La Purisima - Lompoc Gem

[Patrick Kiser]

This little gem of a course doesn't get much airplay surprisingly.  I try to make a pilgrimage once or twice a year and every time ... it just turns out to be a lot of fun.

It's a sign of a solid course when you keep coming back over and over and still don't get tired of it.

In general, the course presents lots of variety and ... for several holes some serious risk / reward opportunities.  For those tougher risk / reward holes, there's always the choice of being safe or going for it.

There's some water, but for once ... it's used more sensibly I'd say.  Or at least, more to what I find acceptable.  The 2nd hole is probably th toughest with the water but ... there's plenty of room right to stay clear of the trouble.

The back nine is not necessarily where it's at in my opinion.  I absolutely dig the dogleg left 4th.  Great ebb and flow to an elevated plateau green.  The "church pews"of the 7th are an absolute teaser.  Go for it over the trees and clear the pews bunkers?  Or stay safe to the right and short, but challenged with a hell of an uphill to another tricky plateau green.

The back nine offers some really fun holes as well.  The dogleg right 11th is very tempting.  Go for clearing the long fairway bunker and risk not so obvious oblivion into the right canyon or hook your tee ball into the canyon left.  Or play smart into the fairway in front of you, but you're left with a rather long iron into the green that has disaster waiting in the back if you go long or can't hold the green from that long second shot.  Really gets you thinking.  Add the wind to the equation and it just more interesting.

The 14th is a little tricky too, but if you remember about the 7th and the 11th ... then you know you can go for it over the trees.  Do you dare?  Or stay safe but not overrun the fairway ... which leaves you with another tough mid to long iron to well protected elevated green.

Then there's the 15th.  What a great par 5 in my book.  This thing is a card wrecker, but oh what fun if you nail it.  Hit that draw over the bunker but not too far.  Otherwise, you're surely into the canyon to the right.  A long second awaits, but peg that 3W and you're on.  Otherwise, there's hell to pay right short of the green with some really deep bunkers.  Or worst, there's the canyon right and deep brush all along the left side.  Yet, you can play it safe and just knock an iron into the fairway and another one to the second fairway and your third on.  Take your pick.

If you notice, not every hole is back to back bruisers.  There's a rather nice flow to the sequence of holes.  Like a good album, you have peaks and valleys in intensity.  Ross would probably approve.

Holes aside, this course has some surprisingly difficult greens.  I found them tough to read this time around.

The routing is certainly walkable, but with the heat this weekend it was cart time.  The routing is also quite varied.  North, South, East and West, all directions are used and it gets very interesting with the wind that always seems to come up in the afternoon.

There's also a good amount of semi blind tee shots if you're taking the risky route and I don't mind that (8th, 11th, 14th, and 15th).   Perhaps the only knock is using target bunkers as your definite line for figuring things out from the tee (11th and 15th).

Finally and rather fortunately, the course is not littered with homes all over the place.  You really do feel like you're out there by yourself and not in some neighborhood.

Prices have gone up, but with the players club membership (a good deal in my book because it works for La Purisima, Hunter Ranch and Stevinson Ranch) it becomes more reasonable.

Over the years, this course continues to be in sound shape.  Not an easy feat when you consider the location.  So hats off to the crew there.

Looking forward already to my next visit...

So let's hear what you have to say about this little gem of a course in sleepy Lompoc.

[rjsimper]

The 14th and 15th, to me, are awful golf holes....but Matt Ward and I have already had this discussion and in fact, La Purisima was discussed in some detail in a thread about California public golf maybe 3 months ago.

