Central Cal / Monterey Recommendations

[Matthew Petersen]

I will be out west in September taking the opportunity to play Pasatiempo. I'll probably skip down the coast to Pacific Grove that afternoon. I'm staying that night in Santa Cruz, then have to be in LA the next night, but I have no real plans for the day in between.


I've looked at a few options for courses to play along the drive, everything from San Juan Oaks on the north end to Hunter Ranch along the way.


I've played Pebble and Spyglass before and my budget probably precludes Spanish Bay or Poppy Hills. Further toward LA I have played La Purisima.


Is there anything else in the Monterey or Santa Cruz area I should stop and see before making the drive? Quail Lodge? Bayonet? Both look fine enough but is there anything really worthwhile.


Anything really great along the way I've overlooked?

[Blake Conant]

There's some good holes at Quail Lodge.  10-13 is a nice stretch against the canyon wall. An underrated set of greens in my opinion, too.

[Matthew Petersen]

There's some good holes at Quail Lodge.  10-13 is a nice stretch against the canyon wall. An underrated set of greens in my opinion, too.

From a man who ought to know!

[Mitch Hantman]

The back nine at Pacific Grove is fun, if you have limited time, so see if you can just play starting on 10

[Rees Milikin]

Cypress Point should be on your list

[David_Tepper]

Monarch Dunes in Nipomo is another option:

http://www.monarchdunes.com/

[Matthew Petersen]

[/size]The back nine at Pacific Grove is fun, if you have limited time, so see if you can just play starting on 10

I was indeed wondering if they would allow that.

Cypress Point should be on your list

Never heard of it. 

[Alex Miller]

Unless it's already in your plans, I'd get on the road early and play Rustic Canyon.

[Kalen Braley]

I would also recommend the back 9 at PG...it really is that good.  I've played it a handful of times and its damn good, especially with some afternoon wind.


P.S.  Probably already know this, but Hwy 1 is still closed as a thru route to Central/So Cal. 

[Tal Oz]

Unless it's already in your plans, I'd get on the road early and play Rustic Canyon.

Ditto what Alex said. It's a long way out, but if I'm not out of town, would be happy to play

[Mike Schott]

Unless it's already in your plans, I'd get on the road early and play Rustic Canyon.

Agree.


Also, how about Ojai Valley? Do they allow outside play?

[Matthew Petersen]

I'm in LA for work a lot and have played pretty much everything (public) there is to play around the town. Rare is the trip when I don't get in at least one trip around Rustic. A definite benefit to the office being in Agoura Hills.


Mike, Ojai does allow public play. I'm not sure Soule Park isn't better. They're surprisingly different courses given how close they are. But at half the cost (or a third, or less) SP is definitely the better value. (Or do what I have done and make a day of it and play 36!)

[Tim Leahy]

I would play La Purisima in Lompoc or Sandpiper over Hunter Ranch. If the weather is hot you might try Olivas Links in Ventura right next to the harbor with nice cool ocean breezes and go for some fresh seafood afterward.
Where ever you go check Golf Now for deals. You can save big bucks at places like the Bayonet/Blackhorse or many others.

[Matthew Petersen]

I would play La Purisima in Lompoc or Sandpiper over Hunter Ranch. If the weather is hot you might try Olivas Links in Ventura right next to the harbor with nice cool ocean breezes and go for some fresh seafood afterward.
Where ever you go check Golf Now for deals. You can save big bucks at places like the Bayonet/Blackhorse or many others.

Good recs, Tim. I have played LaP which is OK and Olivas, which I like a lot. Never played Sandpiper though I've driven by and looked. Seems like a few nice holes and a lot of ho hum, though I guess I'll never know for sure unless I play. But it's significantly more expensive than much of the other stuff. I mean, is it really 3x better than Hunter Ranch or 2x better than LaP?


At a certain point, ocean views only go so far.

[Alex Miller]

Someone get this man onto MPCC so we can stop suggesting places he already knows about! 


Matthew let me know if you'd ever like to play while in LA - I'm sure we'd have fun.

[Matthew Petersen]

Someone get this man onto MPCC so we can stop suggesting places he already knows about! 


Matthew let me know if you'd ever like to play while in LA - I'm sure we'd have fun.

I've put in my time here, Alex. Y'all do a good job making courses known. I just wanted to know which was the one I should play.


Of course, I should have known I'd get as many opinions as responses.

[Matthew Petersen]

But there's sometimes value in just getting local opinion, even if it's just having a local step in and save you by saying, "Whooo, I was out at XXXX last week and their greens were dead." Or whatever.

[Alex Miller]

But there's sometimes value in just getting local opinion, even if it's just having a local step in and save you by saying, "Whooo, I was out at XXXX last week and their greens were dead." Or whatever.

Absolutely - totally in jest and I've done the same myself. I hope it's a good day of golf!

