In the fall of 2016, Bill Apfelbaum and four friends were negotiating to purchase a golf course in Sonoma, California, when their broker informed the group that Saticoy CC might be available for purchase.

A day after getting that notice, Apfelbaum drove to Somis, an unincorporated area in Ventura County, to get a first-hand look at the club, which opened in 1964 with a course designed by famed golf architect William (Billy) F. Bell, son of noted golf architect William P. Bell, who designed such top area courses as Bel-Air CC and Torrey Pines GC. Apfelbaum drove the property with the club president, and it didn’t take long for him to experience what many members have termed a “Saticoy moment,” an almost mystical feeling created by the beauty of the course.

“It’s like you are transported to somewhere away from the rest of the world,” Apfelbaum said. “I’ve been around golf my whole life and I could see the bones of this course were beyond anything I had ever seen. I felt like I had found a Rembrandt that had been hidden away in my attic.”

In April 2018, Apfelbaum and the other four Saticoy Partners purchased the club for $12 million, with the promise to membership to restore the club’s luster while maintaining its classic feel and ambience.

CHAMPIONSHIP VENUE

Rebranded as The Saticoy Club by the new ownership, the course has long been considered a hidden gem, with its classic design rivaling other classic layouts such as Riviera CC, Bel-Air CC and The Los Angeles CC. But the club’s secluded location in the hills of the Las Posas Valley has contributed mightily to the club’s anonymity among the general golf community.

Sitting high on a bluff, surrounded by orchards filled with avocado trees, Saticoy’s location offers members a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the nearby Channel Islands as they warm up on the practice range.

This was Ventura County’s first private club, founded in 1921 as the Ventura CC. The original club included a nine-hole course designed by William P. Bell and George C. Thomas Jr. that is still around today and is affectionately called “Little Saticoy.” The original club was located down Wells Road from the club’s current location.

As the membership continued to grow in the early 1960s, they opted to purchase the property the club currently sits on, with work on the course and clubhouse commencing a few years later.

Despite its relative anonymity, over the last 60 years the club has served as host to a plethora of high-level golf events, including multiple U.S. Open qualifiers, the 2008 SCGA Amateur Championship, the 2022 LPGA Mediheal Classic, the Women’s Pac-12 Championships, the Ladies California Match Play Championship, The Bruin/Wave Women’s Invitational and the Pepperdine Men’s Invitational.

And this July, The Saticoy Club will host the 125th SCGA Amateur Championship and 10th SCGA Women’s Amateur Championship, which will be held concurrently. Saticoy joins San Diego CC and Goose Creek GC as the only clubs to host these two prestigious tournaments concurrently.

“We look forward to having these great amateurs experience everything that The Saticoy Club has to offer,” said General Manager Ben Edwards. “Our membership takes pride in the club and loves getting a chance to share it with these players.”

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

As part of their ownership agreement with the membership, the new owners promised to pump money into the club, with the ultimate goal of restoring the 60-year-old design to its pristine condition.

The first step was hiring the Arnold Palmer Design Company to handle course renovation, with senior architect Thad Layton tasked with handling the challenge. Layton and Apfelbaum drove the course for two weeks, talking about potential changes and exchanging the vision both had for the course once the work was completed.

Two of the big changes were to the bunkers and the massive trees that filled the property.

“We decided to take out 200 trees and 18 bunkers,” Apfelbaum said. “Other bunkers were softened to make them less penal for the average players, but we feel they still have plenty of bite to challenge the top players.”

Some of the other renovations included replacing the grass in the fairways, switching from bent grass to Bermuda, seeding native areas to make them more aesthetically pleasing, fixing cart paths, leveling some tee boxes and adding new Augusta No. 4 sand to bunkers. They also created new tees on holes nine, 16 and 18, giving the club the ability to max out the playing distance to 7,200 yards.

In addition to the course changes, improvements were made to the clubhouse and other member areas, including both the men’s and women’s locker rooms; the fitness room was updated with new equipment and a new lower terrace, complete with fire pits overlooking the 18th green. An old storage room was converted into a practice area complete with a high-level golf simulator, and a room containing old trophies and other items was transformed into a massage room.

Ron Honeycutt, who joined the club in 1970 and held the course record of 65 for 25 years, said he and the entire membership chose this ownership group for one key reason.

“Yes, they had the money needed to buy and maintain the club, and they had a great vision for the future,” Honeycutt said. “But the biggest reason this group was the right one for us moving forward was their integrity. They have gone above and beyond what we asked of them, and the membership could not be more pleased.”

A DRAW FOR THE PROS

Over the years, Saticoy’s reputation as a hidden gem has drawn an “A” list of golf professionals and celebrities to take on its challenges.

A month after winning the 2022 Masters, Hideki Matsuyama showed up to play a round. As he and Apfelbaum walked to the first tee, Matsuyama asked, “What is the course record?” He was told 64. He proceeded to bogey the first hole and shoot 71.

LPGA major champion Danielle Kang grew up in nearby Westlake Village. As her game began to blossom, the Saticoy members gave her an honorary membership that allowed her unlimited access to the course. Kang admits that she was a bit of a “brat” at times, but she always appreciated the kindness given to her by the club.

“I love Saticoy, and having a chance to practice and play there helped my game develop so much,” Kang said. “It’s such a great golf course.”

To show her appreciation, Kang allowed the club to display her U.S. Women’s Amateur trophy in the golf shop during the back-to-back years she was defending champion.

As great as the club’s past has been, the owners and members believe the best is yet to come. There are plans in the works to try and build cabins on the grounds, like Augusta National, that would allow the course to offer a stay-and-play element to players outside the area. Apfelbaum even dreams of having a small vineyard to add to the visitor experience.

“It’s such a cool place and the membership and staff are so great, it’s paradise,” Apfelbaum said. “I walk around with a smile on my face and get high fives from people thanking me and our group for doing what we have done. It could not have turned out any better.”