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

Arthur Hills Golf Course is ranked as one of the topmost golf courses on Hilton Head. Started in the year 1986, this golf course presents one of the most characteristic layouts in the region. The site of hills took complete benefit of the well formed rolling layouts and natural dunes along with the remarkable altitude changes. This golf course has an exclusive seaside nature with a fairway and rough bunkers that are particularly missing. The dune lines prolong into the greenery, thereby generating a heavier surface. Ocean breezes and off-balance lies are a constant challenge and the lagoons also come into play on the tenth hole.
One of the best things about this particular golf course is the habituation. Its fairways and also the roughs are both producing lush, over seeded and green settings. Most of the holes on the course are different in design, making each one more demanding than the last. There are several water hazards and bunkers to guarantee that every shot has to be well planned and well executed by the players. Water is not only the enemy at the course; even the trees are bound to mess up a player around at some of the areas. Most likely, the main distinguished characteristic of this low country golf course design is the flourishing achievement of the trees, not only surrounding the holes on the perimeter but also within the holes itself. This is the reason why the seventeenth hole is so difficult to implement.
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The 18-hole golf course at the Sherwood Country Club is said to be one of the most exquisite golf course in South California. This golf course is spread on 7,025 yards of land from the longest tee and comprise of around 600 year old oak trees on the course. One of the most favorite holes on the course is the 13th hole where there are a series of waterfalls. Even the 15th hole requires a tee shot in order to make the ball pass through the waterfall to the greens. Designed by Jack Nicklaus this course is an exclusive and private club in south California. This golf course was initially opened in the year 2006 and The General Manager Alexandria Cuilty manages this entire club.

Sherwood Country golf course offers an exceptional playing experience for all level of golfers. Its imaginative use of valleys, running streams, waterfalls, unique rock formations and land elevations echo the aesthetically rich natural environment of the Sherwood valley. The Target World Challenge, an off-season golf tournament is being held at this golf course every year in December. Hosted by Tiger Woods this Tournament comprises of sixteen top players in which it includes top eleven players from the World Golf rankings and four invitees chosen by Woods. In the 2007 edition of Target World Challenge which started on 12th of December this year was the ninth year of this tournament. Tiger Woods the defending champion is leading with three championship titles while Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington settle with one title each.

The Southern Hills Country Club is one of the most impressive private golf courses in the US state of Oklahoma. This golf club was initially established in the year 1936 and was donated by Waite Phillips - a well known multi-millionaire. Designed by Perry Maxwell this 18-hole golf club offers one of the best golfing experiences in the world. This golf club hosts several golf tournaments and among them includes the PGA Championship, US Open and four other major championships. Recently on August 2007, Southern Hills Country Club became the first golf club to host four PGA Championships that were conducted in 1970, 1982, 1994 and 2007.

This country club has also hosted three US Open Championships in the year 1958, 1977 and 2001. It has also hosted five major championships which include the 1946 & 1987 US Women’s Mid Amateur, 1965 US Amateur Championship, 1961 USGA senior Amateur Championship and 1953 US Junior Amateur. This golf club is recognized as the nation’s one of the most respected locations for major golf championships. Its previous three PGA Championships did generate few of the most remarkable moments in the golf history.

At the 2007 PGA Championships held at the Southern Hills Country Club Tiger Woods emerged as the title winner. It was Woods first victory on that course where he defeated Woody Austin by a three shot lead. With that victory Woods registered his 59 PGA Tour victories. It was also his fourth PGA Championship title, winning it in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007. Southern Hills Country Club has often continued with its great long tradition of showcasing several major golf championships. Indeed, this is one of the best golf courses in US that offer great facilities and even the best experience for all the golfers.

Tiburon golf course is situated between Ft Myers and Naples in the Southwest countryside of Florida. This 18-hole golf course is designed by a well renowned designer Greg Norman. Distinct by the use of coquina sand, stacked sod wall bunkers and without roughs, this golf course provides golfers with all talents, a peaceful setting and a memorable experience. This golf course is scattered over 800 acres of land and is one of the favorite golf courses both for professional and amateur golfers.

The designer Norman mended an extra-ordinary blend of modern and traditional elements at the Tiburon Golf Course in order to create a course of beauty and elegance. The meticulously maintained turf and the absence of rough right through the course presents the golfer’s with a wide variety of challenging shots. Tiburon, licensed as the Audubon Co-operative Sanctuary reveals a strong dedication to protect and enhance the natural resources of the wildlife areas through research, stewardships and education.

Merrill Lynch Shootout is an annual golf tour hosted by Greg Norman and played at the Tiburon Golf Course. On its 19th anniversary this championship was held from the 5th to 9th of December 2007. Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling defeated Scott Verplank and Justin Leonard on sudden death play-off hole to win the title in 2006. For the 2007 championship there are12 teams that consist of PGA players selected on few aspects like ten players from the career money list, three players from the current money list, nine players as special exceptions and the defending champions.

Pebble Beach Golf Course is one of the most famous golf courses in the whole world. The Pebble Beach Golf course is situated in California along the Coast of Pacific Ocean. This golf course offers some of the spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean on just about every hole. This golf course has always been the best site for some of the most prestigious tournaments like the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the occasionally US Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am championships. This is the golf course where Tiger Woods had his 15 shot victory in the US Open. This Golf course is been designed by Douglas Grant and Jack Neville and was initially opened in the year 1919.

