There is nothing at Pelican Hill that is understated and the Ocean North Course is no exception. It was originally done by Tom Fazio in 1993 without much fanfare but when it got renovated in 2005 it took on an awesome character all it’s own. Not as visually scenic at the Ocean South because it lacks the close-to-the-Pacific drop dead looks, but to the discriminating eye the rocky gorges the course traverses give it a Plantation Course at Kapalua feel that is undeniable. As with the Ocean South the hardest thing is blocking out the visual drama so you can focus on the shot at hand.

The dramatic elevation changes and the definition to the holes created by the adjacent gorges on both of these courses reiterates the strategic element and makes angle of approach and shot shape germane to efficient play. One of the greatest shot shapers in the game today, Bubba Watson, recently played one of the courses at Pelican Hill from the tips with just a 20-degree hybrid and shot 81. You ever try putting with a 20-degree hybrid? I am sure Bubba had a barrel of laughs doing this especially on a course where shaping a shot can make a huge difference to getting it close.

Fazio designs are a master of strategic play for me. His greens are generally accessible, from a specific angle, which means there has to be forethought standing on the tees or hitting the lay ups on the five pars. The green complexes are angled to the approach positions often with bunkers only on one side. But many of the greens have rounded shoulders that influence the finishing path of balls away from their intended target. To complicate matters further the Poa Annua greens are like a house of mirrors to read and will leave you scratching your head when obvious breaks go the other way.

The Par 3 2nd can lead to a Pepto Bismol moment early in your day

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An early piece of the shock and awe comes on Number 2, the first par 3. This is a knee knocker standing of the tee peering over the gorge at the green slightly below on the other side. Doubt creeps into mind as you decide if the elevation change or the wind direction is more significant in your club selection. For sure it favors a right to left curve to work up the angle and pitch of this 40-yard long putting surface.

The Par 4 fourth is typical of the Fazio design swagger. The hole doglegs left of the tee favoring a draw but the green below the approach area is set back right which means a soft high fade works the best into a green with a high bank on the right. You need the full bag of tricks here, sometimes on the same hole.

Small bungalow overlooks the delicate downhill shot into #4

Unique architectural composition makes the Par 4 seventh the number one handicap hole of the day. Standing on the tee you see a fairway split by a 40-yard long bunker goading you to pick your poison. The left fairway is the shortest and most accessible route home but this puts the full threat of the bunker in play off the tee. From the safer right fairway you have to manipulate a high fade into the front left corner of the putting complex and let it feed onto a very small green. Corporate CEO money is well represented in the McMansions set in the hills all around this green-Pelican Hills is the high rent district.

A steep uphill approach with a long club on #9 brings Pine Valley to mind

As the course turns south with the Pacific just over your shoulder on the right my favorite hole is the rough and tumbling Par 4 ninth. This is full Pine Valley look with a drive off a high perched tee down a log flume which, if you can hold the center line of the fairway, will allow your Titleist to roll forever. The second will be a club and a half more played off a down slope into a shelved green set half way up a monster hill laden with trees, folds, and an occasional mean bunker. There is absolutely no margin for error in your distance control or towardness on this approach-anything less than 95% of intention is looking at trouble.

The back nine plays about 250 yards shorter than the front mostly because of a couple of quality short par fours and only one five par. The first of the short fours is the eleventh, a swooping dogleg right thrill ride heading to the ocean. The very shallow green here is set on a shoulder above a deep bunker on the right so a well position tee ball on the left will set up nicely for a left-to-right approach into the center of the green. The slopes off of this green into surrounding hollows create bedeviling recovery pitches if your approach shot lacks articulation.

The view on the short Par 4 13th from the tee is very tantalizing

Two holes later is the second portion of the short par four feast. This time the dell green complex is wrapped around a deep bunker front left with a stepped surface working from front right to back left. The opposite shape coming in will work it’s way up to this pin.

Turning back to the ocean the 14th hole would feel at home on any Irish links course. The hole is delineated by trees set high on the hill tops but there is a vastness to the playing area all the way to the green. The approach is played up to a shallow false front green draped on the crest of the hill above a hideous bunker. Fazio provides a closely mown chipping area long and right where many smart approach shots will end up. While standing on the green take a peek over your shoulder, the view of the Pacific is breathtaking.

