Ron Stelten

Pasatiempo Golf Club is a course I have played many times and one of my favorite. The course is in my personal Top 100 in the WorldI visited Santa Cruz many times while my daughter was going to college there. This makes me the proud parent of a “banana slug”. The school mascot is the banana slug. Google strangest college mascots and the Banana Slugs of University of California Santa Cruz is number one. Had to include that despite not having anything to do with golf. Perhaps you laughed or just rolled your eyes. Pasatiempo will begin a restoration project in the spring of 2023 to bring the course back to what Dr. MacKenzie first created. I made special effort to study and memorize the course so that I can compare and contrast the old with the new when I return in a couple of years. Will they make a great course better, I do hope so.Whether you play it now or after the renovation, Pasatiempo is a must play in my book.

I have been playing golf around the Monterey Peninsula since the 1980's and never thought twice about playing Pacific Grove. A recent trip took my wife and I to the course when the other courses on my list were not available. Like many golfers on the Top 100 web site I am always happy to check the “Played” box and add another course to my tally. For this reason I am glad to have golfed Pacific Grove. The course itself is mostly tee shot-wedge holes. The views (and wildlife) keep one engaged, the golf shots become redundant.My playing partners were my wife and a fifteen year old junior playing a practice round for the next days tournament. On the par three ninth I hit a five wood while the fifteen year old hit a five iron. He hit the green and I had a difficult chip. I showed some real talent knocking the lob wedge to a foot. With that par I made the turn four under!Four under at the turn means the start of a 'shoot my age' watch. I have been 66 since June and yet to break through. A birdie at eleven got me to five under on the par 70 and I began to think, “First time I shoot my age is at Pacific Grove... I can live with that!”From the tee, twelve looks to be the best hole on the course. The par five bends to the right and tempts you to cut the corner. The ocean can be seen over the dunes down the left side. I did not try to cut the corner but a pushed drive was hit and the ball never found. I don't know if the ball was lost or picked up by another golfer as Pacific Grove is routed on a very small piece of land and we saw golfers in what was our fairway more often than not. In any event, I dropped a ball and hit it near the green, got it up and down for an unofficial score of four or six. In the end I had enough birdies to perhaps shoot 65. In my heart and mind shooting my age is still ahead of me. For this reason, I will always like Pacific Grove although it is a very simple and basic golf course.When we finished the mother of the young junior said that I would win if this was tomorrow. I could only reply, “That would take a real trick with my birth certificate.”

I found the setting for The Preserve Golf Club far more memorable than the golf course itself. The long drive in, the beautiful club house, the wonderful staff and the wildlife all make for a great day. The Tom Fazio designed golf course is much the same as I have seen him do time and time again in California. That is, create a golf course with eye appeal and little strategic golf value. Holes number nine and eleven are to my way of thinking the only good golf holes on the course. The rest of the course is nice but little better than the cookie-cutter style I see so often from this architect. Like Bighorn Canyons, The Quarry at La Quinta or Pelican Hill, The Preserve Golf Club is carved out of a poor landscape for golf holes. The result being elevated tee shots down to fairways followed by uphill shots to greens. In between this are big uphill or downhill climbs from green to tee or worse, a long distance from green to tee. I ask myself how can a golfer truly get to know a course when they spend more time in a golf cart off the fairway than on the fairway!All this said, my wife and I had a good time at The Preserve. Our caddie was entertaining to say the least. We were not sure if he was a caddie first and an actor second, or an actor first and a caddie second. Moreover, when we caught up to the parade of holiday foursomes, a member playing alone and walking who asked us to join him and I got a new perspective. The member actually proved to me that the course was walkable though he had never seen anyone else walk. California ran out of quality land for golf courses many decades ago. Golf courses like The Preserve are now the norm and many find their way into the Top 100 in California. Being old and set in my ways I find it difficult to embrace what I call “cart ball”.

