Scholl Canyon Golf and Tennis Club Built with Methane Mitigation

Located amongst the Verdugo Mountains, Scholl Canyon is an excellent getaway for the beginner or experienced golfer working on their short game.  The drive up to the course is mesmerizing as you turn through the windy road. Which ultimately reaches a baseball field, followed by the Scholl Canyon Golf and Tennis Club. As outlined in the name, Scholl Canyon has 10 Tennis courts and 18-hole par 60 executive courses. It’s also Los Angeles’ most scenically appealing golf driving range.

The course and facility sit on a Landfill and contain a Methane Mitigation System throughout the area. This redirects the methane gas exhausts.  American Golf Corp purchased and redeveloped this golf course in 1993. After the previous golf course (Nicknamed “Stinky Canyon”) closed in 1989. A Methane Testing revealed high levels of Methane Gas from the landfill.

Scholl Canyon Driving Range and Pro Shop

The driving range has been recently renovated. It includes a seamless synthetic mat that stems over the 110-yard width of the driving range field.  The 270-yard driving length is slopes downhill. So consider the elevation change when dialing in your game during your pre-round warm-up. The turf mats are visually stunning at first glance. As you begin hitting balls, you can’t help but notice how unreasonably hard the carpets are. You will indeed feel the recoil from each swing as you attempt to take your divot. Be sure not to hit them far. You’ll be sure to have back pain the next day.  The staff stands that the mats have considerable padding below them, it does not feel like it.

The pro shop has some golf gear for sale, but plenty of gloves and balls. The staff is extremely friendly, making you feel like a regular, even if it is your first time.  American Golf’s Players Club is a big seller at Scholl Canyon.  The Players Club membership costs $45 per month and includes a free bucket of balls, discounts on tee times, and a free drink every round.

The kitchen is a small convenient stand-looking area with a small Snack bar.  The breakfast burritos are delicious, filled with processed cheese, bacon, eggs, and Salsa.   The kitchen doesn’t have much alcohol selection, but you can pick up your standard brewski or white claw.

Scholl Canyon Golf Course

Dial in your wedges and irons; that’s all you’ll need on this short par 60 executive course. Most holes are short par 3’s, while there are six par 4’s, the longest being 324 yards. The course is a perfect “weekday after work round”; if there aren’t any laggers, you could play the round in under 3 hours. The bunkers on the course are generally in terrible conditions, having the consistency of quick rate mixed with sand, then barely hydrated.

The fairways usually have dead grass or just dirt in some areas.  The greens are infested with divots that have not been repaired, some fresh and others struggling to heal.  The tee boxes are in terrible conditions; you’ll be scrambling for a flat spot or patch of grass.    If you can block out the needs of the golf course and focus on the surrounding, you’ll notice that the views around the course are magnificent, arguably the best in Los Angles.

Course Design

The golf course is designed around the driving range, as you stroll down the fairway of Hole 6 and Hole 9, you’ll notice a pleather of golf balls throughout the course. Keep your head down and covered because these balls come flying from the driving range and somehow find their way through the gigantic methane vent pipe stacks holding up the driving range nets.

Hole 11 is a 90-yard downhill par 3, so grab your lob wedge and smack it onto the green.  After you close the deal with a two-putt for par, you’ll have to take a long windy road up to the 12th hole. Hopefully you paid the extra cash for the golf cart because walking up this hill is a workout.  Once you get to the top of the road, you’ll be able to set up your tee shot on the 12th hole, but before you tee off, you can’t help but pause to experience the most authentic Los Angeles view…

You can clearly see downtown Los Angeles and the city of Glendale on the foothills of the Verdugo mountains.  Look to the right you can see the entire valley, look far west past downtown and you can faintly see the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Now, brace yourself and peak to your left…You are stuck staring at the currently active Scholl Canyon Landfill.

Scholl Canyon Landfill

Scholl canyon is an Active Los Angeles County Landfill that serves the cities of Altadena, Glendale, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre and South Pasadena. This Landfill stretches over 314 Aces of land and receives an average of 3,400 tons of solid waste per day. Base on the current waste average, the Landfill is projected to close in 2030.

Since 1994 Methane Gas has routed over a 5-mile pipeline to steam boilers at the Grayson Power Plant. The high temperature and High-pressure Steam had routed through Turbines to output power.  During operating years, the Plant generated approximately 80,000 MWh from Scholl Canyon landfill, this provided an average of 7% of Glendale’s energy needs.

Recently there have been noted environmental concerns regarding the emissions of the burning gas at the Grayson Power Plant,  City officials have switched to flaring at Scholl Canyon.