Played 7/29 at 7:44 Got out on time and pace of play was good. Wait a few times but then were able to play through. Club house staff was nice. Course was in nice shape. The fairways and greens were ... Continue »

Played 7/29 at 7:44 Got out on time and pace of play was good. Wait a few times but then were able to play through. Club house staff was nice. Course was in nice shape. The fairways and greens were a bit long we assume to water less. It was hot and there were a few holes that were cart path only which we thought was dumb. Never saw a cart/beverage service person. The water containers on course were few and mostly empty, sad.
Had lunch after in the bar and the food and service were good.

Played here Sunday, June 26th, teeing off at 1:30 PM with a GolfNow deal for $45, cart included. We were warned that they were starting to punch the greens that afternoon, but fortunately they began a... Continue »

Played here Sunday, June 26th, teeing off at 1:30 PM with a GolfNow deal for $45, cart included. We were warned that they were starting to punch the greens that afternoon, but fortunately they began after we teed off so it was never an issue. I feel pretty luck that happened since it would have made for a tough day. We only decided to roll the dice since it was a GK Match that was a bit tricky to schedule and we needed to get it done.

This was my first time playing Hidden Valley and I really, really liked the track. I'm not exactly sure why it doesn't get more recognition but maybe because it feels like it's lacking a little TLC, but overall I had so much fun with the variety of holes and shot value, the views and the overall conditioning.

One thing that stood out to me immediately about the course was the slightly deceiving "lushness" of the fairways. There is this stark difference between the bright green of the course and the surrounding desert hillsides, but when you get to playing you realize the fairways (which are kikuyu) are almost too lush. The plus side is that they are really healthy and seem to be thriving in the current climate, but it just feels they could stand a good thinning and cutting down. I'm no expert and not sure what that would do, but it seems it could help.

The tee boxes were a point of issue as quite a few were really uneven. I normally don't worry too much about the tee boxes because I can find a spot, but it seemed more noticeable to me yesterday. One thing is that the actual boxes are pretty small and mostly up on a hill or isolated somewhere. Maybe it's harder to manage the flat lies?

The rough on this course was pretty brutal. It was thick, healthy kikuyu and man, that stuff can be crazy. I definitely felt like it was a penalty when you missed the short stuff, particularly around the greens. I'm not complaining, as I like this kind of feature on a course, just know that you're in for some challenging recoveries if you miss fairways and greens.

I found a couple bunkers and so did Mattias and we both found them REALLY firm which was not that great considering greenside bunkers at Hidden Valley are typically deeper with bigger faces and it would have been nice to have a little sand to work with to get under the ball. I guess you need to watch out for bunkers too :)

We were lucky to miss the punching of the greens by about an hour and a half and they definitely seemed like they hadn't been cut or rolled in anticipation of this. It felt like they were a bit spongy and rolled a little uneven, although the speed was nice and consistent. They were extremely healthy and held shots beautifully, so I expect that when they recover from the aerification they will be a lot of fun to play.

Overall, I am definitely coming back to Hidden Valley. The guys in the shop and the lady at the bar were all really nice and I thought the layout was one of the more fun I have played in a long time. There was only one hole that I felt was "unfair" for a first time player at the course and with the elevation changes and routing through the canyons that's really a testament to the designer.

I don't know how long the greens will take to heal at Hidden Valley, but when they get the green light I would definitely recommend this course to anyone. I will for sure be back.

Played June 11. As always, i love the layout of this course.

Played June 11. As always, i love the layout of this course.

Played June 5, 2016. Really do like this course. Had a foursome of friends and had a great time.

Tee boxes were slightly unlevel on some holes, but all in all good.

Fairways had a few brown sp... Continue »

Played June 5, 2016. Really do like this course. Had a foursome of friends and had a great time.

Tee boxes were slightly unlevel on some holes, but all in all good.

Fairways had a few brown spots, but were much better than i have seen in the past. Most spots were quite lush and the ball tended to sit up nicely.

Rough on this course is pretty much non existent. Either fairway or desert. The parts that did have rough were in good shape, though.

The sandtraps were the big disappointment. Each of them that my group was in were hard pan. They really need to put more sand in the traps.

