I always, always love trying new golf courses, and Rustic Canyon was no different.
Coming here with four of my golf buddies, it was awesome how they let us play in a fivesome. The rate was $38 because we technically played at a twilight time, which is about the price I would say is fair for the course.
When you read that this course is a bit of a links layout, you can mostly expect that the intermediary cut around the greens is very, very close to the actual green surface. Therefore, you can find yourself putting from super far just because you can have a better judge of the roll; an alternative shot you might find yourself playing a lot here would certainly be the bump and run.
The rough is fair, and the OB is usually not in obscenely ridiculous places, but do know that finding balls in the OB areas is certainly challenging. You can expect these desert-like plants there, and if your ball isn't visible, it's likely it's in one of those and essentially not worth it to even attempt to hack it out.
Additionally, a lot of forced carries at Rustic Canyon are because of the little canyon-like areas filled with coarse sand. If you are lucky enough to find your ball, you'll be hitting out of what feels like rough bunkers, and keep in mind that these run through almost every hole. Some of my playing partners--and me on some occasions--lost some strokes just by having to have tough shots just to get out.
Some holes from the tips were certainly very tough; I forget exactly what hole it was, but on the back 9 there was a hole where you basically had to drive it 240+ just to clear the OB area. It was definitely a pretty low handicap hole, but it was very representative of the much hillier and much more challenging back 9. The front 9 is a lot easier due to its wide fairways and relatively flatter holes, and it showed in most of our scores.
The greens were smooth but also very tough in the way they broke; no one really putted lights-out. My friend, who is a putting guru of sorts, noted that they always tend to break towards the valley, and after a round, I'm actually very inclined to agree.
Walking the course was not impossible, but the back 9 was definitely a lot more strenuous due to the plentiful hills.
Oh, while you're here, I might as well tell a hilarious story that happened during my round. As my friend was lining up his putt, we all suddenly heard a huge noise. GUUUUUUUUSHHHHHHHH. We looked around, and A SPRINKLER HAD BLASTED HIS BAG, AND IT WASN'T MOVING OFF OF IT! I quickly abandoned studying my line and ran over to grab his bag--carefully, since I didn't want to get residue splash all over me--and then moved it to safety. No one laughed at the time since it was kind of horrifying, and I think we were worried about the contents of his bag, but he waved it off and said that it was waterproof. Anyways, while I felt like James Bond, I was kind of rattled and missed my putt and made bogey. Great.
It was a really fun round and a really tiring one, but ultimately I wasn't extremely fond of the course. Holes were pretty interesting, but some were unnecessarily difficult. That said, I really, really love golf, and I wouldn't turn down another chance to take another crack at it. read more