mikevegas40

I love Mountain Falls. It's in great condition, it's as hilly as you will find in the desert, and the people are great. What I like most is the fact that the two nines were designed by different companies - Nicklaus Group designed the front nine, Cal Olson designed the back. They play differently, with the front more open but with more fairway traps in play and more difficult greens, and the back playing more narrow but with easier greens. Overall I never get tired of playing Mountain Falls.

I love Mountain Falls Golf Course. It's always in excellent condition, the layout is challenging, the people are extremely helpful and friendly, and the price is right. What else is there?

I like that the front and back were designed by two different companies - Jack Nicklaus' company designed the front, and Cal Olson designed the back. They play differently, and I like that since I play at Mountain Falls all the time.

The front is more wide open, but with fairway traps that are definitely in play. Avoid them and you have a much better chance at a good score, but the other great obstacle are the greens. I find it much harder to read putts on the front nine. There are also numerous tiered greens that make a two putt frequently difficult.

The back is just as difficult, but for completely different reasons. I have always thought it is easier to string pars on the front, but it's easier to make a birdie or two on the back. The back is much tighter and requires more accuracy off of the tee. If you stay in the fairway, however, you are rewarded with easier greens, overall. But the back also has, in my opinion, the two hardest holes, 12 and 14.

12, a par 4, is narrow off of the tee but you still want to hit a long drive because the approach is downhill to a shallow green. If you have to hit a long iron or more into the green it won't hold. To make things harder, the front right is protected by a difficult trap, and the left is spongy and your ball won't roll onto the green unless you are very lucky. Then the green itself is probably the most difficult on the back.

14 is a par 3 that has an elevated green, a deep bail out area to the right that requires incredible skill and/or luck to pitch out of (honestly, I usually putt it myself). Short there is a stream and rocks. Left is no bargain, the green doesn't hold well and it you have any hook on your shot you will see yourself hit the green, and then your ball ends up in the water. The only "safe" spot is long, the trap in the back is shallow and easy. Then to top it off, the green is difficult and different from the rest of the course.

Two pars on 12 and 14 is an achievement. Both are very capable of generating "others" on your scorecard.

That said, the thing to keep in mind on the back is the rest of the holes are all "gettable", but still challenging and interesting.