My wife and I played The European Club on a beautiful October morning marking the end of our Ireland trip. I played twelve rounds of golf on ten links courses over the course of sixteen days. My wife played almost as many as me.Rather than repeat the many positives expressed by others, or question the negatives stated by some, I will share the point of view of my wife. This course was her favorite of the trip and where she shot her best score. Her second favorite was Royal Portrush where we played twice. Third was Sandy Hills.My wife is a high ninety shooter whose drives go about 150 yards. Pat Ruddy clearly had a golfer like her in mind when he fashioned the red tees. Only on some of the par three's did my wife feel threatened by a forced carry. Most of the time she could stand on the tee with the fairway right in front of her waiting for a good drive. This is something we did not see at almost all the other links we played. Certainly not at Ballybunion or Lahinch. Those, and most other links we played, are absolutely punishing for the short hitters. Why is it that golfers like my wife, playing from the shortest tees, must consider the eight yard walkway as part of the fairway landing area! While at the same time I am back on the blue or white tees needing a twenty-plus head wind before I even begin to consider how far it is to the start of the short grass.In my opinion, being active on The Top 100 Golf Courses should include being able to consider a golf course from many points of view. For most of my life I was a tour professional. My expertise is quick study. Learn quickly how to play the course well or cut your career short. Only after my make a living days were over did I start looking at a golf course as a hobby and for fun. Marrying a golf loving woman introduced me to how golfers with less skill and dedication can still enjoy golf as much as me.Today, at sixty-six years old I can still play a 7,000 yard golf course but have more fun at 6,800 yards. The total yardage I play will go down every year from now until my golfing days are over. What I know is this, I will always be able to go back to Pat Ruddy's European Club and play a course that has a perfect fit for whatever distance I hit my tee shots. Not every great golf course say can that.

I played St. Patrick's Links on a blustery October morning. My round started with southwesterly winds of under ten mph that increased to the mid-teens by the turn with some gusts up to about twenty mph. I played well with four birdies and three bogeys. I hit the ball well but most of my success was due to the condition of the greens. More on that later.Once again, Tom Doak has proven to be the best at routing eighteen golf holes. The holes themselves are a balance of clever, quirky, and brilliant. The first hole is a clever short par four. A slightly blind tee shot to wedge distance with a great opportunity to get the round off to a good start. Five is a quirky par three with one quarter of the green hidden behind a dune and bunker. The 472 yard par four eleventh is brilliant in that the tee shot asks the golfer “can you hit this drive straight enough to take advantage of the narrowing fairway”. All of the other golf holes fit these three characterizations. In planning my trip to St. Patrick's Links I was breaking my personal 'new golf course rule'. For as long as I have been playing golf I have heard about the new kid on the block being the “best golf course ever”. Five years later most of those courses turn out to be OK, good, or just another golf course. Part of me wishes I had waited five years to make this trip.My one under par 70 was due to the condition of the greens. I don't think the fescue greens are coming in according to plan. The green speed is slow. Long putts were easy to get close to the hole. Short putts were even easier, allowing me to bang them into the back of the cup. I had no three putts and missed only one putt inside eight feet. Great putting success considering winds up to twenty mph. Doak greens of this great design and character are not suppose to help me make putts!Five years from now will the greens match those of the other Irish courses I played on this trip? Time will tell. If the future condition of the greens falls between those of Ballybunion and Sligo, St. Patrick's will be a great course and perhaps even a Top 100 in the World contender. If the greens remain the same, or improve to merely average, what Top 100 course should fall out to make room for St. Patrick's? In my opinion, not one. As for St. Patrick's third best in Ireland, I say this, a course should be rated for what it is and not for what it might be. Portmarnock, European Club, Lahinch, and Waterville all deserve better. I wish St. Patrick's the best. A layout this good deserves great greens! With great greens I will be certain to return.Just to brag. On the seventh hole I hit the best shot of the entire Ireland trip. Into the strong wind my second shot found the one bunker well short of the green. My forty-five yard sand shot flew and stopped three feet from the hole. That was one great par save! Picture included.

