EXCURSION: OLD IS NEW AGAIN AT BUENAVENTURA.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

VENTURA - New look Buenaventura Golf Course, spruced up nicely after a 10-month renovation, still has most of its old scenery, but also offers much to like that is new and would likely get a nod of approval from original designer William Park Bell, who built the facility in 1933.

The re-design work of Forrest Richardson has given the tree-filled layout 18 re-sculpted bent-grass greens - all while maintaining Bell's original size and wonderfully shaped and mounded - all while maintaining Bell's original size.

New white sand in all of the bunkers, two new par-3 holes, one abandoned par-3, a par-5 that retains just a portion of its old self and new and absent lakes are other changes for Buenaventura veterans to take note of.

Those who have never played the course can enjoy its old-style aesthetics, excellent greens and generously wide fairways. Manageable length - par-70 Buenaventura plays 6,054 yards from its tips - and the consistently moderate temperatures of breezy Ventura all make for an enjoyable day of golf.

Buenaventura benefits twice when it comes to the wind that cools this seaside community but also is blocked enough by the large trees on the course that scoring is not quite the adventure it might be.

The re-designed course layout includes five par-3 holes, one of those - No. 11 - is positioned at the tail end of what used to be Buenaventura's old par-5 16th hole. No. 10, formerly a par-4, plays as a par-5 that is the course's longest hole - 576 yards to a lake-flanked green.

First-timers might not see that right-side lake before they hear the splash. Other tips for Buenaventura newcomers: Take an extra club to get out of the seemingly benign but clingy rough no matter how good the lie looks, and putt a little harder than you think you need to on those smooth-rolling new greens.

Other changes at Buenaventura include the removal of the old par-3 second hole, the addition of a new, 174-yard par-3 (No. 14) on the front portion of the old par-5 sixth, and, most dramatically, a course re-routing so encompassing that every hole has been re-numbered, altered or both.

The course, which used to play its front nine to the west of the pro shop and its back nine to the east, winds its back nine around the perimeter of the facility, mixing both original nines but retaining the feel of the old layout.

The new No. 13, one of the course's least-altered holes - only the green and hole number are new - remains one of the best at Buenaventura, despite playing just 386 yards as a par-4 rated only 10th most difficult on the course. Large trees line both sides of the fairway and the green is fronted by a lake.

Buenaventura's traditional signature hole, the old 144-yard, par-3 lake-fronted 14th that now plays as No. 5, has changed only in its switch from back nine to front nine. Hitting short remains the biggest mistake here, and whatever wind works its way through all those trees to the far east side of the course will be in a golfer's face for this tee shot.

The toughest holes on the new layout are the 471-yard, par-4 fourth, 464-yard, par-4 16th and the 244-yard, par-3 seventh, which used to be No. 11 and now plays from a tee box near the fairway of the now-gone par-5 hole that used to play as No. 16.

Course regulars will have fun for years comparing the new and old layouts. First-timers can just enjoy the new round, which finishes scenically with a dogleg-right par-5 through trees to an uphill green fronted by a lake.

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

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The tree-lined, par-4 13th hole at Buenaventura Golf Course in Ventura remains one of the best, thanks to a lake-fronted, redesigned green.

Dave Shelburne/Daily News

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DESTINATION: BUENAVENTURA GC