Had the pleasure of playing along Longball23 and Pfuzzard while they competed for GK first Match play Championship. Congratulations Longball23. It was a great match at one of my favorite courses. The ... Continue »

Had the pleasure of playing along Longball23 and Pfuzzard while they competed for GK first Match play Championship. Congratulations Longball23. It was a great match at one of my favorite courses. The weather was beautiful and we got around in 4 hours.

The course itself was in very good condition. I’d say the front nine was in good shape and the back nine in great shape. The greens are what make Rustic Canyon and they were running mostly fast, smooth and holding shots. With exception to some small bare areas and trouble spots on the front nine greens, they were great. I can only assume after the greens heal from the coming aeration next week they will be awesome come late October. The fairways are what I expected from Rustic Canyon this time of year. Pretty dried out and firm, a little beat from summer play, patchy in places but overall good. The rough was disappointing but having played Rustic Canyon in September, this is exactly what I expected…patchy thin adjacent to the fairways with occasional bare spots OR lush spots. It’s just what summer heat does to them this time of year. So when you hit into the rough, its going to be pot luck if you get a good lie or unfortunately find your ball on a bare spot wedged in-between two grass clumps. Best advice, keep it in the fairway – lol. Regarding the sand traps, disappointed. I expected them to be firm and rugged but not that firm! I’m not talking about the waste bunkers either, I’m talking about many of green side bunkers where you expect higher quality sand or sand that has been turned more often. On a positive note, the tee boxes were in good shape. I bit thin in places but considering the immense play this course gets, a job well done maintaining them. One more thing, PLEASE fix your ball marks even if they hit the aprons of the greens. It’s those huge aprons that give Rustic Canyon so much character and the ability to play many creative bump and run shots (which I love). My wrist is sore right now from how many ball marks I was fixing on them – lol. Overall I’d say the playing conditions at Rustic Canyon are very good and the midday walking rate I paid ($32) was more than worth it.

Shame they are going to aerate because finally the greens have some speed and firmness to them more typical of Rustic. As a result putts run truer and some surfaces will not hold an approach - so it's... Continue »

Shame they are going to aerate because finally the greens have some speed and firmness to them more typical of Rustic. As a result putts run truer and some surfaces will not hold an approach - so it's more back to a ground type of game around the greens instead of an aerial assault.

That being said, there were a lot of un-repaired ballmarks on the greens and aprons.

Rest of the course is in good shape.

Incidentally, played for free on a birthday special - valid one week before and after your big day.

Course is very lush right now - great lies in the fairways. Aprons were shaved pretty tight so they - along with the greens - were running pretty fast. Greens are up to speed and firmer - more like ty... Continue »

Course is very lush right now - great lies in the fairways. Aprons were shaved pretty tight so they - along with the greens - were running pretty fast. Greens are up to speed and firmer - more like typical Rustic conditions (although they still have some poa sprouting in them).

Only negative is the sand which is pretty difficult to play from as it is so hard and thin. Luckily, there isn't that much of it.

Out at Rustic this afternoon 1st twilight group off played with buddy RGM2525....great pace of play at 3 hours 40 minutes walking the tips. Played through group on #4 tee and flew rest of the round...... Continue »

Out at Rustic this afternoon 1st twilight group off played with buddy RGM2525....great pace of play at 3 hours 40 minutes walking the tips. Played through group on #4 tee and flew rest of the round...weather perfect with a little humidity....some changes of note at Rustic they are in the process of sodding a new fairway on #7 over the junk just right of the dirt cartpath should you try and challenge the creek on your drive..should be a new interesting look in the future...the biggest change though is the new black tee box on #14. From the tips now it is a 498 yd par 4 into the wind with about a 250yd carry just right of the big tree lining the middle of the fairway....I hit a bomb today and just cleared the junk...still had 198yds in...tough hole. Greens were the best part of the course probably running around a 10 and semi-smooth putting conditions...fairways were lush in some parts and dying hardpan in other parts. Tee boxes were level and semi-lush...did not visit any of the bunkers but they looked hardpan. Rough was up around the greens and made chipping challenging. Fringes were firmer in most areas. For $24.00 walking twilight during the week this is a great deal.

A couple of greens have been aerated with a fine needle - no sand (yet).

Course is in above average condition, though it has declined a bit over the last month. Fairways are a bit burnt and bare i... Continue »

A couple of greens have been aerated with a fine needle - no sand (yet).

Course is in above average condition, though it has declined a bit over the last month. Fairways are a bit burnt and bare in spots. Also bare spots throughout tee-boxes, but no big deal.

Greens (with the exception of above) are running faster (finally), although I still think they have a fair bit of poa in them and are somewhat bumpy.

Played 8/7. The course is in great shape for the most part. Greens we're really rolling well. My only complaint would be the rather scrappy rough in some areas. Overall pace was pretty good - 4 1/2 ho... Continue »

Played 8/7. The course is in great shape for the most part. Greens we're really rolling well. My only complaint would be the rather scrappy rough in some areas. Overall pace was pretty good - 4 1/2 hours on a Sunday afternoon. Not bad!

Played this afternoon 7/18 twilight 1st group off with buddy Mack. With this being my home course I am very happy to say that the fairways could not look better. They are lush, green and are in great ... Continue »

Played this afternoon 7/18 twilight 1st group off with buddy Mack. With this being my home course I am very happy to say that the fairways could not look better. They are lush, green and are in great shape. You might encounter a hard pan lie here or there but for the most part the course is looking very nice. Several tees need leveling but for the most part the teeing grounds I would call in just above average shape with just enough turf. They added new sand to bunkers right of #15 green which my buddy was in today. Major difference we saw were the aprons or fringes were growing in some nice thicker grass. Some of the lag putts from the fringes were slower today beacause of that. Fringes looked to be in very good shape. The greens are holding iron shots very well and are not putting to fast considering I have seen putts roll of the greens many times here. I was telling my buddy today with little to no wind, good pin placements today, soft greens and lush fairways Rustic was playing about as tame as it can. Starter friendly, range chewed up a bit. Walking for $24.00 at twilight during the week is priceless.

Played two weeks ago and great fun, as always. My favorite course in the area. Any visit to the Ventura area must include a round here. I strongly suggest getting a yardage book in the golf shop b... Continue »

Played two weeks ago and great fun, as always. My favorite course in the area. Any visit to the Ventura area must include a round here. I strongly suggest getting a yardage book in the golf shop before teeing off. One of the great joys of this course is thinking your way around this course, so you really need to know the distances to several landmarks, hazards, etc. Just so much fun coming up with a strategy on most of these holes, especially the front nine. Only drawback for the day was that the range was really chewed up and couldn't find grass to hit off of. They've recently improved the putting green, by making it part of the 18th green, which makes the putting green much larger, as needed. Good thinking.

since its open championship week, I decided to play a course with a links feel to it. Rustic canyon is probably the best course in southern California with that feel. Course conditions is usually pret... Continue »

since its open championship week, I decided to play a course with a links feel to it. Rustic canyon is probably the best course in southern California with that feel. Course conditions is usually pretty good here, but the greens were alittle bumpy and slow. I remember when the greens were one of the firmest and fastest, but not anymore. Still, Rustic is one of my favorites.