The Farms Golf Club (Pictures)

[Peter Ferlicca]

The Farms Golf Club is located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA.  Most people haven't heard of this town, but it was rated the most expensive zip code a couple of years ago.  Almost every property in the hills is a minimum purchase of 5 acres.  Homes range in this area from the cheapest at 2.5 million all the way up to 45 million.  This is a small town but there is plenty of privates club for the rich residents including (The Bridges, The Crosby, Fairbanks Ranch, Del Mar CC, Rancho Santa Fe GC, Morgan Run, The Grand, and Santaluz).  Though there are many private clubs, I wouldn't say that they are loaded with great courses.  IMO the top 3 are RSFGC, Del Mar, and the Farms, I’m sure people will argue with me that the Bridges should be in there.

The Farms opened in 1988 with a Pete Dye Design, it was quite a hard course to begin with according to the members, but they had some drainage problems with bad fairways in 1999, so they decided to get it redesigned.  They hired John Fought to come in and use Pete Dyes routing, but put in his own bunkers and greens.  So if you can imagine, it has Pete Dye water everywhere, with real deep John Fought Bunkers. 

I worked here for a couple of years and thought this was a great facility, it is a players club, and it was in the top 10 for lowest handicap clubs.  Very tough course.

Hole 1  (390 yards) Par 4



Hole 2  (184 yards) Par 3


Hole 3  (555 yards) Par 5
No where to miss on this hole



Hole 4  (388 yards) Par 4
Good hole that goes up and over a little hill



Hole 5 (207 yards) Par 3


Hole 6 (312 yards) Par 4



Hole 7  (427 yards) Par 4




Hole 8  (399 yards) Par 4



Hole 9 (486 yards) Par 5



Hole 10  (436 yards) Par 4
Usually into the wind, tough hole



Hole 11  (370 yards) Par 4





Hole 12 (570 yards) Par 5
OB left the whole way, the tee shot asks for the butter cut




Hole 13 (424 yards) Par 4
Cool hole, if you spray your drive right you are hitting out of the fairway bunker all over water, scary shot.





Hole 14 (170 yards) Par 3
Waterfall par 3



Hole 15 (390 yards) Par 4
Pretty cool hole, don't go long!




Hole 16 (220 yards) Par 3
Usually into the wind, no where to bail out except short


Hole 17 (471 yards) Par 4
Very tough hole considering you are hitting a long iron or hybrid into the green



Hole 18 (512 yards) Par 5
Very normal finishing hole after all the holes leading up to it

[Mike Benham]

I believe I played here 11-12 years ago before the redesign, it was very difficult.

If I recall, Ely Callaway was a member (Founding perhaps), Michael Jordon was a member and Janet Jackson had a house overlooking one of the holes ... (not that these last tidbits are worth a damn, just data points).

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played there about three years ago.  I loved the course.  Met Phil Mickelson and spoke with Tom Lehman about his work there with John Fought.

[Tom_Doak]

The original course was a Perry Dye design where Pete showed up a couple of times. 

In another brush with fame, Jim Urbina ran the job for him.  And I actually did the first version of the routing plan ... which was just before I quit working for Perry.  The property was seriously TIGHT with housing lots.  (In fact, there was a very expensive lawsuit over a child being hit by a golf ball off one of the tees in an upper corner of the property.)

[Peter Ferlicca]

The original course was a Perry Dye design where Pete showed up a couple of times. 

In another brush with fame, Jim Urbina ran the job for him.  And I actually did the first version of the routing plan ... which was just before I quit working for Perry.  The property was seriously TIGHT with housing lots.  (In fact, there was a very expensive lawsuit over a child being hit by a golf ball off one of the tees in an upper corner of the property.)

To agree with what Tom Doak said, the property is VERY tight, the holes are jammed in there to say the least.  From what I have read in the past isn't Perry Dyes forte on building course in a small property.  Many holes have OB on one side, usually being only 5 to 10 yards from the fairway.  On hole #6, you have mulit millon homes right in your landing area if you hit a slice.

