Best golf courses near Santa Barbara, CA

The Valley Club is routed like an hourglass, with a wide variety of holes, including the third (hard against a barranca), the downright mountainous 10th, the gorgeous canyon-carry 14th and broad, serpentine 15th. Fairways are generous, but the slant of greens demands certain angles of approach. The restored MacKenzie bunkers resemble jigsaw pieces that, observed architect Jim Urbina, seem to fit one another, left and right. An added bonus is its location, in perhaps the best golfing weather in the nation. But the surrounding dry hills are subject to erosion, and The Valley Club was severely damaged by mudslides in 2018, necessitating an intensive project to reclaim its grand golf holes.

Lining the breathtaking Santa Barbara cliffside, Sandpiper provides spectacular Pacific Ocean and beach views on most of its holes. This William F. Bell design has hosted several professional events, including the final stage of the PGA Tour’s Q-School and the LPGA Tour’s Santa Barbara Women’s Open. Sandpiper also has a unique history: The property was a site for ARCO crude oil production from 1938 to 1954.