Experience Sandpiper

This one is about the experience…

For the past 7 years Future Champions Golf has been hosting an annual event in October at the beautiful Sandpiper Golf Club in Santa Barbara, CA. When I played collegiate golf for the SDSU Men’s Golf Team back in the late 90’s we played UC Santa Barbara’s Tournament at Sandpiper and it was one of my favorite courses to play; so beautiful and so challenging. What makes it challenging is the greens; they are always in fantastic shape and at speeds played at a major championship. The severity of the tilts from back to front are amazing and this puts a premium on your iron play to hit your approach shot below the pin so you have an uphill putt. With this crazy demand on your iron play it then becomes important to hit your drive in the fairway so you can control your golf ball. Catching a flyer at Sandpiper and hitting it past the pin doesn’t make par impossible but it makes it much harder for sure.

The golf course is set right on the ocean and has several holes right along the California coast. The first 5 holes are all inland and you can’t really see the ocean until you walk up to the green on the par 5 fifth hole. Hopefully you don’t get distracted lining up your eagle putt. The 6^th tee is literally on the cliff and is a gorgeous mid length par 3 that requires a solid shot as the wind is usually blowing steady here. The next 3 holes on the front 9 head back away from the ocean but are a good test of three steady par 4’s with good length and of course some strong tilt on the greens from back to front. The back 9 is where you really start to see the beauty of Sandpiper with the dogleg left 10^th hole that has a very narrow two-tiered green. From the tee box you can’t help but look out at the ocean in the distance. The 11th tee is the annual photo hole that we have thousands of pictures on our website from. It’s a downhill par 3 with a severely tilted green from back left to front right. The tee shot looks right at he ocean with a gorgeous sandy beach and palm trees. The par 4 12^th hole is back up hill and for the boys 15-18 play from a tee box that sits basically on the beach. Hole 13 is again on the ocean and very similar to hole #4 on Torrey Pines South although at Sandpiper this hole is a par 5 and has a tough ravine to carry near the green. The finishing stretch requires accurate driving and continue to place your approach shots short of the hole. The final hole is unique as it is a par 3 over the only lake on the course. The green is severely tilted from back to front and many of our championships have come down to the final hole. It is a great scene to watch players finish here with an amphitheater like atmosphere behind the green and near the clubhouse.

Future Champions Golf prides itself on creating experiences for kids and families that last a lifetime. This event fulfills this mission and we are so happy to continue to offer this extraordinary experience at the amazing Sandpiper Golf Club.

Register for the Event > 

Past Results: