[Steve Pieracci]

I was in Goleta this past weekend at my daughters softball tournament and managed to get away Saturday afternoon for 18 with my folks.  

The wind was absent due to a mild heat wave on the coast, but the greens were still firm and fast with good contours.  Many 3 putts for me, but still enjoyed the challenge.  The views were also quite good.  All in all, a fun day, watching my mom play the ground game that she normally can't play as her home course is always damp and soft.  She played well, and putted even better.
 

First hole, 3rd shot on the par 5.  Slopes back left to front right


Second tee, narrows quite a bit between the trees.  I should have laid back


Second green


From the 3rd tee


3rd green approach


The one shot 4th, with #5 fairway in the background


Skyline green on #5.  


#6 one shotter.  Run it on up!


7th green


From the tee on 8th


Back to the house on #9


From the 10th tee.  Green way down left


#10 green.  Is this an oceanline green?


#11, par 3, ~174.  This would have been much tougher with a considerable wind.


The blind second at the 12th


Par 5 13th.  Ocean down to the right.  ~100 yards out


# 13 from the left approach


#14 stays along the cliff.  #6 green in the background


3rd shot on the par 5 #15th from the crappy angle I had


Sorry no photos of 16 and 17 as I started to spray the ball.

Par 3 finishing hole.  With a nice wedding reception in the back.  They didn't even offer us a drink!

[David Kelly]

The course looked in great condition.

#10 is one of my favorite holes in golf.

[James Bennett]

Steve Pieracci

where is Sandpiper and Goletta?  Is it California?  Is it private/CCFAD/Muni or something else?

James B

[Tom Jefferson]

Steve;

Thanks for the photos.  Sandpiper is an old favorite of mine....I was in the first men's club back in it's first year of operation......1972 I believe.

One question...........the photo of #7;  I am sure it played as a sharp dogleg left par 4, playing from just to the right of 6 green, yet the markers suggest it as a mundane par three.
Was this a temporary condition....work going on at the tee temporarily reducing the hole?

Tom  

[Tom_Doak]

Was there any word about a renovation of the course?

They were interviewing architects last summer, with the idea of a major re-do.

[Jay Flemma]

When I was at the U.S. Open, one of the softball questions I asked some of the players was "If you could pick a course to host a U.S. Open or PGA that has never been used as a major venue before, what course would you pick to show the world.

Fred Couples picked Sandpiper.

Ben Curtis - on the other hand - picked Bandon Dunes...after being remonded Scioto had already held a major.

[Bill_McBride]

I haven't played there since maybe 1975 and barely recognized the course from Steve's nice photos -- none of those trees, or at least very few, were there then!   Seeing that one fairway cut down to a narrow chute makes a good case for deforestation.

I think it was a better course treeless, the wind really howled over those cliffs.  I had also forgotten how low profile those greens are, very nice.  #10 does indeed bring back a good memory of a rope hook between those bunkers.

[Steve Pieracci]

David,
I liked #10 as well.  Options and a pretty hole.

James,
Sorry for the missing details.  Sandpiper is located ~ 20 miles north of Santa Barbara Ca.  It is open for public play.

Tom J.,
#7 is the sharp dogleg you recall.  I just took the photo close to the green.  Those are cart markers.

Tom. D.,
There were very few folks in the pro shop.  I didn't hear anything about a renovation.  

Bill,
I would like it as well without the trees.  To me, it seems the course can't decide if it wants to be a links style, or parkland.

 

[Tom Huckaby]

Steve:

I knew I felt a "presence" last weekend... this is too funny... I was camping at El Capitan, just north of Sandpiper, THu-Sun.  We too played golf, only we opted for the cheaper alternative, Glen Annie.  That course is nothing to write home about other than at least last Friday it featured the highest, toughest, nastiest bermuda rough I have ever seen.  In any case, we should have paid the extra $30 or so and played the Piper... I've always loved that course.  Looks like not much has changed since I used to play it all the time, in the late 70s, early 80s!

BTW, add me to the fans of #10.. but I've also always thought 10-11-12-13 was an awesome 4-hole stretch...

TH

[Matt_Ward]

Ditto the comments already made on the 10th hole. If I had to name holes that were outstanding for being less than 400 yards this one would be on the very short list for public courses in America. Simply grand stuff.

Can anyone speak to the turf conditions at Sandpiper. My last time there it was 50 / 50 at best.

One last thing -- the 18th hole is a major league dud.

[Bill_McBride]

Huck, Glen Annie (during my one time only visit) reminded me of the definition of a "blivot," 100# of manure in a 50# sack.

Seldom is 110 acres of golf jammed into a 90 acre tract quite so artlessly.

[Tom Huckaby]

Can't say that I disagree, Bill.  Oh, I didn't hate it, and we had a very fun family battle, but yes, it was very crammed in.  They could have made a hell of a 9 hole course on that hillside...