The green set against the horizon at #17 is especially pretty at dusk

After meandering inland for a couple of holes, the postcard hole of the day is the only par five on the inward half at seventeen. A pond in the elbow of the dogleg right wards you left off the tee and the hole then ambles uphill to a green perched on a ledge above the ocean. Positioning the second to the left gives the best angle for a short iron into a very narrow green with nastiness all around. There is a single spread tree standing high above the green which gives this hole a very coastal California flavor.

Precision required on the approach down the hill to #18

Your day ends with a kitchy, truncated par four that will stick in your memory all the way through dinner. After a bold drive up the left to the high ground you are left with a three story down approach iron to a green that looks like the under belly of a large Labrador sleeping on it’s back. Hitting the pink part is just plain hard.

The Ocean North is of a decidedly different character to the South, less obvious drama but all the tactical punch. On a daily basis this is probably the course of choice to good players because wise tactics are rewarded and good scores should follow.

Newport Beach, California

Architect: Tom Fazio (1993-renovated 2005)

Tees      Par      Yardage      Rating      Slope
Black      71         6945            73           135
Blue        71         6563            71.3        130
White      71         6270            69.9        127
Yellow     71         4951            69.4        124

(Click to see the complete hole-by-hole review of the Pelican Hill-Ocean North Course)

(Click to see more photos from Postcard From Pelican Hill-Ocean North)

Every once in a while you trip over a unique golf course, one that does not fit into any of the neat categories of course design. Rustic Canyon is one of those, a blend of links design with an arid desert course feel. Created by Gil Hanse with the help of long time associate Jim Wagner and golf writer Geoff Shackelford the course was built on flat firm, sandy turf in a two-mile long arroyo between dusty foothills about 40 miles north of the Los Angeles sprawl.

At first glance the land must have seemed ill suited for golf, but credit the imagination of these three guys to come up with a rough-edged “rustic design” to delight and challenge golfers of all abilities. A dry wash full of distinctive desert vegetation and scrub dominates the center of the property and provides most of the hazards the golfers will encounter. With wide open fairways, an absence of trees, no rough to speak of, natural desert hazards complimented with a limited number of Wagnerian thick-lipped jagged edged bunkers, and no man-made water in play, they used a minimalist approach to integrate natural beauty and topographical nuance into an almost intoxicating golf experience.

(Double-click on any photos for an enhanced look)

On #11 you see all the rustic elements composed into one hole

Taking a page from the links formula of course design they created holes using broad fairways and angled proximity to the natural hazards coupled with wide, flowing, and uncluttered green complexes. There is a vague similarity to what Hanse did seven years later at Castle Stuart Golf Links where he built a user-friendly links course with wide driving areas and strategic approach lines on stretches of rolling terraced land overlooking the Moray Firth in Inverness, Scotland.

Slope, contour, and seamless integration of the greens into the fairways

As you often see in the British Isles these green complexes, many of which the surrounds blend seamlessly into the green surfaces, encourage ground approaches. Depending on wind direction and pin positions each day this makes for an inherent variety of strategic approaches. Managing one’s way successfully around this place takes a links mentality where every shot requires proper consideration of how it affects the next shot. This means at times one must temper aggressive instincts and allow the flow of the course to dictate the proper and efficient way to play.

The first order of business was that Rustic Canyon be assembled as a municipal facility to serve golfers of every ilk in Ventura County and the greens fee had to be quite reasonable. The driving range, short game area, and practice putting green are modest but adequate to provide players a proper stage prepare for the day. Golf carts are outfitted with a rudimentary GPS system that can be very helpful considering that the lack of trees makes depth perception an enigma and visual distancing a challenge. The course is walker friendly with hand carts available and there is a pricey hand drawn minimalist yardage book that can be helpful as well. The yardage book is done in the style of the touring professional so it has all the real detail a thinking player needs without the glossy window dressing. But honestly you have to be of a particular mindset to find this yardage book user friendly.

