A foothill course from 1997
Glen Annie opened in 1997 on the slopes above Goleta, at 405 Glen Annie Road. Robert Muir Graves designed it with Damian Pascuzzo. Graves already knew the county well: eleven years earlier he had built La Purisima near Lompoc, a course with a reputation for difficulty.
Glen Annie took a different direction. Instead of length and a high slope, the design uses the foothills for views. The higher holes look out over the coastal plain to the Pacific and the Channel Islands, and that panorama is the image most golfers keep of the course. KemperSports, which manages Glen Annie, describes it as a championship course in the foothills of Santa Barbara.
The fairways and greens are Bermuda grass, which thrives in warm conditions and gives the ball a firm, fast surface in summer.
The layout and the tees
Glen Annie plays to par 71, with a front nine of par 35 and a back nine of par 36. The tee options give it a wide range:
| Tee | Yardage | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 6,417 | Back tees, rated 71.2 / 129 |
| Green/White | 6,122 | Combo set |
| White | 5,945 | Middle tees |
| White/Burgundy | 5,364 | Combo set |
| Burgundy | 5,005 | Forward tees |
From the green tees the course is a fair test rather than a severe one. A rating close to par and a slope of 129 put it between the gentle city course and the harder championship layouts at Sandpiper and La Purisima. The combo sets help players find the right length without jumping a full tee box.
The 10th is the longest hole on the card, a par 5 of 577 yards from the back, and it opens the back nine with a demanding three-shot hole. The 16th, a par 4 of 391 yards, plays from a high tee, one of several spots where the view toward the ocean makes golfers stop before they swing.
The 2009 closure and reopening
Glen Annie came close to disappearing in 2009. The owner at the time, ValleyCrest Companies, had proposed turning the 159-acre property into an 18-hole executive course with 185 homes. Because the land lies in unincorporated county territory, the plan needed annexation by the City of Goleta and an amendment to its General Plan.
On June 16, 2009, the Goleta City Council voted not to allow studies of residential development on the property. The course then announced that it would stop operating on Monday, June 22. Reports at the time said it had lost nearly $15 million since opening.
The closure did not last. On July 2, 2009, Noozhawk reported that Glen Annie was likely to reopen the following week under a cooperative foreclosure between the bank and Touchstone Golf LLC, a course management company with offices in Berkeley and in Burnet, Texas. The general manager, Rich Nahas, said the 75 employees would be retained.
That episode is the reopening most people mean when they search for Glen Annie’s history. The course kept operating in the years that followed.
Glen Annie today
As of October 2026, Glen Annie is listed among the properties of KemperSports, the golf management company, with its full 18-hole card and the address on Glen Annie Road. This guide has found no report of a closure since 2009. Local event listings show the course hosting charity tournaments in recent years, and it is the home of the annual Goleta City Championship, played in March.
That championship is a useful sign of the course’s standing. Local amateurs have played their city title at Glen Annie for years, and the results appear regularly in regional amateur golf coverage. A course chosen for that event has to offer a fair, complete test from the back tees, and Glen Annie’s par-71 card, with its long par-5 10th and its elevated tee shots, does that while staying playable for the rest of the field.
Management and ownership of a golf course can change without much public notice. Anyone planning a visit should treat the course’s own website, glenanniegolf.com, and its pro shop as the current source for opening days, tee times and prices.
Some features to expect on a visit:
- A full 18 holes at par 71 with five tee options
- Bermuda grass fairways and greens
- Long views from the upper holes toward the Pacific and the Channel Islands
- A setting a few minutes inland from Highway 101 in Goleta
Playing the foothills: tees, slopes and views
Foothill golf brings its own challenges. On Glen Annie the ground rises and falls, so many approach shots play uphill or downhill, and the yardage on the card is only part of the calculation. A shot to an elevated green usually needs an extra club. A drop from a high tee, like the one on the 16th, often needs one less.
The slopes also affect putting. Greens on hillside courses tend to break toward the lower ground. Golfers who read every putt only from behind the ball can be caught out by that pull. A few minutes on the practice green before the round helps with pace.
Tee choice matters here as much as at the longer courses in the county. The green tees at 6,417 yards are for confident players. The white tees at 5,945 yards make a better round for many visitors, and the combo sets fill the gaps. With a slope of 129 from the back, Glen Annie does not punish a sensible choice. It mostly rewards a golfer who keeps the ball in play and enjoys the view between shots.
Green fees and planning a round
Glen Annie sets its own green fees, which vary by day and time. This guide does not quote prices for it. The course’s own website and pro shop have the current rate card, including any twilight or local rates.
The course is a short drive from Sandpiper, which sits by the ocean at the western end of Goleta. Many visitors pair the two: Sandpiper for the bluff holes and the length, Glen Annie for the foothill views and a more forgiving card. A golfer staying in Goleta can play both without crossing the city.
A few points to keep in mind:
- The terrain climbs, so ask about cart rules when booking.
- Morning marine layer can hide the ocean view early; the panorama often clears by midday.
- Pick the tee set by handicap, using the combo sets if the full green tees feel long.
How Glen Annie compares with Rancho San Marcos
Glen Annie and Rancho San Marcos opened within a year of each other, in 1997 and January 1998, and both are foothill courses where the views are part of the round. The difference is the direction they face. Glen Annie looks out over the coast to the Pacific. Rancho San Marcos, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design on Highway 154, looks over Lake Cachuma and the Santa Ynez Valley from ranch land that rises from the river to a ridge.
Both courses have also been through a closure. Glen Annie’s lasted only days in 2009. Rancho San Marcos closed in 2020 and reopened in April 2025, with nine holes in play. Its history page covers that story in detail.
For a full comparison of the public courses in the area, the Santa Barbara golf courses guide lists all six side by side.