Without trying to re-open that can of worms, and knowing full well that it might get opened for me, I will provide my basic opinions on the golf course:

-As far as California public golf goes, La Purisima is affordable and impressive - it occupies beautiful property
-The first time I played the course, I was blown away by it's quality
-The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times I've played the course, I've thought less of it each time; I still think my first bullet point is true but I no longer believe the second one
-It is better than it's counterpart, Hunter Ranch, but the front at Hunter is better than the back at La Purisima - put the two front nines together and you've got a hell of a golf course


On to your specific thoughts (because Matt Ward would accuse me of being vague)

-100% agreement with you that the front nine is the better of the two, however the 17th hole is the best par 3 on the course.
-11 is to me one of the better holes on the back nine - absolutely
-14 is awful - any hole where a layup shot hit on a normal line (3 wood at those 125 yard trees) runs you through the fairway is going to not sit well with me.  "Going for it" over the trees is not going for it at all if it's the only line you can play with anything other than a 4 iron.  I do not like that hole
-15 to me may be one of the worst holes in the area - again, Matt Ward disagrees and that's fine, but the only redeeming virtue of that golf hole is the green setting and complex itself - it's an apt approach shot, but in that regard it may have been better as a 310 yard par 4 that favors a screaming fade.  The tee shot and second shot are terrible.  Which bunker are you drawing the ball over from the tee, and which tees are you playing?  As I recall, your only choice off this tee is straight away with a club that will go less than 250 yards rolling downhill and the closer you hug to the left, the shorter your second shot.
-I do like the routing, I do like the variety, and I did place the course in my So. Cal top 10, but I believe it's an overrated underrated golf course...for so long it was a secret amongst folks and was worthy of more praise than it got...now it's a bit too talked about and too idealized by people making the journey from LA and I'm not sure it warrants the type of architectural praise that a Rustic or Barona gets.  There are great holes (2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 17), there are overwhelmingly average holes (6, 12, 16) and there are terrible holes (14, 15, 18).

I'd choose La Purisima for an afternoon spent amongst friends, absolutely...it's a great spot and really a wonderful place to take in some of the good things in life...but if walking 18 holes solo, there are a few other courses on my list above it.

[Matt_Ward]

Patrick:

Ryan has given you the Cliffs notes version of our discussion from a few months back.

I have always been a fan of LaPurisima -- see Doak's comments in "Confidential Guide" to provide another voice in its corner. The real issue for the course is its remote location -- no one heads to Lompoc unless you are going to the Federal Pen there !

The folks who used to run Sandpiper in nearby Goleta -- also owned LaPurisima at one time and the main difference between the two in terms of national expsoure came down to two main points -- the Goleta location is closer to Santa Barbara and therefore more exposure and the second being Sandpiper's hugging of the coastline although only a few of its holes are truly noteworthy. Give LaPurisima the same two conditions with its present routing / holes and the fanfare would have been much higher.

Suffice to say, anyone making their way up the Pacific Coast Highway should venture and play a round there. It's easily one of the best bonafide public courses in all of California that I have played.

[Adam Clayman]

 When the archie came back with plans that fit 36 holes on the property Mr. Hunter said "what's this?". The archie told him he was able to fit 36 holes. Hunter told him to bag 18 and only build the best 18. While Pascuzzi's name is on it, one of our contributors did a lot of the work there.

To me, this course was a no brainer for the King's Putter.

[Tom Huckaby]

When the archie came back with plans that fit 36 holes on the property Mr. Hunter said "what's this?". The archie told him he was able to fit 36 holes. Hunter told him to bag 18 and only build the best 18. While Pascuzzi's name is on it, one of our contributors did a lot of the work there.

To me, this course was a no brainer for the King's Putter.

Hopefully we get there some day; apparently it was planned and then someone pulled the plug.  I believe where we ended up, after a year's moratorium, worked out quite nicely.

But anyway about the golf course... I always felt it was more tough than fun.  But I only played it a few times, and it's been many years.

TH

[Patrick Kiser]

Ryan,

You do bring up a great point.

Choice of tees here is absolutely critical.  Otherwise, you're in for a rather long day.

I have a basic rule of thumb that I use for myself.  I tend to pick around 6,500 but not over.  So I go for the white's at La Purisima which are at around 6,200.  The blues come in at 6,800 or so and the blacks are at over 7,000.

From the white's on the 15th, just aim left of the bunker and hit it high.  The wind will bring it down nicely and usually in the fairway.  But that does call for an excellent shot.  But again, if you don't feel up to it ... place it straight down the fairway and you're in good shape.  I think what I'm getting at is there are options and the more you bite off ... the more you really feel having been pushed.  I'd almost say the risk component is exponential.

