Rancho Santa Fe CC photo tour

[Pete Lavallee]

With the match play portion of the California Amateur being contested this week at Rancho Santa Fe CC, it's a good time for a tour. I've been saving these photos since 2006 when I played the course for my 50th birthday a week after they hosted the USGS Jr Am. The Club has an interesting history starting in 1906 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR Co. acquired 8000 acres and planted over one million eucalyptus seedling to be used eventually for railroad ties. A severe drought in 1912 killed almost 40% and in 1913 a severe frost killed half of the remaining trees. The discovery of creosote in 1910 made the project redundant. The RR Co. decided to sell parcels of the land as “gentlemen's country estates” and a dam built in1921 creating Lake Hodges, made the creation of town of Rancho Santa Fe possible. In 1927 the golf course project was offered to Dr. Alistair MacKenzie, but he had just received a $8800 commission to build Cypress Point Club a month earlier. He recommended his good friend Max Behr for the job, who received $9000 for design and construction of the golf course. The course was opened for play in June of 1929.

Needless to say the newly founded club had a difficult time when the Great Depression hit. Golfers from San Diego and LA where lured to play here for the price of $1 in 1932! The Santa Fe Land Co, realizing that a loss of the golf course would impact property values bought out the club and saw it through the tough times. The original Bing Crosby Clambakes were held here from 1937 to 1942, as Bing owned the Osuna Ranch nearby. To join the club one must be a property owner within the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant, certainly one of the most affluent communities in the US. In 2006 the initiation fee was $50,000 with dues of $5,000 per year.

The golf course occupies a valley cut out by La Orilla Creek and has a figure eight routing with the clubhouse located in the center of the property. There is considerable elevation change throughout the valley, with many natural landforms that Behr incorporated into his design. Through years of neglect the putting surfaces had become almost circular and a major rebuilding of tees, bunkers and greens was abandoned in 1974 when, due to the results of the first three greens, the membership halted the project stating the personality of the course was being irreparably compromised. Thankfully the membership had the good sense to reject a 1986 plan by Ted Robinson to redesign the course on the grounds of it being too “modern” and not in keeping with the natural and historic features of the course. In 1991 the Pete Dye Corp. completed a $3.1 million project to rebuild the greens and update the irrigation system.

In 2002 a $3.4 million project was completed by architect David Fleming to rebuild all tees and bunkers, add drainage and reposition some fairway bunkers. Extensive recontouring of the green surrounds were returned closer to their original ones, using the input of long time pro Chuck Courtney. Although these provide interesting lies they can't be fully incorporated into the ground game when covered in 1 inch of Bermuda rough. The club, intent on removing “wet spots” did the unthinkable by under grounding La Orilla Creek, paving over it with the Bermuda that the entire course was regressed with. Max's rugged natural hazard that defined the strategy on all but a few holes has been replaced with a carpeted faux hazard on the front nine and a man made running creek on the back. The cart path system, with its curbing helps diverts run off into recessed drains, as do the numerous greenside catch basins. New tees were added to bring the length to 7,035 yards.
1st Hole 387 yards par 4

A gentle starter, the 3 bunkers were added in 2006



2cnd Hole 455 yard par 4

The bunker on the right was added in 1950


A look at the green, guarded by the eucalyptus tree


3rd Hole 192 yard par 3

The pond was dredged in 1973 from the creek bed



4th Hole 614 yard par 5

From the excellent book the History of Rancho Santa Fe CC: “When originally constructed, the landing area for drives straddled a sharp hog's back which would divert all but the most perfect drives out-of-bounds on the left. In the early 1950's to correct this unfairness, the fairway was leveled to its current topography.” Ouch, seems like they obliterated one of the most interesting features of the course! Here's the current view from the tee

Here's a look at the green


5th Hole 427 yard par 4

The palms trees were planted in what once was the creek; you can detect the risk reward strategy that it originally provided.


