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 co... Continue »

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.