Tustin Ranch

[Kyle Henderson]

I found out my cousin is getting married at a golf course and quickly got excited about adding a new course to my resume... until I checked the website.

www.tustinranchgolf.com

I immediately recognized the architectal style.  
Then I checked the green fees...

Apparently, I'll be revisiting Rustic Canyon.

[Tom Zeni]

I've played Tustin Ranch twice, and it's your really cool SoCal type course. The swaying palms, the lemon trees, the 11th as a signature hole, and one that I find appealing to the eye.

What you will notice, and what I didn't expect was the various changes in elevation. The 9th and 18th both finish over water, with the 18th being more challanging.  Try it, you'll like it.

[Kyle Henderson]

I've played Tustin Ranch twice, and it's your really cool SoCal type course. The swaying palms, the lemon trees, the 11th as a signature hole, and one that I find appealing to the eye.

What you will notice, and what I didn't expect was the various changes in elevation. The 9th and 18th both finish over water, with the 18th being more challanging.  Try it, you'll like it.

Really? I'm very skeptical, especially for the price. There's got to be something better for $60-80, let alone $110-160 in that neighborhood.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Kyle,
I would avoid this place like the plague. It may be the epitome of bad golf in Orange County, if not the WORLD...... However, it's certainly one of the courses that built my character and gave me the disdain for architects that build courses just like it, I'll give it that much.

Go play Recreation Park in Long Beach or Arroyo Trabuco. That's about the best your going to find. Don't waste your time with anything else in Orange County.

Or you could go try Goose Creek in Mira Loma.

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle,
I would avoid this place like the plague. It may be the epitome of bad golf in Orange County, if not the WORLD...... However, it's certainly one of the courses that built my character and gave me the disdain for architects that build courses just like it, I'll give it that much.

Tommy,
That is the exact feeling I got.

I recently read an article in which scientists basically showed that the human mind is good at deciding based on what seems to be the most important factor of an issue. As such, gathering piles of supporting data before drawing a conclusion is a waste of time. Still, I'm not sure that one should blindly follow their instincts.

Mr. Zeni  may be right -- I might like it, but I'm not going to take a $160 chance.

Any other OC options (aside from the TPC Trump course at Fake Waterfall Cove) that I should look into?

[Tom Zeni]

$160? Ah, no. It ain't worth $160.  I suppose because my friend has a membership there, it was only 1/4 that amount.

Hell, no wonder I liked it! lol.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Kyle,
You have to remember that the O.C. is the Land of the Clueless. Did you see that Mike Judge movie, Idiocracy?

It's about a guy and a girl, who partake in an Army experiment that hibernates them for 500 years and are awakened to find a society that hasn't changed much other then the people are complete idiots. He and the prostitute that was hibernated with him are the smartest people alive.

Well, you don't have to go 500 years into the future. That existence is here today, in Orange County.

Try the following:

Goose Creek
Oak Quarry
Arroyo Trabuco
Oak Valley
Long Beach Recreation Park
or if you have 6 1/2 hours to kill, Los Verdes, which will blow away the Trump course, even with the wait. However, if you want some pretty decent grub, a pretty nice bottle of vino; etc. then by all means, go to Trump, or you could go check out the new Penguin Hill course(s) which have just undergone this massive 20 Trillion Dollar remodel.

Or you could skip it all and just go golfing at Rustic Canyon. that would mean your first instinct was your best!

[Tommy_Naccarato]

I once stood on the 18th green of the much ballyhooed Tustin Raunch, with one of my favorite Professional golf writers. (meaning he actually writes for books, magazines and timeless articles; He isn't a Walter Mitty/Don Quixote-type of individual half-way dressed in a straitjacket.) and it took everything in our power to stop from laughing--Tustin Raunch is that bad.

[Jeff Doerr]

I have to agree with Tommy.

TR is really the poster child for that SoCal, Desert, Florida look that has thankfully moved on for the most part.

Drive a little and you'll find some decent options. I'd make the drive to Rustic or Barona.

[Tom Zeni]

Lemme guess, and it's purely a stretch on my part, but for some unidentifiable reason that I just can't put my finger on, there is something in the tone of your posts that are saying you don't like the course.

Did you play it just the one time, or did your lack of favoritism grow from numerous encounters?

[Tom Zeni]

This is the 2nd shot at the 18th of Tustin. So tell us, what was so laughable? you never did explain. Let me guess. Both of you hit into the water? Or worse, onto the rocks where they bounced all the way back to the neat clubhouse?  You didn't hit a big 'ol slice onto the driving range, then laughed as you turned all the balls over to find yours, did you? Nah, probably not.

Oh, I know, you forgot to turn to the right and drove your golf cart into the lake! What a hoot that must have been.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tom,
Well first, I have played the course on far more occasions then I care to remember, mostly in toonamint play. Hell, I even got to play it before it opened up for play--before there was a single house on or near it. The place was once the most beautiful orange grove imaginable. In fact, it should have stayed an orange grove.

What other type of response did you hope to get from yours? Your on a Golf Architecture website that celebrates GREAT and provocative golf architecture. Think about it.  The course is everything we HATE/DETEST/LOATHE about Golf Course Architecture. The course is designed to weigh upon people that pay not to think. (Orange County people)

Now just realizing it, we have at least two people affliliated on this website that have or still live at Tustin Ranch. My apologies to them. That's a very nice park you have in your back yard.

[Tom Zeni]

Okay, the pic is up and working.

