I remember playing with somebody at Moorpark Country Club and mentioning that Rustic was the best course in the area. He responded that he'd never played it, but had driven up the entrance road and thought it "just looked pretty flat." Said comment coming on the ridiculous downhill 5th hole on the Ridgeline nine, an absolutely absurd hole designed to get you off a mountain and down to some flatter areas, with a second shot landing area that plays about 8 feet wide.
To me this describes why Rustic Canyon is truly a treasure. First of all, the course drops about 300 feet from the high point (16 tee) to the low (4th green), so it sure as hell isn't flat. But the fact that this guy thought it "looked flat" is what I love so much about it. Rustic Canyon is the epitome of a golf course that will not reveal itself without multiple plays. For the architecture enthusiast, a single play will definitely be rewarding. For the "average Joe" (as we often call them here) the course may at first seem a bit dull, because the subtlety of so many of its features isn't obvious the way it is on a typical modern eye candy design.
Take the 12th hole -- one of my favorites. I've heard the green called "unfair" a few times, because the slopes to the right and behind the green can be severe. On days where the green speeds are quick, you can definitely putt off the green, and if you do your ball might go thirty yards before it stops. We tend to love that stuff here, but lots of people don't. But what makes the hole so great has much to do with the prevailing slope of the ("flat") canyon, and that it's quite difficult to perceive the slope. If you play the course often, you know it's there and to respect it. If you don't, you can wind up with this scenario: Your putt from the front of the 12th green toward a back hole location has to go what looks like uphill to a small shelf in the back. And the hill looks pretty steep. You hit it up the hill, the ball doesn't slow as much as you were thinking and then takes off after it crests the hill, goes happily through the green and winds up really far away down a swale. So now you're short-sided. And pissed. Now THAT's a cool green. What's even better is that you may not be aware that, most of the time, being pretty far right in the fairway makes for a much more manageable approach. But from the tee you basically see nothing but a (really) wide fairway with no distinguishing features at all, just space with nothing in particular to aim at. And the two things you do see are that the green is tantalizingly close and far to the left, and that there's one tree (pretty much the only one that's in play -- sort of -- on the entire course) between you and the green. Well, you just want to hook one around the tree and go for the green, for sure! So you do! And it's usually the worst possible shot you could make. You should have hit it out into that ridiculously wide, featureless flat(ish) fairway area to the right, idiot! Because trying to hit the aforementioned green from the left is really fricken difficult since all those scary slopes we were just discussing are now going to nab your slightly pushed, or strong approach and then you'll be short sided! Oh, and did I mention that making a 2 is a distinct possibility here? I mean, you'd have to hit a fantastic tee shot, probably, to do it, but how easy should an eagle on a par 4 be, right? 300 yards of utter architectural genius! Thanks Gil, Jim, and Geoff for that. I certainly appreciate what you did every time I get near the place.
By the way -- I do agree with Dan that sometimes the conditioning these days (especially in the summer) can undermine the architectural intent. It's a bummer when the approach areas get too wet and the ball doesn't run through them the way it should. But given the cost to play ( it can be as low as maybe $35 during the week!), you just can't complain too harshly. And especially not me, because although I've been playing there regularly since about two months after it opened in 2002, these days I play about three times a year. Just want to hang with the wife and kids, I guess.
Fun post to write. Cheers, guys.
R