Picture yourself driving through a pretty little mountain valley, not too far north of the Mexican border, maybe 30 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. You are in the warm and rolling hills of San Diego County, Calif.
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This is not the flashy Los Angeles or artsy San Francisco side of California. It's down home California, friendly, where folks are polite and still stop at red lights.
It's spring and everything is blooming and healthy. After a drive through the winding, mountain roads you spot a massive structure on the valley floor.
This is your destination: Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino.
"What initially impressed me most about Barona," says golf course architect Gary Roger Baird, "was the pristine feeling when I first visited the valley. I appreciated the sight and sounds (or lack thereof) and smells of this desert-type land, which as a native Southern Californian, I've always appreciated."
Owned and operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians, the hotel and casino buildings stand out on the landscape like sudden monoliths in the midst of former grazing pastures. The 397 guest rooms are nicely appointed. The dining outlets -- ranging from a formal steakhouse to buffet -- feature tasty fare and good service. There is also a history museum on property and everything runs smoothly.
The income from the casino has gone to build new infrastructure for the entire 7,000-acre reservation. The money has also been used to create college scholarships for eligible tribal members, expand housing, provide health insurance and educational programs of the tribe, and curb unemployment on the reservation.
The concept seems successful. Buses and carloads of people flock here to gamble, golf and have a blast for a few days. On one recent Saturday night in the 300,000 square foot casino, for example, not a single open seat was to be found at the card tables, and most of the 2,000 slot machines were occupied, as well.
But it's Barona Creek Golf Club that really makes the difference.
Baird, based in Nashville, Tenn., did an outstanding job of allowing the course to find its own way and keeping it natural -- and fun to play at the same time. It is a feel-good golf course that can also challenge players who wish to tackle it from farther back, or take chances on the risk/reward holes.
Physically, the golf course winds behind the hotel and casino buildings into the facing foothills and back down. The holes that are placed out at the farthest point have some distinct elevation change, such as No. 14, a 316-yard par 4 that plays up to an elevated green set against a backdrop of hills and boulders.
"One can't help but notice the different textures, and their relationships to the golf in this type of setting," Baird says. "To be able to position holes up against the rocks, as on Nos. 7 and 11, or the feeling created by the proximity of the large specimen oaks near the bunker to the right of No. 1, to me, is very exciting.
"I love hole No. 14," he says. "I wanted the surrounding boulders and the native plantings we brought into the bunker edges to introduce the feeling I felt this area offered and deserved. I hope the end of that canyon causes one to enjoy the framing of these natural elements, not just the golf."
Baird warns players not to get too caught up in enjoying the sights.
"However," he cautions, "the golfer must be careful to not become too distracted by the native beauty. The green has some interesting undulations and along with the false front beckons even the highly skilled golfer to pay close attention. Otherwise, even at barely 300 yards, it can be quite easy to score well over par."
Baird's routing incorporates some water at No. 17, which is dissected in the fairway by a diagonal creek, and No. 18, a strong finishing hole with a lake to the left of the fairway.
"When fortunate to be in a special setting, as at Barona," Baird says, "I think it is incumbent upon us, as architects, to use a slightly different approach. It's what I would describe as 'minimalist design,' meaning it's more about what's 'left out,' as opposed to what's 'put in' to the design. When there are natural elements, as at Barona, I didn't want the course to distract from, or compete with these features.
"I feel this happens too often in golf course design. Too many statements are being made these days ... too many efforts to force a design on the land, rather than letting it subtly happen. Examples are evident everywhere. I just hope we managed to get this natural feeling across at Barona in the correct manner."
He certainly has done that. The design just feels at home on the range, not forced at all.
Baird himself sums up the experience best: "When at the far reaches of the routing, I have found myself listening to the wind, and simply enjoying that which often seems drowned out in more urban areas ... by cars, planes, and just noise."
At Barona Valley Ranch, you can have all the noise you want in the casino -- the ringing of bells, the clatter of machinery, the murmur, thrills and groans of gamblers pulling for their number to come up. But you can also find silence, and the sacred sounds of the leaves in the trees and the blowing wind across the valley floor, out on the golf course, one of those places in this world where life is how it used to be.
Editor's note: George Fuller is a regular contributor to this website. He can be e-mailed at: gfuller@earthlink.com.
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