This course intimidated me from the start with the severe elevation changes, ravines crossing in front of tees and greens, and narrow landing areas for me, a high handicapper. However, the slower gree... Continue »

This course intimidated me from the start with the severe elevation changes, ravines crossing in front of tees and greens, and narrow landing areas for me, a high handicapper. However, the slower greens (due to recent punching) and beautiful fairways suited my game and after a slow start I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings and views of the valley from elevated tee boxes and greens. The greens, though a bit slow, were very receptive and even my wedge ball marks were hard to find and easily repaired. The practice range, putting green and even a chipping green gave me a bit of what to expect on the course and contributed to a good (for me) short game all day.
All the staff including the pro shop, starter, cart girl and restaurant staff were very friendly and helpful and made our golf experience memorable. Several members of my club mentioned how much they enjoyed the day and look forward to coming back.

First time back in over close to a year. The major problem with this course is the POP. Another grueling round over 5 hours. Waited in almost every hole. There was a starter but we were already 20 mi... Continue »

First time back in over close to a year. The major problem with this course is the POP. Another grueling round over 5 hours. Waited in almost every hole. There was a starter but we were already 20 minutes behind our start time by the time we teed off. There was no Marshall to keep the groups on pace. They increased their green fees by approximately 25%, in my opinion not worth the increase.
The greens were extremely bumpy and slow. They are scheduled to do aeration in the end of the month. This course has barely any flat ground, lots of ups and downs. Fairways were decent. Some tee boxes were being re-soded.
One of the pros about this place are the staff and the on course restaurant.

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.

We haven't played recently at Hidden Valley, but with many courses aerating this was our option. Not the greatest of conditions, but the most unacceptable issue was an 8 some playing in front of us an... Continue »

We haven't played recently at Hidden Valley, but with many courses aerating this was our option. Not the greatest of conditions, but the most unacceptable issue was an 8 some playing in front of us and then playing as 2 foresomes when the Marshall came by once. Overall a horrible experience. The course needs to do more for the green fees they charge. 5 hours + to play at 8:00 am is ridiculous. Why does anyone play there??

Decided to give Hidden Valley a go. I played it once over a decade ago, so it might as well have been my first time. Got paired with a twosome of seniors, but they asked me to play ahead. They said th... Continue »

Decided to give Hidden Valley a go. I played it once over a decade ago, so it might as well have been my first time. Got paired with a twosome of seniors, but they asked me to play ahead. They said they preferred to play very slowly so it worked out well. The only drawback is I had no clue where to hit my ball. If you’re unfamiliar with Hidden Valley I’d STRONGLY suggest you research the layout beforehand. Lost 4 balls not because I hit poor shots, but because I didn’t know where the trouble was on the holes with blind tee shots.

Something you should know about me, I appreciate flat tee boxes and true greens. Everything else is a distant third.

The greens were actually ok. They were slow, but it being consistently slow made it manageable. The sand traps are basically unplayable. Wasn’t in any, but the bunkers by the greens had HUGE cracks in them with black plastic pipes running through.

The worst part about the course are the tee boxes. They were TRASH.

Played Hidden Valley with some AZ friends on 7/21. Here's the warning - the GK at HV has apparently decided to keep the grass higher during the hot summer to keep it healthy. You have been warned.

... Continue »

Played Hidden Valley with some AZ friends on 7/21. Here's the warning - the GK at HV has apparently decided to keep the grass higher during the hot summer to keep it healthy. You have been warned.

Kudos to him, because the grass out here is better than I have ever seen it. But it is LONG. Fairways are shaggy, rough is thick and difficult at times. And yes, the greens are brutally slow. The greens are also a bit wobbly due to the high grass, but you need to ram putts anyway. I never adjusted to the slow, left almost everything over 10 feet short.

I know some don't like the layout, but I really enjoy it. Some short par 4s that can be an adventure if you take risks. Elevation changes. Great views if you take the time to look around. Just really a fun track to play.

I much prefer the long and shaggy grass in summer versus the cut it short and die approach. I know the putting is tough, but I suspect come September this place will be in great shape for the winter. I need to get back here more often.

First time ever playing Hidden Valley this past week for my GK Cup match with JaySolinari619 and it was quite a memorable and enjoyable experience. This is one of the most utterly un-walkable courses ... Continue »

First time ever playing Hidden Valley this past week for my GK Cup match with JaySolinari619 and it was quite a memorable and enjoyable experience. This is one of the most utterly un-walkable courses you will ever play so don't plan on getting your steps in - you are 100% riding and by the back nine you'll be very happy about it.

