Brookside Golf Course
Designed by William P. Bell
History
The Rose Bowl had already made its neighborhood famous by the time the City of Pasadena set out to build a golf course worthy of the same civic pride. In 1940, in the shadow of that stadium, Brookside opened its gates to the public — a municipal answer to the private clubs that dominated Southern California golf in the era. The timing mattered. Public golf was expanding across America, and Pasadena wanted its residents to have access to a first-rate layout without the burden of club dues or membership committees.
The city turned to William P. Bell, one of the most prolific and trusted architects working in California at the time. Bell had already built a reputation designing courses up and down the coast, and his work at Brookside reflected the practical wisdom of a man who understood municipal golf’s dual mandate: the course needed to challenge serious players while remaining approachable for the daily-fee golfer walking up without a tee time or a handicap card. Working the flat parkland tucked against the Arroyo Seco, Bell laid out a golf course built to last, one that would serve Pasadena’s golfing public for generations rather than cater to a narrow membership.
Over the decades, Brookside grew rather than faded. What began as a single course expanded into two 18-hole layouts, the Course and the C.W. Koiner Course, giving Pasadena a rare municipal complex of real scale. The site’s proximity to the Rose Bowl has periodically thrust it into the spotlight — the grounds have hosted overflow parking, festival crowds, and the general hum of Pasadena’s biggest annual events, tying the golf course inexorably to the city’s civic calendar. Ownership has remained municipal throughout its history, a public asset in the truest sense, still operated for the golfers of Pasadena more than eight decades after Bell first drew up his plans.
Playing Notes
Brookside sits flat against the Rose Bowl, so don't expect elevation changes to factor into your club selection — this is a walkable layout where the terrain stays out of your way and lets you focus on the shots in front of you. With 36 holes split across two courses, you'll want to call ahead and confirm which layout you're booked on, since they play differently enough that mixing them up could throw off your strategy. Mature trees line many of the fairways, so accuracy off the tee matters more than raw distance here — a driver that strays will find trouble in the rough or behind a trunk rather than open recovery room. Greens are well-maintained but not lightning fast, giving you a fair read if you're comfortable putting on true surfaces. Given the proximity to the Arroyo Seco, morning rounds can carry a marine layer chill and some dampness underfoot, so bring layers you can shed as the day warms. Walking is entirely feasible if you're looking to skip the cart, and the flat terrain makes it an easy carry for those wanting the exercise.