I know that I played Monarch Beach a few times back in the 1980's when it first opened. Playing the course yesterday I was stunned that I had so little memory of the holes. Perhaps that best summarizes Monarch Beach--not memorable over the test of time.As a update from the previous two reviews, little has changed. The back of the first tee is now occupied by a number of corn hole games. M. James Ward's “testing opening shot” is no longer an option. The second shot over the water to 18 green is still the most demanding shot on the course. What might have changed is the increase in non-golf traffic on the course. The few holes near the ocean share the cart path with public traffic. Golfers are warned to carefully watch their valuables. The cart path on the par 3 fifth has a sign “Watch out for golfers”! On the par 5 seventh my group had to hold off on our approach shots to the green because an off-leash dog, from the nearby walking trail, was playing on the green. The round took five hours and ten minutes. Yes, Monarch Beach Golf Links (nothing about MBGL is 'Links') is well kept and in excellent condition. Perhaps hotel guests get a special rate that makes the course worth playing. Other Orange County golf courses may result in a better, more long-lasting memory.All this said, I must also add one last thing. I have played well over 150 California golf courses. I have also played most of the courses ranked 80 to 100 on the California Top 100 Golf Courses list. My personal Top 100 list for California places Monarch Beach ahead of at least four courses on the current California Top 100 list. Monarch Beach makes my personal Top 100 list.

A trip to Ojai has been on my radar for some time. A trip to play Soule Park and its neighbor Ojai Valley Inn seemed a no-brainier. As it turned out the trip would allow time for only one round of golf before driving on to SLO wine country.Strange as this sounds I chose to play Soule Park because I would be the the first person to review the course on this web-site.I hope that I am up to the task.Soule Park is a municipal golf course in the small town of Ojai, CA. Other writers are far better at documenting the history of a golf course and what architect did this and what architect did that.I can say this, William Bell laid out a good golf course for public play. Gil Hanse restored the golf course. The golf course I played was everything anyone would ever want from a public golf course. Moreover, the green fees are so reasonable that anyone can make the trip to Soule Park and not break the bank.The routing of the course works well with the land. There is just enough elevation change to make the course interesting while still being very walk-able. I walked, carried my golf bag, shot even par, and am 66 years old. Soule Park has no weak holes. One might say that there are no great holes but all eighteen holes work well together. My review of memorable holes goes like this: The par three third hole is the first eye opener. The bunkering is truly beautiful. Also noted, hole three is one of the few holes where you can't see the green when hitting your shot. The ninth hole is a risk reward par four. Bunkers angle up the fairway making the straight hole play like a dogleg left. Some big hitters can try for the green while the rest of us must bite off the bunkers for our favorite wedge shot. Fifteen is a classic long par four. A good drive down the hill leaves the golfer a long uphill shot over the barranca to a sloped green. The final hole is a short par five that does not give out too many birdie fours. A good drive is needed to hit a tight landing area while avoiding the stream and bunkers on the right Going for the green requires a precise long shot. The green is guarded by the same stream in front and on the left. Bailing out right leaves a challenging pitch. Added to this is a long, narrow, well-sloped green...a fine finishing hole to a fine golf course.As for design details, Soule Park is above the mark usually seen in municipal golf. The green complexes are interesting and challenging. All eighteen greens are a natural extension of the surrounding landscape. The runoff areas allow for a variety of creative short shots. The bunkering is wonderfully attractive. Most of the bunkers are set away from the greens which is common to William Bell public golf design. Gil Hanse deserves high marks for his restoration work and achieving a very attractive and challenging public golf course.Soule Park is a standout public golf course. Top 100 in California has it rated at #81. I personally have it as California's 36th best course. Not as good as La Purisima, Torrey Pines, Sandpiper, and Rustic Canyon but better than Bayonet, La Costa, Trump National LA, and Maderas. Hopefully my writing will inspire others to make the drive to Ojai to play and review Soule Park. A golf course of this quality deserves more than just one review.

The weather was perfect for my afternoon round at Trump National LA. One of my young playing partners wanted to see all of the course so I joined him on the 7,056 yard black tees. I'm 65 years old, I may be long for my age but I am by no means long. I was reminded of M. James Ward's review, “a number of holes can easily prove overwhelming”. What was in store for me!The morning before driving to Trump LA I had read the Top 100 golf courses article Architecture Glossary-Line of Charm. The view up the fairway on the first hole reminded me of the phrase “freeway golf”. This freeway opinion would remain with me for the entire front nine. That said, on holes five, six, and nine I needed my best just to get to the fairway. Adding a black tee and not reshaping the landing area is no way to lengthen a golf course. Making the turn we could not find the black tee for the 440 yard tenth. Thankfully so for this would have ruined what was for me a fun short par four. My near boredom with the tee shots at Trump LA ended on the fourteenth tee. Elevation change, contoured fairway, and well placed bunkers, the first golf hole I liked. Fifteen and sixteen also proved to be nice holes.On seventeen history repeated itself. We could not find the 240 yard tee on the par three. Again I was thankful. At 201 yards the par three was enough to be a good hole.Disappointingly, we did find the 503 yard tee for the par four eighteenth. From this hill of sand that does not fit the surroundings golfers can not see anything of the fairway. All the more disappointing because the bunkering down the left side is one of the best features on the entire course. The blue tee makes the hole 392 yards and too short for a memorable finishing hole. To summarize my afternoon at Trump LA. I have no desire to play the course again.I will add one comment. I hope some can see the joke in this. On the first hole I noticed unraked footprints in the bunker. Again at the second, unraked footprints. Same at the third. Now I started looking and hole after hole the same thing, unraked bunkers despite an ample supply of rakes. Is there something about the golfer who frequents Trump golf courses that they do not feel the need to leave a bunker presentable for the next golfer.

