Designed by Billy Bell jr. and opened in 1955, the Historic Hotels of America publication named Solvang's Alisal Ranch Golf Course one of the top 25 most historic golf courses thanks to the spectacular panoramic views of the Santa Ynez River and foothills.
“You feel like you're a million miles away from everywhere," Alisal's Director of Golf Dave Hartley said. " There's a very quiet, very serene nature on a 10,500 acre property.”
The property, which includes the Alisal Ranch resort and another championship course, the River Course are all apart of the guest experience. But for the private ranch course, it’s the beauty and difficulty of the Alisal Creek that keep it interesting throughout
“Our creek runs out of Alisal Reservoir, which is above the Alisal Ranch, and it comes into play on 15 holes in some fashion.”
However, like many courses throughout area, perhaps Alisal got the worst of the flooding in early January as the creek overflowed from the rainfall, wreaking havoc on the course destroying bridges with erosion and mudslides
“It rained 12.75 inches on that January 8," Hartley recalled. "At one point it was raining 1 1/2 inches per hour. It was probably the worst day in my 30 years here in terms of an employee.”
On April 15, Alisal Ranch's doors re-opened to its members and guests of the resort. After millions of dollars of damage and repairs, the course rebounded beautifully as work continues with Hartley believing that the course will return or be even better than it was before the storm by the end of Fall.
What the storm failed to wipe away was the history of the course. Though there have been changes over it's near sixty years of existence, the memory of the people that helped make it what it is, remains.
On the first hole is the monument of Bill Train; the first of four club professionals at Alisal Ranch who helped run the course until 1978. Hartley is the fourth to take up the mantle and has been a part of both Alisal golf courses since 1992.
The River Course is open to the public while the Ranch course is only open to members or guests of the resort.
