Ojai Golf Good For Your State of Mind

Go Back In Time For And Relax At The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

By Eric Tracy
erictracy@earthlink.net

Mark Twain once called golf "a good walk spoiled." It's not golf that spoils the walk; it's how we handle the humiliating ups and downs of the game that mentally mashes our minds. However, golf approached correctly provides a commune with nature in a way not shared by many other recreational activities. This week's suggestion is to check your ego at the resort door and play a wonderfully relaxing round of golf at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Your senses and your state of mind will thank you for it.

WARMING UP: When they call this place the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, note that they don't mention the charming and nearly 80-year old golf course. Is it supposed to be a secret? If it is, don't let anyone else in on it so easily. Even at it's busiest you can still finish your great walk in this park in 4 ½ hours thanks to the luxurious 10-minute intervals between starting times. Its almost always busy here, but not that you'd notice. The Ojai resort and its par-70 hideaway receives plenty of attention - it was the Senior PGA Tour stop for seven years in the '90s. They also held the made-for-TV Skills Competition here. Ojai keeps impressive company. The course designer, George C. Thomas, also sculpted Riviera, Bel Air and Los Angeles Country Club, how's that for impressive history. You can even get a head start on your bio-rhythmic holiday--and it's really not that much longer taking this route-if you make the approach trip the back way, through Moorpark, Fillmore and Santa Paula, where time forgets and you'll remember. The reward is that you'll arrive in this sleepy resort town minus freeway tension. And if that pact with your shutdown ego works, you'll keep the laid-back feeling for as long as you hang around. Now, shall we talk a little golf?

THE LOST HOLES:

Two years ago, Ojai was able to recreate a new 7th and 8th hole that was originally Nos. 3 and 4 in Thomas' layout. During World War II, the government took over the course as a training facility and changed the landscape. They tried to restore everything, but one of Thomas' favorite par-3s, built to resemble the third hole at Pine Valley Golf Club near Philadelphia, wasn't done just right. Using old photographs from Thomas' book on golf architecture, Ojai director of golf Mark Greenslit, course superintendent Sam Williamson and Carter Morrish, who designed the renovation, brought the two holes out of hibernation. "Ben Crenshaw was an important element in this, too,'' says Greenslit. "He was excited to hear about these holes, and he went out in the weeds one day to find them. His passion for golf history is what brought him to Ojai, and he loved the holes when they were done.''

HOW THE LOST HOLES PLAY:

• No. 7, 203 yard par 3 (13 handicap): More than a dozen bunkers in all shapes and sizes mark the fairway like spots on a leopard, leading to a dippity-do green. So, it's definitely not a roll-it-up from the elevated tee box, but there is some breathing room to the left if you choose to go with an 8-iron, then chip up and pray for a one-putt par.
• No. 8, 403 yard par 4 (3 handicap): The primo spot on the whole course, the 8th tee box with the best view of the mountains and thick forest surrounding everything (and what's that lone palm tree doing out there to the right?) Another gorgeous gorge must be cleared, but definitely stay left or the unscheduled nature walk begins. At least you'll find a pocketful of lost balls if you slice it right.

TWO OTHERS NOT TO MISS:

• No. 11, 358 yard par 4 (10 handicap): From the tee box looking straight out, there's a couple of bridges, a Spanish villa and part of a fairway. You'll have to trust there's a green somewhere to the right, hidden behind the trees. Plop it down on the diamond-shaped chunk of fairway, then make a hard right to the isolated green. Golf Magazine included this one in its best 500 holes listing, and for great reason.
• No. 16, 392 yard par 4 (2 handicap): Please listen to this advice or you'll be marking a snowman on the card: Stay left off the tee, about 220 yards over the hump, and watch it kick right. Don't go right, even if it looks like a shortcut, because the fairway quickly narrows with a stream in front of the green. Next, if the pin placement up front, you're dealing with a precarious false front that will definitely cause your ball to roll off and back onto the fairway. Go long with the chip, and putt like a surgeon.

THE OTHER ANIMITIES: The Golfer magazine calls Ojai Valley Inn & Spa one of the top 100 golf resorts in the world, and the fact it's a member of the Historic Hotels of America tells you something. It's on 220 acres with 206 guest rooms and suites with the four-poster beds and the wood fireplaces in the early California style. While you're golfing, your family can be off horseback riding, hiking, bird watching, swimming, playing tennis or, of course, melting away in one of the treatment areas soaking in a whirlpool or sauna. Life's rough, isn't it?

DID YOU KNOW: The sweet and fragrant Pixie tangerines available only from March through the end of May are available to guests of the inn. Ojai is the only place you can get 'em.

GET TO KNOW: Jim Catlett, the starter for the last two decades, has been with the course for 45 years, working Wednesday through Sunday remembering everyone's name and even how they like their coffee.

ONE WAY TO DO IT: Buy an annual pass for $6,000 and there's unlimited play Monday through Friday. Also, winter rates go into effect in November, play for $79 Monday-Thursday.

SUMMING IT UP:

There are much longer, newer courses in the area but so what? This polished gem holds it's own. How simple is this: The green fees don't change per season. That's just part of the reason why this is a classic, requiring every shot and plumb line measured putt with secretive swoops and swirls. Ojai isn't a highly charged round of golf unless you make it that way. Keep the ball in play and you'll score. But if you take things too seriously, you'll ruin a good five hours of breathing fresh air, clean views and historical saturation. The mind must also be massaged as well as the body, and here, you get both.

Eric Tracy

KFWB RADIO