Best California Golf Courses You Can Play: The Newcomers
Golf Magazine's list of "Top 100 Golf Courses You Can Play" is an influential list and California leads as the state with the most golf clubs on the list (It has 12). Here's a look at the three California newcomers since the last list in 2002, and also the big California gainers and losers. No. 50 Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco
William Watson's cypress-lined golf treasure was built in 1925 and once hosted two U.S. Amateur Championships, a yearly PGA Tour event until the 1960s, and welcomed the Champions Tour until the early 1980s. The Harding Park golf club was also the training ground for popular pros Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller.
In recent decades the course fell into disrepair until finally, in 2001, a major renovation was completed and now the golf course and its club has shot to number fifty on the list. As a reward for this turnaround, the World Golf Championships will be take place there in 2005.
The course is best known for the 440-yard, boomerang-left 18th hole, which is said to be as spectacular a golf course finish as you'll find anywhere.
No. 85 Dark Horse Golf Club in Auburn
Designer Keith Foster is best known for renovating Southern Hills Golf Club in Oklahoma for the 2001 U.S. Open. At Dark Horse, 50 miles east of Sacramento, Foster proved he could make a great golf course from scratch.
On his new golf course, natural hazards pose pesky challenges on a 7,203-yard course where driving lines are flanked by gorgeous pines. Bunkers that appear near the greens are in fact well short of them. Long hitters are baited by the 312-yard 14th hole, but strategic bunkers and deep rough will not leave hubris unpunished.
No. 100 La Purisma Golf Course in Lompoc
Located in Santa Barbara, La Purisma finds its way to the list after a few years absence. The course is straightforward, no gimmicks, but not overly simplified either.
Designed by Robert Muir Graves and Kenneth H. Hunter Jr., La Purisma meanders through the Santa Barbara County countryside, often leaving golfers fraught with indecision. Steady play rules the day on what Golf Magazine calls a "strategic masterpiece" with an "honest par."
The Chart Gainer: No. 13 South Course at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Club
Always a top-rated golf course in the San Diego area, the Torrey Pines South Course gained four places in 2004 thanks in part to a redesign by Rees Jones in 2000 that came to fruition. The golf club as a whole offers two regulation courses, both of which are similar to Pebble Beach. The South Course is longer and more difficult, while the North Course is more scenic.
Like Pebble Beach, the fairways are somewhat tight and lined with deep rough. The fast greens are medium-sized. Every year, the course is host of the Buick Invitational of California.
The Loser: Mountain Course at La Quinta Resort & Club
Located East of Los Angeles, Mountain Course is part of a unique facility that is situated right next to a mountain, giving the course visual splendor. . The course has suffered in its standing due to a bit of inattention in its grooming and maintenance. It fell 17 spots since 2002.
This course is physically carved into the mountain, demanding accuracy and strategic course management. The signature hole is #16, a 167-yard, par 3. The green is only 160 yards away, but it's a precipitous drop from the tee, and the surrounding brush and rocks make it a real challenge to reach par.
About the Author
Alex Russel is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Lucky enough to grow up in Europe with family all over the world, he has been a consummate traveler his whole life. Since graduating from Syracuse University he has worked at many different media companies in fields as diverse as film, TV, advertising, and journalism. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in English and History.