Call me weird and sadistic, but I like a challenging course that can really push me.  I do agree with Tom that it's probably more tough than fun by most people's standards.  To give you an idea, we played Hunter Ranch on Sunday for the first time and ... we were somewhat bored with it.  Not memorable in my opinion.  But that's another story...

That said ... a King Putter here would be sweet.  Monarch Dunes is just up the road as well for a second venue.

... The tee shot and second shot are terrible.  Which bunker are you drawing the ball over from the tee, and which tees are you playing?  As I recall, your only choice off this tee is straight away with a club that will go less than 250 yards rolling downhill and the closer you hug to the left, the shorter your second shot.

[Tom Huckaby]

Patrick:

Before this gets too far along in terms of The King's Putter context, please understand that it was considered before and in fact I believe was tentatively booked... but for some reason got canceled.  We then picked up the ball here up north and did the very successful event that occurred a few weeks ago.

The ball is now in the court of the SoCals again and of course if they want to hold it here - somewhat mid-way between most of us - that of course works great!

I believe David Stamm is in charge...

But as with any event, the mantra is:  if you organize it, they will come.

In any case, selection of tees does make a HUGE difference at LP.  First time there, I played the blacks figuring hell, it's supposed to be so tough, why soften it?  But it kicked my ass sideways.  I do recall having a much better time from the whites.  I don't recall ever playing blue.

It is a great course, for sure.

TH

[rjsimper]

FWIW the last 3-4 times I have played, the black markers were not set out - I think the longest marked option was the blues at 6800 or so.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

If the theme of the Kings' Putter at La Purisima was to discuss  all the negative architectural aspects of the course, and there are many, it could be a lively debate.  It is not a fun course to place, but it is a fun setting.

[Reef Wilson]

-14 is awful - any hole where a layup shot hit on a normal line (3 wood at those 125 yard trees) runs you through the fairway is going to not sit well with me.  "Going for it" over the trees is not going for it at all if it's the only line you can play with anything other than a 4 iron.  I do not like that hole

I have to agree with this evaluation. I played my first 2 rounds there last month and loved the course until I got to this hole. My uncle (who had played there many times and is a pretty short hitter) parred it hitting 9 iron, 9 iron, 9 iron, 1 putt and sadly that is probably the smartest way to play the hole but it certainly is not fun.

Despite this and a couple of other so-so holes I really enjoyed the place and had one of the shots of my life, holing out for eagle on 6.

We also played 3 rounds at Monarch Dunes also and I can only rave about that course. If it didn't have all the "little boxes made of ticky tacky" along the course I'm sure it would be widely renowned.

Reef

[Tom Huckaby]

If the theme of the Kings' Putter at La Purisima was to discuss  all the negative architectural aspects of the course, and there are many, it could be a lively debate.  It is not a fun course to place, but it is a fun setting.

I think the idea was just that it was a central location!

But yes, I agree the debate would be lively.  But hell that happens wherever we play.

 

[Bill_McBride]

I've only played La Purisma once, and it was years ago and we played the back nine first -- don't you hate it when the starter sends you out to #10 to start on a new course? -- and what I remember most was an unfathomable par 5 somewhere along the way.  There didn't appear to be a fairway and then it got even stranger.

Lot of good holes but some really contorted stuff.  I would only go back if there were a KP scheduled there.  With my old Santa Barbara stomping ground just south, that would be a good thing.

[Patrick Kiser]

Wow!  I did a search to see some of the previous opinions (nice to see the new search engine working Ran) and it really is a divided group out there.  Love it or hate it is what it seems.

To give a little further context, I trek down to play it because it is half way or so from SF and SD where my golfing buddy resides.  So it works out for us.

I had a great time at the King Putter this year (eventhough I simply couldn't do anything right) and if this course did make it on for the next Putter ... I'd certainly be in.

I think a Sandia Park, Monarch Dunes and La Purisima setup would be a very convenient half way point. 

David???

[David Stamm]

I'm going to refrain from making any announcements until towards the end of this year. All suggetions will be welcomed, of course. La Purisima is in the running....

[Tom Huckaby]

I'm going to refrain from making any announcements until towards the end of this year. All suggetions will be welcomed, of course. La Purisima is in the running....

Very wise, very cool.

