-relatively well maintained grass and lots of it
-concrete teepads
-nice and empty most of time
-some nice long holes to break out your arm
-variety of shot opportunities, a few bombers, rollers, and even an overhand or two if you feel inclines
-good risk reward with some holes
-9 'bonus' holes
-old teepads make for some good safari play

-back 9 is hard to navigate, but the map here helps
-if you play later in the day on weekends there are people having large parties, and they tend to stray into the fairway or pick up your discs(mainly on the front 9)
-lots of police/trucks driving through (not a bad thing, but those with prop 215 related concerns may want to keep their eyes open)
-the gates around the towers are most often locked, make sure to check before you take a risk shot that might land you inside one.

This is one of my favorite courses in Socal because you can really open up your arm and throw some long tee-shots. Its also rarely crowded, and you can play a whole round without waiting for anyone ahead of you.

When baskets are in their long positions you have a chance to play some 'real' golf, and its not just a birdie festival.

It would be really nice to see someone from SoCal step up and throw a tournament there this coming season. Its been a long time, and the course has great potential.

The weekly tournaments are starting to become more popular again, despite an incident with ace pool money being used for club activities.

Tucked away in a little used part of the park the course plays very long and very flat on the front 9, kinda long and flat on the middle 9, and pretty long and flat on the last 9. 27 hole course with "back back 9."

Very well maintained course with mowed grass, great tee boxes, bathrooms, drinking fountains, well laid out tee signs and good flow to the holes.

Multiple pin placements allow for medium, long, and really long shots. Has a mix of hyzer, anhyzer, rollers, and thumber shots with just enough trees to make you think about your tee shots and placement at the basket.

Some signature long holes for the big arms as well as several ace runs in the middle 9 and back 9. The addition of the extra 9 oles really makes this course, using existing tee pads and old course layouts the "back back" 9 are very creative holes weaving through the back of the park. The only elevation comes into play here; a good 10ft at hole 25-26.

Plays long for the sake of being long on several holes on the front. The 600 footers are not easy 3's but easy 4's, it is fun to air it out, but only for those that can and can frustrate players without the arm.

Very flat. Hard to call this a con when it's just the land they have to use, but only 3-4 holes actually use the small hills that are there.

$6 to park, many old baskets that want to spit everything out, $6 to park, some scrunched fairways on the front that are close to crossing, $6 to park.

Not many debilitating cons to lower the rating and the designers did well with the land they had to use, but there is only so much that can be done with a lot of flat. They have made up for some of the monotony with long holes, most over 325' and well placed tee boxes and creative pin placements to force a golfer to think about each shot. The holes are open but not wide open. There is just enough trouble on the course to make you think.

A signature hole is 14 which plays between 2 power pylons and has an 8 ft. gap to hit at a 90 degree angle from the tee. Awesome pin placement.

The second great hole is a 250' shot with trees off the tee onto an island green. Fantastic use of the parking lot for a great hole.

I really like this course and will play anytime someone brings it up, if you've got the arm there are many birds to be had, and the back back 9 really make this course shine.

- cement tees
- multiple pin locations
- a few extremely fun/unique pin locations (11 in the long, 13 on the island, 14 in C-position behind the 3 power line boxes)
- signs showing multiple positions, all OBs and semi-accurate distances
- good course for opening up your big arm, or learning to throw long distances rollers
- lines for both forehand/backhand routes on almost every hole
- usually pretty empty, so you'll have most of the course to yourself
- many trash cans speckled throughout the course
- two bathrooms (on the walk between 7 & 8, and near 15)
- can play 18, or 27. Not many people know how to follow the Alt 9 (19-27). See my 'Other Thoughts' below for directions

- zero elevation change for the entire 27 holes can get quite boring
- signs are outdated
- the basket positions are not moved very often, if at all
- many baskets are very old
- many 'dead' tees from prior incarnations of the course
- pay to park on weekends, to avoid this, turn left on the road right before the course entrance and park down at the end of the fence, and jump on at hole 6
- many police cars patrol the area because South El Monte isn't a shining gem in LA, but just be conscious of where you 420 or drink and you shouldn't have a problem
- other park goers are clueless, so make sure you let them know if you're about to hit them

