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Rating Index Rating
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2.6
1793 Reviews (1793)
5 Stars
434
4 Stars
690
3 Stars
309
2 Stars
180
1 Stars
180
Conditions
2.2
Value
2.7
Layout
4.0
Friendliness
4.0
Pace
3.5
Amenities
3.3
42.0%
Recommend this course
1285 out of 1793 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
2.3
102 Reviews (102)
5 Stars
5
4 Stars
12
3 Stars
24
2 Stars
26
1 Stars
35
Conditions
1.7
Value
2.3
Layout
4.0
Pace
3.4
Amenities
3.2
StaffFriendliness
4.1
31.4%
Recommend this course
32 out of 102 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
2.3
143 Reviews (143)
5 Stars
7
4 Stars
18
3 Stars
34
2 Stars
33
1 Stars
51
Conditions
1.8
Value
2.3
Layout
3.9
Pace
3.4
Amenities
3.2
StaffFriendliness
4.0
30.8%
Recommend this course
44 out of 143 reviews
Read Reviews
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AI summaries based on real golfer reviews
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Course Highlights
Hidden Hills features one of the area's most distinctive layouts, with rare elevation changes and challenging water holes that reward strategic play. Friendly staff and smooth pace of play consistently enhance the overall experience here.

About

Holes 18
Type Public
Par 72
Length 6892 yards
Slope 136
Rating 74.0

Tucked away in the beautiful Ft. Caroline area near Jacksonville, Hidden Hills Golf Club stands on a historic battleground that witnessed the fierce struggles between France and Spain and continued into golf history with searing competition during the heyday of the Greater Jacksonville Open.

The 6,892-yard public golf course, built in 1966 on an ancient sand dune, was redesigned by Arnold Palmer in 1986. Palmer's creativity helped create a championship-caliber golf course unmatched in natural beauty that makes excellent use of rare hilly terrain to create a unique Florida golf challenge. The fairways are lined with majestic pines and stately oaks, and the unpredictable greens have helped Hidden Hills gain the reputation of being one of the most challenging courses in North Florida.

Sharp doglegs, strategic placement of water hazards and putting surfaces that are mostly elevated serve up a mighty test for the low handicapper. Approaches are narrow and many of Hidden Hills Golf Club's greens are well bunkered.

Hidden Hills has a rating of 74.0 from the championship tees, and the slope rating is 136.

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Hidden Hills Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1966
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Arnold Palmer (1986) Ed Seay (1986) Robert Walker (1986)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
GPS No
Pull-carts Yes
Caddies No
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Golf School/Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Metal Spikes Allowed No
Fivesomes Allowed Yes, with permission only
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Collared shirt req, no tanktops or cutoffs

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities

Available Activities

Swimming, Billiards

Available Sports

Fitness
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Reviews

2.6
1793 Reviews (1793)
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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Horrible course!!

The fairways were dirt and weeds. Every green was damaged and diseased. I would like to have gotten a refund. This is barely a 1 star course.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
First Time Playing

This course was horrible!

This course was not properly rated. It is barely a 1 star course. All of the greens were damaged. Fairways were bare and dirt. Should have gotten a refund. I will never play this course again and would tell everyone to never play this course.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Poor
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 21
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course was in horrible condition.

The last 4 times I’ve played this course it was it horrible condition. Every single green was fuzzy, loaded with sand, hardly and grass on most and the tee boxes were so unlevel it was difficult finding a spot to comfortably stand.

I hope this course makes a comeback.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Not worth even $5

Absolute joke of a course. Don’t even bother trying to putt, half grass/weeds other half dirt on greens. Fairways are all dirt or sand. Tee boxes are dirt. Just an absolute no.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Still bad

No putting no chipping area temp green, fairways dirt 17 bad greens, now it has been run completely in ground by the owner

Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 13
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0

Don’t play this course

I’ve played Hidden Hills at least 50 times. I tell you this as a reference as I’ve never seen this course in such bad shape. The fairways were dirt and sand in a lot of areas. Sometimes you couldn’t tell where the fairway ended and the greens started. There where some greens that were unputtable to the point where my golf buddy and I decided to have a two put rule which is to say if we were on the green we didn’t take more than two strokes. It will be a long time before I play this course again. The worst part was that we were still charge full price.