Having planned these myself, I find that there are never any "no-brainers".  Thus my comments herein.  The rest is all up to you, David!

TH

[David Stamm]

Tom, I can only hope next years KP will be close to the bar that was set this year. Tough act to follow!

[Tom Huckaby]

Tom, I can only hope next years KP will be close to the bar that was set this year. Tough act to follow!

Well we can thank Messrs. Huntley and Getka for that.

But I've also found that it's not so much the venue but the people that make these events... and we've got a very nice corps of devotees, thus we have no worries for 2009.

TH

[Bob_Huntley]

I have known Rex Picket for a few years now, courtesy of my daughter, and he has written a glowing account of La Purisima which was the course featured in his book and screenplay of the movie "Sideways."

See:


http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-how-i-got-sideways

Bob

[Tim Leahy]

I lived in Lompoc for a couple of years and it is a great spot for a golf vacation. Inexpensive motels, some good restaurants and great golf. Besides LP there is also the military course at Vandenberg, Marshallia Ranch, very good course that is now open to the public I believe. Also for those with club access, the Village CC is nice as well as the Ranch Course at the Alisal and Santa Maria CC.

[Scott Weersing]

La Purisima is a difficult course from the blue tees. When I first started playing at this outstanding course, there were just red, white and blue tees. The blue tees were the tees played for US Open qualifying and such. Then about four years ago they changed the blue tees to black tees, changed the white tees to blue, and then added a new set of white tees to make the course more managable for short hitters. I have never played from the black tees, or tips, as the course is plenty hard from the current set of blue tees.

The difficulty of the course is hitting drives to the right part of the fairway. If you don't, then you will have a sidehill lie. Another thing that makes the course difficult are the subtle breaks in the greens. If you haven't played the course many times, then you watch your putts break the opposite way that you read it. The course is not a links course as there are lots of bunkers in front of each green. But there are several greens that allow you to bounce a shot in.

The best hole on the course is No. 4. It is only 325 yards, dog leg left. You can hit an iron off the tee or blast a drive over the bunkers to leave yourself a 60 yard shot to the elevated green. It all depends on what you want for your second shot. The area in front of the green is steep and I have seen shots roll back 30 yards back down the hill. The green slopes severly from the back tier to the front tier so you have to land in the right spot or you will be three putting.

The worst hole (ones disliked by most players) is No. 15. It is hard for people to accept that they need to hit a 3 wood or hybrid off the tee. Then the second shot is over a barranca to a sloping fairway. That leaves you a third shot with the ball below your feet to a green that slopes from left to right and is 40 yards long. Golfers miss the green left, to avoid large bunkers, and the chip off the green as it slopes away from you. Let's just say this hole gives many golfers fits, including myself.

[Scott Weersing]

No 7 fairway bunkers


No. 15 green looking back to fairway.

[Jeff Doerr]

Here's a par 5 on the back - a nice s curve that makes you think on every shot.

[rjsimper]

Here's a par 5 on the back - a nice s curve that makes you think on every shot.

Yes, that's the hole - the abomination known as the 15th - even within this thread there is dissent on it's merits - for those watching at home, know that the tee shot is through a semi-chute of trees from about the 8 o'clock position of this photo, and we're standing in the fairway maybe 220 yards off the back tees.

[Bill_McBride]

Here's a par 5 on the back - a nice s curve that makes you think on every shot.

Yes, that's the hole - the abomination known as the 15th - even within this thread there is dissent on it's merits - for those watching at home, know that the tee shot is through a semi-chute of trees from about the 8 o'clock position of this photo, and we're standing in the fairway maybe 220 yards off the back tees.

And the question I asked myself at this point: "Where the hell is the fairway?" 

[rjsimper]

To me the shame is, this could be an AWESOME 310 yard par 4 teeing off from more or less right where this photo is shot from.  Instead, it's a tragedy of a par 5.  I've said all along that the approach shot to the green is good.  Maybe just lop off a touch of the fronting bunker from the left  and you've got yourself the one thing that LaP lacks right now is a true risk-reward fun hole that features a shot people look forward to hitting.  The other par 5s are all brutes and the 4th hole is the only option-type tee shot...