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If your golf appetite requires a course loaded with doglegs, blind tee shots, elevation changes and fast greens, Anaheim Hills Golf Course in the foothills south of the 91 freeway is for you. For this round, we played the blue tees at 6,281 yards. Green fees range from $49 Monday-Thursday and up to $59 on weekends. The driving range is two-tiered and features mats that allow you to launch shots into a hillside. Spend some time on the putting green. It will give you a hint of the speed of the greens on the course. The par FIVES The round opens with a memorable shot from an elevated first tee. There’s a hazard on the right and out-of-bounds markers on the left, so be ready to play when you hit your first shot of the day. At only 484 yards, many golfers will have the opportunity to go for the green in two. Unless you manage to find the right side of the fairway, however, your approach to the green will be blind. Take advantage of this short par 5 because it’s the only one on the front nine. The back nine features two more reachable par-5s, but the 501-yard 12th hole is the ultimate in golf archi-torture. A long, straight drive might send your ball into a small pond that is out of view. The best options are lay up short of the pond and be faced with a blind second shot or go left over a sloping hillside. The green is about 75 feet above the fairway, meaning that shots falling short will pick up momentum, trickle back down the slope and end up 75-100 yards from the green. The smart play is to just suck it up and lay up short and right of the green, setting up a 50-yard pitch. A giant swale on the green serves as a backstop for front pin locations and a giant pain if the pin is in the back. Let’s just say that par is a good score on this hole. The par FOURS The course is loaded with blind tee shots, but most of the trouble is benign and the holes look a lot more difficult than they really are. The toughest is the 428-yard third hole, which has a 90-degree dogleg to the right. You can cut off a bit of the dogleg, but you’ll need at least 240 yards of carry to do it. The more you try to cut off, the farther you’ll have to carry it, so don’t get greedy. The green slopes to the left, so you’ll want to be putting or chipping back into the slope. The par THREES Anaheim Hills is home to a great collection of par 3s, most notably the 254-yard fifth hole. It’s not as bad as it sounds. It plays downhill and only requires about a 200-yard shot. Look out for the front right pin placement, however. We watched a chip nearly stop a foot from the hole before rolling off the green. The three other par 3s are straightforward, but watch the prevailing wind on No. 13, a 207-yarder that plays downhill. A crosswind forces shots to the right where a small lake waits to devour wayward shots. Conclusion The elevation changes and blind tee shots at Anaheim Hills can make for a long day for the uninitiated. The rough is also spotty. Thick patches of grass crop up in the dormant rough, making short pitches and chips a difficult proposition at best. Couple this with the firm, fast greens and you’ll see the teeth that this course has to bear. A GPS system in the golf cart helps, but it can’t play the tough shots for you. SG For tee times, call (714) 998-3041 or visit www.playanaheimgolf.com. Internet specials and club membership programs are available through the site. |
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