Conditions Fair
Layout Good
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 11
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Going downhill again.

They started to come around a bit earlier in the year, but are sliding fast now. Uneven tee boxes with sporadic grass, fairways so bare you have to look for sprigs of grass to put your ball on, and greens that look like mine fields. But hey, the bunkers are in great condition! It’s a shame too, because the staff is awesome and the clubhouse is still nice.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 11
Handicap 15-19
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played

Back downhill again

They started improving earlier this year, but it is back to being an absolute goat track. Uneven tee boxes with spotty grass, having to find a patch of grass the size of your ball in the fairways and rough, and greens that have more sand than grass. It’s a shame too, because the layout is fantastic, the clubhouse is nice, and the staff is always awesome.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course needs work

I understand the staff is working to improve the play but it was not good. Greens were not good and even the fairway was patchy and inconsistent.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart
Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 2
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Fair
Pace Average
Played On
Reviews 22
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Need Overhaul

This used to be very nice course. Sad to see it run down like this. Green is almost non existence. Fairway mostly sand and no grass. Makes it hard to hit.

Conditions Fair
Layout Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 9
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played

Horrible

Still the worst run worst conditioned course in Jacksonville, no chipping area, no putting area both are shut down for second year

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Fair
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Course in dire need of a grounds crew

The design here is genuinely good with challenging holes, smart risk/reward decisions, and an interesting layout that keeps you engaged. That’s where the compliments end.

The fairways are hard-packed sand and dirt with weeds galore. Actual grass is a rare sighting. Somehow the bunkers and rough offer better lies than the short stuff, which tells you everything you need to know.

The greens are a disaster. And I mean that literally. My ball bounced on multiple putts. Our group gave up on honest scoring and adopted house rules: gimme within a club length, 1-putt inside 25 feet, 2-putt beyond that. It was the only way to survive the round.

Ground crew provides zero maintenance. If you spend the $60 to play this course expect to leave frustrated and wishing you would’ve just tested out an indoor simulator.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 51
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course Needs Complete Renovation

Need to find investors to Completely renovate this 5 star layout golf course. I don’t think the best maintenance director can ever bring this course back to just average conditions. Greens, Fairways, tee boxes are in horrendous condition. I remember the days when I’d pay $$$ to play this course but now it’s even tough to use it as a practice round. I was trying to hit my ball in the weeds, rough, to get a better shot than fairways!

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
1.0
Previously Played

Atrocious Conditions

Play this course once a month. This is the worst I’ve seen it. Sandy tee box’s and greens are all sand. Worst condition ever. Going to wait till September to come back. Hopefully they get their stuff together.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played

No green on the greens

The website stated the course had been aerated about 10 days prior to our round. When we get up to the first green we discovered very little grass a lot of dirt and a lot of brown spots. Unfortunately the remaining greens were in the same condition. The fringe was in great shape making us think the greens had intentionally been killed or over fertilized. Really sad that this

beautiful course is in such bad shape.

Conditions Poor
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Beginner
Plays A few times a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Embarrassing

This course is in absolute shambles. The tee boxes suck, the fairways suck, and the greens are 100% unplayable. One of the holes is just a hole in the middle of the fairway- no “green”. Its a shame because the course is a really awesome layout and would be super fun if it was in good condition. Charging $50 to play this course in the condition that it is in is borderline a scam. That explains why there were only 3 tee times booked all day. Unreal.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 80
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played

Great course, terrible grounds crew

Awesome course. Fairways and tee boxes were in pretty good shape. The greens were awful. Almost all had more dirt than grass. This is such a great layout. Could be amazing again if the grounds crew could get it in better shape. Still worth playing here but just know the conditions aren’t good.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
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