You said: "Your on a Golf Architecture website that celebrates GREAT and provocative golf architecture. "

I don't think that was the original question. The gent asked about Tustin. Being from the east, and having fun in the west, I enjoyed it. I'm sure many here would enjoy it.  I mean, how bad can it be for thinking if they have tuniments there?

You stated your preference, but had to add the two of you laughed on the 18th, but forgot to add the reasoning. I really don't need you to supply one. Once again, your first post supplied all anyone needed. But thanks for playing. Don Pardo, what lovely parting gifts do we have for our friend?

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle,
You have to remember that the O.C. is the Land of the Clueless. Did you see that Mike Judge movie, Idiocracy?

It's about a guy and a girl, who partake in an Army experiment that hibernates them for 500 years and are awakened to find a society that hasn't changed much other then the people are complete idiots. He and the prostitute that was hibernated with him are the smartest people alive.

Well, you don't have to go 500 years into the future. That existence is here today, in Orange County.

I have not seen the movie, but I do remember hearing that the studio decided not to pursue a wide release after several test audiences failed to comprehend the joke/premise. In other words, the audience was too stupid to understand a movie that suggests our culture engenders stupidity.

I'm not joking. Irony has never been so ultimate.

I’m guessing those test audiences allow Tustin Ranch to fetch such exorbitant fees

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Exactly.

Tom Zeni, Honestly, you've been away for some months, I hope you've been o.k. in health and prosperity. But I do have to say, go back and look at other critiques of the course on this website from many years past. MOST HERE HATE IT/LAUGH AT IT/CALL IT WHAT IT IS. And yes, I'm probably leading the troops here in that call of the wild.

Tustin Ranch is typical dumbed-down 1980's golf architecture.

IDIOCRACY.

Please though, glamorize it all you want. I need a laugh.

[Tom Zeni]

Kyle,

Many times, since you're a member of the wedding party, the guys in the Pro Shop will cut you a break on the rate, since the wedding couple is already dropping a bundle for the event.

Just a thought. I mean, if you can get it for $55 - 80, go for it and decide for yourself.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tom,

Oh, so a golf course is good because it has tournaments?

Interesting thought....

The tournament I was in was Southern California Team Play. An SCGA event which even the worst goat tracks which have more interest then Tustin Ranch can participate.

Tom you have to remember that most out here don't golf like they do in the East. It's more of an activity then a lifestyle. An activity which most bring the mindset that is akin to that of the dumbest sheep in Pittsburgh.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Tom, I will also say this in a more positive light:

Tustin Ranch is usually maintained in a condition that would peak the interests of Arab kings. All the way to the Royal Palms lining the entrance, to the God-awful ugly clubhouse. The golf course is always in impeccable condition. It has to be for that price, and most, for that clientèle.

[Jon Spaulding]

This course is awful...and I'm judging only within the spectrum of dogcrap that Ted Robinson has squeezed out over the years. Kyle, if you actually look at the course during the wedding, you'll turn to salt.

TN, how's about a Rancho San Joaiquin recommendation....  .

I would 2nd Arroyo Trabuco as acceptable in the price range Kyle's seeking. And it's not too far from Tustin.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Hey, I liked the original Rancho San Joaquin that had those really interesting greens! #18 was a punchbowl wasn't it?

Last time I played there was about 1990!

[Jon Spaulding]

The last time I was there, had some time to kill before a meeting.....some guy tried to charge me $10 or something to use the chipping green. So I left ....the scary part was that there was a line of guys behind me who paid the $10....

You got it TN; before she took to supporting the Christopher Reeves/"I fell off my horsey" foundation....... Joan Irvine was in the business of building Alps/Punchbowl combos by hand on the old family farmland near the back bay. But later, Bren was so impressed by Robinson's work at Newport Beach CC that he hired him to flatten everything to 0.00000, plant some palms. The rest is OC golf history.

[David Stamm]

Kyle,
I would avoid this place like the plague. It may be the epitome of bad golf in Orange County, if not the WORLD...... However, it's certainly one of the courses that built my character and gave me the disdain for architects that build courses just like it, I'll give it that much.

 

What he said!

[David Stamm]

Kyle,
I would avoid this place like the plague. It may be the epitome of bad golf in Orange County, if not the WORLD...... However, it's certainly one of the courses that built my character and gave me the disdain for architects that build courses just like it, I'll give it that much.

Tommy,
That is the exact feeling I got.

I recently read an article in which scientists basically showed that the human mind is good at deciding based on what seems to be the most important factor of an issue. As such, gathering piles of supporting data before drawing a conclusion is a waste of time. Still, I'm not sure that one should blindly follow their instincts.

Mr. Zeni  may be right -- I might like it, but I'm not going to take a $160 chance.

Any other OC options (aside from the TPC Trump course at Fake Waterfall Cove) that I should look into?

Drop the zero form the price and it may be worth it.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Only if you put the zero in front of the one with a period following it.

It's the waste of a absolutely beautiful Orange County day. And we all know how many beautiful days there are in Orange County....Right?

"Will the Zeni single please report to the pro shop........ That's the Zeni single. Please report to the pro shop, and bring your wallet with you......"

Jon, We could go on and on about how great Donald Bren has been for Orange County. But just like the Donald, I would probably want to charge you a toll for doing so....... Just like the San Joaquin Toll Way. The first of its kind anywhere in California.

Joan Irvine: Spoiled, Filthy Rich, Balboa Island........Lets take the  Hatteras out for a spin around the bay lovey....

[Jim Nugent]

Tustin is average at best, and nowhere near worth $160.  

Tommy -- is Penguin (aka Pelican) Hills open for play now?  If you've seen it, what do you think of the newly renovated courses there?