Tom what did you think of the property, would it have been too small of a property for your liking.  It is down in a valley, and the reason they always have problems with their fairways is because tained water with salt runs down from other properties I guess.

They didn't give any credit to Perry Dye then, because his name isn't mentioned anywhere.

[Tom Jefferson]

Actually many people HAVE heard of this town.....the always excellent Rancho Santa Fe course was the FIRST venue for the Crosby Clambake!  After that first year (sometime around 1940, I think) it was moved to Pebble for it's famous run there.

Rancho Santa Fe was, when I was growing up in the La Jolla area in the 50s and 60s, was the uber quiet and reclusive rich place, tucked away, known but never talked loudly about.

It remains one of my special golfing moments, as RSF was the venue for a San Diego Junior Golf Association event I played in as a 14 year old............and I was so nervous on the first tee that I recorded a WHIFF!  Looking back, what a laugher that is!!

My memories of that area include the solitude of the course, the understated clubhouse, and the beautiful eucalyptus on the back nine holes.

Tom

[Tom Jefferson]

And more to the point of the thread, I have always known The Farms to be a Perry Dye design.
The magazines of the day recorded it as such.

Thanks,
Tom

[Peter Ferlicca]

And more to the point of the thread, I have always known The Farms to be a Perry Dye design.
The magazines of the day recorded it as such.

Thanks,
Tom

Go in the clubhouse and you won't see one thing in there that mentions PERRY DYE.  I worked there for two years, and the only names I heard were Pete Dye, John Fought, and Tom Lehman.  I know on their website it mentions Pete, Perry, and Alice, but they don't give Perry any due whatsoever in the clubhouse.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

I play there fairly regularly in the winter.  It certainly is not a candidate to knock CPC out of a top world ranking.  Taken for a course built on less than 100 acres that is 7000 yards it is a hell of a course.  I would love to see some restraint on the landscaped vegetation and a more subtle waterfall on the 14th.  Due to the property, there is very little than can be done to create wider playing corridors.

[Tom Jefferson]

PFerlicca;

Understood, your point of view regarding the Pete/Perry question.

Thank you for posting all the photographs!  They show a number of interesting looking holes and golf shots.  It certainly looks like a fun and demanding track.

Tom

[David Stamm]

I knew a couple of guys that worked there years ago, Auggie, who was one of the pros, was/is a hell of a player. The Farms is so-so for my tastes. Way too narrow playing corridors. The finish (15-18) is very tough. I disagree about Del Mar CC. I'd rank it near the bottom and rank The Crosby in the top 3. RSFGC is still the best in the area, so I agree with you there.

[Jon Spaulding]

Thanks for the write-up and photos, Peter. The Farms is relatively far down my list of things to do, but have been told by a few locals that it's a nice day on a challenging course; certainly in a beautiful area.

I was down at Rancho Valencia a couple years ago and close to play Del Mar CC in lieu of the Farms. Looks like the decision was about a push, perhaps with a slight edge to Del Mar.

At this point, think I've been told that Phil Mickelson is a member at roughly every club in the area, and seems to be at each one of them every day. .

[JC Urbina]

Tom is correct I ran the Job for Pery Dye.  I could tell you a lot of fun facts about the golf course but I would rather tell you one of my favorite stories.  One evening while we were in full construction mode two cars pulled up where the clubhouse was going to be.  The first car had a bunch of mean looking guys in it.  As I got close to the second car one of the guys was asking about home sites.  As I got close I peeked in the car and as the window was rolling up I noticed that in the back seat was a older man who looked like Richard Nixon.
My friend confirmed that he was talking to the former president about lot sales.
By the way I didn't recognize one hole on the golf course.  If you wouldn't have said The Farms with pictures I would have never guessed except for a few holes like # 7,15 and 16.  No way would I have said # 14 was at the Farms.
  I would like to go back some day just to see the changes.

[Max Schechter]

As a young man growing up in RSF, I have played The Farms a lot over the years, but never before the renovation. I heard it was quite the torture chamber beforehand, which is saying a lot given how difficult it is today.

