Joined Other Guru's today and made the trek from Orange County to Santa Barbara. I had never played Sandpiper and after years of wanting I finally pulled the trigger. I was expecting a few spectacular... Continue »

Joined Other Guru's today and made the trek from Orange County to Santa Barbara. I had never played Sandpiper and after years of wanting I finally pulled the trigger. I was expecting a few spectacular holes and a bunch of repetitive style holes for some reason. Boy was I wrong. I cant think of two holes that are alike. Every hole had its own little charm and teeth to destroy your score. We played from the Tips which run about 7200+ yards and with the 20-30 mph winds felt like 8000 yards. I had a few decent drives and was still 200+ out on par 4's and 280+ out on par 5's. The par 3's here will eat you alive. The 4th hole was a 258 yard (YES 258!) par 3. Oh and add a 10 mph cross wind. I dont think I have ever used driver on a par 3 or at least since I was 10 years old. It doesn't get much easier after that too. hole 11 was 220 yards down hill which would have played about 190 but there was a 20mph wind in your face. It played about 235 yards. The total combined distance of the 4 par 3s was 860+ yards. The course was in fantastic shape from tee- green. The tee boxes were level and had very few divots. The markers were wide so you could place the ball a little better for your shot shaping skills. The fairways were the highlight of the day. Cut short and gave very nice roll. They also provided you with the most amazingly fluffy lies. There were few divots here and there and they were all filled. The greens were a little tricky to learn. The starter let us know there is not tricks to the greens like everything breaks to the ocean. What you see is what you get. One other tip was every green sloped back to front. They had a few greens that looked like they got a small needle punch but they did not affect the putts. Greens were firm and fast which made it hard to control pitches and flops. Bump and run was the best tactic. The rough and Sand were not much to right home about. The rough was but to about an inch and had a good 10+ ft before getting into the nasty brush that was about a foot deep. I was in one trap and it was on the 18th hole which is par three and it had a small puddle in it. The sand was soft, even though it was wet, and easy to get out of. In all I cant wait to play here again some time soon. All I wish is a little less wind and all will be alright.