Been a while. Conditions have improved greatly. The La Purisima of old is back! (It may also be that they hosted the US Open qualifier the day prior too)

Been a while. Conditions have improved greatly. The La Purisima of old is back! (It may also be that they hosted the US Open qualifier the day prior too)

Played here at 10am this morning and the review is for the new owners. Great job!!!! This course is coming back. The improvements are noticeable as is the fairway conditioning and quality of the green... Continue »

Played here at 10am this morning and the review is for the new owners. Great job!!!! This course is coming back. The improvements are noticeable as is the fairway conditioning and quality of the greens. The fairways look the best I can remember, and a first cut rough! Although the greens are a little slower than I recall in their prime they're in terrific shape. Looks like thy're being managed back to the glass-like speed of old days. Everyone with respect for course design and challenge has always known this course is a giant among mortals. To be honest, I wasn't sure what would happen to this course and I dropped my players club membership in 2014 in favor of the Sandpiper / RSM deal (much pricier), but need to think now about keeping both. I walked away thrilled, tired, challenged, but with the biggest smile I've had here in a while. Don't know who the new owners are, but I'd buy them a beer.

Played 3-16-14. Course is in good shape. Tee boxes are in good shape(still need to level number 3). Fairways and rough have recently been punched, but you will still find good lies in the fairways. Th... Continue »

Played 3-16-14. Course is in good shape. Tee boxes are in good shape(still need to level number 3). Fairways and rough have recently been punched, but you will still find good lies in the fairways. The rough has been cut done a little not as long as normal but can still be tough to hit from. For me the sand traps are in nice shape with firm sand. Greens are nice, smooth and rolling true with medium fast speed. They have trimmed back some of the trees on 9 which opens up your tee shot a little bit. They have also cleared up the area under the trees on left side of 14. I like what I see from the new owners every time I come back here.

First of all THANKS to the GKers that recommended this place, it was worth the drive up from Goleta. Got a $50 Sr rate that made the day ever better! Lets start with the best, the greens were excellen... Continue »

First of all THANKS to the GKers that recommended this place, it was worth the drive up from Goleta. Got a $50 Sr rate that made the day ever better! Lets start with the best, the greens were excellent; smooth, fast and holding but local knowledge on where to land the ball on the green is very necessary. Fairway had too many divots but otherwise they were better than average if you didn't land in a divot. Maybe the reason is that my cart had no sand in the bottles. The roughs are rough, lots of burrowing animal holes. Traps were OK. I played with a local so he help guide me around the course. Also, play the proper T's for your game otherwise you will not enjoy the day. Weather cooperated, cold at 8:30 but sunny, no wind and lo 70's when we finished. No beverage cart. Wish this course was closer to Oceanside, love to play this course more often.

Played early morning on Black Friday with rgm2525. Weather was pretty terrible but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Greens were rolling very well and not as fast as I've seen in the past. The rains also t... Continue »

Played early morning on Black Friday with rgm2525. Weather was pretty terrible but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Greens were rolling very well and not as fast as I've seen in the past. The rains also took a bite out of most of the breaks, which made reading them trickier than normal. There was a little bit of divot damage as well.
Fairways and tee boxes were in pretty good shape. A few brown patches in the fairways but most everything was green and lush. #3 tee box still needs leveling but other than that I didn't see many problems.
Rough was thinner than in the past but that didn't matter much in the rain. They've also introduced an intermediate cut which frames the fairways very well.
Bunkers were heavy and filled with plenty of sand. With the rain it was like hitting through wet concrete. Very difficult.
Highly recommended and a must play in my opinion. Can't wait to come out again.

Played 11-7-13 first out walking in under three hours. They just punched the greens monday and tuesday with 1/4 inch holes. Green here have not been punched in over three years. Nice to see the new ow... Continue »

Played 11-7-13 first out walking in under three hours. They just punched the greens monday and tuesday with 1/4 inch holes. Green here have not been punched in over three years. Nice to see the new owners working on improving the course. For being punched the greens rolled suprisingly well, medium speed and holding there line pretty good. Fairways have a few bare spots but most lies are real nice. Rough is not as long as it normally is, was only about 1 to 2 inches and pretty easy to hit from. Sand traps are a little on the frim side but still good to hit out of. Most tee boxes in good shape with a few of them needing leveling, especially number 3. A must play course that hopefully will only get better with the new ownership.

