Played in group 1A of the Golf Moose / Vivid Golf / GK event here on Monday with mpisarski, stickboy, and John. Great to catch up with stickboy and fu... » More

Played in group 1A of the Golf Moose / Vivid Golf / GK event here on Monday with mpisarski, stickboy, and John. Great to catch up with stickboy and fun times all around! Pace was typical for these events at about 5:00. Gorgeous day with only a slight wind.

Conditions are quite good. Greens were smooth, medium speed, and medium firmness. Full shots seemed to take a bounce before stopping, and you had to really get some good spin on shorter shots to get them to check quickly. Blue tee boxes were all nice; no issues. The fairways were really good – great coverage and just the right amount of cushion under the ball. Rough was mostly light, two-inch-deep bermuda but could get penal when the ball sank down in it. The two bunkers I was in were solid with plentiful sand.

I’ve lived within a couple miles of this course for the last 17 years but hadn’t played it since before the private club was established in 2008. Much of the back nine is routed across the hillsides, providing great views of Saddleback Mountain and the entire Saddleback Valley. The greens have some good contours and could get really challenging with faster speeds. Great day all around!
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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 reb... » More

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.
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Accepted a gracious invite from dconnally to play nine holes here this afternoon along with TomHooter. We played Course 1, which fittingly begins righ... » More

Accepted a gracious invite from dconnally to play nine holes here this afternoon along with TomHooter. We played Course 1, which fittingly begins right below the clubhouse next to the practice putting green. Our time wasn’t until 3:24 but we teed off maybe 8-10 minutes early. Despite waiting on the group in front of us pretty much all afternoon, pace was pretty good and we finished nine in about two hours flat, with just enough sunlight. There was no one behind us, but maybe one or two more groups could’ve finished if there had been.

Conditions are very nice! White tee boxes were all great, no issues. Fairways had uniform coverage of healthy green turf, providing nice lies. The rough also has good coverage and is 2-3 inches in most areas but deeper in a few rare spots. I was in a couple bunkers and they were in good condition with more sand than it felt like there was, if that makes sense. The greens were mostly smooth, medium to medium-fast speed, and very accepting of well-struck shots. As you might expect so late in the day, there were quite a few unfixed ball marks, but nothing terrible.

Course 1 is the longest of the three nines and is comprised of three par 3s, three par 4s, and three par 5s. From the white tees, the par 3s could use more variety in distance, but otherwise no complaints. The par 4s and 5s on this nine are very nice with a good mix of elevation changes and doglegs. I liked it quite a bit! Great times with David and Tom! Thank you for the invitation, David.
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