Los Angeles Country Club — North Course

The North Course at Los Angeles Country Club opened in 1928 to a design by George C. Thomas Junior, on ground in the middle of the city that is now among the most valuable in the United States. Gil Hanse, with Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford, restored the Thomas design in 2010, and it was that restored course that staged the 2023 U.S. Open, at 7,423 yards and a par of 70.

It was the first U.S. Open played in Los Angeles since Riviera hosted in 1948. Seventy-five years is a long gap for a city of this size, and the reason is the club itself, which for most of its history had no interest in hosting anything.

What it asks of you

Thomas built holes that offer a choice rather than an instruction, and the restoration gave those choices back. Several par fours can be attacked from a line that shortens the hole and brings a bunker or a barranca into play, or played to a wider side that leaves a longer approach from an awkward angle. Which line is right depends on the pin, and that is the whole design.

The barrancas are the local hazard: dry, sandy washes that cut across the property and that are neither water nor rough. A ball in one is playable perhaps half the time, which makes the decision to challenge them genuinely uncertain rather than merely brave.

Par 70 with two par fives means the scoring holes are few, and the short par threes matter more than usual. The eleventh, at little more than a hundred yards, has been set up under sixty at championship level: a hole where the wedge is the hardest club in the bag because there is no margin for a good miss.

What players say about it

This is a private club, and a notably discreet one, so the public record comes from championship coverage and specialist architecture writing rather than from visiting players. The points below summarise what recurs. These are other people’s opinions, not ours: we have not played the course, and we name and quote no one.

What comes up in its favor

• The Hanse restoration is widely treated as one of the best of its generation, and the course is now ranked among the top handful in the United States.
• The Thomas design is praised for giving good players real decisions rather than a single correct line.
• The barrancas are described as a hazard that is genuinely original, and unlike anything on the eastern American classics.
• The setting is singular: a links-like piece of ground in the middle of Los Angeles, with the city skyline in view from several holes.

What comes up against

• Access is effectively closed: the club is private and among the most difficult in the country to play as a guest.
• Championship coverage in 2023 divided opinion, with some observers finding the setup too soft and the scoring too low for a U.S. Open.
• The barrancas cost balls, and a high handicap has little to gain from the strategic width the design offers.
• Very little first-hand visitor material exists, so any summary, including this one, rests on a narrow base.

Getting there and when to go

The club sits between Beverly Hills and Century City, ten minutes from Beverly Hills and about half an hour from Los Angeles International airport outside the rush.

The season is year-round. Late spring and autumn give the firmest ground; the June marine layer keeps mornings grey and soft. Play is by invitation of a member.

Green fees

Guest conditions are set by the club. See the club’s own site.

How this page was made

The factual frame comes from public sources: OpenStreetMap for the location, encyclopaedic entries and championship records for the architect, the opening date, the restoration and the 2023 U.S. Open setup, and published course records for par and length. The opinion section summarises public reviews, championship coverage and architecture writing read in September 2026; we report recurring themes rather than individual voices, and we reproduce no quotations.

We have not played this course, and this page is no substitute for a round. The club has not paid for this page, has not seen it before publication and has no say over its content. If you know the course and something here is wrong or out of date, write to us and we will correct it.