Santa Barbara Golf Club — Local services in Santa Barbara

Quick Summary It's a great value city golf course that is decently maintained and has fantastic scenic views. Pace of play is decent as it took about 2.5 hours to go through 9 holes on a weekend (it's an easy course with wide open fairways, so do expect some novices that may be slowing down the pace)

Views- 5 stars Beautiful views of the mountains and a few views of the ocean from the golf club. It's a very beautiful public city course that is accessible to most.

Green maintenance- 4 stars The tee boxes and fairways were pretty maintained. Greens were decently maintained as well, but it is difficult as it is a city course, and it appeared many people didn't fix their ball marks

Difficulty- easy/moderate Wide open fairways, short holes (par 4s about 350 yard average), but some tricky greens that add to the challenge (many of the greens have significant incline so having a golf green guide would be helpful)

Pace of play- 3.5 stars It's a city course that is relatively easy to play, so expect many novices on the course. It took us about 2.5 hours to finish 9 holes during twilight hours on a Saturday.

Bottom Line Santa Barbara Golf Club is a scenic city course that can be played by any golfer level. For the decent course maintenance and terrific views, it is well worth the price...

Great for a muni course and easy to get to about 8-10 minutes from the beach in town. Loved the layout. Greens were on the slower side. Small practice range on site. Super friendly staff. I saw another guy grab rental clubs that were brand new Taylormade with a Scotty Cameron putter - if you don’t bring your own you won’t get stuck. The clubhouse and cafe was great - country club quality food. I played a late afternoon round at 5:15pm (last group - early august) - play was painfully slow. We didn’t even get 9 holes in before sundown at 8:15. We walked to be able to play a little longer ( it’s hilly) a cart wouldn’t have helped go faster. Remember, it’s the closest public course to a vacation destination, so we were not disappointed and expected slow play and enjoyed the environment. I would give it 4.3 stars if that was an option. Morning round...

This is a great scenic track. The greens are rolling so fast right now. I believe they are poa annua greens. Super soft to walk on and high pitch shots stay put with little to no roll. Ball marks are abundant but not bad when repaired properly. The kua grass surrounding the greens can be sticky and the balls seem to check up on them with little to no roll. I mostly play in South Florida where the predominant tif eagle greens are shaved/mowed down to super smooth brazilian wax length. I regularly also play on paspalum greens on the Palm Beach Par 3. Nothing compares to the greens we encountered at Santa Barbara Golf Club. The undulating hills and elevated tees and fast greens offer a great challenge for all golfers. I think it's a must play when...