Almost every major golf organization, from the USGA to the PGA Tour, is focused on growing the game in communities that previously never had the resources to play golf. Chester Washington Golf Course was the highlight of a recent media event ahead of the Genesis Invitational in February 2022, when Tony Finau, Cameron Champ and Sean Foley visited the course to host a clinic for youth golfers. The clinic was a major success, and was highlighted by the PGA Tour showcasing amazing things that Chester Washington Golf Course is doing to grow the game in a historically Black community.
The course opened in 1928 in South Central Los Angeles. Originally named the Western Ave Public Golf Course, the course was quickly renamed after the city's largest owned black publisher, Chester Washington. The course took off in popularity in the 50s, when celebrities like Sugar Ray Robinson and and Joe Louis frequented the track. This spurred on aspiring Black professional golfers Bill Spiller and Terry Rhodes, who met activist Maggie Hathaway at the course, who fought alongside Spiller and Rhodes to get the PGA Tour to drop its "caucasian only" requirement for members. In 1961, Hathaway, Spiller, and Rhodes were successful in their pursuit, with the PGA Tour promptly dropping this requirement, setting the stage for Black players to join the PGA tour. That same year, another Chester Washington regular became the first Black member of the PGA Tour, who went on to win twice on tour and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004. His name was Charlie Sifford.
History at Chester Washington Golf Course speaks for itself. The course has served as a hub of the local community and a crucial wellness resource since its inception, but as golf has grown in popularity, so has the popularity of the course. Tee times are now at a premium, and the course is at-risk of further gentrification as more golfers are flocking to open tee times. Keep all of that history and context in mind as we dive into the course review.
The course was designed by John Dunn, and was updated in 1970 by the ubiquitous local architect William P. Bell. The traditional parkland layout will feel immediately familiar to Southern California golfers, as raised teeboxes play to mostly straight holes, with clearly visible hazards and greens that slope gently from back to front. Many holes traverse up and down a small hill, with one hole playing up the hill and the next hole playing downhill. There is not much to call out about the architecture here, but at roughly 6400 yards from the back tees, every hole is accessible and challenging for most golfers regardless of skill level.
Unfortunately, the issues at Chester Washington start well before the round has begun. When we arrived at the tee for our 8:40am tee time, there was a massive line to tee off, and we waited behind no less than 4 groups ahead of us to play before we could hit. Each of these groups were paired into groups of 5. Our round began at 9:28.
My approach shot on the first hole landed in a greenside bunker, and upon walking to the trap, there was no rake to be found, and the surface of the bunker more closely resembled the nearby cartpath than a sand-filled bunker. The surface of the putting greens was not much better, as maintenance neglect and unrepaired ballmarks have taken their toll on the smoothness of the putting surface. Making putts longer than 10ft was an exercise in futility.
By the 7th hole, we were waiting on the group in front of us for every single shot, tee to green, for the rest of the round. By the time we finished, the round had taken over 6hrs since our original 8:40am tee time. Luckily, the shack-shack at the clubhouse serves excellent breakfast burritos and golf course fare, which kept us from throwing a hangry fit at the playing conditions we were subjected to. After finishing the round, I wondered if I was better off simply not playing golf that day.
Ultimately, the local golfers at Chester Washington deserve better. For all the talks of "growing the game" and making golf more accessible, it's hard to imagine a first-time player coming out to this course and enjoying their experience. It's (now) difficult to secure tee times, the conditions are the worst in the city, the round is unnecessarily long, and the architecture of the course leaves much to be desired. Is this the course YOU would take someone for their first time playing golf? With those factors in mind, I'd like to assume you'd choose a different course...
How can we fix this? Ultimately Chester Washington needs to continue to embrace its newfound popularity while charging non-local guests a premium to pay the course. These premiums can help subsidize the cost for local players, and can spur on a program that secures preferred tee-times and lower rates for members of the local community. Neighboring cities like Long Beach and Encino have adopted similar policies, where out-of-town guests pay nearly double the local rate to play during peak times, while residents are allowed to book tee times ahead of non-residents, at nearly half the cost.
American Golf has recently been brought in to manage Chester Washington, and this might be where some of the issues lie with tee times and course conditions. But, American Golf also runs highly successful local membership programs that help make practicing and playing golf cheaper and more accessible to those who want to play. Hopefully American Golf will understand the history and importance of Chester Washington to the surrounding community and work to bring this historic golf course back to the conditions that it deserves.
SPOLIER RATING: 3.2