I have more great stuff on Rustic Canyon! Here's an excellent interview of Geoff Shackelford in today's Ventura County Star, except for the erroneous inclusion of Tom Doak in the design. Ben Crenshaw has seen Rustic and had good things to say. How about those VERY moderate projected green fees!
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It's only natural
DESIGN: Rustic Canyon, a new course in Moorpark, complements, doesn't dominate its surroundings.
By Bob Buttitta, Staff writer
Geoff Shackelford probably feels like a first-time parent waiting for the big day to arrive.
Shackelford's baby is the soon-to-be-completed Rustic Canyon Golf Course in Moorpark, which is scheduled to open in a few months. It marks the first golf course that Shackelford has helped design.
The son of Lynn Shackelford, who operates Sinaloa Golf Course in Simi Valley, Shackelford is well versed on golf architecture, having written five books on golf course design.
So when Rustic Canyon architects Gil Hanse and Tom Doak asked him if he wanted to join the design team, Shackelford jumped at the chance to get his feet wet.
"It's been a great experience," Shackelford said. "Being involved on this level has given me a new appreciation for the architects that I really respect.
"I also realize how important it is to make the best use of a piece of property as possible. I gained an appreciation for the architects that seem to realize that, but I also realize how some designers don't take full advantage of the land they have. I feel like all of us involved with this project appreciate what a great piece of property we have had to work with."
Located in Happy Camp Canyon near Highway 118 and Moorpark College, the course owners and its designers agreed the best course of action was to use the area's natural beauty rather than try to create something artificial.
Instead of moving mountains of dirt to create the course, Hanse, who is based in Philadelphia, incorporated the natural lay of the land into his design to create a course that complements, rather than dominates, its surroundings.
The result is a golfer-friendly course that figures to be a fair test of golf for players of all abilities.
"Rustic Canyon offers everything that we look for in a raw piece of ground," Hanse said. "The subtle influences of the ground and the dramatic nature of the wash will offer us the ability to let the land dictate the strategy of the game.
"By blending our features with the natural vegetation, we can create a look that hearkens back to earlier golf course designs in Southern California."
Fairways are wide, averaging about 60 yards in width. Most holes offer players several options on how to attack it, letting players pick the option that matches their skill level.
For example, on the second hole, players have a choice of playing different fairways.
"Too many of the courses built these days force the player to hit a particular type of shot," Shackelford said. "Our goal with Rustic Canyon was to give players a chance to decide how they want to attack a hole.
"We have a lot of greens that allow a player to run a ball into the green rather than simply hitting a high wedge shot."
All three architects also like the idea of regular players having a home-course advantage. There are many holes where having played the course once or twice would allow a player to know things like what side of a fairway to avoid or where hidden traps or other hazards might be waiting.
While in Southern California to play in the SBC Classic at Valencia Country Club last week, Ben Crenshaw stopped by to look over the new course.
A noted historian of the game, Crenshaw told the course architects that he liked the course a lot.
"He liked the wide fairways and the fact that players have options on most every hole," Shackelford said. "The thing that made me most happy was that he really liked the greens.
"Ben Crenshaw is one of the great putters in golf, so for him to give our greens high marks means a lot to us."
Planned to range from nearly 7,000 yards to approximately 5,200 yards from the forward tees, the par-72 design features five par 5s and five par 3s.
While green fees are still to be set, it appears the averages will be about $35, including carts, on weekdays and $50, including carts, on weekends.
But golfers who prefer to walk will be able to do so because the course is basically flat.
It does have a lot of subtle undulations, both on the fairways and especially on the greens.
Shackelford said the idea behind the design is to take advantage of what the land had provided them.
"We have spent a great deal of time creating a routing that takes advantage of the features that are unlike anything I've seen in this area," Shackelford said. "People will have a hard time believing some of the existing swales and bumps and sand were natural."
Because the property is home to all types of wildlife, the developers have gone to great care to make sure that the wildlife inhabitants will still have a place to call home.
Shackelford said the company's willingness to restore native plant materials has made the project attractive to local environmentalists who have opposed previous attempts to build on the site.
"It's been a great project to be part of," Shackelford said. "We feel it will be a course that golfers will enjoy playing, not just once, but many times."
-- Bob Buttitta can be reached at bbuttitta@insidevc.com.
March 13, 2002