been replaced by the new Pro Air.

Throughout the new lineup, Vice has continued its commitment to providing a variety of color options, along with the signature drip and shade options.

To give you a better idea of what has changed and what golf ball is best for you, we’ll break down each version, tell you what has changed, and let you know who each ball might be for.

Vice Features and Key Changes:

If you’re unsure where to start with Vice, the company offers an online ball fitting tool. Five questions is all it takes to help narrow down the options and make a recommendation.

As a basic overview the new PRO AIR and PRO PLUS sit at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The design emphasis of the PRO PLUS design is around spin and control, while like other softer offerings, the PRO AIR is designed to launch higher with lower spin to maximum distance. The PRO model sits in between and offers balanced performance and a feel profile that sits between the other two.

TaylorMade president and CEO David Abeles joined the Fully Equipped podcast to discuss the early days of Sun Day Red.

The post Pitching Tiger Woods on a new apparel brand — on his turf appeared first on Golf.

Matt Wallace shot an 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead over seven players in the first round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Thursday. Local favorite Jordan Spieth was at 3 under.

Peter Oosterhuis, who competed in six Ryder Cups, was a two-time runner-up at the Open Championship and later served as a broadcaster for CBS, has died at the age of 75.

Tiger Woods has accepted a special exemption to play in next month's U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina.

Caddie Mike "Fluff" Cowan and Jim Furyk have parted ways amicably after 25 years together.

Sungjae Im withdrew from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson before his opening round due to illness, the PGA Tour announced Thursday.

Seemingly stalled merger talks could build a bridge between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, but nearly 11 months since the potential agreement became public, Brooks Koepka cleared up what he believes is a public misconception.

We golfers may be alike, but that doesn’t mean we’re the same.

For some of us, putter shopping is like going to the movies: it’s escapist entertainment. Drop us off at PGA TOUR Superstore or Golf Galaxy and the putter corral is like golfer daycare. We’ll happily pass the time trying every putter in the store until a responsible adult comes to pick us up.

We may not buy anything, but we will stay out of trouble.

For others, putter shopping is a blood sport.

We’re damn well going to stay until we find the best putter bargain possible, and we don’t care who gets hurt in the process.

It seems so obvious that team golf should be a major fixture in golf’s landscape.

And yet, it’s been difficult to execute.

While events like the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and NCAA Championships have flourished into must-watch matches for golf lovers, other attempts at team golf have fallen flat.

The Presidents Cup is one-sided and contrived. The Zurich Classic has some positive elements—but it struggles to attract a good field and is played on one of the PGA Tour’s worst venues.

LIV Golf (and, coming next year, TGL) lack meaning and connection to fans. There is no compelling reason those specific teams are together, so it’s hard to say any of the competition matters.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised. 

What We Tried:

The Good Good Putter. A fully milled putter from the popular Youtube golf group. This putter was actually designed before Good Good inked their deal with Callaway.

Who Tried It:

Connor. Director of Soft Goods Testing and resident sneakerhead. If there’s one thing I don’t need at my house, it’s more golf stuff. But, as the lone lefty here at MyGolfSpy, I often feel “left” out. I can’t be the only one not allowed to have a little fun and try out some new clubs!

About Good Good Putters

As I mentioned, these putters predate GoodGood’s time with Callaway. So no, they aren’t an Odyssey. They’ve got three different shapes (blade, wide blade and a winged mallet) and a few different finish options.

For the purposes of my review, I’ll share my experience with the Blackout Mallet, but I also spent time with both the Blade and Wide Blade.

Never heard of Sacks Parente? A relative newcomer to the golfing industry in 2018, the founders of this company are hardly new to the game. Founded by Steve Sacks and Rich Parente (an original co-founder of Callaway), Sacks Parente brings patented Ultra Low Balance Point (ULBP)  technology to their line of putters, with shafts and grips to boot. With an extensive variety of putter designs, Sacs Parente offers a style to meet the eye of most golfers from mallets to blades.

Five MyGolfSpy Forum members were selected to put Sacks Parente’s claims of improving your putting stroke with their all-inclusive ULBP putters to the test. Read on to find out what they had to say!

Tester Plans and Expectations

To put the line of Sacks Parente putters through a thorough review, our testers planned to focus on the use of home putting trainers, drills and testing methods on the practice green and the most important factor: on-course performance.

Said cnosil regarding the testing of “The Drac”: “Testing will leverage some data analytics and focus around 3 of the 4 putting skills: Aiming, Stroke, and Touch.”

For tester MuniGolfer, “The Duke” would need to accomplish the following to stay in the bag: “it needs to be an improvement over what I have. I feel lost with my putting right now, and am willing to look at anything that will help. If their marketing claims have much weight to them, this could make a strong case for my bag.”

Wyoming club pro Ben Polland atoned from a crushing loss in 2015 with steady golf in a tough Texas wind, closing with a 4-over 76 for a three-shot victory Wednesday in the PGA Professional Championship.

Jordan Spieth said he's using this week as a "reset" for his golf game while drawing inspiration from fellow Dallas resident Scottie Scheffler to "go out and get better."

Though the LPGA Tour is taking a week off and we still have two weeks until the PGA Championship, there's still plenty going on in the golf world.

GOLF Teacher to Watch Kelvin Kelley explains why to use your whole body — not just your feet — to determine your golf ball position.

The post Most amateurs only think of ball position relative to the feet. Here’s why that’s wrong appeared first on Golf.

At next month's Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Players' caddies and wives will be offered some impressive perks.

The post This tournament offers Tour wives and caddies impressive perks appeared first on Golf.