While in the area, Eaglee and I decided to play a second round. I've been looking for an excuse to play La Purisima again. The only other time I played here was quite a few years ago and I loved it th... Continue »

While in the area, Eaglee and I decided to play a second round. I've been looking for an excuse to play La Purisima again. The only other time I played here was quite a few years ago and I loved it then. We had a 2pm tee time, but were running late after a longer-than-expected round at Alisal, but I called on the way and the guy in the pro shop didn't seem concerned. When we got there, we realized why. Hardly anyone out there, so we were in no rush. Wanted to grab a quick bite to eat, but they were already closing up the snack bar/grill so had to settle for a Powerbar from the pro shop. Otherwise, we teed off around 2:15 as a twosome. There were twosomes in front of us and a twosome behind us, so it was a nice overall pace of about 3:45. The course was in pretty good overall shape, highlighted by the greens. They were perfection! Soft/spongy surfaces, but silky smooth and pure on putts. Very quick speeds, but not quite as frighteningly fast as my other visit. Shame they are getting ready to aerate next week, but I'm sure they'll be coming back just as strong in a few weeks. The fairways were mostly good. Many were excellent and others not so much with more thin areas to contend with. The rough was very spotty. Around the greens it was thick and lush. Around the fairways it was hit or miss. Some good areas and some terrible patches. When you are not on a fairway here, be sure and watch your step. There are a lot of holes, lumps and bumps and we both almost turned our ankles several times. If driving a cart, keep it on the fairways or on the dirt paths (where there are paths). Going through rough is a painful and bumpy ride! Sand traps good. Greenside bunkers had a nice top layer to work with and fairway bunkers kept firmer, which is how it should be. Though a little rough around the edges right now, this is still one of the best courses in Southern California. One of the most challenging and unrelenting layouts, and local knowledge is definitely helpful on many holes when deciding where to aim your tee shots. Look forward to my next battle with the course, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later this time around!

Played in a tourney today teeing off at 10:00 am. Pace of play was poor but that was the fault of the tourney not the course. It was wide open except for us. Course conditions were nice. Lush fair... Continue »

Played in a tourney today teeing off at 10:00 am. Pace of play was poor but that was the fault of the tourney not the course. It was wide open except for us. Course conditions were nice. Lush fairways and rough. The rough could be punitive. The greens were fast but not lightening and held well. That was good because the pin positions were brutal. Extremely difficult. The course kicked my butt. Some of it was not playing it for many years. For example, I thought I hit a perfect drive on a back nine par five and ended up driving into the junk.

I was a little disappointed in the amenities. The bar/coffee shop closed at 3:00 which meant no post round libation. They were also slow on the mid-round hot dog. Otherwise, the course personnel were extremely helpful and professional.

The course is a gem. I never minded playing that bad.

I was first off the tee yesterday, played by myself in about 2.5 hrs. Other courses take note: this is how you do customer service right. Pro shop attendant only charged me twilight rate because she s... Continue »

I was first off the tee yesterday, played by myself in about 2.5 hrs. Other courses take note: this is how you do customer service right. Pro shop attendant only charged me twilight rate because she said they were going to be verticutting a few greens. Then one of the greenskeepers approached me and apologized for the conditions I'd encounter on those holes. He offered to let me play the front nine twice, but I wanted to play the whole course because it was my first time here. He later caught up to me on the course and offered again to let me play the front twice, in addition to playing the back. Long story short, they made me feel like they valued me as a customer and definitely understand how important course conditions are to their customers. Overall the course was in good shape. It was misty and quite wet so early, which called for increased precision (that I lacked) when hitting irons off the fairways. Greens were very smooth but running quite slow ... the reason they cited for the verticutting. The rough was nasty, in a good way, putting a premium on keeping your ball on the fairway. I loved the layout, but might enjoy it even more a second time. I was surprised some holes are a bit tricky and definitely would benefit from local/course knowledge.