My wife and I played Hacienda Golf Club on a beautiful Spring afternoon. Two days earlier So Cal had received over an inch of rain. The course had drained well. The fairways were soft but not spongy. Greens were firm enough and running at about 11. The key design feature to Hacienda is the small greens that always fit the surrounding terrain. That terrain is also a canyon with an overall slope in the direction of LAX. Green reading must take into account the direction of the canyon with most of the holes following the east/west line of the canyon. Down hill putts can easily get away from you if you don't get the slope of the canyon right.The second feature that makes Hacienda stand out is the bunkering. Both eye catching and challenging there size and shape is a good fit for most of the greens. That said, for me the bunkering is at times redundant and has caused me to confuse one hole from another.Most of the Hacienda Golf Club course is in the the valley floor. On either end of the valley the course layout angles out of the canyon. The result is a course shaped like a long C or U.The six holes that make up the “legs” of the C or U are for me the weakest holes of the eighteen. Two are OK par threes. Two are medium to long par fours with greens squeezed too close to the property boundaries. The final two are short par fours that are again squeezed onto too small a piece of land. These to short par fours are my least liked holes on the course.On the positive side, hole fifteen is a 380 yard par four featuring the best elevation change of any hole on the course. The drive landing area is guarded by a large bunker on the left. A good drive should result in a short iron down the hill to the trademark small green. Miss the green in any direction and you are faced with a shot that must be hit high and soft. If that wasn't enough, a stream guards the left side for most of the hole and will grab any big miss. Hacienda Golf Club is ranked 59th in California. My personal ranking of CA courses has it in the mid-sixties. By that I mean, I place courses like Pauma Valley and La Purisima ahead of Hacienda and courses like La Costa Champions and Indian Wells Players behind it. I also have about ten courses on my Personal Best in CA list that are not on The Top 100 in CA list.A final positive note. Hacienda Golf Club is the type of course that serious golfers want to be a member of. The course gets more interesting the closer you get to the hole. The greens are firm and fast. For a fan of golf courses and serious golfer such as myself, it seldom gets better than that.

My wife and I played Wilshire Country Club on a beautiful August afternoon. Many positive changes have been made to a course that I last played in the early 1980's. Removing trees from golf courses has been a popular trend in golf course makeovers for many years now and Wilshire has benefited greatly from this project. The now unobstructed views from the club house must be very pleasing to the members dining on the veranda.The most note worthy feature to the Kyle Phillips remodel is the bunkering. Wilshire's first line of defense is the bunkers. The Phillips bunkers at Wilshire are first rate. They frame the holes perfectly, adding a beauty to the individual holes that is very pleasing to the eye. Moreover, accuracy off the tee is at a premium and playing eighteen holes without catching a bunker off the tee is no small feat.Wilshire CC's second line of defense is the barranca that wanders through the course. When not directly protecting a golf hole the barranca frames and beautifies. The original architect, Norman Macbeth, must have had a great eye and imagination to make such good use of this natural water feature. No one hole stands out for me at Wilshire. Rather, there are many good solid holes. Number seventeen is a short par four that requires a perfectly straight drive to set up a short club into a well guarded green. Tee to green bunkering at its best. Hole number nine offers perhaps the only blind tee shot on the course. The drive must be precise to what appears to be a wide open fairway in order to have a reasonable chance with a long club into a well guarded green. Being an arm chair architect like so many of us, I can suggest a few changes. The par fourth fairway could be shaped better to take advantage of the large tree that guards the right side of the green. This tree is always a talking point when the LPGA has visited Wilshire. I also think the two greens on the par three thirteenth are perfectly ready to be transformed into a Berlitz style green. All-in-all Wilshire CC is a fine golf course and in my opinion fits its #39 ranking in California. That said, I am also of the opinion that there are about six courses in California ranked above Wilshire that don't belong there and about the same number ranked below Wilshire that are equal to this course.In explanation of my point, I believe walk-ability to be a factor in my judging and ranking of a golf course. It is difficult for me to give a positive ranking to a course that can need a golf cart to get from a green to the next tee or a near mountain climb to do the same. Some great golf courses can be a demanding walk, but if one is still walking it is a plus.Stepping down from my soap box I have to finish with just what a good time we had at Wilshire Country Club. The experience was like catching up with an old friend and saying “why didn't we do this sooner”.