Greens were the highlight. Very fee unrepaired pitch marks. Very smooth and VERY FAST. Hard to remember that everything breaks down the valley.

Staff was great. Bar staff was super helpful. Marshall told us to hurry it along once, but was apologetic when we pointed out that we were right behind the group in front. Apparently they got a call about pace of play, but were very nice once they were shown that the holdup was not us.

All in all, this is my favorite IE course. Has an incredibly interesting layout. Pretty difficult, but not as punishing as champions club.

Will definitely be back to play again.

I went back to Hidden Valley for the first time in 12+ years to play with GKer walnutgolf, getting together ½ of the legendary Almost Viejo group of GKers. George is back to work now and his availabil... Continue »

I went back to Hidden Valley for the first time in 12+ years to play with GKer walnutgolf, getting together ½ of the legendary Almost Viejo group of GKers. George is back to work now and his availability is limited, and Matt is, I think, prepping for Tour Qualifying School, so we have to gather those that are available. The day was clear, hot, and increasingly windy as we teed off on time at 11AM ($35, booked thru course website) behind a slow foursome. We were joined by a big-hitting single from Riverside, James, and had an enjoyable round in around 4.5 hr.

Henry recently moved to the Retreat from San Dimas, and plays Champions Club 2-3 times per week. He knows of my great affection for that course (NOT!), so we agreed to meet on neutral ground. I must say that I remember HV being up in the hills, but I certainly don’t remember how significant the elevation changes were on many holes – there’s almost as much “plunging” from the tee here as there is at CC@R! For example, #9, or #13, or #15(!!!!).

From a distance the course looks great – the green grass against the surrounding brown hills – and overall conditions are pretty good. Greens were lush, soft, and had excellent surfaces that held shots and rolled at medium-fast speeds. On-course greens were faster than the practice green and downhill/down-canyon putts were especially terrifying. Most greens had a few scattered ballmarks. Kikuyu rough around the greens is lush and challenging to control pitches from.

Fairways were mostly pretty lush and gave good lies. Rough was pretty short in many places, but could be heavy in areas with good irrigation. We found that MOST of the tees were not level, lumpy, torn up, restricted in hitting area, or combinations thereof – they need a LOT of work. Many tees are significantly above or below cart parking areas, and are accessed by dirt or concrete paths that are slippery (loose dirt, erosion scars, slick concrete) and hazardous to old legs. We weren’t in too many traps – fairway bunkers were generally very firm (but one fairway trap on the left of #15 had standing water from over-irrigation), while we avoided the greenside bunkers.

There’s trouble nearby in most places on this course and good control of your ball is essential to avoid ballooning scores. Getting offline can quickly get you into hazards or just gone. While there are a lot of fun downhill holes where you can really rip a driver, there are also many places where discretion better serves the scorecard, as well as a number of uphill approaches to perched plateau greens that challenge your iron and wedge games. There’s no GPS, but the cart comes with an (old) yardage book for your use. [BUT YOU CAN’T BUY ONE!!!??? Crazy.] And the book had many inaccuracies. Most fairways had colored yardage posts, and it’s always good to have the trusty Bushnell handy.

This course would really benefit from a cash infusion to improve the infrastructure. Restrooms are barely basic. Lots of cart path damage scattered around. Maintenance had sprinklers running at various times all around the course, including one green when we were putting. We would have filled many more divots and slashes if the course provided more bottle refills – even the divot mix bins on the par 3s failed to include a scoop! Several holes on the back nine were roped off as path only, making for a lot of up-and-down and side-to-side walking for these old guys = not good! Architects - If you’re going to build golf courses in these foothills, make sure your turf and drainage can handle the cart traffic!!

I won’t wait another 12+ years to return to Hidden Valley.

First off Monday at 6:00am, so no issues with pace of play, although we did a bit of waiting for maintenance on the front side. Overall I would say the course is in decent condition, but I had a lot... Continue »

First off Monday at 6:00am, so no issues with pace of play, although we did a bit of waiting for maintenance on the front side. Overall I would say the course is in decent condition, but I had a lot of trouble with the greens. Following the mowers, despite their efforts, there were a lot of "Clippings" still on the green, so that by the time the ball stopped rolling, it was covered with them. (Such is the plight of early morning golf) Additionally, even with the greens having just been mowed, the greens were much slower than they appeared, and the ball seemed to "wobble" rather than roll. I think they need to be rolled !

