Rustic's quirky #7 fairway before the wash has a series of uneven lies towards the middle of the fairwary. These uneven depressions are not traditional grass bunkers and are cut the same height as the rest of the fairway. It appears to be a design feature that perhaps makes a safe tee shot a bit more difficult. I do not see this feature elsewhere on the course.
I don't try to avoid them as they really can't be seen from the tee and only occasionally does it make the approach more challenging.
If intentional, what is the purpose of this design feature?
Was the uneven fairway in place before the storm that washed out the fairway that extended from the green?
Perhaps the unevenness is result of fairway reconstruction?
The flood was the result of the fire. What happened was a once in two hundred year event that ravaged all of Southern California’s water flow zones and as you probably know and understand, Happy Camp Canyon is one of those zones.
If the fire doesn’t happen, there would have been plenty of water shed from the hillsides that would have far lessened the blow. Unfortunately, the fire did happen and the water came from way up in the canyon following gravity and creating not one, but several flash floods. One of these literally lifted the bridge crossing at #7 off of its pedestal and floated several yards till it stopped and dammed the flow of water. As it spilled over the sides it destroyed #7 green (were talking fast moving water here!) and literally spilled over into the swale of #6 fairway while sparing its higher-sitting green.
Once the bridge extricated itself of its dam duties, it finally (from memory) ended up near the middle or closer to the tee of driving fairway of #5! The water flow was so powerful at this point that the silt, sand, mud and other once beautiful creek bed fauna that turned it mulch buried #4 green in about two to three feet of the stuff, only after it filled the approximately 500’ x 75’ x 20’ deep spillway that still to this day is filled with sand & sediment from that event. It doesn’t end there! For months after, driving into the gates, you literally rely like you were driving through small dunes, which buried the 30” tall split rail fencing on even the opposite side of the road!
Some of the other holes damaged were #11, where the entire waste bunker which was mostly at fairway level, simply disappeared as well as taking a half-moon section of the left fairway; the back tees on #14 were obliterated as well as the left side of #18, just off of the right fairway, driving area to the green. That waste bunker there was a work of art shaping and due to time & money, never got the full attention it deserved during the repair of that hole. If you look closely, you will see the former bunker that’s now washed out that was near the barranca/wash about even with the driving zone. It used to be a guideline to the fairway for a well-struck drive down the right side!
Getting back to your original inquiry: why the swales in the fairway? Well, those were created by water flow! It was Jim Wagner’s & Gil’s idea to take full advantage of the hand Mother Nature dealt us... Shape those areas into fairway contours! It’s actually the only change I really like about the hole as the green is too severe for my tastes. We forgot to show restraint from those bold features! In this case, too bold! Also, Rustic Canyon owner, Craig Price wanted to avoid any more loss of a green should another event happen, thus, building the area up, making the hole longer and the green higher, out of harm’s way. Completely understandable!
I did an overlay sometime back showing the differences of the two holes. Like David Kelly and others, the original 7th was a masterpiece. It was a great loss! IMHO, it still doesn’t diminish Rustic. In fact, the positive was that Superintendent, Jeff Hicks found the opportunity to plant Bermuda grass, which is what we should have used from the very beginning! That experiment proved wise as Jeff continues to keep it fast & firm & fun once that experiment with Bermuda on #7 proved wise. It’s what you’ll play on all of the fairways today in the most colorful suit of the season you’ll see during the time of the year you’re playing there!
