La Purisima Golf Club Lompoc, CA www.lapurisimagolf.com
A practically perfect golf experience in every way
If ever there was a perfect golf course, La Purisima might be it. Like many people who have played (and fallen in love with) La Purisima, I can’t even put my finger on why.
It could be the picturesque setting, as the course spreads out across 300 acres of quiet, rugged, sparsely wooded rolling hills of California’s inland coastal ranch country. The area just seems to cry, “Play golf here!”
It could be the layout and design, as owner Kenneth H. Hunter, Jr. set out to create a unique golf course that would provide a very challenging, yet fair golf experience. He brought in the renowned golf course architect Robert Muir Graves to design the course, and it seems to have been a match made in Heaven.
It might be the surrounding area, which is California’s hottest new wine country. There are about a dozen wineries within a few minutes of La Purisima, all of which offer wine tastings and a beautiful setting. Historic Solvang is just a few miles up the road, and anyone who loves split pea soup will enjoy the world’s finest in nearby Buellton.
Or, it might be the mysterious challenge itself. I can’t explain why La Purisima is a tough golf course, and yet it is. It’s not longer. It’s not tighter. It’s not deceptive, and it’s not “tricked up” or gimmicky. It is about as pure a golf experience as you’ll find, in about as perfect a setting as you can imagine. Yet, it is also all the challenge one would hope to find on a golf course.
La Purisima opens with a relatively tame par 5, my favorite way to start any round. At 542 yards it is a true three shot hole for most golfers, yet a nicely played approach should provide a realistic birdie chance and easy par for any accomplished golfer. What more could you ask for to start a round? But enjoy it, as the course toughens in a hurry. The second hole is one of my favorites. A sharp dogleg left, playing downhill off the tee, then straight left around a pond to a green that is protected in every way possible. Water, sand, trees and healthy rough make this a green you want to hit in two! The third hole continues to offer the same inspired golf, with a 158-yard par 3 requiring about 150 yards of carry to a relatively shallow green. A shot coming up just short will find a treacherous bunker. A shot coming up well short will find the depths of a beautiful, healthy pond.
It would be possible to rave about every hole on this wonderful course, but the best way to experience all that it has to offer is to make the journey to La Purisima yourself. There are few golf courses that keep my attention and interest throughout every hole, where every hole is a quality golf experience in itself. This is one course that accomplished the feat.