RSS
Home
A short game gem worth seeking out
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
If I had a buck for all the times I've driven hundreds of miles to make a tee time, hell-bent on breaking the course record, then hopped out onto the first tee with no warm-up to spray my poor, unsuspecting golf ball all over the yard, I wouldn't need a bailout. In other words, it's always best to take it slow during a golf trip and build up to that first shot that counts.
At a very special place on California's Central Coast called Monarch Dunes, none of that matters — not if you turn your travelin' hacker's attention to the newer of its two stellar Damian Pascuzzo-designed tracks, wisely dubbed The Challenge (the first "Old Course," a wonderful and muscular full-length trip over dunes and through eucalpytus chutes, is one of the top layouts to debut on the coast in the last five years). Why? Because from the first box to the 12th and final green, you'll never have to pull out a driver. Or a 3-wood, for that matter, unless there's an epic headwind on a couple of holes.
The Challenge is a rarity in today's titanium-driven marketplace: A new par-3 course. But don't mistake it for some benign pitch-and-putt thrown in for the benefit of future homeowners, though there will most certainly be some of those lining its fescue-lined fairways. This little links layout has teeth, especially once you get your pill on large, sometimes wildly contoured greens recently verti-cut to about a 13 on the Stimp. Tee shots range from a 75-yard 60-degree wedge on No. 2 to a 235-yard thrillride guarded by water on No. 5, what's easily one of the best 3-par holes anywhere, to the final 200-yard uphill heave to an all-but-hidden green.
You guessed it — I didn't come anywhere near the course record, though my first out-of-the-car shot, a feathered 9-iron, left me four feet below the hole for a birdie putt, which I converted. I didn't sniff birdie again; not only was my short game tested in every way (flops over shaggy bunkers, putts St. Andrews-style over hill and dale, check-and-roll chips, deft mid-distance pitches … you name it), my wits were as frayed as they've ever been after two hours of golf. Good thing Pascuzzo, an excellent architect working out of Sacramento, Calif., brought every one of his considerable talents to bear on this tricky, wide-open, rolling mini-links — then enlisted the Tour-tested talents of local favorite Steve Pate, who added the kinds of strategic flourishes that will get low handicappers talking about it (Pate also had a major hand in the big course next door). There are hollows and hair-raising mounds and blown-out bunkers to match anything at Bandon, for sure. I had a blast out there. So did my playing partner, pulling his Rikshaw cart along mine (we could have ridden, but why?). If we'd had time, we would have gone right back out for another Challenge. And probably gotten our butts kicked again, smiling and shaking our heads all the way.
Maybe the best thing about this hidden gem halfway between Santa Barbara and Monterey is that you can play it for a mere 10 bucks after making your way around the Old Course, which itself is a must-play. Both courses form the centerpieces of a beautiful housing development about a mile from the Pacific Ocean that also features a fully realized non-equity private club (though both tracks are public). Or you can go at The Challenge by its lonesome for $19. That's more than a bargain; it's a reason to jump in the car and start driving up Highway 101 right now. Warm-up is optional.
For more information, visit www.monarchdunes.com
View Untitled in a larger map
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
