The Saticoy Club hosting pro event after a century

SOMIS, Calif. — Ventura County’s hidden jewel is finally being shared with the world.

The Saticoy Club, Ventura County’s oldest private golf club, ended a century’s wait this week by hosting its first professional event, the LPGA Mediheal Championship.

Lee Martin, who served as the club’s head golf professional from 1979 to 1999, couldn’t wait for the historic occasion.

“We’re finally going to have a tournament that’s going to validate the golf course,” Martin said.

For more than a century, the club has been the playground of Ventura County’s elite, who have shared it with A-Listers like Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and, more recently, Michael Jordan.

Those who have had access to it marvel at its beauty, as well as its challenges.

“It’s the toughest golf course probably on a day-to-day basis between Riviera and Pebble Beach,” Martin said. “It’s the best-kept secret in Southern California. … People who have never played it before don’t realize the gem they’re playing until after they finish.”

When Bob Lowe, who has been a member of the club since 1980, brings up his beloved golf course, he is used to hearing “Where’s that?” as a response.

“They call it a hidden jewel of the West because not many people were aware the course existed,” Lowe said. “Consequently, not many have played it.”

Or even seen it, until The Golf Channel cameras arrived this week.

Prepping for the pros

The course was originally designed by Billy Bell, who also helped design Riviera, as well as Buenaventura, Olivas Park and the Ojai Valley Inn, locally.

The club has been preparing for this weekend for nearly four years, when membership was bought out by new ownership in 2018.

“It was a Rembrandt,” Saticoy Club general manager Robert Nagelberg said. “It just needed to be dusted off, polished, shined and returned to the Louvre.

“This tournament is kind of the culmination of that.”

New ownership worked with Arnold Palmer Design on a long-term plan. They reshaped and leveled 18 tee boxes, replaced sod on four greens, enhanced the irrigation system and removed or trimmed about 225 trees.

“We did a lot in a short period of time,” Nagelberg said. “If you looked at the list, it’s 200 items long.”

Although the club, an hour from Los Angeles and 15 minutes from Highway 101, is set back in the hills above Somis, Nagelberg is hoping to share the facility with more than 10,000 golf fans this week.