I’m just back from a golf vacation tour around the L.A. area; ten courses and the equivalent of twelve rounds in eight days. Thanks again to those who responded to my earlier post and suggested places to play.
Starting from LAX we went north to Ventura and played:
Olivas Links – Forrest Richardson
Rustic Canyon – Gil Hanse
Soule Park – Gil Hanse
Ojai Valley Inn – George Thomas, Billy Bell, Jay Morrish
Then on to Beaumont/Banning in the east to play:
Oak Valley – Brian Curley
SCPGA Legends – Schmidt-Curley
SCPGA Champions - Schmidt-Curley
Oak Quarry - Dr. Gil Morgan/Schmidt-Curley
And, then south to San Diego to play:
Barona Creek - Todd Eckenrode
Crossings at Carlsbad – Greg Nash
Now, I know that this drive-by golfing is not a good way to study architecture, but it is fun to see different architects’ work and different styles in different settings. I’ll probably give some thoughts on the individual course in other posts, but here, I’m just going to give some random thoughts.
Highlights of the week: my son Matthew’s second career ace and follow-up Mickelsonian leap (much better); and, meeting some of the SoCal GCAers and playing the famed Rustic Canyon with them on a fine dewey morning
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Lowlight of the week: a smash and grab on our rental car at the Hampton Inn in Banning and wasting a half day trading it in for a second rental car. And they didn’t even steal anything – golf clubs have no immediate value, I guess.
First architectural thought: how 10 courses in the same general area can look and play so differently. Ten courses and many different bunker looks. Neat. Here are some samples:
Most photogenic course: Ojai and Oak Quarry and The Crossings. Sadly the camera was tired by the time I got to the Crossings.
Least photogenic course: Olivas Links and Barona and Rustic– not that they’re bad, just relatively flat and subtle.
Most aggravating golfing thing: the turf is hard to get used to hitting off. It’s not like our bent fairways or Scottish fescue. It took a few days to retool the swing to work with it. I understand better why some tour players don’t like the west coast swing.
Course conditioning: Olivas was the weakest. Fairways were patchy although greens were good. I guess paspalum takes longer to grow in. Others were all good although I think our courses here are generally better conditioned, in season, than these ten courses were.
Greens: most were fast and most had lots of movement. None were bad, although some of the ledges at the Crossings were bordering on too steep to cut properly.
Cost: surprise, surprise, public access golf can be affordable in SoCal. Most expensive was Barona at $96. Cheapest was Olivas at $45. Most were on the lower end of the scale. The replay rates are ridiculous - $5 at SCPGA including a cart, for example.
Good thing: walking at Olivas, Rustic and Soule Park.
Bad thing: the days are too short in December.
Another bad thing: The encroachment of new housing at Oak Valley through the front nine. The gross terraforming of mesas to accommodate housing through and around the SCPGA courses. I guess there are no environmental restrictions on levelling the land for housing. Grossly ugly.
Toughest long par 3: Tie between the 16th at Ojai, the 3rd at Barona and the 14th at Oak Quarry.
Best short 3: the 8th at Rustic (and watching a certain former GCAer hacking around in the surrounds of this hole’s version of the devil’s a**hole.) Sadly, no pictures of the hole or the debacle. And, the 4th at the SCPGA Legends – a mere 106 yards over one canyon with another lurking behind. A not-so-simple sand wedge with a tail wind.
Toughest long par 4: The 6th at the Crossings. A brutal 458 yards into the prevailing wind; a downhill drive followed by an uphill second to a green with an abrupt 10 foot closely mown rise in front of it. My best drive and 3 wood was not enough to get home. And, the 7th at Ojai. Only 392 yards but uphill of the tee through a narrow tilted fairway lined with trees on both sides. It would require a big drive to a very small LZ just to get a view of the second across a small arroyo to a perched green. Short of the tee would leave a long blind hard cut. No fun here.
Best short 4: The 2nd at Rustic. Many options. But, I liked it because in two playings I drove the front corner of the green, so it met my requirement that a short 4 actually be driveable. Sadly, I three putted twice. And, the 15th at the Legends at SCPGA. Not quite short enough to be driveable into the wind that day. But, artistic bunkering and many options.
Best micro-movement in the fairways: Olivas Links. Forrest did a wonderful job of putting undulations everywhere on what must have been a flat site originally.
Best trompe l’oeil: the 12th at Rustic and the 6th at Oak Valley. Both played tricks around the greens with apparent kick slopes that actually aren’t there and either stop the ball or kick it away.
Dumbest tree in the middle of the fairway: the 1st at Barona in the LZ for the second shot for most mortals. And it’s a big tree. It would have made more sense to route around it. The land is there to do it.
Worst bunker surrounds: Rustic wins with gnarly long eyebrows on an otherwise firm, fast and closely mown course.
Most claustrophobic course: Ojai Valley Inn, hands down. Narrow corridors. Large trees everywhere. Even overhanging the front of tees. Just ask Matthew who managed to hit overhanging limbs within 50 to 100 yards of a number of tees. A course for low ball hitters.
Best course: I’m a ranking wuss. I liked them all and had fun on them all and can find merit in all of them. Matthew liked Rustic the most.