Rustic Canyon -- Perfect "Maintenance Meld" Right Now...

[David Ober]

I played an SCGA Qualifier at Rustic last week and wanted to chime in here about the shape of the course, which is the best I've seen in years.


The greens were firm and moderately fast (10-11ish?), and the fairways were firm and fine. Not perfect, a bit spotty, but fine. The surrounds and the run-up areas were nearly immaculate on pretty much every hole. At Rustic, if the green surrounds are in good shape, then there are just so many options around the greens. Love it when it's like that.


Regarding the greens: If they are fast(ish), then the course plays fun. If they are running 8 or 9 (like they were last year for the qualifier I played), it's not fun because the green complexes have no teeth. Because the course can play so short for longer hitters, there needs to be a fear factor around the greens when pitching, chipping, and putting, and there definitely was that this year.

[John Kavanaugh]

How was pace of play? Does both 1 and 10 being par 5's cause any unique issues especially when the field has so many long hitters?

[David Ober]

How was pace of play? Does both 1 and 10 being par 5's cause any unique issues especially when the field has so many long hitters?

Pace of play was fine. We finished under time, which was set at 4:30, if I remember correctly.


We had three groups on the number 6 tee, but that was the only real back-up. We had a 7:57 time, and the first groups went off at 7:30. SCGA and NCGA have done a good job monitoring pace of play. If you are behind, you will be warned and then penalized.


Haven't played any five hour tournament rounds with the SCGA or NCGA in quite a few years. Now city and county tournaments can be different, but I like the SCGA and NCGA's approaches.


Regarding the par 5 opening holes: I don't think that's an issue at all. In fact, it maybe help things a bit to get them out of the way earlier, as par 5's can often be bottleneck holes.


Number 10 was pretty much unreachable that day anyway, and number 1 plays like a par 4 for longer hitters.

[John Kavanaugh]

Nice. One of my favorite courses in the world.

[Alex Miller]

I have to say, for the past 12-18 months Rustic has really dialed it in maintenance-wise, specifically in the green surrounds which are key to the playability of some lovely features out there. They've been able to keep them not only fast (as they always are about 1 ft shorter than the greens, if not the same) but also firm. Glad to hear the event was a success!

[Brad Tufts]

I played Rustic with my father and brother last April, and it was in GREAT shape.

Just an awesome place...and it has gotten better since previous visits in 2007 and 2011.