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Thanks to decades of virtually uninterrupted growth, Southern California has as many golf courses to play as just about anywhere in the world. The first rudimentary courses were built in the late 19th century, followed by the Golden Age of golf design in the 1920s, then the explosive ’50s and ’60s, which saw a flurry of municipal courses built to match the burgeoning population and, finally, through the last 15 years when high-end daily-fee courses led the way for new development. What that means for golfers is obvious: There is an incredible variety of courses to play. But it also means that local golfers have an opportunity to play courses that have been laid out by some of the best designers to ever put pencil to paper and shovel to earth. Here are 10 of the best: GEORGE C. THOMAS, JR. Great golf course design in Southern California has to begin with Thomas. There were courses before Thomas began aggressively working in the 1920s, but the handful he designed at his peak rank among the best in the region, if not the country. Riviera Country Club, Los Angeles Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club have achieved regal status in Southern California golf circles. But Thomas didn’t only design for the famous and affluent. The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is a public club as are the two courses he designed at Griffith Park Golf Club, one of the country’s most played municipal facilities. WILLIAM P. BELL and WILLIAM F. BELL It gets a little confusing, but William P. Bell, a former caddie master, served as George Thomas, Jr.’s foreman, handling the construction of many of his courses, including Riviera and Bel-Air. When Thomas died, Bell embarked on his own design career. A few years later, Bell’s son, William F. Bell, began working with his father to learn the trade. Add them up and you get more than 30 courses in Southern California that the Bells worked on together or individually. The Bells excelled at designing playable courses that the average golfer could enjoy, but which could also provide some challenge to better players. One of the greatest municipal courses in the country was designed by the senior Bell: Torrey Pines, which will host the U.S. Open in 2008. (The redesign of that course by Rees Jones was less a reflection of Bell’s traditional design as much as it was an admission that changes in equipment have altered courses.) The careers of the father-son duo in Southern California link the Golden Age with the more modern style of golf design, which has yielded some great layouts, including Virginia Country Club as well as Annadale, Brookside, Industry Hills and Los Verdes golf courses. TOM FAZIO Other designers may have created more courses in Southern California, but few have as gleaming a reputation as Fazio. He designed what is one of the most beautiful public courses in the region, Pelican Hill Golf Club, and its sister course, Oak Creek Golf Club, as well as the private Shady Canyon. He’s also worked on some great desert courses, including The Madison Club, The Quarry at La Quinta and The Vintage Club. PETE DYE Dye, a prolific amateur golfer and insurance salesman turned designer, is usually credited as the father of modern golf design. Designing in an era in which cost and environmental regulations began hindering golf course designers, Dye excelled at target-style golf, instilling a number of links-style features into many different settings. He’s known for trademark design signatures, such as railroad ties that form boundaries, deep bunkers, island greens, combining various types of grasses, slick greens and courses that feature more bumps, hollows and mounds than any golf course should. Dye is very outspoken about creating challenging courses, and while nothing compares to his course at PGA West, every Dye design — whether it’s on the outskirts, like Carlton Oaks, the mountains, like Lost Canyons, or in the desert — is tough. TED ROBINSON, SR. Robinson is the most prolific designer in Southern California, either building or rebuilding nearly 80 courses in the region since the mid-1950s. That alone speaks for his popularity among golf course developers. But his impact goes far beyond his numbers. Robinson has grown adept at giving golf course developers what they want. He’s designed everything from low-priced municipal courses to exclusive country clubs. He’s designed resort courses in the desert, high-end daily-fee courses in the mountains and everything in between. And if there’s one feature about Robinson’s designs that truly stands out, it’s water — you can always tell a Ted Robinson course by waterfalls around the clubhouse and the 9th and 18th holes. In the 1970s, Robinson came up with the idea of expanding water features to courses in the Coachella Valley. Not only did those features help sell homes around the courses, they helped the Palm Springs area become the golf destination it is today. Years later, Robinson was the choice for developers in Orange County who saw a market for high-end daily fee courses. His designs at Tijeras Creek and Tustin Ranch paved the way for similar ventures that followed. ROERT TRENT JONES, SR. and ROBERT TRENT JONES, JR. The elder Jones, one of the premier designers of the mid-20th century, designed more than a dozen courses in Southern California, including Valencia Country Club and Mission Viejo Country Club. His son, Robert Trent Jones Jr., also works extensively in Southern California, with courses including Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point and the Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe. JACK NICKLAUS Nicklaus, the best professional golfer to ever turn designer, also has made quite a mark, and along with his design team has created many great Southland courses, including Sherwood Country Club and Dove Canyon Country Club. ROBERT MUIR GRAVES Graves, the designer of one of the most hailed courses in the country, La Purisima on the Central Coast, is also no stranger to the area, designing courses ranging from Maderas Country Club in Poway to Glen Annie Golf Club in Santa Barbara. |
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