The “new” Mulholland Hills CC ushers in a new era at a classic club

Photos by Ryan McFadden

Over the past decade, Invited Clubs has quietly but aggressively redefined what private club life means across Southern California and beyond. At the local center of this quantum leap sits Mulholland Hills CC (MHCC) — the 27-hole roller-coaster formerly known as Braemar CC — perched proudly above the San Fernando Valley at the southern terminus of Reseda Blvd. in Tarzana.

More than a flagship property, it’s the clearest statement of Invited’s philosophy: maintain tradition, reinvest decisively ($22 million in this case) and redesign with the modern member in mind.

To call it a facelift would be a gross understatement — from stem to stern, MHCC announces itself as country club life for a younger clientele.

Invited (formerly known as ClubCorp) has owned Braemar/Mulholland Hills for almost seven decades, and the club was definitely showing its age. “That one’s been in the portfolio since 1959,” noted Regional Marketing Director Matt Rink in a recent interview.

As the company surveyed its SoCal portfolio several years ago — which also includes Porter Valley CC and Aliso Viejo CC — Braemar emerged as a prime candidate for transformation. “We saw the opportunity, as well as the potential for improvement — that’s why Invited decided to make this one of our largest reinvestments,” Rink said. “And it was much welcomed by members who have been there for 40-plus years.”

The ClubCorp roster started humbly in 1957 with the construction of Brookhaven CC in suburban Dallas. It was the first in an eventual nationwide collection of some 200 golf and country clubs, business and sports clubs across 30 states and a handful of foreign countries. When the company turned 60 in 2017, they were acquired by investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management.

MAKING IT MEMBER-FRIENDLY

When the company decided to usher Braemar CC into the new millennium, they turned to Lanny Wadkins (alongside architect Kurt Bowman), the PGA Tour legend whose design sensibilities aligned perfectly with the “member-first” blueprint Invited has been fostering nationwide. “Lanny has done a few of our renovations — Craig Ranch, Stonebridge Ranch, Diamond Run,” said Rink, “and we’ve had a great relationship with him. When we got the first one done, we decided to keep that partnership going and have never regretted it for a second.”

“From stem to stern, MHCC announces itself as country club life for a younger clientele.”

Wadkins’ first walk-through at Mulholland Hills revealed a course with admirable bones but decades of accumulated sag and clutter — tight corridors, hulking trees and greens that no longer held the creative spark of their original era. “As he went over the course, Lanny just noticed it was overgrown and outdated, and he really wanted to reshape it to make it more member-friendly,” Rink noted. That humble phrase became the guiding refrain behind a complete reimagining of the course.

Properly speaking, Mulholland Hills CC is best understood as both a restoration and a renewal. The routing was preserved out of respect for history, but almost everything else was re-graded, reshaped or rethought. “It was overgrown and in need of a haircut,” the jocular Wadkins said recently of his first look at the club. “It looked like a property that had a world of potential. All we’ve done is enhance what was there and create some better visuals. My partner Kurt and I spent a lot of time on the ground here and we’re both kind of blown away by how spectacular it turned out.”

EVERYDAY PLAY

New Director of Golf Mark Gouger summed up the new design succinctly: “It’s not long but it’s definitely a shotmaker’s course. At around 6,500 yards, you’re still going to have to be able to put the ball in certain places to score well — it’s hardly a pushover!”

“As members cannot live by golf alone, Mulholland Hills CC also has 18 tennis courts, eight pickleball courts and a heated Olympic Junior swimming pool flanked by a gleaming 4,700-square-foot fitness center.”

Selective tree removal opened sightlines dramatically — golfers can now stand on tee boxes and see options: preferred angles, challenge lines and safe zones. And the land itself — especially on the rolling Canyon nine — is a study in quietude and natural beauty, quite unlike anything in the region. Just ask the deer, coyote and odd bobcat who generously share the land with paying club members.

“Members speak quite a bit about Lanny’s bunkers because they represent such a dramatic improvement,” Rink remarked. “They don’t have that vague, undefined look, but are very noticeable as a landing-area cue and good for the superintendent as well.”

The redesign eliminated the old, inconsistent traps that were prone to washouts, replacing them with modernized bunkers featuring stable edges, efficient drainage and crisp shaping. But aesthetics weren’t the sole selling point — strategy was. The bunkers now guide decisions rather than merely penalize misses.

Wadkins approached the green complexes with the same philosophy: Challenge the serious player while welcoming the everyday golfer. Subtle false fronts, expanded pin placements and thoughtfully introduced contours give each green its own personality without elevating difficulty beyond reason. Short-game creativity is encouraged but not strictly required. “The bentgrass greens are really interesting,” Gouger remarked, “but we’ll keep the speed down to make sure that MHCC is a good country club golf course that you’ll want to play every day without getting bored or frustrated.”

In the added bonus department, the earth-moving process yielded an unexpected treasure: bold rock outcroppings that now frame numerous greens — most notably as a backstop on Canyon No. 1 — combining visual beauty with aimable sightlines on holes that were formerly a bit confusing to approach from the fairways. The Canyon Course is the first Wadkins nine to open, with his Vista track set to open in 2026. The Sal Rodriguez redesign of the Trails Course rounds out the impressive 27-hole rotation and is open for daily play.

ELEVATED DINING

The redesign was only one piece of the Mulholland Hills CC evolution. The club’s membership profile has shifted dramatically — more multi-ethnic, more family-oriented and decidedly younger. A glance at Goldie’s — the casual dining spot named after PGA champ Ralph Guldahl — during a sumptuous weekend brunch buffet told the tale: parents herding giddy youngsters alongside kicked-back veteran members, all going down without the usual private club snootiness or formality.

As members cannot live by golf alone, Mulholland Hills CC also has 18 tennis courts, eight pickleball courts and a heated Olympic Junior swimming pool flanked by a gleaming 4,700-square-foot fitness center. All boast eagle-eye views of the entire valley, as does the signature fine-dining venue, Sage & Vine. From sushi to prime ribeye, truffle mac and cheese and a fabulous feta dip appetizer with an exemplary house-baked pita bread, Sage & Vine was truly a revelation.