Southern California: Rancho San Marcos

by Darin Bunch

Robert Trent Jones Jr. shows his traditional-yet-trickster side at Rancho San Marcos near Santa Barbara.

History In The Re-Making

Already a Favorite of Many, the Revision of Rancho San Marcos Makes It Even Better

The worker was only half-joking.

“I usually just skip this hole and move on to the next one — that’s the best way to play it,” he said with a laugh.
I knew what he meant. The dogleg-left No. 15 at Rancho San Marcos, with its eagle-eye view of Lake Cachuma from the torturous green, had derailed many a round, adding its share of 8s, 9s — and, dare I say, double-digits — to my scorecard over the years.

I’ve always considered the 15th a challenge, one of those holes you look forward to tackling again and again in hopes of conquering the beast. As Tom Hanks once said in A League of Their Own: “It’s the hard that makes it good.”
But for many, it was simply too difficult, an anomaly on the echocardiogram of a track in near-perfect health, perhaps a spot where the terrain forced designer Robert Trent Jones Jr. to play a note just a little too loud in the rhythm of a great round.

It wasn’t the only one. The front nine had its own sour note as well. The par-4 No. 3, instead of having that air of challenge about it, was simply a golf hole carved into a spot where it didn’t belong. Another dogleg, it headed left too severely, leaving players with an uneasy feeling — and not in a good way — off the tee.

Thankfully, the powers-that-be understand the fine line between exceptional golf course and merely good golf course. So when they opened anew this summer, both No. 15 and No. 3 featured changes that made Rancho San Marcos ... well .. complete.

That’s not to say No. 15 isn’t still a 4-par worth a little hand-wringing. You’ll find a little more room off the tee these days, with the large oak that used to define the dogleg having been relocated a bit to help open things up. And you’ll find a little more room to miss on the right, where the cart path (now removed) used to bounce any balls that came its way into the scrub.

But it still takes a couple nice shots — or some short-game wizardry — to post par or better on this hole, appropriately known as Bear’s Back.

As for Team FG’s inaugural shot at the “new” No. 15? We played it perfectly, of course. Or make that par-fectly. With one of us in the nasty greenside bunker and the other about 10 yards in front of the green after our approach shots, we both knocked shots to within a foot of the hole and kicked them in for the “victory” over our longtime nemesis.

Back at No. 3, players will find a straighter hole, with the green being moved closer to the river. However, with a putting surface shaped similarly to Jones’ father’s diabolical No. 4 at Spyglass Hill — long and narrow — the approach is perhaps even more difficult than before, although the hole itself, overall, is far more playable.

One other hole that’s always worth a mention is the 629-yard, par-5 No. 6. It’s never needed any changes; it’s simply perfect as it is — long and straight and inviting, with a “Come and Get Me” attitude. With any breeze — and you hardly find a Rancho day without some wind — the hole qualifies as a good hike spoiled. And when played from the tips, it’s one of those great holes that says, “You better hit it big ... twice ... maybe three times.” For me, it was driver-hybrid-hybrid ... wedge. A one-putt 5 made for yet another memory under the clear-blue sky, which is as much a signature of Rancho San Marcos as the rolling landscape.

Yet there’s much more to this property — now owned by Beanie Babies mastermind Ty Warner, who sports an arsenal full of golf and travel properties, Sandpiper Golf Club, Montecito Country Club and San Ysidro Ranch resort among them — than merely shot values and green slopes.

Unlike the Monterey Peninsula and other places where you walk through the history of golf during a round, at Rancho San Marcos, you walk through the actual history of the Santa Ynez Mountains.

Sacred Indian sites are found along the 18-hole route, and the Stagecoach line runs along the 17th fairway, so close that a quick hook will put you right on it.

It’s all part of the story of Rancho San Marcos, which was established by the Santa Barbara Mission as an outpost. Named for Fray Marcos Amestoy of the Santa Barbara Mission, the compound included an asistencia comprising a chapel and living quarters, a granary, wine cellar, and dwellings for the Chumash Indians. In addition there was a wine press, pottery kiln, threshing corral and livestock pens.

Today, stables built on the property serve at the cart barn, but don’t hesitate to ask if you can walk through to see the construction and architecture. It’s truly something you don’t see every day at a golf facility.

In 1822, Mexico declared its independence from Spain and began to secularize the missions and sell off their lands. The flag changed from Spain to Mexico and when Pio Pico became governor of California in 1846; he actively sold off Land Grants to finance the Mexican-American War of 1846. Accordingly, on June 8, 1846, Rancho San Marcos, comprising 35,573 acres, was sold to Nicholas and Richard Den for $750 in gold. The original boundaries were described by a survey made by two horsemen.

Other little touches have always made Rancho San Marcos special. On cold days, fire pits burn near some of the tee boxes to warm early-morning golfers.

And behind the Pro Shop, the oak-shadded deck offers views of the par-3 No. 5 and par-4 No. 9 greens, which share the course’s central pond as an ominous hazard. On a breezy afternoon, a meal on the deck watching the players fire to the semi-island greens is almost as good as a round of golf itself.

Almost.

In the end, Rancho San Marcos is a golf course that needs to be played more than once. Over and over and over again, if you’re lucky.

We’ve spent the better part of a decade surveying the genius of Trent Jones Jr., from Turning Stone’s Kaluhyat course near Syracuse, N.Y. (see Page 56) to the new Osprey Meadows at Tamarack in Idaho, from Princeville on Kauai to Winchester in Auburn, Calif.

And now the “new” Rancho San Marcos is finally a fitting piece in the A-list chapter of the master’s portfolio. FG