Played on 06/25/2010 mid-morning. Helpful staff and expanding pro shop. New golf carts. Several tee boxes under repair...they needed it! Greens in better than fair shape. Interesting pin positions. Tighter cut on greens means more break (away from the mountains...Doh!) They are in the process of clearing fallen and dead trees. They are really trying to get this course back into great shape. Keep up the good work. Nice tight course to get your iron and short game back on track. Bring a water bottle because when it gets hot the water stations are few and far between.

Wow! What has happened to this course? The lack of course and staff management is so painfully obvious that the owners should be ashamed of how they are allowing this facility to turn into a poorly run, customer disservice unplayable dog track. 2-3 years ago UHCC was a pleasure to play with above average, well defined fairways, smooth manicured greens, and a medium long rough that was properly mowed. Sorry to say the course we played, on Friday September 1, 2007, was quite disappointing and a mere shadow of this once fine little gem of a course.

Let’s start with the Pro shop; in a word, decimated. You can tell when the management has gone “cheap” by the number of hand drawn felt tip signs around. There was very little in the way of merchandise. Not a single set of clubs for sale, just a plastic trash can of “Used Clubs” for 5$. With only a single staff member behind the counter I didn’t expect much in the way of pleasantries, and believe me I wasn’t disappointed. There was no starter at the first tee so you just kind of go when ready. The tee boxes are severely under maintained. They are so “chewed” up and bare in places that it was difficult to find a patch of grass to place a tee. The fairways, for the most part are quite thin where you would expect turf with a lot of bare spots and hard pan in the fairways. There used to be a well defined second cut but that has all but disappeared. The bunkers seem to have a thin layer of sand and mostly rocks and dirt underneath. The greens at Upland Hills used to be its’ pride and joy. Smooth, soft and always well maintained, season to season. Now they are slow, furry, bumpy and poorly mowed. The water level in the few “lakes” is low, very dirty, full of algae and smelly. I’m sure the mosquitoes are having a field day. Speaking of water, you’d better plenty of your own. There are only three 10 gallon jugs of water for the entire 18 holes! 7, 11 and 14. Now that’s chintzy. It was hot and humid when we played so the lack of water was amplified.

The restaurant and beverage staff is always pleasant and professional. But I do feel bad for them because management is unwilling to pay the few shekels per transaction to allow a tip to be added to the receipt. If you don’t carry cash be prepared to make your apology to the servers. Drink cart, cash only. I hope there is some cosmic reason this course has gone to the dark side other than short-sided management trying to squeeze an extra buck. As a golfer my disappointment is evident, but it is the homeowners around Upland Hills Country Club that may have the most the lose. The course used to be a shining asset that if not properly cared for will most likely turn into a liability. And in this housing market that’s just another nail they most certainly can do without.