Vellano Country Club

Thank you Golfnow for advertising a mid-week rate at Vellano. Otherwise I might have never known of this gem of a golf course situated in the Chino Hills.

The clubhouse and pro-shop are impecable. The staff was friendly and following the round, we had dinner in the restaurant. The food was excellent and very reasonably priced. The only drawback was that there was no cart service on the course, so make sure you pack some beverages and snacks, as you're away from the clubhouse between 9 and 10.

Vellano is a challenging course, not for the novice golfer. There are many challenging holes with elevated tees and greens, not to mention vast canyons that must be cleared to keep your ball in play. The back nine plays more difficult than the front, especially the 240 yard par 3, 13th. Narrow fairways test your nerves and I left the driver in the bag at some tees, opting for my trusty 4 iron.

Prior to posting this review, I read some of the previous reviews. I have to say that our experience was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed this course, the staff and would recommend it to anyone. When we finished the round, we were greeted by the ower, Mr. Jung. He offerred us a complimentary beverage and literally spent 30 minutes with us discussing the course, and inquiring about our golf experience. He was a complete gentleman and a pleasure to meet. Can't wait to play his other course, 'The Golf Club of California'.

This is a poorly managed golf course from check in, to start and the pace is awful 5 hour plus and I didn't finish. I don't think anyone does their job there.. I can't believe this use to be a private course. All the members must have left due to the poor service. I am a 4 handicap so I actually enjoyed the challenge of the course. If you are just starting out this is not a place for you even if you tee off from the ladies tees. Stay away until they understand the importance of the customer. Without your customers you do not exist. New management is needed.

2nd time playing this course. A buddy lives nearby and likes to play this course. Seems intimidating at first, but looks can be deceiving. Nice greens, some pin placements are tricky and definitely undulating.

Its a fun course. They didnt have a cart girl so you might want to bring a drink. They do have ice water on some holes. The cours is brown right now since it is January. Sand traps are hit and miss. Overall fun course.

For a country club, we expected more from the course especially for what it cost to play. On the up side, the staff was very friendly and made the day a good one.

This is a beautiful secluded area not far from Anywhere in particular. The course is nice. It's interesting to play. There is plenty of challenge, but ample opportunity to score. The first green was kind of a mess. After that the greens were nearly flawless. At least through the 11th hole. That's as far as we got due to the pace. Had we stayed we would have been pushing 6 hours on our round. It took us three hours to play the front nine. We gave up on the 12th tee and headed home .

Customer service is not good top to bottom here. We had close to a 10am tee time. I arrived and proceeded to one side of the counter, in wait behind a gentleman who was checking in. The next employee completely ignored me, and when a foursome walked in after me he immediately took care of them before helping another, and then me. The pro in the shop comes across rude, and when I finally went into the shop to ask if we were being sent out, he directed us to the back nine with a flip of his hand, never raising his head. Then the starter, who never had an answer for any of my questions, introduced us to a twosome, and later paired us with someone else Without telling us. It caused confusion, frustration, and delay. There appeared to be no normal routine that this staff followed to get players on the golf course in an organized fashion, and one is left with the feeling he is disturbing the staff if he asks questions, which you have to do because no one offers any help or direction. The course, overall, is okay. The service is the worst I've experienced in 20 years playing golf in Orange County. I've got plenty of other places to play, this one isn't really worth the time or frustration.

Amazing course. Loved it! Was not easy. Need to play this course several times. Wish the food cart was available....

Beautiful course, but totally unfair. I will not play here again

Had an 11:30 tee time. Went off 30 mins late. 5 1/2 hour round- finished in the dark. Need I say more? When your 3 deep on a par 5 there's definitely a problem. There's are Marshalls but apparently they don't get the job done. Course has gone done in its overall condition. Used to be a great place-not anymore. Too bad-wont go back

No wonder why they opened up limited teetimes to the public. I may play again only if it's free. Very disappointed with Greg's design of the course. It's no better than the Champion Retreat golf course in Corona.

I had an ok experience. Except that we were Left Stranded on hole 16. Called every # vellano offers, nobody answered... Our group (3), both our carts died, we had to hike it back to the club house. It was 4:30pm, and everybody was gone, no staff, no manager, nobody.. (Hole 17 - 18) is one of the hardest hike with a heavy bag of clubs. (Straight uphill)... Called the next day, to let them know. They didn't care. Disappointed I was. Just shocked, a course like that would have that kinda customer service... Now I know. They take your $, and after, you are a nobody to them.

FAIRWAYS HAD DORMANT (DRY) GRASS, COULD HAVE USED MORE WATERING, UNDULATING GREENS WERE EXTREMELY FAST, DEFINITELY FOR THE MORE EXPERIENCED GOLFER

The winter conditions weren't that great.
We played in the middle of the day.
The first few holes were very fun and challenging.
The rest were so slow. It took 20-30 minutes per hole since there was waiting on every hole.

The starter was dismissive. He could care less that we were there to try his course for the first time.
The starter was nice.

I will try it again when the grass is green again.

Very challenging course if you can't place you ball off the tee box.
In the event you can hit it long and straight, make sure the flat stick is working as well. You need to bring your A game to play and have fun here, or else it could be a long day.

The hills and dry, very tightly cut grass requires you to consider every shot carefully. An example was a pin high putt from 12 feet just off the edge rolled past by 4 feet, caught a false front, and ended up 175 yards back down the fairway on #3. On many holes a ball can trickle off a hill and end up in trouble 50-100 yards away from the landing area. Winds seem to always be up also.
The greens hold well and you must hit the greens to score.
I liked the course but it forced me to think much harder than most tracks. My playing partners called it "unfair" on several occassions.

I played on 11/30/2013.
The fairway grass is the winter grass and is all brown/yellowish and I could not see the ball at all.
There are no clear hole markers, sometimes I do not know where to go for the next hole.
One hole to next is just two long and time consuming and the signs are just confusing.
I had a feeling that the course was built to sell the houses around and not for the joy of playing, period.
I can honestly say that not one of 18 holes is a great hole, magnificent, just not a good value for the money.

I have been playing this course since it was new and enjoy playing it even when I don't score well. Some holes are risk reward and definitely not your flat cow pasture course.. Bring your "A" game. As for condition the tee boxes could use some love, greens are really good and fast right now with some collar work being done on some, Faiways, dying out bermuda and fast.
For the golfnow prepaid price, get up here!

Fairways were in bad condition . Course needs attention .

If you like a challenge, then Vellano Country Club is the place. I have three words to describe this course, strategic, challenging, and well designed. It’s surrounded by multi-million dollar homes and along with spectacular views throughout the entire course. I would rate this course 9.0 out of 10. The course was well maintained with lightning fast greens. The course was designed by Greg Norman, a legendary player with 91 tournament victories. Vellano Country Club is a must play.

Green fee is reasonable, tee box and fairway need some TLC. Staff are friendly and helpful.