I was finally able to secure a tee time for the Dinah Shore course last Saturday for a fun birthday round with Greg, Alex, and Hillary. I was excited to finally use my Club Corp to play after the shut... Continue »

I was finally able to secure a tee time for the Dinah Shore course last Saturday for a fun birthday round with Greg, Alex, and Hillary. I was excited to finally use my Club Corp to play after the shut down and maintanece. During the winter its tough to get a weekend tee time so finally summer has come and the course was empty.

We played the Blue tee's which they were all placed back at the ANA tee placements this day so around 6700 yards and very strong winds. As previous reviews mentioned they fairways are tight and there are plenty of tall trees in play just off the fairways.

Conditions ranged from great to crappy. The tee boxes, fairways, and greens were all fantastic. Greens were firm and fast but rolled very well. I only recall one green showing any sign of the punching from a few weeks back. Fairways cut short and have some undulation that can kick your ball into the rough which wasnt fun. Tee boxes were fine with plenty of grass and 5-6 tee boxes to choose from.

The Only bad things about the course was the Rough and Sand Traps. The Rough was ok within 5 feet of the fairway then a 50/50 chance if you were going to find clumpy grass and dirt or roots from the trees. I dont know if they are just getting rid of the rough but it sucked to play from. The only way to hit well out of it was to hit stingers or punch shots. With No rakes in the bunkers it looks like even the crew has stopped caring about them. Most of them were firm and a few had heavy sand with a crunch top layer. Not fun to play from at all.

This is a great course and the layout is fun but given the chance I'd pick Pete Dye over this one anytime.

With the back nine at Mission Hills' Dinah Shore Tournament course closed for maintenance, we did two late loops around the front nine and finished 18 just ahead of the sun dipping down below San Jaci... Continue »

With the back nine at Mission Hills' Dinah Shore Tournament course closed for maintenance, we did two late loops around the front nine and finished 18 just ahead of the sun dipping down below San Jacinto's peak on a beautiful spring day.

There really is only one 'tour scary' hole on this front nine - the tricky par 4 6th with a dodgy landing area between two fingers of lake and a scary approach from there - but the rest are pretty straightforward but long and sometimes narrow off the tee.

Conditions are good right now but of course not quite tournament ready. The greens were recently punched and are still showing some signs of that, but roll pretty fast still and hold their lines regardless. Fairways are in very nice shape, as is the rough - very playable. Bunkers are a bit on the thin, crusty side right now and of course no rakes. Tee boxes were perfect.

This review feels a bit lacking since only nine of the eighteen holes were played, but I'm fairly certain conditions would be consistent with those on the front right now once the back 9 is re-opened. If you get the chance to play there, go do it.

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in lightly less than 3H as a single mid morning. The weather was clear, fairly calm and in the low 100's. Pro Shop and Clubhouse closed to the public. One to a cart... Continue »

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in lightly less than 3H as a single mid morning. The weather was clear, fairly calm and in the low 100's. Pro Shop and Clubhouse closed to the public. One to a cart, raised cups where the ball would still usually barely go in. No rakes, divot mix, ice chests or water stations on the course. Bathrooms open and they provided complementary bottled water. Masks only required when around people, they said okay to remove mask on the course if not around anyone. I like this layout more with each visit. Very fun and challenging course with alot of water to navigate. Huge trees line nearly every hole, with several very tall trees prominently sticking out where the fairway curves. Numerous forced carries over lakes. Tees lush and well maintained. Fairways lush and firm, very nice. Rough 2-3" deep, lush and thick. Sand traps had good quality sand and were good considering no rakes. Bermuda greens were firm, smooth and medium fast, like putting on a pool table. Irons would make more of a dent than ball marks and you did not want to be putting or chipping from above the hole. Customer service excellent from all encountered. Easy check-in, the cart guys were efficient and friendly. Basic carts do not have GPS. Nice all grass driving range with complementary balls that was closed for maint. today. No drink cart today. Both the layout and the playing conditions are excellent. Highly recommended.

