Wooohoooo played rustic yesterday with two good friends of mine. I love this course so much and couldn't believe I hadn't played here in 2 years. Where does time go sometimes? We had a 3:30 pm tee tim... Continue »

Wooohoooo played rustic yesterday with two good friends of mine. I love this course so much and couldn't believe I hadn't played here in 2 years. Where does time go sometimes? We had a 3:30 pm tee time and were told at check in around 3:20 that we were starting on the back. As you probably know, that is the much tougher nine. Of myself and my two friends, two of us (including me) struggled pretty decently. The course definitely played as tough as always from within 50 yards, and it didn't help, of course, that it took me six holes to start hitting my irons well. The other friend who didn't struggle ended up shooting a 40, which included a double bogey on 18. His chipping was dead on and ended up having 13 putts (4 two-putts and 5 one-putts). As is the case with Rustic, being on with your short game will make or break you. Unfortunately, my short game, as I mentioned, took a third to half of the course to start working. I will say, however, that the front right of 10's green and front right of 13's green did have some black spots that I had to hit over as opposed to the opportunity to bump and run or putt through. But this was the only negative I have about the course. Other than that, fairways were dry in places but not hard, and the course played fast and firm as always. Tees were great, rough was lush, sand was as you would expect at Rustic from the two bunkers I was in. After making the turn, we had the entire front nine to ourselves and zipped through it pretty quickly. My friend ended up shooting a 44 on the front for a total of 84 without hitting a single second shot all day. I ended up making par on 6 of the 9 holes for a 41, including GIR and 2-putting all three par 3s. I also missed birdies on 6 and 8 extremely narrowly. The other three holes I made par on were 3, 5, and 9; with my third somehow coming up 50 yards short on 9 followed by a beautiful pitch to 8 feet and a downhill bender that just slid in over the front edge. All in all, I think that Rustic cannot disappoint as long as you are aware of what you are getting into, whether that be in terms of course challenge/conditions or understanding that if you play this at the wrong time of day the pace of play could be that of a snail. If you do your homework and make sure that the course is in good shape (thanks GK) and get on at a good time, you are sure to be treated to one of the most unique golfing experiences the area has to offer.

Out as a threesome Saturday, mid-morning, 10:30 tee time. Front nine was decent as far as pace of play, but slowed from the turn until the 16th. Course conditions: tees were great; level and not too m... Continue »

Out as a threesome Saturday, mid-morning, 10:30 tee time. Front nine was decent as far as pace of play, but slowed from the turn until the 16th. Course conditions: tees were great; level and not too many divots. Fairways were a mix of lush to thin, but always a good lie. As you got into the rough it got sketchy. It was a mix of lush, thin, patchy, and dirt lies. Mostly okay if you were just off the fairway. It reminded me of the conditions seen on television of the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Not too bad in the middle, but stray off the fairway and it got more difficult. I was in a couple of traps: short, left of 11 green and right side of 15. The sand was okay with some small pebbles. I have seen it worse here. The best part of the course were the greens and the large aprons and collars around the greens. The greens were firm, rolled true, had no bumpiness, and ran medium fast. Despite what seemed like long waits between shots on the back, we finished in a total of 4:45. I am not sure it was worth the weekend riding rate of $81, but we did have a good time.

I try to get up to Rustic as often as I can. It's a long drive for me—but so worth it. What I love about this course is the way the natural landscape is worked into the layout. There are many holes th... Continue »

I try to get up to Rustic as often as I can. It's a long drive for me—but so worth it. What I love about this course is the way the natural landscape is worked into the layout. There are many holes that require the golfer to think about their approach—not just blindly grab their driver and hit away. Some golfers don't want to have to think too hard—and this may not be the course for them. The semi-links design includes broad aprons on the greens, that allows many more approach options than a standard layout. There are always plenty of critters, from rabbits to road runners. Very relaxed atmosphere.

Played here Friday, 5/23 early afternoon. Overall, the course is very playable. The greens were a little slower than usual for Rustic, but rolled well and were smooth. The fairways are a mix of fairly... Continue »

Played here Friday, 5/23 early afternoon. Overall, the course is very playable. The greens were a little slower than usual for Rustic, but rolled well and were smooth. The fairways are a mix of fairly lush and very thin/bare areas. But mostly if you're in the fairway you'll have a good lie. The two bunkers I was in had good sand. Tee boxes were fine.

Played 4-14-14 at 7am as a walking twosome in 3:45 behind a slow twosome in a cart. Course is in nice shape. Tee boxes still some of the best around. Fairways are lush with good lies but not as much r... Continue »

Played 4-14-14 at 7am as a walking twosome in 3:45 behind a slow twosome in a cart. Course is in nice shape. Tee boxes still some of the best around. Fairways are lush with good lies but not as much roll as normal. Rough is in great shape around the greens, but fairway rough is a gamble it can be good, bad or dirt. Greens are in real good shape medium to fast speed today and rolling true. Condition of the course have improved each time I have come out here, hope they keep it up.

I played Rustic Canyon at the end of March and the course was in the finest condition yet in the dozen years I've been trekking out to to Ventura County's closest equivalent to St. Andrews: this was ... Continue »

I played Rustic Canyon at the end of March and the course was in the finest condition yet in the dozen years I've been trekking out to to Ventura County's closest equivalent to St. Andrews: this was as fast and firm and fair as I've ever seen. The greens were good enough to play a British Open upon -- not quite as fast as a U.S. Open, but worthy of a PGA event. I probably took 45 putts, but every single 3 or 4 putt was my own fault. I didn't notice a single ball mark or spike mark. I was simply overcome by the complexity of the greens -- like playing Mr. Spock in 3-d Vulcan chess -- combined with the difficulty of remaining aware of the north to south slope of the canyon.

It was the closest thing I've experienced to playing Augusta National. I'd hit a decent iron onto the huge greens only to have the ball trickle for 15 or 20 second down to the fringe.

Rustic Canyon isn't a brutally hard course, but anything other than a superbly struck shot will keep rolling under the superb maintenance conditions until it arrives at a disadvantageous location for your next shot.

I paid $36 to play mid-day on a Wednesday in about 3 hours and 55 minutes in 75 degree sunshine. Does it get better than this?

Played Midday today 3/10/14 at my home course. The heavens opened up today as far as the weather was concerned. Light breeze(5mph) 80 degrees, high clouds---just a beautiful day. I was impressed with ... Continue »

Played Midday today 3/10/14 at my home course. The heavens opened up today as far as the weather was concerned. Light breeze(5mph) 80 degrees, high clouds---just a beautiful day. I was impressed with most aspects of the course. The greens were rolling around a 10 on the stimp with little to no ball marks present. A true roll and holding well struck irons and chips. The fairways were lusher today due to the past weekend of rain. You still get roll on drives but they are a mixed bag between different types of lush grasses and only some minor hardpan areas. I thought they were in good shape. The tees here are off the hook good. Probably the best I have ever seen Rustic's teeing grounds. Lush green grass on all tees cut to the perfect length. Only a couple boxes need leveling like the blue stone box on #17. The rough is lush in places lining some green complexes. Sand is firm as usual. Staff very friendly. Another day in paradise. One of the best deals around if you walk twilight or midday during the week---highly recommended.

Played 3-3-14 early morning teeing off at 6:20 and finishing at 1:00 for 36 holes. Tee boxes are in great shape very lush some of the best Ived played on in a while. Fairways although they look pretty... Continue »

Played 3-3-14 early morning teeing off at 6:20 and finishing at 1:00 for 36 holes. Tee boxes are in great shape very lush some of the best Ived played on in a while. Fairways although they look pretty nice you can end up with some bad lies because of differnet types of grass at different heights with ball sitting down in between. Rough around the greens is very thick and lush at about 3 inches, fairway rough is thin and clumpy with many bare spots. Sand traps are in ok shape, firm packed sand. Greens are real nice rolling true with medium speed. I like the new blue stakes they have put in to designate where the waste area ends and the bunkers start. With all the rain we got over the weekend the course drained very well, didnt see any standing water in any fairways. Hopefully the rain will help the fairways lush up. Will be back to play when the greens dry out a little and become much faster.

Today I had my best score at Rustic Canyon Golf Course. I played with 2 GK and 1 non GK. The weather was excellent. The fair ways were in good conditions, the tee box were excellent, sand bankers h... Continue »

Today I had my best score at Rustic Canyon Golf Course. I played with 2 GK and 1 non GK. The weather was excellent. The fair ways were in good conditions, the tee box were excellent, sand bankers had enough sand and easy to get out. The greens were in great conditions but fast. Customer service was great and very professional. We didn't had to wait for any body and we finish in 4 1/2 hours.