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I shot 78 at Anaheim Hills Golf Club for my latest SCGA One Day Series event on April 18, 2026, finishing 7th out of 32 in the field. Not bad considering I’d never played the course before. This Anaheim Hills SCGA tournament recap breaks down what worked, what didn’t, and why a short tight course can punish you just as hard as a 7,000-yard monster when you’ve never seen the shots before.
Anaheim Hills SCGA Tournament: Pre-Round Setup
Tee time was 8:00 AM, and Anaheim Hills is about 90 minutes from me, so I was out the door at 5:00 AM. My Tesla was charged to 100% from home and could make the round trip without charging, but I like keeping the routine the same regardless. Grabbed a Starbucks oatmeal for the drive and pulled into a Tesla Supercharger station in Irvine, not to charge but to run through my 15-minute pre-round yoga routine. It’s become part of how I prep for every tournament.
Got to Anaheim Hills at 6:45 AM with plenty of time to hit a medium bucket of balls on the range and spend 30 minutes on the putting green dialing in the speed of the greens and my putting stroke. Showing up early and warming up properly is one of the things I’ve learned matters most for scoring lower as a golfer over 50.
The Course: Short, Tight, and a Guessing Game
From the reviews I read, Anaheim Hills Golf Club is a short tight track with elevated tees and greens, blind shots, and dog legs running both directions. From the black tees, it plays 6,120 yards, par 71, with a 70.7 course rating and 123 slope. That description turned out to be spot on.
There’s a real advantage to local knowledge at a course like this. For a first-timer, it was honestly a guessing game on a lot of holes. I had GPS on my phone, which helped with distances, but I’m a visual player — I need to see the shot, and too many tee shots were hidden or blind. You can know the yardage and still have no idea where the ball needs to end up.
Driver Strategy on a Short Course
Because it’s a shorter course with so many dog legs and hidden shots, I only pulled driver 6 times total — twice on the front 9 and four times on the back 9. My 7-wood came out of the bag off the tee another 6 times. The rest was irons off the tee. Picking the right club off the tee is where course management for golfers over 50 earns its money on a course like this.
Five of the six drivers I hit were long and straight. When the Stack System swing speed work shows up under tournament pressure, it really shows up. Here’s the breakdown:
Driver Log — Anaheim Hills
- #2 — 401-yard par 4. Slightly downhill fairway. Total drive 326 yards, leaving 75 to the flag. Probably would have been closer if the cart sign hadn’t stopped it in the middle of the fairway.
- #9 — 426-yard uphill par 4. My worst drive of the day. Hit it right into a lateral penalty area, had to take a drop, made double bogey 6.
- #11 — 371-yard downhill par 4. Middle of the fairway. 319-yard drive, 52 yards to the flag.
- #15 — 357-yard downhill par 4. Middle of the fairway. 322-yard drive, 35 yards to the flag.
- #16 — 347-yard uphill par 4. Middle of the fairway. 292-yard drive, 55 yards to the flag.
- #18 — 470-yard downhill short par 5. Middle of the fairway. 284-yard drive, 186 yards left to an uphill green into the wind. (More on this one below.)
For the irons, I’m playing the TaylorMade P770s — they’ve been in my bag for the past two seasons and the consistency on shots like the 5-iron on 18 is exactly why they stay there.
The Birdie on 18
The only birdie of the day came on the last hole, and it was the shot of the round. After the 284-yard drive on the downhill par 5, I had 186 yards to an uphill green with the wind blowing directly in my face. I calculated it playing 206 yards. Pulled 5-iron, hit it pin high just off the right side of the green with 21 feet for eagle. Chipped to 3 feet and made the putt for birdie.
Closing an Anaheim Hills SCGA tournament round with birdie on 18 is one of those moments that reminds you why you grind on the range at 6:45 AM.
The Bad: Three Double Bogeys
The round wasn’t without mistakes. Three double bogeys on the card and all three came from the same source — the guessing game of a first-time course, compounded by one mental error.
#9 — Lateral Penalty Area
Already covered above. Uphill 426-yard par 4, my worst drive of the day, penalty drop, double bogey 6.
#10 — Blind Tee Shot, Blocked Out
324-yard par 4. I had no idea where to hit it or how far. Pushed the tee shot right into the trees. Had 124 yards to the flag but was blocked out, so I had to pitch under the trees, leaving 50 yards. Then I hit the 50-yard shot fat into the very wet, un-maintenance bunker in front of the green. Double bogey 6.
#17 — Guiding the Ball
173-yard downhill par 3. I calculated it playing 155 with the slope, but the wind was hurting. I tried to guide the ball — big mistake. Pulled it left into the trees and my ball ended up sitting between two roots 36 feet from the pin. Couldn’t get underneath it. My only option was to hit down on it. When I swung, I caught the top of the root and the top of the ball, which moved the ball 5 feet. Chip went 10 feet past the pin, two putts later, double bogey 6.
The #17 double is the one that stings the most because it was a mental game failure. I knew the number. I had the club. I tried to steer it instead of swinging it.
The One 3-Putt
On #14, a 368-yard par 4, I had 33 feet for birdie. Hit the first putt 5 feet short and missed the comeback. Only 3-putt of the day but still — boo. Putting for golfers over 50 is all about speed control, and I left that first one way short.
Anaheim Hills SCGA Tournament: Final Stats
- Score: 78 (7 over par 71)
- Finish: 7th place out of 32
- Fairways hit: 71%
- Greens in regulation: 44%
- Total putts: 29 (love being under 30)
- 3-putts: 1
- Penalty strokes: 1
- Birdies: 1
- Doubles: 3
The Good and The Bad
The good: Long, accurate drives when I pulled driver — 71% fairways hit is a strong number at any course, let alone one I’d never played. Under 30 putts. A closing birdie. A 7th-place finish in a 32-player SCGA field at a course I’d never seen before.
The bad: Three double bogeys. That’s 6 shots over par on three holes alone. Take two of those back and I’m at 74, which at a first-time course with a 70.7 rating is genuinely good golf. It’s the classic short game and course management lesson — the swing was there, the decisions and the misses weren’t.
What I Took Away from the Anaheim Hills SCGA Tournament
Short, tight golf courses with blind shots and elevation changes reward local knowledge more than any other kind of course. A 6,120-yard par 71 that rates 70.7 doesn’t sound intimidating until you’re standing on a tee box staring at nothing, guessing what’s over the hill.
I’ll take a 78 and 7th place from my first Anaheim Hills SCGA tournament. The swing speed work — you can track my speed log here — continues to pay off in tournament conditions, and the driver was a weapon when I needed it. The three doubles are the homework: better decisions on blind tee shots, trust the number on par 3s, and grind out better speed on long lag putts.
Next up: Monterey Country Club on May 16.