Mulholland Hills Country Club

Course History

The club began life as Braemar Country Club, taking shape in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the hilly southern rim of the San Fernando Valley, and it has been part of the ClubCorp (now Invited) portfolio since 1959 — the second club the company ever owned. Ted Robinson Sr., the Southern California architect renowned for coaxing golf holes out of difficult, rolling terrain, designed the original 27 holes at the foot of Reseda Boulevard below Mulholland Drive. The three nines were named the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Western in honor of Ralph “Goldie” Guldahl, the club's longtime head professional, whose championship haul included the 1937 and 1938 U.S. Opens, the 1939 Masters and three consecutive Western Opens.

In 2024, Invited launched a $22 million reimagination of the property and rebranded it Mulholland Hills Country Club. World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, working with architect Kurt Bowman, rebuilt two of the three nines — now called Canyon and Vista — with the Canyon nine reopening first and the Vista nine following in early 2026, while the Trails nine (the former U.S. Open course) was also redone and kept in daily play. The renovation touched nearly every corner of the club, from resurfaced racquet courts to new dining venues, including Goldie's Grill, named in tribute to Guldahl.

The Design & Architecture

Wadkins and Bowman largely preserved Robinson's original routing but re-graded and reshaped nearly everything on it. The tight, tree-lined corridors and small round greens typical of the club's early-1960s character gave way to a more open look: selective tree removal widened the playing lines, the bunkering was modernized with stable edges, better drainage and a Golden Age flavor, and the green complexes were expanded with varied contours and subtle false fronts. Earth-moving during construction uncovered bold rock outcroppings that now frame several greens, becoming an unexpected signature of the new course. The rebuilt putting surfaces are bentgrass — a rarity in the Valley — bordered by thick bermuda rough.

Signature Holes

The opening hole of the Canyon nine sets the tone for the new-look course, playing to a green backstopped by one of the exposed rock outcroppings cut into the hillside. On the Vista nine, a new rock-lined creek threads across the closing stretch of holes 7 through 9, adding a hazard the old Braemar layout never had. The Canyon routing also reshuffled its par mix in the redesign — one par 3 became a par 4 and two par 4s became par 3s — and its short par-4 8th tempts better players to take a rip at the green.

Playing the Course

None of the composite 18s is long by modern standards — the Trails/Canyon combination measures 6,119 yards against a par of 71 with a 70.9 rating and 132 slope from the back tees — but the “roller-coaster” terrain, constant elevation change and thick bermuda rough demand precise ball-striking over brute length. Panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley are the reward from the higher tees. The practice facilities include a full-length driving range with true ball flight, a rarity in the Valley.

Know Before You Go

• Private club at 4001 Reseda Blvd, Tarzana, CA 91356; call (818) 345-6520 for tee times and details.

• Access is by Invited membership or as a member's guest; the 27 holes rotate as three composite 18-hole combinations (Trails/Canyon, Canyon/Vista and Vista/Trails).

• Tip: the hilly routing makes a cart the smart play, and the new bentgrass greens reward keeping approaches below the hole.

• More info and booking at https://www.invitedclubs.com/clubs/mulholland-hills-country-club.