Rustic Canyon

[Jim Franklin]

I am making my virgin pilgrimmage to Rustic on January 8. Any tips on what to look for? I have heard a tremendous amount of praise heaped on this course so I am really looking forward to seeing it in person.

[THuckaby2]

Good lord Jim is that a loaded question.  You're only playing the most talked about course in the history of this discussion group, by leaps and bounds...

What to expect?

A hell of a lot of fun shots to be played and many instances of design genius. A poster course for how public courses should be developed and designed.  Lots of choices to be made.  Green surrounds that are pretty damn close to how real links golf is played, at least when they are kept firm and fast (and I've never seen them any other way but the regulars were recently complaining they were a little soft).

I'll let the regulars take it from here.  Expect one big thing though:  the ability to participate in a whole hell of a lot more threads now.

 

[Jim Franklin]

Huck -

Is that a good thing or a bad thing ?

[Thomas_Brown]

Where is Rustic Canyon located?

Literally, the GCA devotees are out on the RC links right now.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Thomas,

I can tell you its not where my Mapquest Map said it would be!  But it is in Moorpark CA, north and east or LA, as Mapquest predicted, just not where the star on the map said.
I followed the route and ended up in a dead end!

Call for directions from the club. Its one of the options on the phone message.  

[Joe Perches]

I am making my virgin pilgrimmage to Rustic on January 8. Any tips on what to look for?

A fine course.  I hope you get a gorgeous day without SantaAna winds.
#7 is again playing as a 100 yard par 3 because of recent flooding and fire.

A useful local link to RC is:  http://www.greenskeeper.org/courses/coursedetails.cfm?course=139

[Lynn_Shackelford]

Yes, it was another tough day at Rustic.  Andy L., Jeff F. and I played in 3:45.  Cool, 58 degrees and cloudy.  Great playing conditions.  And L.A.'s fair weather golfers hiding somewhere.  It was mostly us and a couple of coyotes roaming freely.

[Andy Hughes]

Oh, have there been many RC threads in the past?

[Brian_Gracely]

Tips from a non-local:

1) Figure out which way the canyon slopes and always keep that in the back of your mind.  This effects 99% of the shots (including putts)

2) Plan to play the course a few times, if possible.  Contray to Shivas doctrine, there do seem to be several options on how to play most holes, especially approaching the greens.

3) Enjoy hitting bump & run shots....it doesn't happen much in the states.

4) Ignore most of Ran's pictures from the "Courses by Country" section.  While the prose is good, they just don't do the scenery justice.

5) Drive slow on the entrance road.....or feel free to bash the hell out of the shocks on your rental car....your choice.

[Pete Lavallee]

Experienced Rustic veterans know they need to drive slow on the  way in and scout out the pin positions on holes 1-4. One of the great attributes of Rustic Canyon is that different pin placements will call for a different strategies off the tee; and the 10th pin placement is the only one you can't see before teeing off.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Rustic is a ton of fun!  Now if they could just nuke that net that reminds me of a 10-story Tokyo driving range.....

[Jeff Fortson]

Like Lynn said, today was ideal.  Overcast, not too windy, uncrowded and the course wasn't as soft as it could be with all the rain in recent days.  Met Andy L. for the first time today and I hope to play with him again.  As for Lynn, he has the smoothest tempo of all the GCAer's I've ever met.  He had a few birdies too.  Overall, a great day of golf.

Rustic Canyon is now one of my favorite courses in California and is a fine example of what public golf should and could be like.


Jim,

There is plenty to look for.  Too much for me to put down in one post.  Try to set up a game with one of the regular Rustic players, they'll be happy to play with you and show you all the great features of the course.

Have fun!


Jeff F.

[Scott_Burroughs]

The Rustic link above has a picture of the new crossbunkers on #10:



What do those signs say?  I hope they're not saying that you can't play from the bunkers....

[Jim Franklin]

Jeff

Thanks for the tip; I'll see what I can do. I do look forward to seeing Rustic and participating in future discussions.

