Course Review: Tierra Rejada Golf Club in Moorpark, California

Southern California is a land of hills aplenty. Locals refer to ranges as high as 5,000-6,000 feet as “foothills” while the rest of the world knows something that high just has to be a mountain. Located in Moorpark, California, Tierra Rejada is indeed built in the foothills that lie between Southern California’s coastal and inland mountains. The town of Moorpark is actually quite old, but until recently it was really more of an agricultural hub than a city. With rampant expansion at its doorstep, Moorpark is now home to two of the most exciting new courses in the area, Tierra Rejada and the Moorpark Country Club (a 27 hole Peter Jacobsen design just about 10 minutes from Tierra Rejada. Guess what? It’s built in the foothills!).

You simply must understand that there wasn’t a single new golf course built within the city limits of Los Angeles from 1960 until 2000. While the city grew to overtake Chicago as the country’s second most populous city, the area’s golf nuts were forced to cram themselves onto the same overrun links year after year. The sense of desperation was palpable. The new millennium brought some improvements. The most noteworthy was the capability and practice of building golf courses on land that would have been considered unsuitable just a few years earlier. With few exceptions the new courses that are opening in the Los Angeles area are built in the hills, and I do not mean simply near the hills or with hillside views. The other development has flowed from the suburban sprawl that we Angelenos so disdain. Areas that are outside the city limits of Los Angeles but still in the Greater Metro area continue to grow at an alarming pace. Developments of 15-20,000 homes no longer stun our imagination, we only wonder about where they’ll get the water and how much more congested the freeways will become. Still, the growth of new areas with names like Santa Clarita, Simi Valley & Moorpark has also led to a bevy of new golf courses, so with the bad comes some good, at least if you play golf.

I trust that the images accompanying this review will provide some sense of just how hilly Tierra Rejada’s outward 9 plays. The terrain may cut across a ridge, or up a canyon but there is a constant feeling that the topography is shifting. Like the Pete Dye/Fred Couples designed Lost Canyons (just up the freeway in Simi Valley), Tierra Rejada is almost completely devoid of trees, though a good number of saplings have been planted on the back just to keep things interesting for future generations. This is definitely a course where the player is confronted with consistently challenging views and angles. In some instances the shot required is not as difficult as it appears while in others the demand for solid ball striking is even more rigorous than it would seem. This, of course, gets a player’s mind working and we all know what a problem that can present. Like most of the area’s new courses there is a linksish feel to Tierra Rejada, owing to the lack of trees, but this new breed of hill or canyon-built course has created an entirely new category, and one that I am sure we’ll be seeing even more of in the future. Of all of the foothill courses that I’ve played, Tierra Rejada is the best without a doubt, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

A Tale of Two Nines

Tierra Rejada opened in 1999 and was designed by Robert E. Cupp, architect of many distinguished courses such as Old Waverly and Spanish Hills. Tierra Rejada is a full service course, despite its modest fees. Upon entering the parking lot, a friendly attendant will unload your clubs and load them onto a cart. After checking in, you simply drive your cart down a hill to the fine driving range where neat piles of range balls await. As the appointed time approaches, you simply drive your cart back up the hill and it’s on to the first tee. Tierra Rejada is a course where the two nines very much compliment each other in the way they play. With the exception of the 610 yard opening par 5, the front nine plays predominantly into the wind and uphill. My playing companion, Andy, and I are firm believers in the virtue of being long and wrong rather than short and wrong, so we played Tierra Rejada from the tips. Within a couple of holes, we had some reason to question our judgment: At 3742 yards, mostly uphill and into a considerable breeze, the front nine of this course is a brute. Want an example? Well, let’s consider the 583 yard par 5 4th hole. The carry to the fairway is about 250, but that’s OK because it’s all uphill and into the breeze. We both made it with plenty to spare, but from the fairway you’re left looking at a fairway that works its way around in a massive curve to the right. It’s really more of a broad ellipse than a dogleg. Best of all is that fact that if you do hit your tee shot long and straight you are left with a very long lay-up shot that must be played over a mountain to find the center of the fairway. From the fairway, it’s hard to believe just how far right you have to play to avoid running a solid second shot through the left side of the fairway. If the lay-up is played too timidly, you’ll find yourself unable to see around the corner let alone play a 3rd shot into the green. Ouch.

