Tommy, it is so sad to go out to LaCumbre when I'm in Santa Barbara, and get to the current #13 and see that misbegotten piece of seagull guano island out in the lake - the alternate green. It is so shocking to see. Sadly today's members don't really care one way or another.
We played our college golf at LaCumbre and it was much different. No kikuyu, the ravine/barranca cut in more in front of the (current) #8 green. The old #17 (par 3 between old #16 - current #8 - and old #18 - current #9) was already gone. It must have been a beautiful thing across the barranca that eventually collapsed and lost the hole.
There are many things to love about LaCumbre in its current state. The routing is interesting although choked by surrounding homes in some places. It's an easy walk although the rope tow up the steep incline from current #18 to the clubhouse is a welcome assist.
It's funny - the current #1 is a great first hole right in front of the clubhouse with the elevated tee and great hang time on the tee ball. The current #2 returns to the clubhouse so I always figured it was the original since that is a Thomas trademark.
But apparently the first hole in the original routing was the current #10, a short par 5 that dives off the cliff with another super elevated tee ball. I guess #11 today didn't exist then as there was the old #17 par 3 that NLE. You got into the holes around the lake, that are now on the back nine, a lot sooner. The cape tee shot on current #12 would have been #2 then, and it is good to have the shoulder turn under control when standing on that tee today when you are well warmed up. Old #3 is a top 100 par 3, 239 yards across a corner of the lake. Ignore the island. Then comes a dogleg left around the lake where a tee ball over a giant willow on the corner cuts off 50 yards if you have los cojones.
So I prefer the current routing as those to me are better back nine holes.
The kikuyu sucks, there's nothing else you can say about it. No ground game shots are possible, on a course designed in the Classic era and loaded with ground game opportunities. The lob wedge gets a heavy work out.
But I still love it. It's like your favorite uncle who has a lot of bad habits but you still love him because you remember when he didn't smell so bad and you've seen photos of what a heartbreaker he was when he was just a kid.
What they've done to Ojai is worse, sad as that is. The new (again) routing just sucks the wind out of that course.