Started the new year with a bang heading all the way out to Norco to play Hidden Valley again for the second time with Mattias and another friend of ours. We had an 11:20 tee time on a gorgeous day an... Continue »

Started the new year with a bang heading all the way out to Norco to play Hidden Valley again for the second time with Mattias and another friend of ours. We had an 11:20 tee time on a gorgeous day and opted to play from the blue tees.

No walking this course since it's about as hilly and unwalkable as can be, so luckily the carts are nice, but I must say that we finally found a governor as awful as Newsom - you will see more 'Slow Down' and 'Drive Cautiously' alerts on the screen than actual golf-related GPS information, and the number of areas where the carts almost come to a crawl is embarrassingly high. Quite frustrating and unnecessary.

In terms of course conditions, well, they're honestly not great, but for some reason it still is an incredible course to play with an amazing layout, challenging shots on every hole and some very picturesque views around every corner. But alas, you're not going to find this place up there with the best in terms of the actual quality of the course. If it ever did get that part together, I have no doubt it could be regarded as one of SoCal's best.

So what's in poor shape here? Again, kind of everything. The greens are very shaggy and look to have not been rolled since prohibition. They're slow, a little bit bumpy and really an adventure on every green - which is not what we're going for. Sure, they hold shots well because they're spongy, but that's about the only upside.

The fairways do have some nice areas and from a distance it all looks good, but I was surprised at how many thin shots out of the fairways I had to hit. I also found a ton of GUR flags and a number of times perfectly placed shots ended up in some unrepaired divots. Not ideal, but the fairways are probably still the best part of the course. Tee boxes were very thin and many unlevel so that makes for poor ball striking if you're not one to use tees in the box. And the bunkers had a very thin layer of sand that made sand shots quite challenging and anxious.

I'm sure that weather conditions play a big part in the course maintenance here so I understand why it's not exactly in the same shape as its glamorous neighbor Goose Creek, but there are certainly some things (like rolling the greens) that could be improved for a better overall golfing experience. But no matter the poor rating this course will likely receive after I hit 'submit' due to course conditions, it's still a very fun and challenging day out at one of SoCal's most unique tracks. Don't let the poor numbers dissuade you completely from trying this place out if you haven't before. It's memorable no matter what.