Saticoy Country Club: A Perspective By Bob Lowe For us, the members of Saticoy, the name brings up many diverse and widely varied memories. Saticoy, the course, is like the Greek sirens of old. She taunts you, teases you, lulls you to a false sense of security, and makes you gnash your teeth in tormented exasperation, yet still tantalizes you like the warm kiss of your first love. She is like a sloe-eyed bitch one moment and in the next she is the only true friend you have in this world. How can she be all things to all people? That’s part of the irresistible charm that she exudes. No matter what kind of game you experience, somewhere during those agonizing, gut-wrenching shots on the course, she will turn completely around and like the safe harbor of your mother’s arms, she will soothe your anger, bathe you in the balm of a perfect shot or putt, and with all the guile of a loving puppy, she’ll bring you back again. She’s magnificent … and better yet, she’s yours … for the taking … maybe. Is there anything better than a beautiful bright morning, with just the hint of a warm breeze, you on the first tee and Saticoy before you … spread out like a green velvet carpet and just asking you to come out and play? In years past, writers have tried to put down what kind of feeling engulfs the golfer who, like the knights of old, prepares for his holy quest, readies his every fiber, steels his courage, and sets out once more to bring this course to its knees, to show once and for all, who is master and who is slave. They’ve failed. For even though we embark on our task with hardy companions, friends tried and true, we are, in essence alone with our demons … for it is we who must face and conquer all the vagaries of this harlot, this giver of promises, this lover who dazzles the eye, addles the brain, and rakes the feelings like salt in the open wound … all the while luring you on to a day when your nerves are raw, and your sinews are strained to the exhausting point … yet we love every minute of it … because in spite of all the many players who walk her sensuous fairways and stroke her into given hard-fought rewards, those swains who would woo her to submission, who would claim her for their own, will never know the sweetness of her charms, for she is the Lorelei of all dreams … not really there, not really what she seems, not really anything … except unbending, unyielding, and, thank God, unconquerable. From the point of view of designer, builder, players of all abilities, or lover of nature in its natural state, this golf course can and will satisfy everyone. It will test every phase, of any level, game to the point where golfers just shake their head and wonder just what it was that “hit ‘em.” You never tire of playing it because no two games are even close to being the same. Time after time, you are enticed by this course that seems to sit there innocently exposed to whatever you want to subject it to. That’s probably the single biggest mistake made here when some one pits his skill against this serenely quiet and seemingly toothless victim. The past years are full of players who have had their collective ears pinned back and sent home wondering what happened. Because the course was built in valleys, the slope affects the holes in different ways and requires you to give your full attention to where you are. Holes 1,2,4,8,13,15,17, and 18 all play downhill more than they appear. Conversely, holes 3, 5,6,7,9,11,12,14, and 16 play uphill more than it seems. As if this weren’t enough to confuse you, greens 4,8,13,15,17, and 18 appear to be canted to the front when in reality, they are fairly flat because of the falling valley floor. Dr. Alister MacKenzie, who designed Cypress Point, Augusta National, Pasatiempo, Valley Club, and a host of others, once said that the true test of a great course was that it doesn’t overpower you the first time you play it, but rather it grows on you like a lingering love song, and subtly wends its way into your thoughts until it seems that you are never really sure it, or anything else for that matter, could be as magnificent as you remember. It becomes one of those memories that never let go of you and, like the Greek sirens, calls you back time after time … with each time better than the one before. A truly great course is built, according to Bobby Jones, “within the capacity of the average golfer to enjoy. This doesn’t mean that the design should be insipid but a player should not be constantly be straining for distance and playing out of sand or worse. The first purpose of any course should be to give pleasure, and that to the greatest possible number of players without respect to their playing capabilities.” It seems obvious that Saticoy matches well with Jones’ criteria. As you read through the following hole by hole offerings, you will, I believe, see that Saticoy falls into that small number of courses where bogies are easy if frankly sought, pars are readily obtainable by standard good play, and birdies, except on the par fives, are dearly bought … Saticoy’s real bite would come from increasing the difficulty of play around the hole through hole placement and the speed of the greens. |