Mayacama is a golf club that most member’s clubs aspire to be. The setting is magnificent. The club house is most impressive. The staff is country club professional in every way. The practice facility is first rate. The golf course is user friendly in just the way a golf member would want. Anyone of us that writes about the golf courses we have played has our own sense of what are the important factors in judging a golf courses merits. Walk-ability is a factor I use to separate good from great. For all the “nice” holes that’s make up the18 at Mayacama the flow was for me not pleasant. Too often I made an up hill walk from green to next tee. Three times I needed a minute to catch my breath before hitting my next tee shot and that was with a fine caddie carrying my bag. The Nicklaus people did a fine job carving golf holes out of a section of land that was not suited for golf. The sodded fairways are as good as most any I have played off. Visually the course is very nice and better than most Big Jack courses I have played. I first rated the course a 4 but then upped it to 4-1/2 because my wife and I had such a good day. I do wish that the rating scale had 10 balls. With that I could better separate and distinguish Mayacama from its rated neighbors Meadow Club and Rustic Canyon.

I have lived in Southern California a very long time and have played most of its best golf courses. My first reaction after playing Barona Creek for the first time was, “Why did I wait so long to play this course”!Top 100 Golf Courses rates Barona Creek Golf Club 23rd in California making it the best ranked course in the San Diego area. Personally, I don't agree with that, but I also think that The Bridges is over rated at 49th. That said, Barona Creek is in my San Diego top four or five.My first impression of Barona Creek was that I had been transported out of So Cal to Walla Walla, WA and was some how playing a sister course to Wine Valley (my most recent course review less than a month ago). Wine Valley is carved out of Western Washington wheat fields giving the course a beauty all it's own. If somehow Barona Creek could control the weed growth and allow the native grasses to flourish it would be an incredibly beautiful visual experience.The golf course has no weak holes and enough above average holes to make for a fine test. M. James Ward has described the hole-by-hole far more eloquently than I can. I would have one read his review for confirmation on just how good a course Barona Creek is.Our day at Barona Creek Golf Club took place while California wild fires were still a threat but greatly diminished. The course was dry and fast. Something one seldom sees in So Cal. The daily fee golfer may wish for a greener more lush golf course, but for me the conditions were wonderful.

My spouse and I played Wine Valley Golf Club on a beautiful September afternoon. I can still break par on a good day and played the black tees at 6760 yards. Marlene who is just starting to score in the 90's played the red tees at 5105. A testament to just how good a golf course this is, we were both able to navigate the course aggressively at times, cautious and conservative at others. On the first hole our drives were near each other. I hit a short iron twelve feet left of the flag. Marlene played a five hybrid safely down the left side away from the green side bunker and got enough bounce and roll to also catch the green. With a par and a three putt bogie we were off to a good start.The eighth hole is the longest par three on the course. I flew a five wood 230 yards to the back of the green flag, perhaps my best shot of the day. Marlene birdied the hole using a driver from 145 yards, flew the ball to the front of the green and rolled it to sixteen feet. Hole fourteen is a par three that I played at 147 yards. My eight iron caught a ridge left of the flag and found the hole. My fifteenth hole in one but my first in thirteen years! My spouse played a wedge from 85 yards to the heart of the green and two putted. She posted a final score in the high 90s with three pars and a birdie.Marlene and I play a lot of golf together and are lucky to play many top ranked golf courses. Rare is the golf course that treats us both with such fairness and equal challenge. Wine Valley Golf Club delivered a great day of golf for both of us.