[Mark Kiely]

I played Rancho Maria in Santa Maria once and really enjoyed it. I mostly remember slick surfaces with some surprisingly extreme slopes on many greens. Also enjoyed it has no houses on it and is a good value. (Played it before I started creating photo albums of courses.)


I also really enjoy Rancho San Marcos in the hills above Santa Barbara; have you played it? (My photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskUtU47J)


Elkins Ranch in Fillmore has a couple unfortunate holes (one short dogleg par 4 with a big chain link fence to prevent people from cutting the corner), but lots of really fun holes, too. Another really nice value with no homes on the course, and several holes play right up against a mountain. (https://flic.kr/s/aHskfMRZ4N)


I didn't see that you acknowledged David's Monarch Dunes recommendation, but I've played it once and enjoyed it. I think it's a little pricier, though.


Before you begin your journey southward, don't overlook the TeeOff.com "Deal" times for Poppy Hills. With the 20% off promo codes, you can get some good prices out there.

[Tim Leahy]

I would play La Purisima in Lompoc or Sandpiper over Hunter Ranch. If the weather is hot you might try Olivas Links in Ventura right next to the harbor with nice cool ocean breezes and go for some fresh seafood afterward.
Where ever you go check Golf Now for deals. You can save big bucks at places like the Bayonet/Blackhorse or many others.

Sandpiper twilite is 75 m/th 90 f/s. Worth every $. If you liked Olivas you should
like Soule Park and it is cheap. Near Pasa you might try Pajaro. It is one of the best buys in Cali.

Good recs, Tim. I have played LaP which is OK and Olivas, which I like a lot. Never played Sandpiper though I've driven by and looked. Seems like a few nice holes and a lot of ho hum, though I guess I'll never know for sure unless I play. But it's significantly more expensive than much of the other stuff. I mean, is it really 3x better than Hunter Ranch or 2x better than LaP?


At a certain point, ocean views only go so far.

[Tim Leahy]

Something went wrong with my reply. I meant to say that Sandpiper has really good twilite rates 75 m-th and 90 f-su. Worth every $. If you liked Olivas you should like Soule Park and it is cheap. Not far from Pasa is Pajaro. One of the best deals in Cali.

[Greg Hohman]

Mark, I hope I can remember to look up your photo albums when the happy time comes to trade San Diego for a trek to affordable gems north of me. Thanks!

[Matthew Petersen]

I played Rancho Maria in Santa Maria once and really enjoyed it. I mostly remember slick surfaces with some surprisingly extreme slopes on many greens. Also enjoyed it has no houses on it and is a good value. (Played it before I started creating photo albums of courses.)


I also really enjoy Rancho San Marcos in the hills above Santa Barbara; have you played it? (My photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskUtU47J)


Elkins Ranch in Fillmore has a couple unfortunate holes (one short dogleg par 4 with a big chain link fence to prevent people from cutting the corner), but lots of really fun holes, too. Another really nice value with no homes on the course, and several holes play right up against a mountain. (https://flic.kr/s/aHskfMRZ4N)


I didn't see that you acknowledged David's Monarch Dunes recommendation, but I've played it once and enjoyed it. I think it's a little pricier, though.


Before you begin your journey southward, don't overlook the TeeOff.com "Deal" times for Poppy Hills. With the 20% off promo codes, you can get some good prices out there.

Interesting recs, Mark. Thanks! I'll definitely looks into these. I've never heard of Elkins Ranch and don't think I've ever really been back up that way toward Santa Paula and Fillmore before. That area got a lot of fire damage last winter, as I recall?


I played the short course (what was it the "Challenge"?) at Monarch Dunes, but not the big course. Seems like it would be a fun one to get to one day. I simply didn't have the time when I was there previously.


Happily when I'm in "LA" that usually means Agoura Hills, so it's really not too hard to get out to Ventura County and points west. Easier than getting into LA proper in point of fact.

[Matthew Petersen]

Something went wrong with my reply. I meant to say that Sandpiper has really good twilite rates 75 m-th and 90 f-su. Worth every $. If you liked Olivas you should like Soule Park and it is cheap. Not far from Pasa is Pajaro. One of the best deals in Cali.

Thank you, Tim. That's good to know about Sandpiper. Afternoon probably means better ocean breezes as well, which is fun.


I had a lovely 36-hole day in Ojai with Soule Park and Ojai Inn last year. Really, really liked SP, though I don't totally see the similarity with Olivas Links. (Full disclosure, though, I only played it the once and it was February of 2017 which was that winter when it just rained and rained and rained. I played it on a nice day but the course was really wet. The fairways were long and patchy and there was no roll. Not much they could do about that. I didn't play Olivas on that trip, but have to imagine most everything was wet then. (I did play Rustic that same week and it wasn't mushy but it was definitely not firm.)


OTOH I played Olivas in February earlier this year while it was raining and the course was totally firm. Not a fair comparison I know because overall there was much less rain this winter (or at least there had been to that point, I think you got it all later). But that was definitely nice to experience.