Pros:
- Wide open and flat. Lots of chances to air it out, and most holes have many different shot options.
- Beautiful scenery. More lush, green grass than we're accustomed to anywhere here in LA (except La Mirada). Large palm trees everywhere.
- Creative course design, managing to weave a fun 18 holes through a 9-hole ball golf course. One challenging double-mando, several legit par 4s, one raised basket (love those), and an island hole.
- Putting greens count as OB, adding an extra challenge.
- Secluded, suburban setting. You won't feel like you're in the city, but it's also not a full-blown escape into nature, either. The only other people you're likely to see are other golfers and folks at the adjacent little league baseball field.
Cons:
- Many of the rubber teepads are really bumpy and slippery, so you're often better off teeing off next to the teepad.
- Several holes share fairways, or even teepads, so situational awareness is important and on a busy day you may have to wait a bit.
Other Thoughts:
As always, there is room for improvement, but this is a really fun course that I look forward to revisiting soon. Pretty close to Sylmar, too, if you're looking to make a day of it!
My home course is Chavez Ridge, which is the polar opposite of this course in many regards - I'm used to steep hills and tight, wooded shots without many opportunities to air it out. With that in mind, Mission Hills was a refreshing change of pace that I really appreciated.
Bring cash for the greens fee, which is pretty insignificant when you consider what it takes to maintain a course like this.
Previous reviews griped about the signage - perhaps they are new, but the tee signs there are excellent now (thanks Brandin!). Many of the baskets also have an arrow pointing towards the next tee, which was really helpful the first time around.
Another common complaint is the quality of the course - sure, for a ball golf course this might be considered a little janky with all the gopher holes and what not, but it's perfect for disc golf! If you can't manage to have a good time here, you're doing it wrong.