On a recent golf and fly fishing vacation to Montana and Idaho finding welcoming golf courses in the age of corona virus proved difficult. Most of my desired golf courses have a 'no outside play' policy in place until the pandemic is over. In my search, I came across Kalispel Golf & Country Club. A reading of its history brought me back to my childhood. In 1946 Kalispel Golf & Country was called Spokane Country Club, the course where Patti Berg won the first Woman's US Open Championship. Patti Berg's teacher and coach was Les Bolstad. Both Berg and Bolstad are legends in Minnesota golf where coincidentally I learned golf as a caddie at Hazeltine National and where Mr. Bolstad was an honorary member. As a good junior golfer I was lucky enough to play with Mr. Bolstad a few times. Because of that connection I contacted the club and my spouse and I were granted permission to play. The most refreshing thing about playing Kalispel is that the course is much the same as it has always been. Too often I have seen older golf courses remodeled with the addition of artificial mounding and over bunkered, over undulated greens. Kalispel gets high marks for shot value. Maybe too short for the young modern golfer, my 250-260 yard driver fit the course just right. Three long par threes tested my longest irons and five wood. I needed every club in my bag to play Kalispel and that is always a sign of a good course.The course is laid out on the side of Rattlesnake Ridge and the par fours and fives use the slope to great affect. There's enough elevation change to make club selection a test and a good balance of side hill left to right, right to left, up hill, and down hill. Putting is a wonderful challenge at Kalispel. Knowing where the Spokane River is must be factored into every putt. Every downhill putt can get away and leave you with a tester coming back.The traditional straight forward nature to Kalispel Golf takes a different and interesting twist when you get to the sixteenth tee. Almost like a different course, the drive on this par five is a massive down hill shot. From the back two tees the shot is blind which was a disappointment for me because the view from the forward tees is something to see. The hole then doglegs to the right for another blind shot that falls downhill and to the left. The third shot wedge into the green requires all your golfing skill. Seventeen is also a hole out of character with the rest of the course. The par three of 193 yards is down hill with water guarding the left side of the green. The correct club and carry to the green are a must.Tee shots of special note and challenge are plentiful on what was Spokane Country Club. The drive on the dogleg left second must almost kiss the trees that bank the Spokane River to set up the best short iron shot into the green. A fade off the twelfth tee is needed to hold the right to left sloping fairway. Threading a needle is the only way to describe finding the landing area on the par four fourteenth. Any temptation to bomb away on the short eighteenth should be held in check. Choosing the club that gets you to the 100 yard marker should result in a good chance to birdie the last.Eastern Washington State has few great golfing options. With that said, Kalispel Golf and Country Club is worth a visit. If for no other reason than to walk in the footsteps of Patti Berg.

Pauma Valley is a very nice straight forward golf course. The Robert Trent Jones layout opened in 1960 and has well stood the test of time. I first played Pauma Valley in a US Open Sectional Qualifier in the early 1980's. I remember Corey Pavin still an amateur blowing away the field. These days I try to play Pauma Valley on a regular basis and have gotten to know some of the courses finer points. I play the course at just under 7,000 yards and hit driver on all of the par 4's and 5's. These holes require an almost perfect balance between fades, draws, and hard hit straight drives. Approach shots to the greens are much the same, fade one draw the next.Like so many courses built in the 50's, 60's Pauma Valley is good hole after good hole with none proving to be overly great. That said, the course does offer some fine golf shots. The drive on hole 8 is one of the most demanding on the course. A middle iron to the green on ten is the closest thing to a blind shot Pauma Valley has to offer. The second shot on 14 and the tee shot on the par 3 16th are both long irons, fades or draws are required depending on hole placement. I have never liked the par 5 17th hole. In my opinion Robert Trent Jones didn't get the risk reward value right. Too often the hole is nothing more than driver, mid-iron, short iron.Pauma Valley is a pleasant walk. The setting is pretty and the homes that border the course seldom intrude. The view from the 18th tee is worth moments look. The background is a nice par 4, the club house, and rolling hills in the distance. A nice ending to a nice golf course.Ron Stelten