A look at the green


6th Hole 414 yards par 4

The hole doglegs hard to the right, the creek is no longer a factor for those who stray to far right


7th Hole 178 yard par 3

The hour glass green is wide but very shallow, only 12 paces deep in the center


8th Hole 527 yard par 5

The 2 green side bunkers were added in 1960, the two fairway bunkers in 2002, a very attractive par 5 making great use of the terrain



A closer view of the green


9th Hole 367 yard par 4

The slope takes balls to the right off this tee



A look at the green



10th Hole 296 yards par 4

A very good short par 4 hole, the green has a wicked back to front slope; it will be interesting to see how many of the flat bellies hit driver here


Here's what a layup will bring


Side view to show the slope


11th Hole 457 yard par 5

My favorite, this par 5 gives almost everyone hope to get home in two, but the journey is fraught with danger. The two fairway bunkers were moved 25 yards out in 2002



Here's the shot into the fortress green


The second shot to the fortress green


A closer look at the greenside bunker



12th Hole 457 yard par4

Although the same distance as the previous hole this one is dramatically down hill. Behr placed a bunker in the middle of the landing zone; you can spot the depression where it once was located


A look to the green



13th Hole 411 yard par 4

Originally the creek wrapped around the front of this green and had a marshy area filled with reeds as the main carry hazard. The pond was dredged in 1945. The current hole is awkward, although it does give the option to play safely left or try and drive over the man made running creek



A look into the green


A side view of the green from the next tee; they probably spent more on these bridges than I did on my house



14th Hole 219 yard par 3

This elevated upper tee to the left was added in 2002


15th Hole 428 yard par 4

The bunker on the left was moved out 25 yards in 2002


The creek used to protect the right side of this green


16th Hole 412 yard par 4

This dogleg left is probably the least changed hole on the course; the tall tree in the background is the club's logo



The green setting is completely in tune with the landscape



17th Hole 191 yard par 3

Here's the view from the original upper tee



Here's the view from the lower tee installed in1955



18th Hole 603yard par 5

Originally this hole doglegged left up the hill to the green; a clubhouse was proposed at the top of the hill overlooking the green. When it became apparent that the clubhouse would not be built in this location the green was shifted down cardiac hill to its current location. Here's the tee shot


The green is hard to see in this shot


This side shot is much better at capturing its profile


Whenever you have “Old Money” you have horses


Here's one of the many catch basins installed in 2002



When all is said and done much of Max Behr's architecture has been lost, but a lot remains too. The course is still a fine test of golf and fun to play. As an exclusive private club it still provides access to those who can fork over the cash to stay at the Rancho Santa Fe Inn and pay the $210 green fee (mandatory $100 fore caddy). It truly is the best course south of the LA County line built before 1960; it could certainly be better if the membership ever truly embraces Max Behr's philosophy of golf as a test between Man and Nature.

[Lynn_Shackelford]

What about a redo by Perry Dye in the 90's?  I thought he did some pot bunker work and greens work.  It appears to have been deleted.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Thanks for the tour, Pete.  Are all the bunker surrounds cut short so the ball can run into them? 

[Neil_Crafter]

Thanks for the tour Pete.
I thought RSF must have been in Australia with all those eucalypt trees!
One thing, where did the info about Mackenzie refusing the RSF job and directing it on to his friend Max come from? Their history book?

[Jon Spaulding]

Thank you Pete. It's work like this that keep me coming back to this site, even with the dangerous levels of morons present.

It was my understanding that Railroad planted Eucalyptus en masse for a quick/cheap source of railroad ties, discovered it didn't work for shit due to splitting, put the property up for sale immediately. I'd ask my source about the creosote, but he's 92 now, and that answer could take 2-3 hours.

Definitely concur that RSF is the best course south of LA. A proper restoration of the Behr design might put it into the elite tier, based on the property and my understanding of his original layout.

What are your sentiments on the Fleming bunker style and general placement. For the most part, it seems to fly in the face of Max.

