Amazing Central CA Golf Venue

[JSPayne]

I finally had the privilege of playing a course I have been longing to see near my college hometown. And I have good and bad news......the good news is that it was one of the most enjoyable and challanging rounds of golf I have played in a long time.....but the bad news is that I forgot my camera so unfortunately I have no pictures to share, which I really wish I had because some of the movement, especially on the greens, along with some quirky (but mostly superfluous) details would have been fun to share and talk about.

Monarch Dunes is located in Nipomo, CA on the Central Coast, nestled in dunes just a few miles from the beach and within an hours drive of several other great Central CA golf destinations. Between Hunter Ranch, Cypress Ridge, this course and La Purisma the Central Coast is really making a name for itself as a worthwhile golf destination. The course has already received many accolades, but deserves more here as I feel many on this site would thouroughly enjoy playing here.

Designed by Pate & Pascuzzo (I'm not very familiar with their work but now would love to see more), the course is as near pure links style as any I've found in CA (of course you have to disregard the houses that lay a wedge's mishit off most of the fairways). It's the conditioning in harmony with the design that really does the place justice.

The greens are solid.....firm enough to leave nothing more than a trace of a ballmark on a high wedge shot, and fast enough to bring all contours into play and really make you think about not only every putt, but every approach shot and chip as well. There are only a few groves of towering eucalyptus to get in the way of the aerial game, but plenty of mounding and dips and climbs to make you use about every club and shot in your bag.

I will admit that there are a few very quirky elements that the place could have done without, like bunkers 10 yards in front of tees or 100 yards to the right of a 110 yard par 3, numerous bunkers you can barely fit two feet in let along try to play a shot out of (but they've supplied bunker rakes should you attempt to try!) and a green so massive that the sprinklers all lie within the green margins and the whole right side should just be mowed as surround because there's no way any pin or putt can be had on it. But these distractions are small and even humorous and the excellence of the course and it's playability far exceeded my expectations.

I really encourage further comments from anyone else that's played it (I hope Art Fuller responds because I know he's a Men's Club member out there) and stress that anyone remotely close to the area make it a must-see on their intinerary.

I'd love to get back and play again and again......just wish it wasn't a 5 hours drive from my home.

http://www.monarchdunes.com/layout9.asp?id=163&page=2754

[Mike Benham]

A thread from a while ago ...

Monarch Dunes - 2006

[Garland Bayley]

Aidan has pictures at his site.

http://www.golfcoursephotography.com/contact.asp

[Kyle Henderson]

I really enjoyed this course. Many of the bunkers and ground features are (or should be for any competent golfer) completely out of play, but they do help the course's visual elements tie in with the surroundings. The 17th green has a knobbish volcano that is used a a pin location on "U.S. Open Day."

My only major beefs are with the bordering houses (and resultant distances between some holes), the tree removal patterns (very linear, clearly man's hand), and placing the worst hole on the back nine as the finisher.

I give it a 6 on the Doak Scale.

[JSPayne]

Mike, Thanks for the link to the old thread. Glad to see the course has gotten attention here already, and if anyone looks through that old thread, Art Fuller's descriptions do the course more justice than mine.

I'm just glad I got to play it, as I've been looking forward to it for quite a while.

While some may not enjoy it as much as I did, I can't stop thinking about it and wishing I could go back already because I honestly felt (1) that EVERY SINGLE HOLE was unique, challanging, and fun to play....I had to step up to every tee and stop for at least a minute and try to figure out what I was going to do and had to walk up to every green before a chip or pitch shot to see exactly where I wanted to land it, and (2) that even though I played poorly (compared to recent rounds at other courses) I enjoyed myself more on this course than I have recently shooting a near-personal best on my home course!

To me, these are the types of feelings that good design, architecture, conditioning and overall course experience should evoke in their patrons. Monarch Dunes did it for me.

[Richard Boult]

JSP, didn't see this thread until now... really wish I could have joined you, but have to admit I was having fun in Colorado!  Let's definitely plan to hook up next visit.

I continue to play Monarch at least once per week - 9 holes every Tuesday in a Men's league and usually 18 during the week or on the weekend.  I NEVER tire of it!  The greens are simply the best around, difficult to master, but the ball rolls so true.  The course is a real challenge for first-timers, often adding an easy 10 strokes to their normal scores.  Many complain about their approach shots that land the green and roll off the back. They're used to their target golf where they simply attack in the air and get the ball to stop where it lands.  Not at Monarch.  Approaches here take creativity and require unique shots.  After playing here so frequently, I now score better at Monarch than I do elsewhere.  When I play other courses, I never seem to get the ball to the hole.

The new 12-hole par 3 Challenge course opens at the end of the month... Can't wait.