Rustic Canyon Golf Course

As some of the other reviews stated it’s a tough coarse but great to play.

Conditions were great. Fast greens very tough to one putt unless your 3 feet from the hole. They have a lot of undulations

One word of advise, traveling from hole to hole can be tough, pay close attention to the monitor so you don’t get lost. More signs and hole markers would be helpful

October 10 2017

Windy day on a firm fast track with spectacularly fun, fast and challenging greens.

What can be said that has not already about this place?

Players that want perfectly green pristine conditions on every inch of the course will be more inclined to think people are over rating the course. I personally loved having tight lies and the option to play the ball on the ground.

enjoyed course although didn't play great. Large undulating greens and rough around is mowed just a hair more than the green itself. Makes greens look huge. Wide fairways and quite an enjoyable visual experience.

What an interesting golf course. With plenty of room to hit the ball off the tee, it's very playable. But at the same time, this minimalist design presents something many courses don't – a myriad options. And that means you can try to run the ball up, play it in the air and most of all, avoid some of the difficult bunkers both in the fairways and around the greens. It also means that even though the fairways are very generous, find the right part of them is crucial to setting up good angles to the greens and hole locations. And speaking of greens, that might be the most interesting aspect of all. With lots of movements, these mostly large greens make putting, pitching and chipping most intriguing. All-in-all, this seems to be a course that will play different each time (depending on pin locations and wind). Throw in the mountain scenery, native vegetation and fescue, and you've got a real treat, well worth the drive from L.A. or anywhere else.

I chose this course to play based on Tom Doak's ranking of it in his book. What a beauty. Appears that Gil Hanse moved little dirt except when shaping greens. I played on a Saturday and the course was packed. The short par fours and the par 3s caused a lot of backup. Pace of play was horrendous as our round was played in 5.5 hours. However, the subtlety of the course will bring me back next weekend. The waste areas and bunkers are beautifully natural. The sight lines for drives are deceiving for first time visitors. The greens are undulating, fast, and true. Great bones.

Waked the Blacks (7044/73.4/133) with RGM2525 on their $22 twilight walking rate. POP was very good throughout, 3h, 35m. We never waited and were consistently about a hole behind the group in front and a hole ahead of the group in back. The temp was in the 80's and it was breezy.

It had been awhile since I tried the tips here, had been playing well so thought it was worth a try. Took only a few holes and the wind kicking up to make me remember clearly that Rustic is alot of golf course from the tips with 4 par 4's over 450.

The tees were lush & level with few unfixed divots.

Both the fairways and the rough are showing signs of the drought, numerous areas were more golden brown than emerald green. They have good coverage but are much more thin than lush. The good is that this produces some long drives. The bad is that anything offline can run right through the rough into an ESA or OB.

The traps around the greens were okay with soft sand. The waste bunkers are hard packed and not regularly maintained but playable.

I was more impressed with the greens that Ron was. Medium speed and firm, only complaint would be all the ball marks.

The customer service was good as usual, they got us out about 10 minutes before our 2:10p tee time. Good snack shop on the turn and the drink gal came around a few times.

Rustic is still good, but not great like it used to be IMO. Definitely recommended however, especially for the twilight walking price, an excellent deal.

Waked the Blues (6634/71.6/128) in 4h, 15m with Skygolf76 & Sean on their $36 mid day walking rate. Enjoyed the round and meeting Alex after following/reading his blog. POP was very good through 13 holes, then we caught slower groups and waited every shot from 14 on. The temp was in the low 90's but it seemed hotter? While the conditions were not bad, let me start by saying this may have been the worst overall condition I have ever seen Rustic in. The tees were lush & level but very chewed up, many unfixed divots. Both the fairways and the rough are showing signs of the drought, numerous areas were more golden brown than emerald green. They have good coverage but are much more thin than lush. The good is that this produces some long drives. The bad is that anything offline can run right through the rough into an ESA or OB. The traps around the greens were nicely maintained with soft sand. The waste bunkers are hard packed and very playable. The greens had been recently punched with very small holes. They were bumpy and medium slow, some of the slowest greens I have ever putted on @ Rustic. I usually have 3-4' coming back AD on missed putts here, and I rarely got a putt past the hole today. Customer Service was good as usual, they got us out about 45 minutes after we arrived w/o a tee time on a very busy Thursday around noon. Good snack shop on the turn and the drink gal came around a few times. Still good, but far from the great that this course often is.

The morning weather was beautiful, but not so good for golf. Partly cloudy, started in the 60's, ended in the 80's but with a consistent 15-25 mph wind. Walked the blues (6624/71.6/128) in 4h on their $43 a.m. rate with RGM2525, Robstretch and Itslikeimsayin. Rustic is a challenging course to walk as there are numerous tees that are a hike from the last green.