This course is about as target golf as target golf gets. I can't think of more than a handful of holes where you don't have blind shots to small areas or split fairways with invisible barrancas tempting and teasing your ball. You absolutely have to be sharp with your club selection, ball flight accuracy and ability to check the ego here. You're very often tempted to bite off more than you can chew, and if you get it wrong, the punishment is severe.

Course conditions were actually quite good all around with one very glaring exception - the bunkers. Terrible. Dry, hard, rocky and completely miserable. They're bald. You can't do anything with them but hit and hope. The rest is good. Not great, but good, even very good. The fairways had much better coverage than expected, while the very few areas of rough were thick but not unplayable (there's very little rough because it's either fairway or 'desert'). Tee boxes were good (I played the whites, Jay played the blues) for the most part but some were a little worn, while the greens themselves had some ball marks spread around but mostly rolled quite true, held shots well and had nice coverage.

We got a late start so we only got cart service on the front nine, but we stocked up well and handled the hot temperatures just fine. Carts were in very nice shape and also had a good GPS system but the governors are ridiculously fine-tuned and far too slow on some of the downhill sections (did I mention there are a ton of elevations and long distances between many holes?). Quite aggravating! But overall, it's a fun experience with nice conditions.

I don't think Hidden Valley is the type of course I would want to play every week or join the men's club or anything, but it was a much better experience than I anticipated and would actually love to go back another time with some course knowledge that I now have.

Played this course yesterday and wanted to update playing conditions. Greens were punched a couple of weeks ago. The greens are still very bumpy and putts will not roll true. Possibly at least a week ... Continue »

Played this course yesterday and wanted to update playing conditions. Greens were punched a couple of weeks ago. The greens are still very bumpy and putts will not roll true. Possibly at least a week or two before the greens completely heal. Overall the fairways, rough and tee boxes are the best I have seen them in awhile as they are green and lush. Only disappointment are the bunkers. Most bunkers are unplayable due to water runoff damage, causing large trenches in the bunkers. The bunkers are nonexistent of sand and are highly compact. Another issue are the carts are highly governed in their speed which can slow pace of play. POPwas around 4.5 hours. Staff members are nice and personable. The restaurant is a great after game stop as they have very good food.

I did something stupid last week. I was browsing "Deal" times on TeeOff.com and spotted a great $43 rate on a Hidden Valley single for today. Hidden Valley rarely offers "Deal" times for singles, typi... Continue »

I did something stupid last week. I was browsing "Deal" times on TeeOff.com and spotted a great $43 rate on a Hidden Valley single for today. Hidden Valley rarely offers "Deal" times for singles, typically restricting them to 2-4 players. I hadn't played there for a long time, and I had $30 in GolfNow rewards expiring soon, so I quickly booked the time. Then as soon as I booked it, it hit me – "Oh no, I didn't check GK!"

Sure enough, they had just aerated a day or two earlier. D'oh! At least it would be about 10 days after the aeration. I considered canceling, but I wasn't sure if I'd get my rewards back, so I just rolled with it. (And ironically, I putted great with only 28 putts. Maybe I should start using GK to find recently aerated courses to play. ;-))

Anyway, onto today. Tee time was 12:30 but for some reason the starter had me down for 12:40. Paired with two nice singles and one guy's wife rode with him but didn't play. Beautiful day but sorta hazy. POP was decent at just a few minutes more than 4:30.

Conditions-wise, things are quite good other than the greens. Driving in, the course looked gorgeous. Fairways and rough are very green and lush, although once you get on top of things, there are some problem spots here and there. To the course's credit, they've done a good job of marking areas as GUR. The greens were slow and bumpy but like I said earlier, they didn't give me many problems. They still need a couple weeks before getting partway back to normal. (The greens on the course were thankfully much better than the practice green, where putts practically had rooster tails of sand flying up.) Many bunkers look all dried out but the one I was in was acceptable. Blue tee boxes were fine.

I hadn't played here since 2016 and I have no idea why I've waited so long. It's such a fun, exciting layout and almost every hole is beautiful and interesting. I can't recommend it right now but give the greens a couple more weeks to heal, and then it's highly recommended.

(FYI for ratings purposes, I gave the greens a 5.)