The Course: Sandpiper Golf Club, Goleta
The property saw two different owners, but a need for a business change and asset liquidations, in addition to costly court disputes that left little money for course improvements, put the property up for sale again in 2003. When Ty Warner, the Beanie Baby mogul, came calling with goals to cosmetically enhance and improve the park-links facility while addressing environmental issues and upgrading neglected areas, at $25 million, the price was right. “The experience of the golf course has changed dramatically with Mr. Warner’s involvement,” says Greg Villeneuve, operations manager for both Sandpiper and Rancho San Marcos. “The original layout has remained intact and we pay more attention to the detail maintenance, have more agronomic practices in place to continue to improve turf conditions and playability, and it’s all done in-house, which is a tremendous advantage.” Attention to detail is something that Warner — not a golfer himself — knows well. It was his storied two decades of work as a successful toy salesman that led him to mortgage his Chicago home and invest his life savings into founding Ty, Inc. in 1986. Beanie Babies and their tremendous craze made Warner a billion-dollar man only a decade later, and subsequently one of the wealthiest people in the world. “It goes without saying that Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful geographical locales in the nation,” says Warner, who owns an extravagant bluff-top compound in the area. “However, what makes this area so special is the collective consideration by local residents to protect the things that make Santa Barbara so unique. This community keeps Santa Barbara rooted to its history, its culture and its natural environment.” It is under this philosophy that Warner diversified his funds with investments in a number of upscale hotels and properties in California, New York, and Mexico. Thanks to his appreciation of the area, Sandpiper, Montecito Country Club, and in 2005, Rancho San Marcos, were also added to his portfolio. His commitment to the properties was evident from the start. “Mr. Warner is very dedicated to his endeavors, and the properties he owns are a great example of that,” Villeneuve says. “With his involvement, we are able to focus not only on maintaining the golf courses at the high level players expect, but also to the high level of service associated with the golf experience.” Its coastal location is reason enough for golfers to visit the 7,068-yard layout: 14 of Sandpiper’s holes have ocean views and the ones that don’t offer evidence that the water is near thanks to the pack of barking sea lions below the cliffs. Five fairways are so close to the water that an errant shot will end up in the Pacific and an overshot ball on the 224-yard par-3 11th hole will have players standing on the beach, near a green level with, and only steps from, the sand. Wide, accommodating fairways and fast greens provide an enjoyable playing experience for all levels. So it’s no surprise that the property has been approached by every major tour, Villeneuve says, and has hosted a number of events in the past, including the PGA Tour Tournament Players Series, the LPGA Tour’s Santa Barbara Women’s Open, and the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. The course will also host the inaugural SCGA Match Play Championship in August, the three-day event highlighting the top players on the SCGA Player of the Year list. “We are really looking forward to hosting an SCGA championship like the match play event,” he says. “And being that it’s the tournament’s first year, with some of the best players in the state, is something that we are extremely proud to be a part of." Information
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Sandpiper is that course that everyone has a story about, a favorite hole at, a favorite sunrise or sunset. Local developer Ken Hunter built the William F. Bell-designed layout in 1972 along a half-mile stretch of Goleta coastline, becoming what is still considered a signature in the Santa Barbara golf course collection.2009 Southern California Golf Association