I played Saturday, teeing off at about 9am with gk stalwart mcantos and another twosome. As with many fine courses in the L.A. County system, the issue at Mountain Meadows isn't the layout or conditio... Continue »

I played Saturday, teeing off at about 9am with gk stalwart mcantos and another twosome. As with many fine courses in the L.A. County system, the issue at Mountain Meadows isn't the layout or conditions, but the pace of play. It's a five hour course, owing mostly to some demanding tee shots and elevation changes … and the unwillingness of many players to play the proper tees. That being said, our pace of play was acceptable at around five hours, making for a day of enjoyable golf.
If you've never played here, it's a very nice Ted Robinson course that has some unique and interesting holes in the hills above the Pomona fairgrounds. I have walked the course before, but it is challenging, especially in the heat.
The course is really in good shape now. The tee boxes are large and have fine coverage. Fairway grass is pretty lush in most places, and the bunkers are reasonably well groomed with muni sand. The greens are the best part, rolling very well with medium speed and few ball marks.
Customer service in the pro shop was excellent.
I'm not sure how the course will withstand the current heat wave … so far, so good.

Played with my monthly club at (supposedly) 10am on Saturday, 5/20/17 – it was clear and hot with little wind. I’d seen recent reviews of the course and I guess expected a little more than I got. I kn... Continue »

Played with my monthly club at (supposedly) 10am on Saturday, 5/20/17 – it was clear and hot with little wind. I’d seen recent reviews of the course and I guess expected a little more than I got. I know they had damage from the rains earlier this year, but most other courses in SoCal have shown improved conditions as a result of the rains. Maybe the overall steeper topography here minimized the potential for turf improvement.

We found the course fairly dry and firm, generally in good shape but with some challenging conditions. Greens were generally pretty good – most were very firm and rolled pretty well at medium-fast speeds. These greens seem to me to have a lot of very subtle movement and awkward slopes that defy what your eye tells you. [More likely, it’s just the state of my putting game!] While the practice green had some very thin brown areas, I don’t remember seeing any on the on-course greens. We didn’t see very many old or new ballmarks. Green #9 was more receptive than most of the others. Fairways were firm and coverage ranged from fairly lush to thin to scattered bare areas. Rough was generally cut very short and easily playable, but there are scattered patches of unmowed areas where balls would vanish. Sand was very good – all had a good playing layer over a semi-firm base, and greenside traps with plenty of playing layer. Tees (we played white) were overall pretty poor – some were sloping, and most of the par-3 tees were not only pretty torn up but also internally very uneven, with a rolling lumpiness that made finding a level area difficult.

The range has about 20 stations on pretty good mats. Only one green for putting and chipping – no practice bunker. Plenty of water available on this hot day. Restrooms OK.

We had a 10-group tournament (the “Hackers” – bad omen!) go out directly ahead of us. Carts were stacked up on the first tee like cordwood. They went off late and so did we. Our 10am start was actually 1040; then the round was just under 6 hours. Staff is basically unconcerned – the only “marshall” we saw all day was stationed on #9 tee to sell charity donations for First Tee. And you wonder why MM has such a reputation for slow play!

There are several course features that I think could be altered to improve pace and playability, and they aren’t difficult. Using a targeted maintenance approach would address many of these problem areas. Many holes have severe slopes here, and with the thin/firm fairways even good shots can easily run off into difficulty. Examples are holes 12 and 14. The fairways slope steeply to the right off the hillside, and with the firm, dry short rough the ball runs into trouble (also, the prevailing crosswind exacerbates that movement). If the rough were maintained in a more lush condition in these margin areas balls would not so easily be lost, improving pace. There are several other areas along course margins where leaving the rough a little longer would improve playability.

These types of measures would only work if employed in concert with greater staff involvement and better attitude toward improving the play pace.

I tend to shy away from playing here because past experience has proven this course to play very slowly, but after reading roaksown1's recent review, decided to give it another try.

Prior review wa... Continue »

I tend to shy away from playing here because past experience has proven this course to play very slowly, but after reading roaksown1's recent review, decided to give it another try.

Prior review was spot on as to conditioning. Thought the overall condition was some of the better shape I have seen this course. POP wasn't too bad, but I suspect it was because I got out early and beat the crowds? Additionally when using the senior discount card, it really is a great deal.

Played Mountain Meadows for the first time this Saturday with three friends and had an absolute blast. I was warned about some quirkiness to the course, and it's totally true on the back nine, but it'... Continue »

Played Mountain Meadows for the first time this Saturday with three friends and had an absolute blast. I was warned about some quirkiness to the course, and it's totally true on the back nine, but it's still a really fun course to play. The only really odd hole I found was the par 5 11th as it requires a draw off the tee but still slopes away in the landing zone anyway, then blocks out the green with trees even if you do land it close.

And yes, there are a few other little quirks to the course, like a tree right in line with the green on 10, and the bizarre 14th hole that's super elevated and then takes a short but sharp left turn up to the green after you drop anything from 6i to a driver down there. But the rest of the course? Really fun in my view.

Conditions right now are also very good. I thought the greens were in great shape, rolling true and holding shots very well. Nothing too crazy or tricked out on the greens here, but there are some slopes that will give you something to think about on just about every one.

The fairways had very good coverage and the rough is definitely thick in some places but just off the fairways it's very playable. There are lots of elevations here to contend with (hence the name) and that means quite a few areas to lose your wayward balls as well. Tree trouble is also prominent.