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in 2.5H as a single mid day. The weather was clear, fairly calm and in the low 100's. Masks required, Pro Shop and Clubhouse closed to the public. One to a cart, ra... Continue »

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in 2.5H as a single mid day. The weather was clear, fairly calm and in the low 100's. Masks required, Pro Shop and Clubhouse closed to the public. One to a cart, raised cups where the ball would still usually barely go in. No rakes, divot mix, ice chests or water stations on the course. Bathrooms open and they provided complementary bottled water. Huge trees line nearly every hole, with several 80' tall trees prominently sticking out where the fairway curves. Many forced carries over lakes, and I can no longer hit the ball high enough to go over these massive trees. Both the layout and the playing conditions are excellent. Very fun and challenging course with alot of water to navigate. Tees lush and well maintained. Fairways lush and firm, very nice. Rough 3" deep, lush and thick. Punitive to play out of and tough to find balls with all the leaves. Sand traps had good quality sand but were getting compacted and needed raking. Greens got rated a 10/10 for the 2nd straight visit. Firm, smooth and medium fast, like putting on a pool table. Irons would make more of a dent than ball marks and you did not want to be putting or chipping from above the hole. Customer service excellent from all encountered. Easy check-in, the cart guys were efficient and friendly. Basic carts do not have GPS. Nice all grass driving range with complementary balls. No drink cart today. Real treat to play this course shortly after the time they were peaking it to host a since postponed LPGA major. Highly recommended.

Played here Sunday, 3/15 at 9:30. Played with a couple guys also from South OC and another visiting from Dallas. I played the ANA tees. Pace was decent and we finished in just around 4:20.

Course c... Continue »

Played here Sunday, 3/15 at 9:30. Played with a couple guys also from South OC and another visiting from Dallas. I played the ANA tees. Pace was decent and we finished in just around 4:20.

Course conditions, as you would expect with a major championship scheduled in just over two weeks (but unfortunately postponed due to current events), are outstanding. The greens are firm and extremely smooth. I waffled between ranking them 9 or 10 but chose 9 because they looked like they'd be a little faster than they actually were. The firmness makes it very difficult to get shots to stop quickly; it's best to land short and play for some bounce and/or roll-out. Fairways are very nice, very lush and just a notch below some of the nicest I've ever played. Rough is extremely lush, thick and sneaky deep. It doesn't really look that deep, but when your ball is in it, it often sinks down and the rough is between 3-5 inches deep. Bunkers had good sand but were a little firmer underneath than I expected. Tee boxes have excellent grass coverage and are manicured to perfection, although I was surprised a couple of the ANA tees seemed slightly unlevel. On both the fairways and the tee boxes, it's extremely rare to see an unfilled divot. Either the members take great pride in filling all of theirs or the staff goes out and fills divots at the end of the day, or maybe both.

This was my first time playing the course and I really enjoyed it. The undulating fairways give it some nice character and the multiple doglegs keep things interesting. Also, it's very fun walking across the bridge to the 18th green, having seen so many participants over the years at the Dinah Shore/ANA take that walk to decide the year's first major. I look forward to playing it again with some local knowledge under my belt.

Highly recommended.

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in 4.5H using Club Corp. Matched up with a nice 3some, we played in clear, breezy conditions in the low 80's. Very fun and challenging layout with alot of water to n... Continue »

Rode the ANA tees (6783/73.1/136) in 4.5H using Club Corp. Matched up with a nice 3some, we played in clear, breezy conditions in the low 80's. Very fun and challenging layout with alot of water to navigate. Several holes have inlets where the water juts well out into the fairway that you cannot necessarily see from 100+ yards away. Tough course to judge how much you could bite off until you play here a few times. Huge trees line nearly every hole, with several 80' tall trees prominently sticking out where the fairway curves. They are IN play. Tees lush and well maintained. Fairways lush and firm, very nice. Rough 3-4" deep, lush and thick. Punitive to play out of and tough to find balls with all the leaves. Sand traps had good quality sand and were very nicely maintained. I rated the greens a 10/10 and I RARELY give anything a 10. Firm, smooth and medium fast, like putting on a pool table. Irons would make more of a dent than ball marks and you did not want to be putting or chipping from above the hole. Customer service excellent from all encountered. Easy check-in, starter, the cart guys and valet were and all efficient and friendly. Basic carts do not have GPS. Nice all grass driving range with complementary balls. No drink cart, which on a busy day I found surprising for a high end private club. Many forced carries over lakes, and I can no longer hit the ball high enough to go over these massive trees. The LPGA plays a major here and I can see why. Both the layout and the playing conditions are excellent. Highly recommended.

Played the Dinah Shore Tournament course today, teeing off at around 12:30 after a little bit of a delay on the first tee. From the moment you enter the gates you know you’re in for a special treat... Continue »

Played the Dinah Shore Tournament course today, teeing off at around 12:30 after a little bit of a delay on the first tee. From the moment you enter the gates you know you’re in for a special treat. The entire community is in pristine condition with not a leaf, blade of grass or pebble out of place.

