MONTECITO COUNTRY CLUB
🇺🇸 Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Designed by Jack Nicklaus, Max Behr



Montecito Country Club occupies a hillside site in the coastal foothills above Santa Barbara, where the Santa Ynez Mountains meet the Pacific plain. The course was originally designed by Max Behr and opened in the 1920s during the architect's brief but influential period of Southern California work. Behr, a contemporary and philosophical ally of Alister MacKenzie, favored strategic design that rewarded thoughtful play over penal architecture, and his routing at Montecito took advantage of the property's natural contours and oak-studded terrain.
Jack Nicklaus later redesigned the course, reshaping much of Behr's original work while adapting the layout to modern tournament standards and membership expectations. The Nicklaus renovation altered green complexes, bunkering, and several hole corridors, though the routing continues to move through rolling terrain with elevation changes that provide views toward the ocean and mountains. The course plays through a mix of native oaks and landscaped areas typical of the Santa Barbara region.
Montecito Country Club serves a private membership drawn largely from the surrounding community, one of California's established coastal enclaves. The club maintains traditional country club amenities and has hosted regional amateur competitions over the years. The course reflects both its historical origins in the golden age of California golf architecture and the practical realities of later redesign, offering members a layout shaped by two designers from different eras of the game.
Reviews
Outrageously excellent conditions here, likely in large part due to Ty Warner’s emphasis on optics with everything he touches (creator of beanie babies and owner of Montecito Country Club). The layout leaves a lot to be desired however, and coupled with the rate I paid it feels wrong to say it’s a must play. Because really, it’s not.
One of the best golf courses I’ve ever been on. Owned by the Bennie baby guy this place is 1st class all around, the fairways and rough are all one cut, every lie is teed up. Clubhouse is unreal, it’s overlooking the pacific. If you can get on do it, if they you have to pay then pay it. You won’t regret it.
FAQ
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Montecito at Montecito Country Club has a Course Vaults score of 8.4 out of 10 based on 10 explicit golfer ratings.
Montecito was designed by Jack Nicklaus and Max Behr.
Montecito at Montecito Country Club is listed as private on Course Vaults; guest access is typically restricted.
Par at Montecito is 71.
Montecito plays 6,239 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Montecito is 132.