Mulholland Hills Country Club - Canyons

Lanny Watkins and architect Kurt Bowman have completely revamped the old Braemar CC into a fantastic modern test now called the Mulholland Hills Country Club. I played the Canyon nine, marveling at the wild terrain and wonderful contours that the duo have created. I've had multiple people come up to me skeptical about the chops of Watkins as a player-architect, but if this effort is any indication, it's a good fit for the third act of his career after successful runs as a player and TV analyst. I can't wait to come back and play the full 18 (the renovation of the third nine is being handled by a different company). Invited, the club's owner, has spent millions to upgrade the clubhouse, pool and tennis complex, enhancing every facility for the next generation of club members.

8/31/20

The other reviews are pretty accurate although overall rating should be closer to 3.9-4.0. I can see why a person would want to call it a "muni" based on the average conditions, but it plays like a country club. It winds through the hills up and down, not real long, lots of blind/dramatic drops tee to green. Off the fairway is usually dead so have to keep it straight. There are adequate distance markers on sprinklers in case you forgot your GPS as I did. Not a flat spot on the greens so gotta keep it below the hole, unlike me. Don't know if it's worth playing twice, but nice to see once, even if it's just to see the coyotes roaming #6. I played US Open-Western nines today. Didn't hit a single driver on the US Open 9, Western a lot more driveable so let it fly. A little hard to get going during Covid because there isn't anywhere to warm up or even putt. But the course was wide open on Monday morning, I was welcomed nicely, had the course explained to me, and allowed to tee off early solo, so it wasn't all bad. Western #5 was my favorite hole, #9 pretty finishing hole. All in all fun little jaunt through the hills.

I usually shoot in the 70s and when I saw this scorecard with the yardages I started licking my chops .. I decided to play from the tips since it is only 6600 yards but man I sure asked for more than I could chew. The course demands a very tight shaped tee shot off basically every hole. Lined with trees throughout and dog leg left or dog leg right pretty much every hole as well. I played the western and masters so can’t attest to the us open side but I thoroughly enjoyed the strategy involved playing each hole out there. Actually there are maybe 2-3 holes out of the 18 that are pretty straight but still narrow. Either way I ended up realizing my game wasn’t as tight as it needs to be and am excited to come back out again. Course and greens were in great condition.

Played the US Open and Masters through ClubCorp. First few holes went pretty well until we ran into a group of inconsiderate, arrogant and typical country club stuck ups. That's because we started 20 min after that group. By the time we got to the ninth tee, they must have been at least 2 groups behind the group in front of them. When we asked if we could play through, they said it's because of the (invisible) group in front of them and marched on while cracking jokes. Nothing ruins round of golf faster than slow play.

The course itself is very challenging with lots of blind tee shots. The carts didn't come with navigation so I relied on using my range finder a lot. The greens were slippery due to a tournament play, but fairways were on the average side. The course would be fun if you can stay engaged.

Being that we are in a drought, this course is in very good shape. Greens are fast and smooth.

The only thing good about this course is that it is private and the pace of play is good and the greens are in decent condition. But the layout and the lack of GPS for the course leave too many blind-shots and leaves too much to the imagination. I would not be a paying member for this country club (at least from strictly a golfing vantage point). Overall facility is again like a muni course which just happens to be private. Next....