Buenaventura GC went three years with no flood
In the early months of the year 2023, Ventura County had a storm that ended up flooding out a local golf course called Buenaventura Golf Course for exactly three years. Its reopening to the public occurred on May 2, 2025 with a limited 14-hole layout. This opening allowed local golfers to start playing at Buenaventura again, yet, it wasn’t the same as there were now limitations. Ultimately its repair caused the city of Ventura to fund 10 million dollars for the restoration of the course, like digging up three feet of mud caused by the flood. However, in the Fall of 2025 the course opened its full 18-hole layout making the course complete again after the restoration.
Now, come late Dec. of 2025 and once again Ventura County has a big rainstorm lasting almost two weeks. The golf course was flooded once more but this time the damage to the course was limited to certain holes and wasn’t as severe as the storm was in 2023. Certain holes got flooded instead of the whole course being damaged like it was in a couple years back. Specifically hole 10 had notable flooding on the fairway, causing a pond-like shape on the fairway.
Through Ventura Forward, Spencer Noren’s instagram account, he said, “It looks like old traditional flooding on the hole closest to Olivia’s Park Road which happens every major storm, but the rest of the course looks great.”
Some players in the golf community thought that the minimal flooding was a good sign and that the city put in a lot of work for implementing the new drainage system. Golfers here in Ventura love the beloved 94-year-old course and want it to be in good shape so they can enjoy the course to its full potential. But its neighbor course Oliva’s Links got attention when Buenaventura wasn’t playable. So some golfers went down the street to play at Oliva’s instead of Buenaventura. Buenaventura is originally the home course of the girls and boys golf team here at VHS but both teams had to relocate to Olivas Links from 2023-25.
Zachery Guettler ‘28 said, “[Ventura] will definitely solve this problem for the future and they are planning on getting funds to help and fix it…I play at Buena from time to time and it’s a course in my playing rotation but I would change some parts of the course to prevent the floods but I don’t know what I would do but the layout is good.”
The course now is in great condition but I don’t think that the city used the full potential of the restoration money. Golf courses aren’t really on the top of the city’s list to fix and that showed when Buenaventura opened back up to the public with the 14 hole limit. Personally, I would’ve proposed that they put way more drains in the fairways and around them as well because all holes on the course aren’t 100% in the clear when it comes to rainstorms that cause floods.
Haeden Weber ‘27 said, “I do play there quite frequently since it opened back up, but they could’ve put in a better drainage systemI do think and hope [Ventura] will try and resolve the problem for the future but I would keep the course how it is.”
