The Shadow course of Lost Canyons Country Club offered much more than was expected during the long drive out to Simi Valley, CA. Lost Canyons is a rather stunning course nestled in the northern hills of Simi and offers 36 holes of great golf that are broken up into the Sky and Shadow courses. On this beautiful Southern Californian Sunday we made the smart move and went out at the beginning of twilight with plenty of sun left and a little extra cash for the refreshment cart girl.

The Shadow courses starts off with a straight forward, uphill hole that almost resembles a set of stairs due to the numerous plateus in the mountain side. So far so good. As you step onto the tee box of number 2, there is nothing to be seen. A slight uphill fairway that disappears between two large rocks and presumably dog-legs right, but with no indication of when and how much fairway you have to work with. This is both the fun and frustration of playing a new course, especially one that turned out to be rather narrow with OB in every direction. The fifth hole also known as “Hideout Canyon” is a very difficult par 4 that requires an extra club or two as you attempted to reach this plateua green in two. The front nine ends with a par 5 that is most certainly reachable in 2. However your drive needs to be flawless, any sign of a hook and you will find yourself in a long, large dry creek that has the red stakes of death dividing the hazard in half.

The back nine starts off with a standard fairway, but almost immediatley returns to the interesting holes with high approach pins. Shadow’s number 12 is just that. This very long par 5 has been dubbed “High Noon” and is filled with pockets of rough as you approach the large, sloping green. Be sure to stay out of the dry creek bed on the left, you do not want to find yourself there. The 16th hole also makes for an interesting hole whose green is an island surrounded by OB and the best part is the wind coming right at you, screwing with which club you are going to use. Here’s a free hint, the drop zone is down and to the right of the green.

It really is the final hole that has made this entire course well worth the play (assuming you haven’t been having a good time). This par 5 sports two rocky hillsides that you shoot your drive up and through. Once over, the pin is downhill and to your left. The problem is it is surrounded by bunkers on everyside and not hitting this green is not an option.

Overall this course was a great play and I’m looking forward to going back there now that I know the layout of the course. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fantastic course outside of Los Angeles away from the crowds and noise.

Rating: 7 out of 10

LOST CANYONS GREEN FEE’S & TEE TIMES

TWILIGHT HOURS

Lost Canyons Country Club
3301 Lost Canyons Dr
Simi Valley, CA 93063-7168
United States
P: (805) 522-4653
F: (805) 995-0036