Hillsboro Country Club

Hillsboro Country Club was built in 1931 and plays up and down some gently rolling countryside.  Although it is just minutes from downtown, you’ll feel like you’re in the country and on some farm property that was converted to a golf course. 

Hillsboro Country Club has three sets of tee boxes and is 3052 yards from the middle tees.  On a majority of the tee boxes you can let it rip – the fairways are very wide and generous in most cases, but if you miss them you’ll be lost in the trees.  You will need to be careful on positioning because the approach shots to the pin are rather tight on a lot of the holes. 

The best way to give you an idea of what this course is like is to provide a brief hole by hole description:

off the tee box on #1, a  501 yard par 5, you’ll have a down hill shot to what seems like a mile wide sloping right fairway and then it narrows for the approach shot to the green – spray it left and you’re in a back yard and if you’re right the approach to the green will be tough

#2 also has a tight approach with a hidden creek crossing in front of an elevated green

#3 is an uphill straight blind shot with another huge fairway

#4 was our favorite – a 166 yard par 3 with carry over a big ravine to a small green with little room for error and one token bunker with some sand and weeds and a steep face

#5 is a short 313 yard driveable green – in most cases you can add 75 to 80 yards or more of roll to each shot because of the hard fairways – but beware of the dry creek bed and depression along the front and left side of the green

#6 – straight and short at 332 yards – a good birdie opportunity

#7 is a slightly uphill 146 yard par 3 – another birdie opportunity if you drive the green

#8 is the longest hole at 520 and it is a small horseshoe around the trees with a narrow approach shot to the green

#9 has a big tree in the middle of the fairway about 75 yards out which blocks a frontal approach to the green – fly it, stay left or right, or try to go under it to hit the green in two

The fairways were in very rough shape when we played – dry and weed and ant infested.  The good news is you got a lot of extra roll.  There is no rough – it’s the same as the fairway.  Trees and natural areas line all of the holes but one (#1 has some homes along the left side) and a couple holes are side by side or overlapping. 

The greens had just been overseeded and were really rough, sandy, and bumpy.  Hard to tell what the normal green conditions would be but my guess is that are normally a little better.  They are all cookie cutter – small, oval, and flat.  When we hit them in regulation, which wasn’t easy since they are so small, one and two putts for par came easily.

Bottom line – this is a country course with a couple good holes, poor conditions, dated facilities, but a very affordable price.  At Hillsboro Country Club if you can hit the ball straight, figure out the green speed, and keep your wits, you may have a record round.   This is a good course to bring the family and first timers for a round of golf.