Few golf courses wear their regional identity as literally as this one. Black Gold opened in 1999 on land that sits atop the old Olinda oil field, and the petroleum history of Yorba Linda is woven into the course's very DNA — pump jacks and oil derricks appear throughout the property, serving as both decoration and genuine historical markers on ground that was actively producing crude within living memory.
The design is the work of Arthur Hills, who routed the course through rolling hills that the old oil operations left behind, creating elevation changes and panoramic views across the Chino Hills and beyond that feel genuinely dramatic for suburban Southern California. The layout rewards strategic thinking from the tee, with several holes demanding careful placement to open up approach angles on greens that aren't always forgiving.
Yorba Linda sits in the Placentia-Yorba Linda area of Orange County, where the climate is reliably warm and dry — conditions that keep the course playable year-round and the fairways firm and fast underfoot most of the season.