There was NOBODY out there other than maintenance, so it was very pleasant except the weather wasn't all that pretty. I enjoy playing here, but I have to admit that since I always play from the "tips" here, there are several holes which are now just too much for me. (Tee shot on #2, tee shot on #6, second shot on #9, and #17 is just flat out too hard for me, when you go all the way back) That said the visuals are worth it, and I'm probably too stubborn or stupid to play the "proper tees".

It's hard to beat Hidden Valley on a crisp weekday morning. When you turn that corner from Hole 1 to 2 and the sun is rising over the Valley and beaming on the golden hills, you feel like you are on t... Continue »

It's hard to beat Hidden Valley on a crisp weekday morning. When you turn that corner from Hole 1 to 2 and the sun is rising over the Valley and beaming on the golden hills, you feel like you are on top of the world and everything is great....apart from your nagging tendency to over-cut the ball...! It's glorious up there. The views are stunning. And at $35 before &am this course is an absolute steal. A First class challenge and it's in great shape right now. The greens are almost perfect, they just need one more notch on the stimp and they will get there soon. Played the round in 3 and 1/4 hours too, which leaves the rest of day open. Jordan is a good pro and cares about the place too. I look forward to many more trips to this gem.

I nabbed a 12:40 GolfNow “Hot Deal” for only $20 here today. Course was very busy, the weather was gorgeous but extremely windy, and pace of play was horrible. It took us 5:20 to play, starting on tim... Continue »

I nabbed a 12:40 GolfNow “Hot Deal” for only $20 here today. Course was very busy, the weather was gorgeous but extremely windy, and pace of play was horrible. It took us 5:20 to play, starting on time and finishing right at 6:00. No marshal nor beverage cart.

Conditions are very nice. The course looks fantastic, probably slightly better than it plays. Everything is green and lush looking from a distance. Upon closer inspection, the greens have been somewhat recently sanded (no aeration, just sanded), but it’s a pretty light sanding and I don’t really think it affected putts much at all. Unless they’re doing it repeatedly, I wouldn’t let the sanded greens prevent you from playing here right now. Greens are smooth and running medium fast. The surfaces felt soft, but balls didn’t stop very quickly. That could be a result of the sanded greens. The fairways are lush and cut short, but I felt like my ball often ended up on somewhat ratty areas. Like I said, they look better from afar than up close. They’re not bad, just not as pure as one would hope. The rough is lush and varying depths, although none too deep or penal. The bunkers are the definite low point of course conditions. They look maintained but there is hardly any sand in them. I’m not a great bunker player to begin with, but when there’s this little sand on top of basically hardpan, I really have no idea how to play the ball. A few times I resorted to trying to blade the ball to just sort of roll/bounce it out of a bunker. They need some serious attention. Blue tee boxes were well maintained.

I always love this layout and today one of my playing partners was a Hidden Valley first timer, almost in awe of how dramatic and beautiful the course is. Sometimes I’m shocked this course isn’t more famous (on a state/national level) for its dramatic terrain and great rock outcroppings. To play for $20 was a real treat, despite the sluggish pace and crazy winds.

I tried out my new phone’s camera (Moto X Pure Edition) today and uploaded 32 photos to my Flickr page here: https://goo.gl/gnErfb

Played Friday Feb 26 at 730, great day, course was in real good shape. Tough 1st hole to start with and yes I dumped on in the ravine. LOL Tee boxes were level, fairways nice, (it is winter everyone k... Continue »

Played Friday Feb 26 at 730, great day, course was in real good shape. Tough 1st hole to start with and yes I dumped on in the ravine. LOL Tee boxes were level, fairways nice, (it is winter everyone knows) was not in any traps so no comment, and greens rolled real nice. I played the blues because the 3 others wanted to, mistake that day. I have played the blues before and done OK but I am struggling now so I make a mistake. I will say many of the holes have a different look from the blues instead of the whites. Over all I like this course, challenging and nice views and close to home. LOL