Soule Park-Bravo to Hanse and Wagner!

[David Stamm]

I got a hall pass from the wife on Saturday and drove up to Ojai and played Soule Park and Ojai Valley Inn. Ryan Simper covered Ojai pretty well about a month ago, so I won't go too much into it. If the chance presents itself, I highly recommend it.


Soule Park was a very pleasant surprise. I forgot my camera (Doh!), but for those not familiar with the course, it's about 2 miles from Ojai Valley Inn. It's owned by the city of Ojai and was originally designed by William Bell jr with assistance by Bob Baldock. A few years ago, record rainfall hit the Ventura area and the course was virtually wiped out. Hanse was called in to rebuild the course while building Rustic Canyon, which is about 30-40 minutes away. The routing is pretty much intact from what I've been told, but Hanse and Wagner redid all the greens and bunkers and added more. They did a great job! The course is alot of fun and the greens bear a striking resemblance to Rustic Canyon. I've heard some ho hum the place. Don't believe it! Go play it if you are in the area. I look forward to playing it again in the near future. Kudo's to Hanse and Wagner! Here's a link below that has some pretty good photo's form the course's website.


http://www.soulepark.com/photo_gallery.html

[Scott Weersing]

The course reopened in April of 2006 after Hanse redid all the greens and added amazing bunkers everywhere.

The course was rerouted with the first tee now below the old 18th green. So No. 1 is now a par 4 while No. 2 plays back to the 17th tee as a par 5.

If you like fast and firm, the Soule Park is for you as the new irrigation system is used sparingly in the fairways. The greens have ridges and mounds like the ones Hanse created at Rustic Canyon. The course does have some long holes, including No. 14 which is 460 yards and has a green that slopes from front to back. And then No. 16 is 230 yards from the white tees and 240 yards from the back tees.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

David,
The course was rejuvenated after the great rains of 2005, shortly after Gil and Jim repaired Rustic from those same storms. I have some photos from the construction or reconstruction and I'll pos them later.

[Jon Spaulding]

Impressive performance; all in one day? I thought this was a 48 hour hall pass ...but maybe you played Shorecliffs today. Hopefully SP's greens were acceptable at the 10 day mark.

The photos look nice; bunkering looks solid. Looks like they also saved a few bucks by having the same website as another course which shall remain nameless, or vice versa.

[David Stamm]

Impressive performance; all in one day? I thought this was a 48 hour hall pass ...but maybe you played Shorecliffs today. Hopefully SP's greens were acceptable at the 10 day mark.

The photos look nice; bunkering looks solid. Looks like they also saved a few bucks by having the same website as another course which shall remain nameless, or vice versa.

Yeah, I did them both in one day. Pretty tired, but a good tired. Greens were a little slow and bumpy, but I expected that from the punching done almost 2 weeks ago. Maybe before summer's over we can head over and you can see for yourself. SP and Ojai make a solid 1-2 punch.

[David Stamm]

David,
The course was rejuvenated after the great rains of 2005, shortly after Gil and Jim repaired Rustic from those same storms. I have some photos from the construction or reconstruction and I'll pos them later.

Please do Tommy. I'd be interested in seeing them.

[James Bennett]

David

I had the joy of seeing all of Valley Club, playing Ojai (cart as a single) and a brief quick look at sunset of Soule Park including a beverage in the clubhouse.  It was a memorable day.

How did you find Ojai?  Scott Weersing commented on the firmness at Soule Park - I found Ojai's fairways to be firm, despite the rain that day (no comment on the firmness of greens at Ojai as they were freshly punched).

James B

[Tommy_Naccarato]

David,
They're not the most descriptive images in the world, as that day I was running around learning how to GPS irrigation (courtesy of Larry Rogers) and I didn't have the best opportunities to take more descriptive ones.

[Tim Leahy]

How was the pace of play? Since that is the only public course within about 20 miles, it used to take 6 hours to play on the weekends because of the crowds. Hopefully this has changed.

[David Stamm]

How was the pace of play? Since that is the only public course within about 20 miles, it used to take 6 hours to play on the weekends because of the crowds. Hopefully this has changed.

Tim, I teed off at 7:10 and finished at 11:30. This was on a Saturday. Not too bad for So Cal. Maybe I caught it on a good day. It seems alot of the guys playing there were not from Ojai. Some were from Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, etc.

[David Stamm]

How did you find Ojai?  Scott Weersing commented on the firmness at Soule Park - I found Ojai's fairways to be firm, despite the rain that day (no comment on the firmness of greens at Ojai as they were freshly punched).

James B

James, I really liked Ojai overall. The opening hole is rather goofy, but there are some really solid holes as well. I enjoyed the finesse required on 3. Great short par 3. 2 obviously has been well praised. I thought 7 was a great par 4. And 18 is one of the best finishers I've played. I wouldn't mind if the course looked a little more rough around the edges. It's a little too prettied up compared to what GT jr. originally laid out. I think if Hanse got in there and did what he did at Soule Park instead of what Moorish did, it would be an absolute gem. Still, it's become an instant fav of mine. Believe it or not, I enjoyed Soule just as much.