The wrap-a-round of the Par 4 12th is one of distinctive features of the three short par fours

With four sets of tees on the scorecard there is a distance to present the appropriate challenge for every handicap. You will note that there is a peculiar fifth choice, the Hanse tees, that is actually a Pu Pu Platter of holes from the Black, Blue, and White Tees. It makes for a wonderful 6400 yard challenge if one thinks the Blue Tees at 6634 is more than they can chew. Playing the Hanse tee you have to pay attention to the Hanse scorecard yardage for each hole to see which color tee to play on that hole. The shorter holes are often played from the Black Tees which satisfies the perverse macho element in most of us-that in itself makes for an interesting twist.

The fairway from the 1st tee seems confined but there is plenty of wiggle room beyond

The opening hole is a perfect example of the design characteristics you will see all day. Standing on the tee of this five par the harrowing bunker on the right makes the driving area appear seriously constrained whereas it actually widens past the bunker to almost 70 yards of width and a warm welcome for almost any drive. In spite of this wide driving berth, position is very important depending on how you will negotiate the dry bed fissure on your second shot that bisects the last 140 yards of the fairway into the green. For a bump and run approach shot into the green, the second shot needs to be played from the left side of the driving area deftly into the narrow channel of mown fairway grass left of the fissure. Up the right off the tee allows for a longer second shot lay up to a more open area closer to the green but what is left will be a lawn dart pitching club across the hazard to a green steeply pitched toward you. If the pin is on the front right this can be a difficult approach and putt to negotiate. Throughout the day these types of decisions have to be anticipated so it is a matter of knowing where the pin is located and plotting an approach path that is appropriate.

Hide and Seek on the Par 3 3rd hole keeps you guessing on the best line of approach

Further study of the scorecard reveal quirky hole yardages and hole sequencing that is equally intriguing. The front nine has three par 3s and three par 5s with all the par threes coming in a five hole sequence. In the links tradition the three pars have great variety from longer semi-blind approaches to large sprawling greens to short pitches to small greens surrounded by deep sand pots or nasty grass hollows. Throw in a two very imaginative short par fours on the outward nine and you are playing an a collection of finesse holes where length is of little advantage.

The 8th is a classic Irish Par 3-the challenge seems simple but add a wee bit of wind and…….

As you make the turn sequential technical par 5s on nine and ten followed by another on thirteen provide good scoring chances in the second leg of your Nassau bet. The heart and soul of the back side are three long and challenging par 4s which set an entirely different cadence for the way in. To further complicate matters the routing keeps you off balance as the hole directions switchback five times on the back nine. With any prevailing North/South wind down the valley this will wreak havoc on your swing rhythm and force you to play differing trajectory controlled shots on every hole.

From the start gate on the Par 4 16th tee this is a full Six Flags thrill ride if I have seen one

It is hard to imagine as you walk the course that there is actually a 240 foot drop in the property as it works from the top of the valley to the bottom. The last change in direction on the sixteenth tee will release you on a downhill ramp that stretches the rest of the way to the clubhouse. This makes for three of the most majestic holes you play all day but the increment of club selection adjustment can be astounding, especially if the wind is at your back. Ground control to major Tom…..it is the only way to control the approaches into the last three greens.

One last set of steeplechase hurdles coming down the finishing hole

The Hanse crew was determined to create a rustic golf experience with the natural design feel of the architects of the Golden Age of Design who could not move large quantities of dirt to make a superb golf holes. Honoring that tradition, Rustic Canyon requires thoughtful play with strategic agility. The satisfying feeling of mental exhaustion one gest from negotiating the vagaries of a classic design is something to reflect on long after the Rustic Canyon experience is done.

Moorpark, California

Architect: Gil Hanse (2002)

Tees      Par      Yardage      Rating      Slope

Blue      72         6634          71.6         128
Hanse   72         6390          70.4         126
White    72         6049          69            122
Red       72         5275         65.3          112

(Click here to review Rustic Canyon Golf Course hole-by-hole descriptions)

For more pictures click to review Postcard From Rustic Canyon