LEGENDARY HISTORY
During its hundred-year history, the Ojai Country Club has been made even more famous by the pros and celebrities who have chosen it for exhibition play and competition. Jimmy Demaret and Doug Sanders have been resident pros, while Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Will Smith, Kevin Costner, Michael Douglas, and a host of Hollywood stars have visited over the years to play the course amid its mountainous backdrops.
The Inn has hosted seven Senior PGA TOUR events that brought golf icons the likes of Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf, Chi Rodriguez, and Ben Crenshaw, plus two EMC2 Golf Skills Challenges, as seen on NBC.
The 18-hole golf course and the greens were renovated and considerably toughened by Jay Morrish in 1988. At just 6,292 yards from the blue tees, this par-70 course features six par 4s over 400 yards and three par 3s of over 200 yards, making it a throwback challenge to golf’s golden age.
In 1999, Ojai Valley Inn famously reintroduced the “Lost Holes”—two original golf holes designed by George Thomas in 1923 that disappeared when the course was redesigned following WWII. The former #3 and #4 holes were restored as the #16 and #17 holes of the current layout. More than a historical curiosity, this Southern California classic is a championship-caliber affair.
