MAKING TRACKS: LA COSTA'S SECOND COURSE TO BE RENOVATED

By Torleif Sorenson on 3/15/13

The second course at one of the most-visited resorts in southern California will undergo a major restoration. The Sacramento-based golf architecture team of Damian Pascuzzo and Steve Pate, who collaborated with Texas-based architect Jeffrey Brauer on La Costa Resort & Spa's Champions course just a couple of years ago, will oversee a rebuild of La Costa's South Course, a Dick Wilson design that debuted in 1965. Pate knows this course well, having won the PGA Tour's Tournament of Champions in 1988 at La Costa, and intends to keep as much of Wilson's strategic elements as possible.

When the "P2" team rebuilt the Champions course, Pascuzzo emphasized that they wanted to retain and restore Wilson's original bunker designs, which actually varied quite a bit. This time, Pascuzzo and Pate will largely retain the original Wilson routing, but all greens will be expanded in the rebuild, while the rest of the course will actually be made more spacious — a design element that is likely to appeal to the wide spectrum of golfers playing the course as resort guests.

"We have a lot of respect for La Costa's original routing and intend to maintain its integrity. Our goal with the Legends Course is to give golfers a completely different type of golf course to play at La Costa. We want to keep it fun and interesting, with different visuals and some subtle nuances around the greens."

In a nod to water conservation, the tee-boxes, fairways, and rough will be seeded with paspalum, a salt water-resistant strain that typically provides relatively soft, cushioned lies. The course is scheduled to close on May 1, then reopen late this year.


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Image via La Costa Resort & Spa

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