Over the years, one theory I formulated about The Farms is how it develops a player's game, given that it feels like you are always one swing way from double bogey. One of my high school 'mates grew up there and was always an extraordinary ballstriker, but in my opinion didn't really develop a great short game or have the mind for the recovery shots until college sent him away to other courses. As for myself, playing on the more open corridors at RSFGC and around the less penal green complexes allowed me to encounter these type of shots many more times, strengthening these skills. I wonder how our games would be different if we exchanged memberships earlier on. Just a thought.

Fun finish. The back nine is full of swing holes: drivable par 4 on #11 (for the bold!), nearly reachable par 5 12th, water on #13-17 and a very exciting, reachable par 5 finisher. Probably not the kind of place I'd like to play everyday but fun every now and then. After years of piping tee balls into the brush on #3, I think I'll put that down as my least favorite tee shot in the county.

[Peter Ferlicca]

As a young man growing up in RSF, I have played The Farms a lot over the years, but never before the renovation. I heard it was quite the torture chamber beforehand, which is saying a lot given how difficult it is today.

Over the years, one theory I formulated about The Farms is how it develops a player's game, given that it feels like you are always one swing way from double bogey. One of my high school 'mates grew up there and was always an extraordinary ballstriker, but in my opinion didn't really develop a great short game or have the mind for the recovery shots until college sent him away to other courses. As for myself, playing on the more open corridors at RSFGC and around the less penal green complexes allowed me to encounter these type of shots many more times, strengthening these skills. I wonder how our games would be different if we exchanged memberships earlier on. Just a thought.

Fun finish. The back nine is full of swing holes: drivable par 4 on #11 (for the bold!), nearly reachable par 5 12th, water on #13-17 and a very exciting, reachable par 5 finisher. Probably not the kind of place I'd like to play everyday but fun every now and then. After years of piping tee balls into the brush on #3, I think I'll put that down as my least favorite tee shot in the county.

Max,

The picture doesn't do justice on hole #3.  I have sent so many balls into the bushes right (never can find them so lost ball re-tee), and yanked them in the hazard left it isn't even funny.  Many times where I will be out with a bunch of good players and they all put it in the junk.  Sometimes I would hit a 5 iron off the tee short of the left fairway bunker just to get it in the fairway. 

Max do you happen to know a good friend of mine Steven Dratler over at RSFGC?

[Max Schechter]

Peter - I do know Steven. I have not played with or talked to him for a while, but we played a bit when we were younger. I remember him, and his family, to be very friendly.

I guess what the picture doesn't do justice to is the wind and the elevation. If you step on that tee in the afternoon and get your ball spinning in the wrong direction, you won't be seeing it again. Just a tough hole all around, even if you find the fairway off the tee. In order to open up the green with your layup, you really have to be precise given the diagonal nature of the fairway, cross bunkers and water. I remember playing a best ball out there where 8 ended up winning the hole. Brutal.

[Richard Boult]

posted at http://delicious.com/golfclubatlas/California

[Richard Hetzel]

That topography lends itself well to that unique looking course. Thanks for the pictures!

[Cristian]

Although I have never seen the course, I like the pictures, despite the housing. I especially love the slopes which can be used to bounce balls off into fairways and greens. It just seems that the bunkers are in exactly those places where you might want to do that, thus maybe taking out some of the strategy that was added by the slopes.

Does it just look like that in the pictures? or have the bunkers that were added later taken away part of the strategy created by the sloped fairways and contoured green sites in the original Perry Dye design?

[Max Schechter]

Even after the bunkers were added, the slopes could easily be used to feed the ball down into fairways and greens. The first three holes all serve as terrific examples of this, especially given the penalty of missing the green on the sides opposite these slopes (i.e., falloff left on #1, bunker right on #2 and water right on #3). In recent months, this option has been taken away from the player a bit as the rough has been grown out. From what my friend out at the Farms tells me, their new superintendent (previously from Stoneridge out in Poway) is leading the charge.