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Pasatiempo Golf Club

Santa Cruz, CA Public

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Pasatiempo Golf Club

20 Clubhouse Rd

Santa Cruz, CA 95060-1802

United States

Telephone

Toll Free: (800) 950-7888
Primary: (831) 459-9169

Overview

Pasatiempo is arguably Alister MacKenzie's favorite design. He lived along its sixth fairway during his last years. With its elaborate greens and spectacular bunkering, it’s a prime example of MacKenzie's art. The five par 3s are daunting yet delightful, culminating with the 181-yard over-a-canyon 18th. The back nine is chock full of other great holes: 10, 11, 12, 15 and 16 all play over rugged sand and grass barrancas, and another bizarre barranca, turfed in fairway grass, runs down the left side of the par-4 14th. Among these is one of the course’s great sleeper holes, the uphill par-4 17th with a frighteningly tilted putting surface. The storied course has hosted two USGA championships: the 1986 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2004 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur. In 2023 and 2024, architect Jim Urbina cored out and rebuilt every green to improve drainage issues and remove decades of sand and organic buildup. He then used a vast array of historical data and images to restore the contours as closely as possible to what they were in the 1930s. The work recaptured hole locations on masterpiece greens like the 16th and 18th that were unusable due to slopes that had become too severe for modern green speeds. The club will maintain the rebuilt greens at slightly slower speeds to embrace the brilliant contours MacKenzie designed.

About

Holes 18
Length 6495
Slope 141
Price $445
Facility Type Public
Year Opened 1929
Designer Alister MacKenzie/(R) Tom Doak/Jim Urbina (2024)

Awards

100 Greatest
100 Greatest Public
Best Courses in Every State

Ranking history:

100 Greatest: Ranked for 16 years from 1991-2004 and 2021 to current.
Highest ranking: No. 77, 2001-'02.
Previous ranking: 96th.
2025-'26 ranking: 93rd.

Second 100 Greatest: Ranked for eight years from 2013-'20.

100 Greatest Public: Ranked since our inaugural rankings.
Previous ranking: 15th.
2025-'26 ranking (highest): 15th.

Best in State: Ranked eighth, 1997-98. Ranked ninth, 1993-'94. Ranked 10th, 1995-'96 and 1999-2000. Ranked 11th, 1989-'90. Ranked 12th, 2021-'22. Ranked 13th, 2013-'18, current. Ranked 14th, 1987-'88, 1991-'92. 2019-'20. Ranked 16th, 2011-'12.
Previous ranking: 13th.
2025-'26 ranking: 14th.

Golf Digest Logo Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.6

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options
7.6712
Character
7.6725
Challenge
7.6481
Layout Variety
7.7847
Fun
7.5397
Aesthetics
7.4395
Conditioning
7.3703

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