The main aim of the designer was to lay as many holes as possible along the coastline of Monterey. The layout of the golf course is extremely difficult and is obviously one of the most challenging courses for all the golfers. The first two holes are in land while the third hole is near the ocean and the fourth & fifth holes are also along the side of the ocean. The 3/7th hole is laid on the downhill with a very short hole and the wind plays a major role at this hole. The bottom line is that even though it is only stretched up to 110 yards the whole often plays 150 to 170 with the wind factor. This is just the illustration of how visually threatening and difficult holes this golf course offers. Whatever may be the reason Pebble Beach Golf Course is well-known status as one of the most spectacular golf courses in the world.

The Southern area of Utah terrain is habitually a desert with stunning red rock mountains, formations and plateaus. This area is so magnificent, that it has been developed with several Parks like the Zion National Park and the Capitol Reef National Park. The Ledges Golf Club is situated in the center of this red rock country of St Georgia in Utah. St Georgia is a small deserted town situated in the South West of Utah and is bordered by Arizona. This small town presents a warm weather all-round the year and even tons of great golf courses. The Ledges Golf Course has been designed by one of the famous golf course designers Matthew Dye. This 7200 yard championship Golf Course was opened only few months ago and takes advantage of the rough desert landscape adequately.

The Ledges golf Club has two nine-hole courses that share parallel design ideas. The back nine-hole is tighter with some of the extreme elevation changes while the front nine- hole moderately wide open with some of the minor elevation changes. The fairways on the back are definitely tighter as many of the rolling hills on the sides are replaced by red rock canyons or sand. The fairways on the front have some undulating and rolling landing areas in the rough desert. The golf carts at these Ledges are high tech and very comfortable. There’s also a GPS navigation system that is available and tells about the yardages and even gives some important tips on how to play each hole.

The Mahogany Run Golf Course is on the North shore of St. Thomas in North America and is home of the Devil’s Triangle. This North American golf course has a rugged and beautiful location with imposing cliffs near the ocean. Jim and Robert Armour were the people behind the development of this scenic golf course. They carved it out from the rugged landscape of the region. The Mahogany Run Golf Course is the island’s only golf course and was designed by George and Tom Fazio in 1980. The Golf Digest has praised it as a wonder of engineering because the course had to be carved out by blasting as it stood to be a hard geographical nature of the region. The Mahogany Run Golf Course occupies an area of almost 110 acres and the greens of the course spread over 77,000 square feet with snake like fairways that give it the perfect picturesque look.

The view of the ocean from the golf course is a charming one and the high point of the golf course is its signature hole- the Devil’s Triangle that is always a challenge for golfers. The Mahogany Golf Course stretches 6,022-yard and is a par-70 course with 18 holes. Ginn Resort presently operates this golf course. The golf course welcomes golfers all through the week; the public golf course here is situated in the town of Charlotte Amalie. Visitors can reach there in only fifteen minutes from the ferry dock of Red Hook. Contran Resorts painstakingly developed the irrigation system for the greens in 1994 when they bought it from its previous owners.

The North American Golf Course, Royal Montreal Golf Club is the region’s oldest golf course and club. This golf club was established in the year 1873 and was initially called only Montreal Golf Club; Queen Victoria awarded the prefix Royal to the club in 1884. In its beginning, the club had a nine-hole golf course, which was in Mount Royal Park; the club is currently in Île-Bizard, Quebec where it moved in 1959. There is the 45 hole golf course at the Royal Montreal Golf Club which today is the biggest in Canada. The Blue golf course of the club enjoys a reputation of being in the top 100 golf courses by the premier golf magazines. Scoregolf in 2006 ranked the course as the 12th golf course in Canada. The Royal Montreal Golf Club’s golf courses add to the reputation of the club and attract many premier golf tournaments.

The golf courses of the Royal Montreal Golf Club are mainly private and are known for their immaculate services and its perfect maintenance of all the greens. The Blue Course of the club will be hosting the Presidents Cup which was originally created by Dick Wilson but then Rees Jones gave it a new face in 2004. No. 16 is the signature hole of this golf course; the course stretches at 444 yards and is par 4 golf course. The best golf players of the world will find the course a challenge when they will have to play off the tee of the course. The course of the club has also hosted some of the important golf events of Canada.

Ballyneal Club is a classified golf course located just few kilometers away from Holyoke, a small city which is situated in the North Eastern Colorado. Designed by one of the famous golf course designers Tom Doak, Ballyneal Golf Course was been opened in September 2006. This golf course is among the retreat golf clubs in the Nebraska Colorado region, this area is been believed to be one of the hot destinations for passionate golfers. This golf course was built in Ballyneal as a result of the popularity of cookie cutter tracks which grew across America in the 70’sand 80’s. Tom Doak’s idea was to of prepare a natural golf course that looks as if it was emerged from the landscapes.

This 18 hole golf course is marked by complex fairways, pleasant route, banked greens and magnificent vistas making Ballyneal one of the most recognized masterpieces of Tom Doak. The vicinity which Ballyneal occupies is situated in the midst of thousands of acres of cornfields. This golf course itself lies in the hilly, rough and moon like area. These gently sloping hills are covered with two foremost forms of sunflowers, yucca plants and vegetation. At a glance, one can see shades of yellow and green rolling over these Scotland like gently sloping hills. The fairways are almost flat and fairly wide as they provide a fair landing spot for the drivers. The bunkers are very jagged and rough around the edges and sand from the native area. It isn’t unusual for the vegetation or yuccas to be growing around the edges of these bunkers.