He set a blank on his shaping table and laid out a few different templates. Then, gradually, Larson started offering ideas for how we could create my perfect board. We spoke for a long time about what sort of surfer I am, what sort of board I’m looking for, what I want out of a ride, etc. After my most recent visit to The Ranch, I met up with Larson at his nearby shaping bay (built into Hobie’s Dana Point location). It’s also sort of puts the “hey, I could paint that!” knee-jerk reaction people have when they see figurative artwork to the ultimate test.īut for me, even painting with someone as esteemed as Cosby can’t compete with the second new offering: shaping a surfboard from scratch (or “from foam,” to be more accurate) with Gary Larson of Hobie, who trained under shaping legend Terry Martin and shapes the majority of Hobie’s boards. Cosby’s work has been incredibly well-regarded in the local scene for decades, so the chance to have him as an instructor is truly a next-level get for the right sort of guest. The term mostly just refers to painting outside - which doesn’t really seem like it needs a term - but the result is a genre of landscape paintings that conjure those unforgettable beach days while still being figurative enough to inspire the imaginative viewer. The first is the opportunity to create a plein-air painting with John Cosby, one of the icons of Laguna’s plein-air painting community. There there are The Ranch’s new “ cultural offerings” - which they just rolled out this spring and I had the chance to experience firsthand. I hadn’t touched a club in 25 years and managed to get par on one hole, which is saying something. The result is golf that is fun for everyone - not a selling point that many courses I’ve ever visited lay claim to. But this course drew me in with three factors: 1) the fact that it’s GEO Certified, meaning that it’s had an outside party score its water usage and other environmental impact elements for sustainability, 2) it fits naturally into Aliso and Wood canyons, which is more like the golf courses I observed in Scotland and less like the “pave paradise to put in 18 holes” approach that I’ve often witnessed on my travels, 3) it’s only nine holes made up of all par 3s and 4s, meaning that being terrible is a lot less miserable than playing 18 holes full of par fives, where a bad player might need ten strokes and leave people waiting. To be perfectly honest, I’ve spent my career being very resistant to golf and have declined to play at famous courses all over the world. The RanchĪs you can see above, The Ranch is home to a golf course that winds through the canyon. It is the most un “SoCal” scenery in Orange County and, as such, a truly welcome surprise. Giant sandstone boulders pepper the hillsides, surrounded by bougainvillea and California poppies. Even for me, a verified local, the hotel grounds feel like a portal to another time and place. Having lived for quite some time in town and taken plenty of visitors to the property, the first thing you hear is “I had no idea Laguna Beach could look like this.” The Ranch at Laguna Beach sits nestled at the south end of this green belt, tucked in these exact same sorts of creek-carved canyons. Right now, after a sopping wet spring, the vegetation is Hawaii-level lush - making the name of the conservation project that protects this land, “the Laguna Green Belt,” feel very fitting. In Laguna, you have to either drive along PCH from one of those aforementioned neighbors or travel 15 minutes down the CA-133 and another five minutes down Laguna Canyon Road.ĭriving into town via the 133 offers a stunning view of the rugged canyons that have buffered Laguna, relatively speaking, from the outside world. Newport Beach to the north and Dana Point to the south both have major arteries that dump out within a mile of the sand. This is due to the fact that there’s no direct freeway access. A big part of the magic of Laguna Beach is that it’s relatively inaccessible, especially considering it’s a coastal town in the 5th most populous county in the United States.
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