La Purisima Golf Course

Intro to La Purisima Golf Course

It’s hard to find a course with more awards and lower greens fees than La Purisima. It’s often listed as one of the top—and toughest (136 slope from blues)—courses you can play in California. Designed by Robert Muir Graves and developed by Kenneth Hume Hunter, Jr. in 1986, you can play the course and hardly spot a house or see a nearby road. The Spanish-style clubhouse and snack shop sit atop a hill overlooking the course and blend into the surroundings perfectly. The designers show complete respect for the land they had to work with and the grand design of nature itself.

But be warned that this is a tough course, and although it's walkable, the hills, particularly on the front nine, will tire you out. In fact, the locals have given it the well-earned nickname "La Piranha." And bite you it will, particularly when the wind comes up in the afternoon. Still, when you consider the low cost and typically uncrowded conditions, this is a course that must be played. Just make sure you choose the right tees.

La Purisima: Hole by Hole

Blue Tees (6,670 yards)

Before venturing out, be sure to find which pin placement is being used since there are many blind approaches. Hole one, a robust par-5 at 529 yards, doglegs left up the hill to a narrow green. A good second shot past the marsh on the right will set up a successful approach shot. Around the corner and up the hill, you will find that hole two (403 yards) has much of the fairway hidden from view. The farther left you aim, the shorter your approach shot. But be warned: go too far left and you’ll land in a marsh. If your tee shot is dry, pay attention to the pin placement to find how much green you have to work with. It's a tough test early in the round.

The third is short par-3 at only 130 yards across a water hazard. Don’t—and we repeat don’t—get above the hole or a three-putt is the likely outcome. You now begin a series of tough, rolling holes that will demand long tee shots and, if you’re walking, a lot of leg power. Hole four is steep downhill and then steep uphill to a severely sloping green. Many a good looking approach has rolled way back down to the front of the green, or even back down the hill. Onward to five which, at 400 yards, is the number one stroke hole. It’s all uphill to a bunkered green. Hole six, a par-5, 540-yard journey plays downhill for two shots, albeit also hard right-to-left off the tee, and then up through a narrow gateway of trees to the green. 

The tee-shot for the par-4 seventh hole, at 400 yards, is visually confusing. Steeply downhill, there is a tree in the middle of the fairway and dense forest on the left. It seems like there isn't a real landing area. The eighth hole, a par 4 dogleg-left at 405 yards, is thankfully all downhill to a receptive, comparatively flat green. And, finally, you arrive at the ninth hole, a demanding 201-yard par 3 through a narrow opening between tall eucalyptus trees. If you miss the green, the rough is scruffy and filled with animal burrows.

Making the turn, the tenth hole is a 400-yard par 4 that offers an open tee shot, but the green is narrow and protected by a punishing bunker and a hillside blanketed in impossible-to-hit-out-of ice plant. The par-4 eleventh hole, at 371 yards, provides a bit of a breather with a dogleg right. If you cut it you will be in an enormous bunker but have a short approach to a flat green. The twelfth hole, the number two stroke hole, is a daunting 587-yard par-5 with a significant forced carry on the drive. Take a moment to enjoy the view from the tee box, out over a marshy water hazard to a tree-dotted fairway, before you soldier on. Your approach shot doglegs right to a small green. 

The thirteenth tee box is up a steep slope and requires a 149-yard shot to a well-bunkered green. The dogleg-left par 4 fourteenth hole, at 366 yards, has a narrow fairway with overhanging trees on the left and flat-out forest on the right. If you are skillful enough to drive the fairway, your reward is a medium-length uphill iron shot to a deep green (check the scorecard for the pin placement, which is not visible from the fairway). Up through the woods on the dirt cart path you will find the 503-yard, par-5 fifteenth hole. If your tee shot fades to the right, you might have to cut the dogleg to try to make par. That is, assuming you can hit this narrow green. 

Onward through the trees to the sixteenth hole, which is a par-4, 395-yard downhiller. Play the left side of the fairway and you will have an easy approach shot into the green. The par-3 seventeenth is only 145 yards, but it is so steeply downhill that it’s hard to pick the right club. The finishing par-4 eighteenth is only 387 yards, but if you’re too far right or left, you will be blocked out by trees. 

Conditions & Pace of Play

Part of the charm of La Purisima is that you are in close contact with nature the whole time. No man-made waterfalls tricking up this course. But all this nature comes at a steep cost to your score since you will face many poor lies or maybe even a lost ball disappearing down a squirrel hole. On the other hand, curious deer might look on approvingly as you wedge in close to the pin.

On weekdays you and your companions stand a good chance of being the only golfers in sight. So take your time and enjoy the soul-nourishing views. They're among the best California has to offer. 

Parting Thoughts

La Purisima isn’t really close to anything. This probably keeps the cost and crowds down. But if you make the time to come and play here, you can also enjoy wine tastings nearby and stay in the isolated town of Lompoc or the somewhat more touristy Buellton-Solvang area. But before you tee off, set your expectations. This is a tough course. Accept the experience and enjoy your time in golf heaven. 

  by Philip Reed

Playing out of the LBC, Phil grips his own clubs and even trues his own shafts when he's not using them to shoot in the 70s. In between rounds, he's been known to frequent the blackjack tables.