Bunkers were mostly good and totally playable, as were the tee boxes. POP was a little on the slow side at a little over 5 hours, but it was a busy Saturday morning and that was also partly due to the fact that our fivesome only had one person who had played the course before, so we spent a good deal of time figuring it out along the way.

Service was great and we even saw the cart 2-3 times throughout the round. $55 with a cart is not unfair for this experience. I wish this place was a wee bit closer to the South Bay but I can definitely see myself returning here again to enjoy the scenery (although I will make sure there are no drag races going on at the adjacent speedway because that would be totally annoying).

Played Mt. Meadows with the Dawgs today, 20 min. late on the tee and a dismal PoP at 5:20 with waiting everywhere. Greens are not ready for prime time quite yet, soft and uneven surface, speed varies... Continue »

Played Mt. Meadows with the Dawgs today, 20 min. late on the tee and a dismal PoP at 5:20 with waiting everywhere. Greens are not ready for prime time quite yet, soft and uneven surface, speed varies from green to green. Tee boxes are munched, fairways dry with lot's of divots ... green-ish Kikuyu. Some areas are in distress along green aprons with no white paint to be found. Bunkers playable but many footprints from the lazy golfers. Hilly, interesting layout with trouble lurking if you leave the fairways. Wait a couple more weeks for the greens to heal. Crowded today, peeps everywhere.

This 2016's L.A. County Course of the Year sustained major setbacks due to heavy rains they had the last two weeks, not counting the epic storm this week. Front nine is in decent shape except for po... Continue »

This 2016's L.A. County Course of the Year sustained major setbacks due to heavy rains they had the last two weeks, not counting the epic storm this week. Front nine is in decent shape except for poor golfers' etiquettes that left almost all sand traps unraked. The back nine is totally different story. Fairways # 11, 13, 14 and 15 are severely damaged by excessive water which prevent the mowing. Weeds are growing rampage on these muddy fairways. The geeens were not maintained, super slow and full of unrepaired ball marks. Bunkers appear to be abandoned by maintenance and careless golfers and full of footprints. They should close the back nine and allow the course to heal. I played in December last year and it was in great shape. What a disappointment.

I played Mt. Meadows day before Thanksgiving. Lots of players making play slower at 0700.
The gentleman from Palos Verdes is correct. I could not see the ocean from the many high points of this golf ... Continue »

I played Mt. Meadows day before Thanksgiving. Lots of players making play slower at 0700.
The gentleman from Palos Verdes is correct. I could not see the ocean from the many high points of this golf course. I only saw the greater Pomona valley and the San Gabriel mountains
including Baldy and Cucamonga peaks. Very boring on a great fall day. I like playing most of the county courses on the eastern border of LA county. That's made all the better when I only pay $16.50 weekday rate to WALK this course!

I played here for the first time as part of the county team event. Let me start by saying I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried that a county course in Pomona would be dry and burnt. Add to that t... Continue »

I played here for the first time as part of the county team event. Let me start by saying I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried that a county course in Pomona would be dry and burnt. Add to that the stories I read about the severe slopes and tight course, I worried.

I arrived and checked in. The guy at in the proshop was nice and not too busy for an 8:24 tee time. The range was mats only but had plenty of targets and good distances. The mats were in decent shape. There was not chipping green but they allow chipping to their putting green. The putting green was large and matched the speed and conditions of the course.

The course has a great combination of holes all with something interesting. Some have hard doglegs, others a stream across the fairway, tight tee shots or significant elevation changes. Lots of challenge without being impossible for average players
The tee boxes had good coverage with a bit of divot damage on the par 3s. However, they were often very uneven. My partner jokes that even the tee shots had to be corrected for uphill lies.

I didn't have a bad lie in the fairway all day. They were full and tight.

The rough was hit an miss. Some was lush but short but there were bare patches and some very deep spots. I liked I that it was long enough that you had to think about it.

I was in 2 traps and both had good thick sand that is rare for a county course.

Lastly the greens. They were full with minimal pitch marks. They ran fast and were undulating. Nothing silly but you had to think and respect a downhill putt. Plenty of slope so even a 4' putt needed respect. They held a good line and were mostly smooth. I did see some bouncing on the longer putts.

The only complaint I had was that they had a "computer issue" with reservations so they forced out several groups in front of our tournament. Our 8:24 time didn't get off until almost 9 then the 2-some in front of us hit 2 balls off the first tee. On top of that we didn't see a marshal all day. The beverage cart did come around 3 times which was nice on such a hot day.

I will be back. I would rate this as better conditions than Los Verdes right now with a comprable layout but lacking the view and cool ocean breeze.

We had a 6:07 tee time, (first off) however there was nobody to co-ordinate so people were all trying to tee off first. Bare in mind it was still really dark at 6am. In any event we tee'd off in th... Continue »

We had a 6:07 tee time, (first off) however there was nobody to co-ordinate so people were all trying to tee off first. Bare in mind it was still really dark at 6am. In any event we tee'd off in the dark and moving along fine, until the marshal approached us while we on the 7th green and advised us that we should slow down because they have an 8 o'clock shotgun starting on #10. We finished at 7:25, and they held us back until the shotgun teed off on 10 (It was 8:12 when we got restarted) Then it took about 2 1/2 hours to play the back nine. What a joke!

The course however was in some of the best conditions I have seen it. The greens were excellent. They rolled true, very receptive, and reasonable speed. Fairways were for the most part good, and the greenside bunkers had plenty of sand.

I like the course, beautiful weather, just a little disappointed I was no advised of the shotgun when I made the tee time.