The tees were in very good shape, lush with few divots. They were already filling in the weekend divots on the par 3's.

The fairways are more thin than lush, which produces alot of roll, but good coverage.

The rough has good coverage overall. Mowed down around the fairways with some occasional hardpan, lush and deep around numerous greens.

The traps were well maintained, all the greenside traps had been recently raked. The waste bunkers are now maintained much better than they used to be here, regularly raked instead of natural.

The big, undulating poa annua greens putted well, medium fast & firm. The aprons here are always mowed close and well maintained.

The customer service was excellent, they had us on the 1st tee within 20 minutes of arriving. There are numerous water stations on the course and we saw the drink cart once on the front. We had lunch after the round in the snack shop, the food was good and the price was about what you would expect at a golf course grill. @ $43 to walk early during the week, it's much more questionable, but their $25 twilight walking rate during the week is a great value.

Range was on mats again. I can't remember the last time I hit off the real grass here. Why charge the same for the mats as the grass?
Tee boxes were like the rough, very long and the ball would sink and sit down in it. Obviously had not been cut in a few days. Some of them need leveling. The fairways are so wide! You can literally swing a 70 yard curve and still be in play, making the place so very easy with no obstructions in your sightline. But considering the water shortage, they seem overly green and soft. But I guess they are wide because so many cheap hackers play the course as it is a muni, and the course needs to be easy for them. The bunkers are awful all around. Lots of pebbles and little stones, barely any real "sand" to them, it's the dry dirt from the surrounding hills in them but not enough. And why are the bunkers framed with such long and thick rough? You see so many players struggle to get out of the thick band of rough framing the bunkers than the sand. Some greens were being worked on with mini-punches while we played. All of the greens were soft, wet, sandy and slow, so totally disappointing. At least I get to walk this place.

played an afternoon 18 out here after a morning round at angeles national. it was quite a change of pace!

this course is a great price (only $35 to ride in the afternoon), but to some extent you get what you pay for. it is not a fancy place. the facilities are modest, but well kept. the course is well kept, but not immaculate.

unlike most other courses we played in the area, this one is WIDE OPEN. you have lots of room off the tee, and on most approach shots. the holes were fairly interesting, but nothing too crazy. the most unusual thing about this course was the very tightly groomed areas around the greens. it was hard to tell where the green ended and the fringe began. this did make it possible to putt from well off the green, but also made it difficult to chip/pitch because the lies were incredibly tight. i did not enjoy that particular design choice.

overall, i'd say the greens were pretty unforgiving and small misses were punished badly. found it a little unfair. also the bunkers were nearly empty of sand, so trying to play from them was incredibly difficult... hard to play a short sided shot out of a deep bunker when there is no sand to expode!

i'm inclined not to recommend this course, but the value for the money is there, and the course itself is not bad... just be prepared for frustration as good shots around the greens may end up haunting you.

There is no rough down the sides of the fairways. The rough is dry, caked mud, just framing the fairways so you can tell the difference. The fairways and greens are pretty good, about where they should be, for a course like this. The bunkers are sketchy, totally different and inconsistent from one to the next, some firm, some soft, some with sand and others thin, many of them with pebbles and stones. A lot of them don't have rakes, which will confuse most people because they're also supposedly be the creek bed. I will never understand why the rough is like this on so many of our SoCal courses, where it is dry, caked, no grass, just framing the edges of the fairways. I keep saying it over and over about these courses, they have it backwards, where the fairways should be allowed to be firmer and harder, thinner, but the rough should be rough! The rough should have grass, so it can catch the stray balls from bouncing off out of bounds or onto the cart roads. The 18th hole is a classic example. Downhill, fairly tilted to the left downhill, one of the narrower fairways as the right side is the creek, so the left should have some rough coverage as a lot of balls end up over there with the prevailing wind pushing it that way to the cart road, a little fence, and then the driving range. If you hit the left side of fairway, you would expect to be in the rough - but no - it bounces hard off the fairway slope, through the dry caked stuff, then off the cart road, and you're up against the driving range fence line and trees. Makes no sense. If there is an actual grassy rough, the ball would stop and not hit the cart road and off. I understand how they want to keep the playing areas in good shape, but you can do this with a bit more care and balance of water distribution. But not so much in SoCal..... so many courses give you the illusion of being fun to play for people who don't like the rough. A bit pricey on the weekends to play these conditions. Not the greatest place, it could be way better. Sorry for the downer, but I have to keep my reviews real and honest.

