Virtually all of the hills surrounding Rustic Canyon burned, as did much of the protected native corridor running through the course (with some exceptions). The oaks, eucalyptus and most walnuts sustained only minor damage according to superintendent Jeff Hicks. The course will be closed until Friday at least, and reopen with carts on the paths for sometime.
Jeff reports that there are two shades at the moment: green and black. So it's gone from a native golf course to moon golf for the foreseeable future.
The driving range, its lovely poles and its lovely artificial landing area did not succumb to the flames unfortunately. However, the neo-South Central LA-faux craftsman clubhouse is still mint green with white trim and still standing with its hideous paint job.
The good news: Rustic is a native course, and the California sage scrub that abounds actually responds very well to burns if left alone and not washed away by heavy rains. In fact, the springtime wildflowers next year will be stunning (imagine hills in purple and gold, I witnessed it in Malibu this last year). More good news, the course was insured and will have the resources to replace all of the plant material it wishes to replace. The fire regenerates many of the shrubs, and Jeff will be able to replace many other areas.
And the best news, the fire burned out most of the "fox tail" non-native grass that after years of grazing prior to golf had replaced the more beautiful and practical "stipa" grasses in the prairie areas. Jeff will be able to hydro-seed stipa in these areas and actually restore the true native grass to the area, which will ultimately look better and play better for the long term. However, in the short term, the golfers will have to help these areas by staying out of them, something that many won't do no matter how nicely you ask them.
Of course, these fires are very sad for Southern California, but Rustic Canyon did serve as a fire break and likely helped save hundreds of homes because of its location. The helicopter pads placed near #12 were used as staging areas for three water-dropping helicopters. And kudos to Jeff Hicks for doing so much to take care of the place and help the neighbors in a trying time. He was on site for 72 hours straight, no sleep, no food and some of the neighbors and their horses spent one night in the maintenance facility!