The Saticoy Club is a wonderful golf course. A good blend of short, medium, and long holes. To my way of thinking, Saticoy is a fine 17 ½ hole golf course. More on that later.A true highlight to this golf course is the condition. The fairways are near perfect for hitting golf shots of all kinds and at the same time a pleasure to walk. Near perfectly flat on almost every hole. The greens are fast and almost firm. The many false fronts test a golfers distance control. On more than one hole Marlene and I saw what we thought to be a good shot come rolling back to us!Bunkers are well placed and strategic. To my eye it is the bunkering that makes Saticoy a beautiful golf course. Each nine at Saticoy Club has a number of fine golf holes. On the first nine the third is a straight forward par four requiring a good drive and a mid to long iron to a green designed to hold such the shot. The green on the long par three fourth has enough back to front slope to receive the fairway metal most of use need to hit. Hole nine is a gem of a par three. I prefer the tee at 157. At 189 the true angle into the green seems to be lost. For me the back tee on nine is an example of an attempt to lengthen a golf hole and not having good land to do so.On the back nine the eleventh is a wow of a par four. The drive is hit to the first fairway with any real slope. For me a left to right fade resulted in extra roll and a short iron to the green. The green is just enough up hill to demand certain distance control. Twelve is another par four requiring a fade off the tee that is rewarded with a wedge to the green. The par three thirteenth is a classic long iron shot with a fantastic vista. The inward nine continues with good hole after good hole, draw one drive, fade the next. The climax may be the second shot on the par five eighteenth. With a drive on the left side of the fairway a well hit fade just might reach the front of the green.Earlier I said that Saticoy Club was a 17 ½ hole golf course. Elevation change can make or break the routing of a golf course. Get elevation change right and the golf course is a star. Get it wrong and the golf course is a disappointment. For me, two holes stick out. The par three tenth is too much of a down hill drop to be a good hole. The other is the tee shot on the first. Once in the fairway the shot to the green is a match for any of the approach shots at Saticoy. The getting to the fairway was not a match for the rest of this fine course. Saticoy Club is a fine golf course and I look forward to playing it again. Many golf courses are one or two holes short of being great. Ron Stelten

During the late 1990's and early 2000's I played La Purisima many times in PGA Tour Qualifiers with much success. Now “retired” from trying to make a living playing golf I can enjoy golf courses for other reasons.My girlfriend and I played La Purisima as part of a holiday get away on a beautiful day in early January. Our intention was to go to out of the way places. Lompoc, CA is well off the beaten path that is Hwy 101. We were treated to a windless day. Wind is La Purisima's great defense and most golfers try to play in the morning before the wind kicks up.When I last played La Purisima my golf bag carried persimmon woods, steel shafts, and just one wedge with more than 50 degrees of loft. Now in my near mid 60's technology allows me to play golf courses in much the same way as I did way back when. Most of my iron shots into greens were the same as I had hit nearly 20 years ago. The first memory that came back to me when playing the course was just how important it is to be below the hole when putting. The third hole is a short par three. 158 for me and 98 for Marlene. We both hit 8 irons. I had a tap-in. Marlene had an 8 foot down hill putt that caught the hole for a birdie. Had she missed she would have had an eight footer coming back.La Purisima is a second shot golf course. Good driving is needed but to score you have to dial in your irons. The second shot into hole eight is a mid to long iron. The hills in the background add to the beauty of the green complex. The second shot on ten can be a short to mid iron depending on the hole location on the long narrow green. No room for error. Sixteen is perhaps the strongest par four on the course. Your drive must be long and straight in order to have a mid iron shot that must be right of the hole for a good chance at the putt.To my thinking hole seven is the weakest hole on a very good course. The drive is too much of a down hill. Unless you can carry the trees on the left there is no real landing area. For two golfers in their 60's La Purisima is a hard walk. The course has a fair amount of elevation change and most of the time you are walking on the slope of a hill. What make for a challenging interesting golf course means sore feet at the end of 18. As with too many golf courses these days ladies and short hitters are limited to one choice from where to play. The red tees at La Purisima are 5763 yards. Marlene would be better served if she had the option of playing at something closer to 5200.For me, I played the course at just under 7000 and had a great time while remembering back to a time when I was a pretty good golfer.Ron Stelten