Work meeting in Rancho Cucamonga turned into a late afternoon invite to Red Hill Country Club for the first time ever, so of course saying 'no' was not an option. I only knew this was an older club (f... Continue »

Work meeting in Rancho Cucamonga turned into a late afternoon invite to Red Hill Country Club for the first time ever, so of course saying 'no' was not an option. I only knew this was an older club (founded in 1921) that had a good reputation and not much else. I was open for anything.

What I got was a fantastic treat and surprise. This place is a real gem. The surrounding mountain scenery framing holes is epic. The design is classic and just great fun with a premium on good angles (not necessarily hitting bombs). In many ways it reminded me of the Saticoy Club in Ventura, only without the cool ocean breezes. The fairways are dense with trees that provide the most defense, along with numerous well-placed bunkers, water features and a few thin and tricky fairways. Let's also throw in a few of those middle of the fairway trees as well just for a good time. I loved it.

The conditions were fantastic with the one downer being the timing on my part to come just a week or so after the greens had been punched. They're about a week or two away from perfection, so I hope to come back when that's the case. But the green complexes are superb and you can tell that the greens are immaculate (or will be) once this process is over.

The rest of the course? Simply terrific. Very lush and slightly less green fairways than the deep and penal rough bordering the main alleys. Never a bad lie all day, with the exception of course of any shots I sprayed into the mulch offline areas. The tee boxes (we played from the back tees) were in great shape and the bunkers had very fine sand in them making them dreamy to play out of when I found myself in one. Just a sparkling piece of property.

The carts are brand new and probably the nicest ones I've ever seen. They have an excellent GPS system, USB ports for your phone and the comfiest seats you'll ever find. Just top notch all around. We moved pretty well as one would expect and finished in a little over four hours after we caught a slower moving group in front of us around the 14th hole. But with the great views of Cucamonga Peak in the distance and the warm sun on my face, I could not have cared less spending a little more time there.

All amenities were super and we also had some fabulous 'street tacos' in the clubhouse after the round while waiting out traffic to die down before heading back to the South Bay. All in all it was just a wonderful impromptu afternoon and I can't wait to play this terrific course again in the near future. Don't miss it. And yes, took some pics to add later!