A short drive from Pine Valley, but without the big reputation, the Hidden Creek Golf Club is yet another private club gem from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, the course occupying sandy pine-covered scrubland without dramatic elevation variances but enough subtle undulations for good golf. Predictably, given the design team, everything about this course is rock solid, the routing makes best use of any interesting ground movement, the turf is kept firm and fast, the bearded-lip bunkers look great and are strategically sited and the greens are exceptionally well contoured and fit the nature of the approach and the style of the hole perfectly.

There are also a number of top-shelf holes here, none better than the short, uphill par three 11th, which features an away-angled green set precariously beyond some nasty fescues and sand and atop a small, skyline knoll. Elsewhere, the opening stretch is terrific, the contouring of the 2nd green and the bunkering on the par five 3rd are especially memorable, as are the long par fours such as the 6th, 12th, 16th and the rolling 18th.