Tuesday, January 4, 2000    Golfing in January 2000 Ventura County Style

Wednesday, December 18, 1999 Tierra Rejada Golf Course set to open

Friday, December 10, 1999    Stephanie Martin qualifies for European LPGA Tour

Wednesday, December 1, 1999 Ojai Valley Inn's "lost holes" return

Sunday, November 21, 1999      Doug Sorrow Double Eagles # 17 at Buena Ventura

Saturday, November 20, 1999: Steve Plescia announces new West Coast Professional Tour.

Tierra Rejada 'halfway to heaven'
Course's sweeping views,satellite-guided carts, cradled greens and
waterfall fit golfers to a tee

By Dana Bartholomew
Staff writer
Published Saturday December 18, 1999 

Ping. 

The clink of a one-iron
echoed across the fairway
Friday as Bob Conlee sent
the first official ball
shooting down East Ventura
County's newest public
course. 

Conlee's shot, eased by an
east Santa Ana Wind,
arched gracefully toward
the No. 1 green at Tierra
Rejada Golf Course. 

"That'll play." 

Before long, Conlee, 65, owner of Century 21
Hilltop Realtors in Simi Valley, and a host of
Realtors sponsored by Cooley's General Pest &
Termite Control, went skittering off in
satellite-guided golf carts. 

As hilltops turned pink at first light Friday, it was a
new dawn for county golfers. 

"No expense has been spared to create a
top-quality champion golf course," Ted Kruger, the
course's co-developer, said as he cracked a bottle
of Moet champagne. 

"You feel you're playing golf halfway to heaven." 

Tierra Rejada, on Tierra Rejada Road between
Simi Valley and Moorpark, may help relieve
golfers used to long tee waits at Simi Hills Golf
Course. It is the first of four new courses in the
works to open in east Ventura County. 

"We need more places to play," said Simi Valley
Deputy City Manager Bob Heitzman, a hole-in-one
golfer. "There are just more golfers than there are
tee times." 

Designed by Robert Cupp and built by Crumpler
and Kruger of Malibu, the 7,015-yard course
meanders above Tierra Rejada Road, offering
sweeping views from the Simi Hills to the sea. 

Each green, cradled in its own amphitheater, calls
for handy chip shots. Each bunker beckons with
dreamy shadows. Four lakes and a waterfall add
charm --and further pitfalls -- to the 72-par
challenge. 

"This is without a doubt one of the best driving
courses I've ever played," said Alex Galvan, Tierra
Rejada's golf pro. "I hit every club in my bag." 

With a round at Tierra Rejada costing $100, with
cart, on weekends, scaled down to $60 early in the
week, golfers can hit every buck in their billfold. 

An all-grass driving range, with practice chipping
and multiple bunker areas, is in place. A
6,500-square-foot clubhouse with a bar and grill
and pro shop should be ready early next year. 

The course's general manager, Dan Donovan of
Donovan Bros. Golf Inc., has said that Tierra
Rejada is by far the most prestigious of the nine
golf courses his firm manages. 

On Friday, it was a stag crowd who turned out for
the first tee-off at 7 a.m. 

"Strippers," one golfer said. "There should be
strippers here." 

"You're late," Kruger tells him. 

One man swings, tips a ball intended to be sent 250
yards, only to watch it roll a few yards from the
tee. 

"No mulligans, gentleman," he said pulling the stick
and stiffly stepping aside. 

"This reminds me of Pebble," said John Cooley, of
Simi Valley. "Pebble (Beach) was like this." 

Ojai's 'lost holes' are back
RENOVATION:Undeveloped land gives course a chance to re-create two signature
holes from 1923. 

By Ed Zintel
Staff writer

Published Wednesday December 1, 1999 

None other than Ryder Cup
captain Ben Crenshaw
hailed the golf hole as one
of the best he has ever seen.

And he said that before a
spoonful of dirt had been
dug to create the hole.
Crenshaw made the
comment, "this shot is going
to be, once again, one of the
best shots in golf," a year
ago, while standing on a
hillside of shrubs at Ojai
Valley Inn &Spa. 

It was the way the hillside
was formed and it was the
glorious, panoramic view of
the Ojai Valley that so
inspired Crenshaw and
those who were to bring back this and another of
the course's signature holes, heretofore "lost" for
more than 50 years. 

Today, the lost holes, numbered 7 and 8, will open
for play. 

