The Valley Club of Montecito

The last MacKenzie and Hunter collaboration, finished in 1929 between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific, known for its sculpted bunkers and small, contoured greens.

The Valley Club was completed on December 30, 1929, the final course from Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter. Hunter had moved to Santa Barbara in 1928 and likely spent more time on this site than on any other of their designs. The course sits half a mile from the ocean with the Santa Ynez Mountains behind it, split into eight holes on the clubhouse side and ten west of Sheffield Drive.

By MacKenzie's standards it is restrained. The greens are smaller than usual for him but full of sharp contour, and they blend into their surroundings. The bunkers, with irregular, jagged edges, are the main visual feature. Creeks, oaks and sycamores shape several holes; the par-3 4th plays to a tiny green inside a grove of large sycamores, and the par-3 14th crosses a deep valley to an Eden-style green. The 11th adds a barranca along the right side.

Starting in 1996, Tom Doak and Jim Urbina restored the greens and bunkers to their original sizes and shapes using 1931 photographs, reinstated closely mown fringes, and rebuilt the 15th and 18th greens that had been softened soon after opening. Todd Eckenrode later sharpened fairway lines and cleared non-native trees. Fred Couples, a member, holds the course record of 59.

Holes to know

4

Par 3 · 144 yd

A short par 3 to a tiny green set among huge sycamores.

8

Par 3 · 149 yd

Plays from one hilltop to a hillside green with a sharp falloff to the right.

14

Par 3 · 175 yd

Crosses a deep valley to an Eden-style green.

Design history

• 1996 onward: Tom Doak and Jim Urbina master plan restoring MacKenzie-Hunter greens and bunkers, including rebuilt 15th and 18th greens
• 2013–14: Todd Eckenrode refined fairway lines and removed non-original trees