1. THE STAFF
One of my first times to the course my RangeFinder was out of battery, after asking the gentlemen in the clubhouse if they had any batteries for sale he told me, "unfortunately not". He then told me to wait, he walked into his office and came back with a battery out of his own target finder, a notion that was above and beyond. He allowed me to borrow the battery from his device so I could enjoy my round.

So before even playing my round, the tone of the day was set positively with great staff.

2. THE COURSE
Long, tricky and plush--Rustic Canyon is a course for an intermediate to advanced golfer. Greens are specifically tricky--undulating is an understatement. A great course to WALK due to its flat nature.

Plush conditions and high-end experience.

3. THE DRIVE
I live in the San Fernando Valley--a 20-25 minute drive to Moorpark--the drive is 100% worth it.

4. PRICE
I payed $38 to walk on a Sunday afternoon. Completely fair--great course.

This course is a hidden gem in So Cal. The greens are fast and difficult, but not silly. The fringe is short and wide. It's best to putt, even if you think you want to chip, just putt it. Every hole is different and makes you think. The 18 holes change even more when the wind kicks up. The weekday rates in the afternoon are awesome. The range is good with grass to hit from which is nice. The chipping area is also good. The back 9 is really secluded, quiet and rather stunning. The guys in the shop are not the most warm and fuzzy or welcoming, but I don't come chat up the guys at the counter. Guys in the cart barn are great including the 80 year old Irish guy who plays rather well and can shoot close to his age. This is a place I love to take friends from out of town for a great round. Go check it out!!! Oh, remember, all putts break towards the gate you drove through, regardless of what the putt looks like. Remember where it is as you play.

My buddy and I were in LA looking for a place to play and were set on playing Trump National LA. We couldn't find a time that fit our schedule and were a bit disappointed. Once we played the first 3 holes on Rustic Canyon we had totally forgotten our unrealized plan. The course was in great shape and the dormant Bermuda was in fine condition to play off. The greens very challenging and quick.

The layout is fantastic with some really neat changes in elevation. The course is set in a canyon among the Santa Susana mountains which make for an excellent backdrop to your round.

The fairways are pretty generous with bunkers and environmental areas constantly coming into play. The greens are very large and undulating and can be punishing if you wrongsided yourself.

The pace of play was brisk and we got around in 415 on a Sunday morning.

Thankfully we were paired up with a great local couple that were not only awesome to play with but provided us with a great deal of local knowledge.

This is a course that I could play over and over and never get bored. The mix of scenery and a challenging interesting layout made for an excellent day and a great experience.

This is not a course for a beginner. If you aren't around a 15 or under handicap, this is just going to be punishing. The greens are very challenging. Some were challenging in a gimmicky way. Holes 7 and 15 are examples which each have false edges. You can literally putt off the green on 15 and end up 30 yards away. The green on 7 is shaped like a saddle. The range is sometimes grass and sometimes matt, but that goes with any quality course. The green fees are a bit high, but the course conditions are above average. The photos have green surroundings but only expect that in spring. Its like if someone built a links style british course in the middle of a john wayne film set, and its appropriate for Ventura county. This is not Beverly Hills and I hope it never is.
Bring a solid putting and chipping game, you'll need it.

This place is over-rated. The staff are cold and unfriendly, they are expressionless robots from the countryside, so if you're coming from the city, expect to be treated as if you're not even standing there, with not even a hello or a good morning, they just want to know when you're playing. The range has damaged limited flight balls and you're hitting off the mat. The fairways are is extremely wide open so you can miss the ball for miles and still find it. Around the greens there is a carpet of fringe that is at least 20 feet wide all around, that is almost the same as the green but smoother than the fairway, where you can roll it up to the actual green which makes it dead simple to play the course. The only defense that the course has is if there is some wind. The tee boxes are average and the fairways are about passable but with a lot of damage and totally inconsistent from hole to hole. It's a public course so expect unprepared divots everywhere and ball marks too. The place is totally overrated. Why people think this place is good is because you can miss the ball and still be OK, and you don't need to know how to chip that well because you can roll everything, pretty much. There are some dry creek beds that run through the entire course, and that may trouble some, but as long as you avoid those and attack the hole appropriately, you will realize how easy the place really is. Too many old guys try to walk the place with their push-carts thinking they can do it but they rarely ever finish in under 4.5 hours during the week, because, in fact, the course is on a slope, and there are some huge gaps between holes that have them gasping for breath.

played on a Tuesday,early/early, wind was blowing 25mph plus & I enjoyed the "course" so much I played 2 days later , NO WIND" & enjoyed even more. Very BIG, difficult greens. You have to enjoy putting to play the course well, challenging & fun.I will be back April 2-6 & April 30 to May 5th.
I signed up for a Senior card, which I can't find, but I'll show up & hope my card is on file.
goose gosland- Northern Calif-NCGA Member