Ultimate Golf Photo Tour: Omni La Costa Resort and Spa
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Touched by fresh ocean breezes, and located just north of San Diego set within a captivating 400-acre village, Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, a Golf Magazine "Top-100 Resort in North America" and Golf Digest "Editors’ Choice among Best Golf Resorts in California," elevates the concepts of recreation and leisure. Originally developed as an amenity-driven playground for well-heeled celebrities and athletes, this legendary resort has a singular warm, relaxing vibe that charms. You can feel this place’s history — which dates back to the early 1960s — echoing through its grounds.
Omni La Costa, located within easy reach of area beaches and popular tourist attractions, features 600 rooms, suites and villas, and provides an idyllic setting for golf. The 43,000-square-foot Spa at La Costa includes a private pool, waterfall showers, cafe and therapeutic reflexology pathways.
Members and guests may stroll the Spanish Mission-style property and enjoy fine dining at Bob’s Steak and Chophouse, contemporary cuisine and an enchanting al fresco experience at Vue, or a lively atmosphere and fun, California-inspired menu at the new Bar Traza. Omni La Costa Resort and Spa provides a refreshing escape and transcendent weather any time of year.
By the mid-1960s, La Costa had become the go-to spot for Hollywood elite. The golf course received international praise and was routinely played by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Hope (pictured second from left). In the early 1970s, famed tennis champion Pancho Segura served as the resident pro and La Costa became the tennis epicenter. Notables taking to the courts included Charlton Heston, Johnny Carson and Desi Arnaz.
The Spa, the crown jewel of La Costa, was refuge for some of the world’s most powerful people, including U.S. President Richard Nixon, Jackie Kennedy and Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren. La Costa had quickly established itself as the top destination for luminaries wanting to experience “The La Costa Lifestyle.”
In 1965, shortly after La Costa opened, the original Dick Wilson-designed course hosted the made-for-TV CBS Golf Classic. The PGA Tour's Tournament of Champions (later called the Mercedes Championship and the Sentry Tournament of Champions) was hosted from 1969 until 1998, and invited a parade of hall of famers, including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. In 1999, the WGC Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship was played on the original-course layout.
Omni La Costa is home to 36 holes of award-winning golf on the Champions and Legends courses, originally designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee, respectively.
The Champions Course (pictured) is an open, brawny and demanding 7,151 layout, elegantly framed by haystack-shaped hills and stretching across vast acres of rolling, native Southern California terrain. Strategically placed bunkers (made more prominent in a 2011 renovation by Damian Pascuzzo with consultation by Steve Pate and Jeff Brauer) and a winding creek put a demand on solid ball striking. The trio of closing holes, including the par-3 16th hole that demands a carry over water, provide exceptional challenge in a prime setting and are in full view from the resort’s elevated terraces.
The 6,996-yard Legends Course is a more intimate journey through the hills and the tree-lined valley nestled at the base of the surrounding hillside. Meandering creeks, shrewdly-angled doglegs along with docile wildlife and ponds bring character to a course where scoring opportunities abound for straight hitters. Guests can also navigate either course on a smooth-cruising Phat Golf Scooter or surf-style Golfboard to heighten the golf experience.
In late 2020, the NCAA announced Omni La Costa will host the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. Play will be conducted on the resort’s famed Champions Course following a planned renovation by course architect Gil Hanse. “Our team is very excited to be a part of bringing Omni La Costa's esteemed stature in American tournament golf into a new generation," Hanse said. "Just as we did with the Olympic Course in Rio, we embrace collaborating with the NCAA on creating a course that is suitable for top-tier men and women players as well as Omni La Costa's members and resort guests."
Director of instruction A.J. Avoli oversees the resort's Golf Performance Institute (GPI), which offers varied programs led by renowned names in game improvement, custom fitting and fitness. The GPI features the innovative RoboGolfPro training device, which sits on the range near the award-winning True Spec custom clubfitting business. Ryan Faust, a golf speed trainer, recently launched FaustyGolf as part of the Institute’s offerings.
An iconic moment in Tiger Woods' career took place on Omni La Costa’s 16th hole in a sudden-death playoff at the 1997 Mercedes Championship. When Tom Lehman’s ball found the water off the tee on the 170-yard par three, Woods was given an opportunity to safely steer his approach anywhere onto the putting surface and still win his third professional title comfortably. That, however, has seldom been Woods' style and he assertively hit his approach to within 10 inches of the hole.
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