The greenside mounding seems a bit excessive and overshaped in places. Having said that, the more I see of Max, not sure that this position holds water all that well.

#13 is a tragedy of epic proportions.

#16 is one of the great golf holes in SCA.

[Kyle Henderson]

Many thanks for taking the time to post this, Pete.


Does anyone have any photos of the course's early days for comparison? An aerial or routing?

[Pete Lavallee]

I have fixed some text errors and now the view short of 1,  2cnd tee shot and upper tee on 17 are showing. Good thing it's a slow week at work, these things are time consuming.

Lynn,

"In 1991 the Pete Dye Corp. completed a $3.1 million project to rebuild the greens and update the irrigation system. ", from the second to last paragraph of the intoduction.

Neil,

Yes the quote about MacKenzie and Behr was directly from the RSFCC history book, as was the dollar amounts each received.

Kevin,

I played the week after the USGA Jr Cham in 2006, the green surrounds had 1" of bermuda, which frankly rendered them useless; it was impossible to run anything through it. Now, that may have been done just for the tournament, perhaps Robert will indicate how it's being maintained now.

Jon,

Needless to say everything I regurgitated came from the RSFCC history book. In it, they claim that eucalyptos is used routinely in Oz for railroad ties and will indeed acept a railroad spike without splitting. They seem to feel that the invention of creosote was the forest's downdfall.

As for the Fleming bunker style, I suspect the Club wanted easy to maintain over authentic. The original bunker style from the history book looks much more rugged with eyebrows of longer grass on the lips. The Club concedes that several fairway bunkers were moved out to accomadate todays prodigeious distances; hey, you're part of the problem there! I doubt greenside locations were changed. The History book aslo indicates that Fleming relied on the recollection of long time Pro Chuck Courtney, to help recreate the greenside undulations; this certainly has to be a stretch unless Chuck has a 3D photographic memory. I think they do add to the level of sophistication even if all they do is provide some interesting lies and stances. Don't forget the pond on 13 was dredged in 1945, so I suspect that at the lowest point of the creek, that area was prone to flooding. Still, with the money this Club sitts on I can't believe they couldn't have come up with a solutuion that would relieve flooding while still keeping a somewhat natural creek bed. I can overlook the 13th, but the loss of the creek on the front nine is what hurts the strategy so bad.  

[Jon Spaulding]

Pete, the 1947 aerial still shows a natural creekbed with the split fairway on 13. The creek is widened at the greensite, but the strategy of the hole is still wonderfully intact.

I think this went from being one of the best holes Max ever built, to one that even Ted Robinson might object to from the grave.

In the original state, the separation of the line of instinct from line of charm appears fascinating.

It appears as though stategery was lost in the 1964-1980 time frame.

Fortunately, the hole sticks out like a sore thumb relative to the rest of the golf course.

I agree with you on the creek; in original state, it influenced play across most of, if not all of the routing. The turfing of it is quite lame.

[Pete Lavallee]

Jon,

I blame RTJ Sr for #13; it's the Augustafication syndrome, everyone in the 60's put in ponds to mimick the efect the change to #16 at the Masters had. Hell, even in So. Africa, most of the prominent Clubs turned perfectly good par 3 holes into water fronted holes like #16. Perhaps that's a topic for a thread right there. I truely agree that the curent hole is a shadow of anything that it replaced. The membership at RSFCC is aged and it is only normal to think they like the clean look. Perhaps when their children inherit all their cash changes for the better will be made.

[Robert_Ball]

...the green surrounds had 1" of bermuda, which frankly rendered them useless; it was impossible to run anything through it.

That sounds about right, Pete.  Between the rough and the additional, larger bunkers the ground game has been almost completely eliminated at RSF.  Unfortunate for a course that was designed without rough, to encourage recovery and run-up shots.

