Etched into the rolling foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in Thousand Oaks just 39 miles from Los Angeles, Los Robles Greens Golf Course redefines the daily fee golf experience - offering the remarkable golf, premium amenities, and superlative guest service one might expect at an exclusive private country club, all accessible to the public seven days a week.

In 2017, following an extension renovation, Los Robles won second place for  Golf Inc.’s “Renovation of the Year” competition. In 2015, mired in a historic drought and facing a government mandate, The City of Thousand Oaks was determined to implement a conservation effort, to include their municipal golf course. The City charged the Fry/Straka team with providing a playable, fun, profitable and visually stunning golf course that used the least amount of water and other inputs necessary to maintain these course attributes. The city was determined to create a socially acceptable golf course that was mutually profitable and environmentally beneficial.

The scope of the renovation included the removal of 30 acres of turf as well as the naturalization of 40 acres with approximately 55,000+ native and adapted drought and pest resistant plants. The naturalized areas were covered with mulch made on-site by recycling 15 years of accumulated green waste, with a long term plan incorporated to allow Live Oak leaf litter to accumulate and build up in the natural areas. Previously, the golf facility not only irrigated turf in these areas, but they spent countless labor hours mowing them, picking up leaf litter, and applying fertilizers and pesticides. The future now holds a drastic reduction in the amount of water, fertilizer, pesticide and fossil fuel used at the facility as a whole, which exceeds the city’s original goals.

Profit goals were achieved by reducing irrigation by 25%. They save the cost to buy and pump water, plus pesticides, labor and fossil fuels required for maintenance. The goal of being visually stunning was met by renovating the bunkers with a naturalistic style that blends seamlessly into the landscape, complete with a blurred line between sand, leaf litter, and native plants. Additionally, re-vegetating the non-irrigated areas with visually appealing native shrubs and groundcover provides a lot of color and texture contrast.

The renovation increased playability by providing firm and fast conditions on the course which also plays a little shorter. Average and high-handicap players are able to use more of a ground game to get around the course, so it has become playable for a greater diversity of golfers. When the bunkering was completely re-designed, bunkers that previously penalized high handicaps were removed, and other bunkers were re-positioned to impact better players more-so than average golfers.