Once I arrived at the clubhouse, the valet was there to take care of the car and clubs. The wife and I ate breakfast at the clubhouse and the food and service was excellent. Check in was quick and easy. From there it was off to the all grass range which was a bit crowded. Being a prime holiday the entire place was busy. Having said that, things moved along at a decent pace given there was a fivesome in front of us and all foursomes in front of them.

Course layout is flat but FAR from boring. Several water features come into play in a number of ways from forced carries on Par 3’s to tricky inlets on fairways to the island green par 5 finishing hole, complete with Poppies Pond. Snow on the mountains in the background added to the picture perfect setting.

Condition wise the course is just short of a perfect 10 rating. Tee boxes and rough were easily a 10. Both were perfect. Fairways were also rated at a 10. Deep green color and manicured perfectly. It took me a few holes to find the fairway but when I did, Oh so Sweeeet!

Greens were nice. Not quite a ten but somewhere in the 8-9 range. They rolled smooth without a pitch mark to be found anywhere on the course. Greens rolled at a medium slow pace. My guess is with the rain the night before, they hadn’t been mowed in a day or two.
Greens were a tad on the firm side. Which was really the only thing keeping them from being a 10.

Sand traps were nice as well. Fluffy sand but just a (very) little thin keeping them from being a perfect 10.

There’s a reason the LPGA hold a Major tournament at this course. It’s fun to play has some strategic holes mixed in with a scenic setting and excellent all around conditions. This course just moved into my staple of Palm Springs courses. I posted some photos on the GK app and will upload them to the website soon.

Went out as single yesterday at 11:26 on the Shore Tourney Course. Starter put me out on the back 9 so when I made the turn, I had the place to myself. It was CPO and conditions were epic, minus the g... Continue »

Went out as single yesterday at 11:26 on the Shore Tourney Course. Starter put me out on the back 9 so when I made the turn, I had the place to myself. It was CPO and conditions were epic, minus the greens. The greens were slow, but that is what comes with the courses just coming out of the overseed. Yesterday was day 3 of the Shore Course being open. What a cool layout and getting to play a major championship course was awesome. If you can get out, I highly recommend it. I feel if you play the course a couple times, you have the ability to go low. But, I bet that changes big time as they get ready for ANA. Really want to play the Dye and Palmer there now...

Day Four of our annual desert trip kept us close to home base as we played the Mission Hills Dinah Shore Tournament course under gray skies and some fits of rain to end the golf week. My friend's fami... Continue »

Day Four of our annual desert trip kept us close to home base as we played the Mission Hills Dinah Shore Tournament course under gray skies and some fits of rain to end the golf week. My friend's family has owned a house here across the lake from the 18th tee box for the past three decades or so but this was the first time I've had a chance to play the same course that the LPGA uses as a major. Always cool to play the courses you see on TV.

Excellent conditions overall on this course and a lot of fun, challenging holes, but also plenty of chances to score well if you are hitting the ball decently. I never felt that the course was at all overwhelming or intimidating, outside of just a few holes perhaps. I even had a decent round going until a late collapse ultimately sunk my scorecard.

Fairways were mostly in fantastic shape but there were a few sections of GUR. Mostly though it was great lies all day and not a thing to complain about. The rough was really great just off the fairways, but on sections across from the cart paths, the grass was not overseeded so it was just a paler green if not yellow but still just fine to hit from. Tee boxes were a little bit thicker than what I anticipated but still fine, and the bunkers were great but tough to judge with all the precipitation that day that was making them much heavier and tougher to get out of than any normal sunny day.

The greens were pretty fantastic. Running about an 11 on the stimp, they rolled pure and true, and none of the greens on this 18 at Mission Hills are too tricked out or funky. Sure, you've got some tournament quality reads to make here, but if you stay true to your lines and hit with good speed, you will be rewarded with good putts. You certainly won't be frustrated at the greens for any reason.

POP was nice and easy until we caught up to a slower group around the 15th hole, but no worries there. Very nice practice areas as well but not necessarily as fancy as some other big-name country clubs, but who needs all that? Not me, at least not all the time. Course itself has a few elevations but is generally pretty flat, narrow in places and has a lot of large, thick trees to get in trouble behind - not what you would normally expect out here with the palm tree conditions of most clubs. You will also find some water on holes to deal with as well.

Once again, felt very lucky to be able to play this private little gem and excited to see next year's LPGA tournament here and run through the holes in my head while watching the ladies play. I also took some pictures on each hole and will post them later, but unfortunately the bad weather later in the round will take some of the shine off of them. I suspect you'll get over that though.