[JakaB]

If a guy like Jim who has seen a ton and knows what he is looking at needs a local to spoon feed him features....are the features even worth knowing.   I remember Brad Klein saying once that there is little he hates more than a local trying to teach him about a course...

[DMoriarty]

Barney, if you played the Old Course at St. Andrews would you take a caddy?  Would you listen to him?  

Me, I'd much rather try to figure out the course myself, but wouldn't have the time, access or resources to play TOC as many times as it would take, so I'd probably hope for a caddy that would give me a little insight into what was going on though . . .

Your thought may get to one reason your so hostile toward so much of what the so called 'most favored' architects are doing . . .  If you insist on getting it the first time out then you wont likely find much to like at Rustic Canyon . . . maybe this says something about Brad Klein as well.  

An interesting dilemna though . . .

[Tommy_Naccarato]

The Shivas Doctrine also states you can be as blind as Master, never even play the course, yet can still make bold and accurate assumptions about it.

[DMoriarty]

Now come on Tommy . . . Shivas may be on to something . . . I think he may have hit onto a personality trait of "schooled golfers," or at least quite a few self-proclaimed skilled golfers:

Always think you know everything, and never admit when you have made a mistake.  

That way, one never dings one's fragile ego.  This would explain Matt Ward, at least . . .    

[TEPaul]

"The Shivas Doctrine states that when affored the opportunity to choose between Nicole Kidman, Kathy Bates or Roseanne, a man with eyes knows the right choice instantly; likewise, when confronted with multiple options on a golf hole, a reasonably schooled golfer knows nearly instantly what the right play is."

Dave:

In my opinion, it's pretty damned incumbent upon a good to great architect to do something about that Shvas Doctirne of yours both in principle and in practice. Otherwise the chess game of golfer against architect or more specifically the perception of golfer against Nature (as the architect succeesfully manages to hide his hand) is not even remotely alll it should be and can be! Great golf architecture never was the creation of the obvious!

[Andy_Lipschultz]

Yes, it was another tough day at Rustic.  Andy L., Jeff F. and I played in 3:45.  Cool, 58 degrees and cloudy.  Great playing conditions.  And L.A.'s fair weather golfers hiding somewhere.  It was mostly us and a couple of coyotes roaming freely.

Driving off the grounds after that great day, I was thinking if Rustic was that empty; how many golfers did Tierra Rejada have? What about Lost Canyons? If they were busier than Rustic, that would be disturbing on many levels. Maybe, Jim should incorporate Rustic and Tierra Rejada (a couple miles away) into his Jan. 8 schedule and report back.

BTW, watching all the birdies coming out of Jeff and Lynn was awesome and somewhat intimidating.

Jim, play around noon so that you finish as it's getting dark. The light is great around 4 and assuming there is no rain, you'll give the course more chance to dry out from any morning dew and/or excessive sprinkler activity.

[Dan Herrmann]

Which airport is closest to RC?  Lynn got Laura and I talking...  Wet snow is forcast for Philly on Monday morning, and we have the golf denial blues.

Any idea if I can write off the trip as a legitimate business expense - the business being GCA.com thread enhancement, of course  

[Lynn_Shackelford]

The good news.  The closest airport to Rustic is Burbank.  Without traffic, which probably means 2 AM on Sunday, the drive is 45 minutes.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Dan,
If your coming, you have to let me know so I can put rally caps on all of the troops.

I need to know how many and what time. I'll even pick you guys up at the airport!

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Also, write it off as a donation to the World Hansification Church!

[RJ_Daley]

The Shivas Doctrine states that when affored the opportunity to choose between Nicole Kidman, Kathy Bates or Roseanne, a man with eyes knows the right choice instantly...

Well see now, this just goes to prove, it's always something.  If it isn't one thing it's the other...  

Dave, did you ever think that a man with a steady diet of shtupin the likes of a Nicole, may just find great interest in the quirky variety of a KB or RB?  Is it possible that the eyecandy just isn't all the bang for the buck, so to speak, than the more eccentric one might be? ....

hmmm, never mind...