The par 4 5th is a “short” one at 382 yards and since we caught up with the folks ahead of us we had plenty of time to contemplate the required straightness of our tee balls. Tierra Rejada’s 5th rides a ridge between two valleys which fall away on either side of the narrow fairway. The prevailing wind is left to right and the effect is quite horrifying. The view, however, is sublime. The hole has very much of a Top of The World feel to it and the combination of the vista and the wind is exhilarating.

Even the shorter par threes at Tierra Rejada can get your blood rushing. The 150 yard 7th looks so easy right up until you consider that a shot pulled just 7-10 yards left of the stick or 15 yards past it will be more than OB it will be lost to anything other than a qualified climber with a repelling rope. Of course, we could play to the right (safe side) of the green, but what would be the fun of that? Andy put his ball 4 feet from the stick and I made a sandy from the deep front bunker, so with a smile and a sigh of relief we moved on.

I’ve played Tierra Rejada three times and each time I was impressed by both the condition of the course and the civility of its staff. The first time, they were aerating the greens. But, instead of aerating the entire green, they aerated them in thirds so that the area near the pin was untouched. This was a sensible solution to an inevitable problem, but this was the only course where I have ever seen this done. The second time, they advised us at check-in that the back nine’s fairways had been plugged. Unasked, the starter gave each member of our group a $10 Gift Certificate to their very enjoyable restaurant. This time, nature did the honors. 2003 has been a very wet winter in Southern California and the golf courses have been blessed by the natural irrigation. The conditions on the course were excellent. The greens rolled true at about a 10 and the lies in the fairways were beyond reproach. Unusually, (really) I found myself getting a lot of practice in Tierra Rejada’s bunkers and the sand was very consistent and playable.

Take a Deep Breath: It’s the Back Nine

After taking a few hits on the front nine, we were happy to find that the back nine both measured and played far easier. 469 yards shorter than the front, Tierra Rejada’s back nine is more conventional and player-friendly. There are fewer ball swallowing hillsides and forced carries, but still plenty of fun to be had. We especially enjoyed the dramatic par 4 13th at 432 yards. Running parallel to another hole, the 13th feels more narrow that it really is and forces the player to concentrate on the center of the fairway. Once there, it can be seen that the green is framed by water right and long and by a sneaky little creek that runs down the end of the left side of the fairway. I didn’t see or recall that creek and that’s why one of my balls is still at the bottom of it.

Another thrill ride is the par 3 14th which plays 200 yards into the wind. Fun. Showing that both luck and skill have their place in golf, I flared a 3 iron into the slope to the right of the green and ended the hole by jarring a 15 footer for birdie. Remember, you can’t miss ‘em all. My only complaint about Tierra Rejada is the par 3 17th. There’s no other way to put it: It’s too short at 118 yards and downhill. Sure, it’s a small green and the severe drop makes club selection an issue, but it somehow seems out of place on a course of this length and quality. I had intended to ask someone about this, but thought that they could just as easily ask us to leave as answer us, so I refrained. I suppose that one could mention the 7th at Pebble Beach as an example of such a short hole on a course of this caliber, but I rather feel that to be a stretch: Pebble’s 7th is made or unmade by the wind, but the prevailing breezes of Tierra Rejada simply lack that degree of formidability. Honestly, though, I do hope that someone from Tierra Rejada will educate me regarding Bob Cupp’s vision of the 17th. No matter. With Tierra Rejada Bob Cupp has managed to work within the environs of the foothills and canyons in a uniquely successful way that preserves playability and a really keen sense of adventure in almost every shot.

There’s no need to be coy. Tierra Rejada is the best reasonably priced course that I have ever played. Absent my issue with the 17th and the fact that it’s a cart-only course, I can come up with very few reasons not to play it again and again. As I mentioned before, the staff is equal to the course with everyone just as pleasant and helpful as one could ask. As final note of interest, Tierra Rejada has some great views of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which is just a few minutes away. A trip to the library and a round of golf at Tierra Rejada would be as fine a way to spend a day as I could imagine.

COURSE RATING (OUT OF 10)

CRITERIA/RATING


Design: 9.0

Condition: 9.3

Aesthetics: 8.0 (owing only to its fairly “new” condition...)

Challenge: 8.4

Overall Rating: 8.6