- 6:00 am wake up call
- No coffee or breakfast snacks available in the hotel lobby
- Navigate through LA traffic for about 30-40 minutes half asleep while the pleasant voice of google maps barks turn by turn directions
This doesn't really seem like an ideal scenario, does it?
However, on this beautiful spring morning, pretty much nothing could dissuade my enthusiasm for what was on the agenda today. From the moment I made the turn onto Wilshire, stole some glimpses through the fences, I just knew Los Angeles Country Club was going to be a special place. When I received the text the night prior from my member friend saying, "First tee time. Caddies. And oh, you must wear pants - no shorts allowed." I just knew this was going to be one of the special places in the game of golf.
I pulled up to the gate as the sun was coming up. The security guard was very welcoming but instructed me to leave my cell phone in the car. He also handed me this quaint little guest card which outlined rules and regulations of the club. I love unique customs and traditions at private clubs, so this was right up my alley.
Guest card at LACC.
I had the sincere privilege to play this course through a friend of mine who is a longtime member. He and I were paired together in the 2004 World Club Championship, a fantastic amateur competition between Golf Magazine's World Top 100 Golf Clubs. LACC has it all - a world class golf course, a classic old clubhouse, a great practice area, but most of all a passionate member base. (Oh, and a quintessentially art deco LA mint green tiled bathroom in the men's locker room)
Back in 2009, this member base felt the need to re-assess their golf course. I had the pleasure of playing LACC North with a longtime member who was instrumental in the restoration of this classic old George Thomas design. It wasn't that the course had been in disrepair, it's just that a lot of the strategy and beauty of it had been lost in the overgrowth over the years, something commonplace in many courses today. Excessive trees, non-native grasses, and just plain claustrophobia that had resulted over time wasn't the course Thomas intended when he set foot on the grounds at the turn of the 20th century. Thus a small group of members set forth an action plan to restore the course to its original design.
Gil Hanse and his team were hired to restore the course to George Thomas' original design. First and foremost, Hanse and his team restored the natural "barranca" - aka natural valley/ravine - which weaves its way so beautifully now throughout so many holes, especially on the front nine. Some of the original greens were brought back to their original form, and some were even rediscovered - #6 and #17 (see below). Rumor has it that all in, approximately 2000 trees in the past three years since the restoration began. I cannot post pictures of the before and after of the course, but anyone who believes that tree removal can harm a layout, should go visit LACC North. It is a testament to how less trees on a golf course can increase shot value, improve turf conditions, increase variety of playing options and create a more beautiful scenic vistas. Golf invariably becomes less one dimensional with less trees, which in this writers opinion, is always a good thing.
Onto the course now. There are so many great holes at LACC it is really hard to single out the best. But here are my favorites anyway...
#6 - 335 yd Par 4
Hanse restored Thomas' original green, making this a phenomenal risk reward par 4. Playing downhill at 335, it is deceptively reachable for longer hitters. A relatively easy layup with an iron leaves a no-gimme short iron or wedge into this extremely shallow green.
#8 - 537 yd Par 5 (pictured below)
This is a fantastic double dogleg par 5 with the barranca coming into play on both the tee shot and the approach. In my opinion, the strongest hole on the course. Quite simply one of the best par 5's I've ever played.
#11 - 249 yd Par 3 (pictured below)
The signature hole at LACC. This hole plays downhill, with views of downtown LA in the distance on a clear day. This is a reverse redan green and can play anywhere from 190 - 250 yards.
#15 - 133 yd Par 3
This hole is proof that you don't need distance to create difficulty. This tiny one-shotter leaves zero room for error. Example - I pulled a wedge into the side bunker with a front pin and made a phenomenal bogey.
*17 - 115 yd Par 3 (pictured below)
This hole has an asterisk as this is the "extra" hole at LACC. It was uncovered/discovered by Hanse and his team while restoring the barranca on the right side of the existing 17th hole. This par 3 was used in previous LA opens hosted at LACC, and they have restored it as a 19th hole of sorts, a "bye hole" as they call it. The club actually used it as a playoff hole at the recent US Girls Junior Qualifier. This is a very cool example of a "course within a course" and proof that courses don't need to adhere to an exact 18 holes. Options and variety are the magic ingredients of a great golf course. Kudos to the club for resurrecting this fantastic golf hole.
#18 - 451 yd Par 4
One of the great finishing holes in golf. A shared fairway with #1 gives one a feeling of St Andrews, but the shared bunkers make it distinctly unique. The beautiful clubhouse behind the green, the challenging approach, the great green complex at 18 - this finishing hole has everything a great course demands.
As I was playing the course, I couldn't help but think that this course was worthy of hosting a major golf event of some kind. However, I also knew the membership also put a premium on privacy. As we strolled down the 10th fairway, I inquired with my host if there were any plans to host any big events. He informed me the 2017 Walker Cup is being held at LACC North. What a perfect venue for the Walker Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if LACC got a few more marquee events down the road. The have the land to support it and it has the history and tradition that the major events in golf are looking for in a championship venue.
LACC is also renowned as one of the elite private clubs in the game. They have a membership comprised of very few celebrities, and when I asked my fantastic caddy why this was so, he simply replied "...the members just don't like the noise." Well put. If I was a member I wouldn't want it either. In a city like LA, the desire to "get away" is even more warranted. One of the great parts of golf is it is an escape. You arrive on the first tee, or arrive to have dinner or drinks at your club, and you want to forget about the world for a few hours. My host told me a great story about when Hugh Hefner bought the land to the right of the 14th tee back in the 1950's and which now is home to the infamous Playboy mansion. Hugh telephoned the general manager of the club and asked if he could purchase the land behind the 14th tee so he could install a helicopter landing, and if he could buy a membership as well. As legend has it, the general manager eloquently replied, "No and no Mr Hefner. Welcome to the neighborhood. Click."
This is the type of place LACC has always been, and always will be. A quiet, no-nonsense place for golf. Little "noise" from celebrities, and even from the city itself. It's so quiet at times on the course you forget you are in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. LACC is an escape from the omnipresent traffic and claustrophobia of the city. I knew pulling up that morning that it was going to be one of the special places in golf and boy, was I right.
Hit 'em well.
-MG
*photos courtesy of www.thelacc.org
