Played the Links @ SB with Alex326 and Bob as previous review indicated. I was prepared to play in any weather when asked to join more than a month ago. It was a day of days. Best treat that can't be beat at the Duke's $$. The staff gave us VIP treatment and the course was playing at my favorite links style best.
I'd post 10 in every category, then might be accused of over rating by the algorithm but not lying! Not many days no complaints, all compliments. This was one. And with experience of former rounds got the arrival right. Using Spyglass to warm up and portion of 17 mile drive to get to course ready to go. Maybe that's a possible change coming some type of warm up area. I think it's time for irrigation replacement also. As a resort many forego playing here for some reason when it is included in the stay? I don't know why...
If the redo changes that for the better I'm for it

The Mountain course usually gets more play than Canyon. However, POP still moving well. Weather conditions have been mild. Playing conditions are about as good as it gets here. Near immaculate. The overseeding took better this season than last, very few outlying areas that need attention. Course is playinf firm and quick. Long drives in the lush fairways. Greens are firm and quick. Lush everywhere. Sand almost always near immaculate here, especially around the greens. Probably the best 36 hole facility to play south of Phoenix and north of the Mexican border in southern Az. Highly recommended.

5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have played Spanish Bay many many times and this may have been the best weather ever. Perfectly sunny without a breath of wind all day long. Temperature was around 80 degrees and just glorious. Course conditions remain steady as always. Greens were excellent. They rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens are still tricky, as indicated by my fiver or six 3 putts. It will be interesting to see how tame they make the greens during the redo.

Fairways were super for the most part. Only #11 had some issues and had a portion being re-seeded. The rest were lush and offered good roll out. Rough was the only sign of the course starting to slip. Rough had some patchy areas that probably aren’t being attended to, due to the course being shut down in a little over a month.

Tee boxes and bunkers were fine.

Spanish Bay is one of my favorite go to courses and I’m curious what the redesign will look like, but I’m certainly going to miss playing here for 2 years while they do the makeover.

Simple, first time playing there you may find it in bad shape and hard to play, but once you know the course and where to it hit your shots it is not bad for the money at all. We played here for a second time and knowing where not to hit your tee shots made a big difference, yes some holes are tight and houses near, greens small (less putts) but being an uphill down hill course it has enough challenges to make the round worth it. Not a place for someone who counts on a long drive every hole. If you are wild off every tee you may not find this the place for you but if you can hit spots and have good distance control you can score good. We as many gave this place a bad review after one round, but the second round we found much better with a little course knowledge. No sand traps (a plus for me) lets call this the course for someone not looking for a pristine course or a flat long hitters course, this is a public up hill down hill rough shape course that will give you plenty of NON level lies to hit from.

Played in group 1B of Monday’s GK/GolfMoose/Vivid Golf event with Johnny, Ron, and Mark M. What a treat to get access to this newly-redesigned and rebranded course, especially the Vista nine just a couple days after it reopened! We played the Vista/Canyon combo. Pace was quite slow at about 5:15, although we got a gorgeous day with temps that almost felt like summer. Huge thanks to Johnny for setting up such an amazing outing!

Conditions are very nice and vary slightly from the Vista nine to the Canyon nine. Because Vista just reopened, the greens are nearly pristine. They are very smooth, quite firm, and running medium-slow speed. The tricky part is that they were cut short and looked like they’d be quite fast, so we all struggled getting the ball to the hole throughout our front nine. The greens on Canyon were a little faster, but still slower than they looked like they’d be. I’m sure they’ll gain speed as they mature. Fairways were mostly great, maybe a tad long in a few areas. The fairway-adjacent rough is 2- to 3-inch deep bermuda and the ball often settled down, putting a premium on hitting the fairways. The rough around the greens and bunkers was a different grass – dark green, deep, gnarly rough that was beautiful to look at but you definitely want to avoid. Tee boxes are now labeled I, II, III, and IV. We played I and they were good. Many were very hard and sometimes it took some effort to get a tee in the ground. Bunkers were all full of new sand and very nice, although tough to get a feel for. On more than one occasion, I failed to escape in one shot.

Having played Braemar once prior to the redesign by Lanny Wadkins, I feel the new Mulholland Hills achieves a more open, natural feel as opposed to the extremely tight corridors I recall from Braemar. Most of the redesign maintained the existing routing, although a handful of holes play in a new order and some have seen significant changes in length and/or par. Other noteworthy changes include the addition of really interesting contours on the all-new greens and trendy bunkering featuring raggedy edges. The greens were really fun to putt and will be even more fun when they’re running a little faster. Oh, and I almost didn’t mention the aesthetic addition of exposed rock walls on several holes, including behind the green on Vista 1, Vista 3, Vista 4, Canyon 1, and along the fairway of Canyon hole 3. It’s a very cool look!

Hopefully Mulholland Hills joins a few other clubs with recurring Golf Moose events, because it’s a really fun and difficult course. I just ran through every hole in my head and can honestly say there’s not one boring hole on the course (Vista/Canyon, anyway).

Amenities-wise, I never made it into the pro shop, but the beverage cart came around several times and there are multiple on-course restrooms with ice/water stations at most of them. All employees encountered were very friendly, welcoming, and helpful.

Played one of my last remaining rounds here today before moving N. Found the course to be continually moving in the right direction.