An old, black-and-white photograph of a par-3 hole
that has been reconstructed as No. 7 and a
description of a par-4 hole that is now No. 8 was
all that architect Carter Moorish, who designed the
renovation, had to work with. It wasn't until a
month ago that a photo of a part of the par-4,
looking toward the green was discovered. 

Comparing the photographs to today's holes, it's
clear the redesign, started in May, was done
perfectly. 

"We tried to create the holes exactly as they were
based on just a photo," said Director of Golf Mark
Greenslit, who, along with course superintendent
Sam Williamson, researched and assisted Moorish
on the project. "We started the project on just one
photo taken from the tee box on the par-3." 

Yes, both holes are magnificent. But, for Greenslit,
the opportunity to reclaim 10 acres of one of the
world's finest courses for history's sake, not
renovation, has been most gratifying. 

"Normally, you never have a chance to bring back
what was once here," Greenslit said. "But we had
the land sitting here, undeveloped. It's like
preserving history and builds the integrity of the
course." 

Built in 1923 by renowned golf course architect
George C. Thomas, Jr., the Ojai Valley Inn &Spa --
known originally as Ojai Valley Country Club --
has been recognized as one of the finest courses in
the country. 

During World War II, the U.S. Army took over the
club as a training camp, stationing 1,000 troops
from 1942-44. The U.S. Navy occupied the resort
as an R&R facility for officers from 1944 to 1945. 

Before returning the property to private ownership
at the end of the war, the government sold the last
of the Quonset huts and platform tents that had
occupied the front nine holes of the course and
attempted to restore the links. 

But, it was not rebuilt according to Thomas'
original design. One of those holes, the third, was
known to be one of Thomas' favorite par-3 holes
and was built to resemble the famous No. 3 at Pine
Valley Golf Club. 

So, the original third and fourth holes at Ojai are
the new seventh and eighth holes. The front nine has
been renumbered in the new routing system. The
course will remain a par-70 from the blue and
white tees. From the red tees, the par changes from
71 to 72. The former fifth and sixth holes will not
be played anymore, used instead as greenbelt and
garden areas for guests of the resort. Eventually, the
front and back nines will be switched, improving
the overall balance of the course, Greenslit said. 

Here is a closer look at both of the new holes: 

No. 7, par-3, 203 yards (blue tees), 175 (white),
146 (red): Yikes! Proceed with caution. The
elevated tee looks out toward Sulphur Mountain
and far below to a fairly large green that is
surrounded in the front by six large, intertwining
sand bunkers. 

A cart path winds along the right side of the hole,
with out of bounds off of that, and there is a sheer,
unplayable drop off to the eighth fairway about six
feet from the green on the left. 

Obviously, this hole requires pinpoint accuracy off
the tee. Laying up for the shorter hitters is not much
of an option with the bunkers extending out as far as
they do. 

No. 8, par-4, 403 yards (blue tees), 385 (white),
275 (red): From the tee, the golfer is treated to a
360-degree view of the Ojai Valley. The property's
hotel can be seen from the tee box and holes 14, 15
and 16 are viewable to the right. 

The fairway is fairly wide, but it's important to stay
on it or face out of bounds on either side. 

There are bunkers on the right about 225 yards off
the tee and on the left about 300 yards away. 

The best strategy is to aim for the left bunkers off
the tee. The green, shaped like a three-leaf clover,
is well undulated. A 30-inch water line down the
middle of the green had to be covered, which
created a natural ridge and dip. There is a large
bunker off the right side of the green. 

The holes are off Hermosa Road on the southwest
corner of the course. 

Overall, the course picks up an additional 70 yards
and its rating goes from 70.2 to 70.7. The slope is
boosted from 122 to 125. 

To celebrate the opening of the new holes, special
introductory rates of $79 per round, including cart,
will be available Monday through Thursday from
today through Jan. 31, 2000 (except the holiday
period from Dec. 24-Jan. 1). 

Also, as a special incentive today for those playing
the par-3 seventh hole, a new automobile from
Steve Thomas BMW in Camarillo will be awarded
to the first person who makes a hole in one. 

Sunday, November 21, 1999      Doug Sorrow Double Eagles # 17 at Buena Ventura 

During the Clubs annual November Turkey Shoot,  quite an unusual feat was performed by Doug Sorrow. Hitting into a stiff wind on the 17th hole at Buena, Doug powered an outstanding drive leaving 215 yards to the green. Using a 3 wood, he holed out his second shot for a rare "Albatross", or Double Eagle 2.