Renovation at Sandpiper Golf Club

Plans for Tom Doak to re-design Sandpiper Golf Club in Santa Barbara(Goleta), California overlooking the Pacific Ocean has been given hope. Santa Barbara native Parker Anderson of Greener Golf is an associate on the project.

The property faces the Channel Islands and aging offshore oil platforms scheduled to be decommissioned. Sandpiper was designed by William F. Bell and opened in 1972. The landscape has the advantage of natural terrain atop seaside cliffs. A new routing from Tom Doak to integrate the shoreline into its design is promising. The Bell layout is routed laterally to the clifftop for the majority of the journey with the exception of the downhill par 3 11th hole which plays downhill to a beachside green.

The proposal does not have a construction start date yet. However, Doak posted to Instagram a photo in early 2021 of the 18th hole with a caption regarding the pond in front of the green might remain due to native wildlife species of red-legged frogs. From studies conducted from 2022 through 2024, nearby Bell Canyon has been identified as a better habitat.

Doak is a golf course architect who has designed many of the most famous courses in the world, including Irish seaside links St. Patrick's, Pacific Dunes in Oregon, and New Zealand's Tara Iti. The renovation could potentially include a number of changes, including improvements to the routing of holes, removal of paved cart paths, tree management, improving drainage of Devereux Creek, renovating bunkers and greens.

Approvals for permitting may require California Coastal Commission involvement. Goleta City Council has started to review environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) requirements.