The people are just so nice there though, I really WANTED the course to measure up... oh well...

TH

[Mike Benham]

Can anyone speak to the turf conditions at Sandpiper.

I'm guessing that Steve might be able to comment on it since he was just there, but you knew that since you read his post ...

[jpenkwitz]

I've never played Sandpiper, but just an observation from the pics...I'm not a big fan of bunkers being above the green level.  It lends to a maintenance problem in the long run.  Any comments on such bunkering?

[Tommy_Naccarato]

This is got me thinking of Tillinghasts chapter from Golf Illustrated which was reprinted in the Course Beautiful, Historic Places for Golf Holes... (or something like that)

Just to the right of this image is where Japanese torpedoes hit a pier for the oil depot that used to be right next door.



Echo the 10th thru the 13th. A pretty good stretch of holes. I like many of the holes on the front, and from Steve's pics, the course looks like it's in the best shape it has ever been in, with the exception of the bunkers starting to look like they need some reshaping work and removal of build-up.

Glen Annie, well Huck has got it right. A really nice group of people up there on the epitome of bad modern design. Just way too many blind shots and both the 1st and the 10th are the hardest holes on the course, sitting side by side and almost mirror images of one another. There are also some holes that are simply very dangerous in terms of line of fire. Several holes, you have to go backward to the tee, creating this clumsy and cramped in feeling--not to mention that the group behind you all of a sudden comes into play.

[Steve Pieracci]

Can anyone speak to the turf conditions at Sandpiper. My last time there it was 50 / 50 at best.

One last thing -- the 18th hole is a major league dud.

Tees and fairways were in good shape.  Greens were nice, not too bumpy, but what does it take for guys to fix their ball marks?  I must have fixed 3 or 4 on each green and didn't get them all.  I could have spent the whole day fixing ballmarks.

I agree, the 18th is a let down.

Mr. H.,
We almost went to Glenn Annie, but I figured I would not get back down there for some time.    

[Tom Huckaby]

Steve - you made the right call.  I'm just a cheapass...

And Tommy, I did recall your previous less-than-glowing reviews of Glen Annie when I made the tee-time... but the cheapass in me carried the day.  It's funny too, after the round, the general feeling from all was we should have ponied up and played the Piper.  Oh well.  El Cap is gonna become an annual spot - next year we go to the big leagues.

TH

[Tim Leahy]

No. 13 is a great risk/reward par 5 tucked right on the cliffs. Also no. 2 is one of the toughest par 4's anywhere, plays right into the wind most of the time. One of the few courses that ends with a par 3.

[Steve Pieracci]

It's funny too, after the round, the general feeling from all was we should have ponied up and played the Piper.  

TH

No Tom, you should have paid the piper!

[Joshua Pettit]

Tom D,

Yes Sandpiper is in the planning stages of a MAJOR renovation to the tune of $70 Million.  They went with Robert Trent Jones Jr. as the architect (He is also renovating another one of Ty Warner's golf properties in the area, Rancho San Marcos) but construction probably won't begin for another 5-6 years due to the permit process (CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION!).  Their plan at Sandpiper is to rip everything up, clean up all the oil pipes in the ground, and start from scratch.  They proposed building a "true links" golf course which would involve importing a massive amount of sand in an attempt to create fake sand dunes.  

I couldn’t imagine spending $70 Million to renovate a golf course.  Has anyone ever heard of such an expensive renovation project?

Is anyone aware of a TRUE LINKS golf course that Robert Trent Jones Jr. has ever built?  I don’t think Spanish Bay qualifies.

[Tom Huckaby]

It's funny too, after the round, the general feeling from all was we should have ponied up and played the Piper.  

TH

No Tom, you should have paid the piper!

The fact we were gonna have to pay so much more was the reason we didn't play.  But I do like the play on words.  That's what we always used to say in high school..."you gotta pay the Piper"... just not referring to money but rather payment in terms of the inevitable high scores we'd make.

 

[Adam Clayman]

The real value is 40 minutes north in Lompoc.

Nice Pix.

[Tom Huckaby]

The real value is 40 minutes north in Lompoc.

Nice Pix.

Indeed. La Purisima.  But for me last Friday, time was also worth more than money.  

[Matt_Ward]

I'm curious for those who know -- has Hunter sold his ownership of Sandpiper and LaPurisima? And, if anyone can provide if he did -- what the reasons were ?

Thanks ...

[Bill_McBride]

Matt, I don't know who it is, but I understand from Santa Barbara friends that one investor, who also owns the Santa Barbara Biltmore, now owns the Montecito CC, Sandpiper and Rancho San Marcos.  As I hear it, he is bringing Jack Nicklaus in to completely redo Montecito CC, which is an okay course on a very difficult sidehill site.

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