Here's an early photo of the approach on 16

[David Stamm]

16 is indeed one of the best par 4's in So Cal. It's my favorite on the course.


I've talked to some RSF old timers in the past and they have told me that way back that the area around 13 did indeed flood alot during the rain season.


RSFGC's property is wonderful and it is one the best settings in So Cal, but there have been way too many chefs in the kitchen and much of Behr's work has been lost. Flemings work finished off alot of the old feel of the place, with the ending result being a place that feels more like Santa Luz-er than the grand dame it deserves to be.

[Pete Lavallee]

David,

The RSFCC history book indicated the pond on 13 was dredged in 1945, however Spaulding is reputting this with the 10478 areial. What information do you have. I seem to recall it being their "signature hole" with the fronting pond, even when I moved here 20 years ago.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

The bunker work, and much worse, the drainage areas and round mounds, by Flemming was very much a surprise change to the majority of the membership.  The vote was for regrassing the fairways with a better strain of bermuda and including the rough so that water consumption would be reduced.  In addition, the bunkers were supposedly being rebuilt since quite a few grass faces were caving in due to improper bunker entry.  The creek bed transition to the pond and the pond on 13 was rebuilt because the flooding further down the canyon  in the equestrian area needed to be addressed.  The recent history of RSF seems to have members who push these agendas forward and then are not members a couple of years after the work is completed--the people who hired Dye left for the Farms and the members on the board that hired Flemming no longer have any connection to the club.  Most older members hate the bunkers because they are very difficult to enter and exit.  At the risk of being sued, Flemming got the job because of his political influence in the local superintendents association--he maintained the worse conditioned most overwatered  courses in San Diego before he was no longer employed.

[David Stamm]

David,

The RSFCC history book indicated the pond on 13 was dredged in 1945, however Spaulding is reputting this with the 10478 areial. What information do you have. I seem to recall it being their "signature hole" with the fronting pond, even when I moved here 20 years ago.

Pete, if memory serves, the schimatic in the club history shows water around/fronting the green site on 13. I think what eventually happened is that is developed into a sort of pond. When I first layed the course in the late '90's, the green's front edge was very close to the water and really not all that high above the water line. There was an old wood crossing bridge to cross to get to the green. It made for interesting front pin positions. I also seem to remember that this was sort of the "signature hole".

[Robert_Ball]

Video of yesterday's Rudolph/Marsh match, showing some of the course features:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=407002741107

[Pete Lavallee]

I attended the Fianals yesterday and unfortunately local son Harry Rudolph III was unable to hold of Oranga Co native Scott Travers; he won 4&3. Harry, was giving up 18 years and 8"; Scott has the Dustin Johnson build, 6' 4" and a very compact swing. Amazingly Harry was right there with him distance wise, both players drove the ball long and straight. None however made birdie on the non par 5 holes I watched in the final 18. Hary was 3 down going into the second trip around and failed to get up and down on the par 5 4th to go 4 down. The turning point of the match came at the 10th , where Scott laid up to 100 yards but his wedge didn't hold the green to the back pin and his chip predictably rolled off the front. Harry hit driver a little past pin high but in the right rough; his chip rolled through the green, an up and down would have truned the tide in their match. Both players easily reaches the 457 yard 11th from about 170 out and made birdie. Unfortunately Harry 3 putted 13 to go dormie 5. He won the 14th with par and even with a 350 yard drive on the 15th, he couldn't keep his wedge shot near enough to the hole to secure a birdie; an up and down from the front bunker secured the match for the Santa Clara Univ golfer.

My impressions of the course were that even after 4 years the photos I posted really tend to flatten the place out; there are 10' to 30' undulations throughout the course that define the landing areas and greensites. I will agree with Robert that the 1" rough was much shorter than the 2" they had for the USGA Jr.; the ball would sink to the bottom then, it just stayed on top here. Although the bunkers are all flashed at the greenside edge they are very easy to enter from the play side; the members just have to walk  backwards to get out.