Directions for the Alt 9:
Hole 19: After 18, go back to tee 17, and throw to the basket way off in the field that you see if you look on the other side of the powerline directly off the tee.
Hole 20: from basket 19, walk to the fence on your left (West), turn right (North) and walk along the fence line. You'll see a worn patch of grass between 2 trees about 75 feet up. Throw across the field to the basket by the pavilion.
Hole 21: from basket 20, walk to the path (NE), and around the corner to the top of the small hill. Tee 21 is painted on the cement path in bright white and throws to basket 6.
Hole 22: from basket 21(6), walk 50' back toward tee 6 and you'll see an old cement tee in the ground, throw from this tee to the basket directly East, past the picnic tables in the pines.
Hole 23: from basket 22, walk another 50ish feet East to another old cement tee. Do not throw down the channel (the direction the tee faces) at the old mach basket up on the small hill. You are actually throwing at the DISCatcher on the same hill, but 100' to the right of the basket that looks obvious. The tee does not point at the correct basket. Again, make sure you're throwing at the DISCcatcher, not the mach.
Hole 24: from basket 23, turn around and walk back to the cement path, tee 24 is painted (faintly) on the path in orange paint. Throw away from the basket you just played to the basket in in the far corner of the park (North)
Hole 25: from basket 24, walk SE toward the baseball field fence. the tee is an old cement tee along the baseball field fence, and throws to the older mach basket on the small hill, by the DISCatcher (23)
Hole 26: from basket 25, turn around again and walk NE back toward the baseball field fence. The tee is on the cement pathway about 50'-75' East along the path from the corner of the baseball field fence. It is painted with faint orange paint. It throws over the small hill about 350' to a basket by the bathrooms.
Hole 27: from basket 26, walk off to the left and you actually have to make up your own tee on this one. We usually tee off from about 25'-50' directly E of basket 26 (toward the pavilion), and you play to the basket near the beach volleyball courts, back toward the parking lot.

League nights are on Thursday, so if you want to play a casual round, don't come on Thursday night.

Whittier can be a fun course, but it can also be very unforgiving. It may be flat, and pretty wide open, but it still provides even the most seasoned player with a challenge. One of the original LA area courses, and a staple of the Worlds held in LA in the 1980s, it's definitely worth checking out.

-lots of technical, weavy shots

-plenty of open space to flex your guns

-not many people playing

-decent baskets

-lots of different lines...good for rightys and leftys

-more cops than any airport or sporting event ive ever been to

-less than accurate signage (one sign missing, one basket in an unmarked pin position)

-cops patrolling the park...and just hanging out near the tees, bsing

-a few dangerous tee shots near busy streets and long fences with few holes for disc retrieval.

-flat as a pancake

weirdest vibe ive ever had at a course. probably saw 20 cop cars patrolling the walkways of the park. its across the street from a fueling depot...but come on. we live in more of a police state every day. i asked one of them why so many pigs were out there and he said "dont worry...this park is the safest place in the area".

oppressors.

otherwise, its a good use of its space, if youre not worried about getting cancer from the high-tension lines above and dont mind heavy police presence, i highly recommend it.

***UPDATE***

ive played this course quite a bit lately and the police presence has been slim to none.

also, there are a ton of baskets on the back side of the course to play an additional 9 holes on top of the regular 18.

for instructions to the additional 9 holes, see DaKineSurfer's excellent directions in his review.

loving this course more each time i play it.

+.5 disc

Finally, a course in SoCal that you get to open it up a little and watch the disc fly, over and over again. Most the other courses have 1 or 2 holes, but this course makes you throw far... a lot.
-Good tees
-Good signs
-Long holes
-27 holes
-Not many ppl
-Easy navigation (except final 9)

-Flat
-Final 9 holes is pretty much impossible to know where to throw from unless you have a guide. Which sucks b/c it was probably my favorite 9.
-Baskets are old, but they work
-No local club
Some holes go through picnic areas or by them, but evidently there aren't many people that us those facilities so it makes the holes more difficult.

I really enjoyed playing this course because it is different from most the other courses in SoCal. It's long, mostly open and great to work on flat out distance and course management. You actually have to play it like ball golf, get your birds on the birdie holes and place you disc in the best position for an up shot on the long holes.

I'm sad that they don't hold a tournament here, it would be a great venue since it's 27 holes and there isn't many other ppl around to get in the way.

This course is flat (max elevation change probably less than 6 feet) and long, with multiple pin placements for most of the holes. Being part of a multi-use park, the grass is well-watered and groomed, which makes it great for rollers. There's usually someone in the parking lot selling discs on the weekends. All tees have good signage; streets, power pylon enclosures, and parking lot are all OB.

Nice double loop that begins, midpoints, and ends at the same place. From the #9 pin, turn RIGHT and walk all the way across the parking lot to the #10 tee. Nine extra holes after #18, as others have mentioned, known mainly to local players.

On holidays you can expect the park to be crowded. I've seen famlies picnicking around the basket, using it as a BBQ pit and hanging food off the chains (!)

All in all this is probably an ideal course for big arms who want to practice placement shots. Only a few holes are technical. Centrally located in the LA metro area - if you're visiting, this course should be on your "if you have time" list, at least.

The course is part of a HUGE park that has multiple attractions for the whole family. There's fishing in the lake, a shooting range, and meeting places for all sorts of groups. Last time I played there was some sort of a car club there and it was a trip watching all these $50000 low-riders cruise on by!