Tee boxes all just fine. Fairways have dried out with good weather and lies, roll out and coverage continues to improve.

Still a few traps to get new sand but the ones that have are very playable. One of the best improvements they have made since Troon took over.

Greens had been mowed and provided good chipping, putting all round. Nice consistency throughout. But players are not repairing divots. I repaired at least 5 on every green I was on. That is not acceptable golf etiquette.

Excellent pro shop customer service from Christian and Madison.

Walked the orange tees this afternoon 2/2/2026 at 12:10pm with my buddy Matt joined by a very nice father and son Gregory and Trevor under perfect weather 71 degrees and no wind. Pop was 5 hrs as it looked like they had a tournament earlier this morning. Great friendly proshop staff as usual.

Soule has a nice big putting green that mirrors the speed of the greens along with a nice sized range on mats and a seperate chipping green with a practice bunker just behind 18 green.

This was my second round out here after the rains and Im glad to say they have the 5th hole back to playing as a par 5. They have done a good job with what they had to work with. They lost about 60 percent of the green all on the right side. Currently they have a wood fence seperating the green and the huge creek. Of note as well was they are reseeding the whole 10th tee box so they have the tees playing as a 110 yd hole sharing the teeing ground with the first tee box.

The greens were in terrific shape rolling medium to quick pace and smooth. We fixed an extra couple ballmarks on each green. Rated 8/10

Fairways were in terrific shape for the most part. Rated 8/10

Rough was in good shape and many holes were being mowed as we were playing. Rated 8/10

Tees mostly all level and lush. Rated 8/10

Was in greenside bunker on 3 and 16 that had perfectly raked beach sand. Rated 8.5/10.

I know that as spring approaches the fairways, tees and rough will only get better and closer to a 9 rating.

One of the best bang for your buck deals in Socal

Highly recommended.

Played 1-30-26 early morning walking as a single in chilly weather that warmed up just a little by the time I was done. Tee boxes were in okay shape, mostly good coverage with some thin areas, and a few being a little uneven. Fairways were in nice shape, mostly green and lush with nice lies and decent roll out, with some minor small thin spot on a few. They are working on the end of the fairway on ten where the rains caused a little damage. Rough was in really good shape, 1-2 inches longer than fairways and very lush. Was in a couple of fairway bunkers that were firm packed sand, and one greenside bunker that had a good layer of heavy white sand. Greens were playing very nice, semi-firm, and rolling smooth at a medium/fast pace. Always a treat to get up here to play. Highly recommend.

1/31 second out 7:30 in the fog until the predicted lifting and then clear skies on the back. Cool winter conditions. Greens maintained well medium speed.
Bunkers holding the new sand well maybe a little thick or I just dug in too deep on 11th green side.
Fairways winter conditions with variable sections of thick and dormant thin mixed.
Thicker rough is noticeable stopping roll-out but generally lower cut.
Winter rules when warranted. After fog lifted I played it down.
Groundskeepers doing good work with seasonal and irrigation work on sprinkler heads.
Tee box on 14th par 3 white tees has been roped off a long time and now reopened. We could not see any improvement with the temporary tee box to left still flatter and better. Good time, beverages reasonable and wide selection.
$52 to walk got around quickly at our own pace. 4hrs
Will be pretty with the spring bloom of the surrounding orchards soon.

played 9 holes sat 1/31, 1pm tee time. 2 1/2 hr round. not super slow, but waited a few minutes on most shots and up to 10 min a few times. course in better shape than last time i played. decent muni shape. greens running a slow 10, mostly true. lots of unfilled divots. Had a good time.

This is going to be a very snapshot in time review but it might be helpful for those who want to play the course right after the farmer's. Got to play the north yesterday while the pros were finishing up their final round on the south and it was an incredible experience to get to play the same set up as the pros did thursday/friday. same pins, same green speeds, same rough. so if you want to test your game and see how you'd do, no better time than right after the tournament.

To me, the course conditions were absolutely perfect. tee boxes were all mint, fairways were absolutely perfect (never seen fairway divots filled so exquisitely), greens were running at 12 and it was a nightmare (for me), and the rough was a monster. Finding a ball just a few yards off the fairway was an adventure. Only managed to lose one on my second shot on the par 5 10th which was kind of blind but when i hit it i thought it'd be in the middle of the fairway. Was in a number of traps and they were all perfect; was able to get a good lie and nip the ball and get spin each time. I'm forever spoiled now.

Walking the course under picture perfect postcard skies just made it that much more enjoyable. Could have played better, but the memories of that experience are what i'm going to remember most. If you're somehow able to get on and play in the next few weeks i can not recommend it enough. good luck if you do tho!

1/31/26

Made it out this morning with the early risers. 6:30AM and we walked El Cariso in just under 4 hrs, with no push from the group in carts behind us. Apparently this course is under new management and it showed. The greens are ideal right now, which you probably can't believe, but trust me they rolled pure and had some legit quickness to them. The tee boxes are in good shape, maybe a little uneven in spots, and the rough is well maintained. The sand needs to be replaced, but my one bunker shot was in some soft playable mix of dirt and sand.

So, you can read a lot about this course and much of it is negative, and it would turn you away. I believe this course is on the right track and will continue to improve. Its a solid executive layout, and with the greens being the way they were today, and the ability to play fast, I will be back.