The Valley Club of Montecito

Greenskeepers tend to the 18th green as first light peaks over the water, with the practice range to the right. Could there be anywhere more serene on Earth to greet the sunrise while hitting a bucket of balls?

Approaching the short par four 6th is all about angles

Calling only for a mid or short-iron, the par three 8th was my favourite of the one-shot holes

The par three 11th is the last of three one-shotters that plays from the same small hill

The par four 12th is one of the less lauded holes on the course, but it was a favourite of mine with its natural, low-key greensite

Beauty comes in threes: the 15th green, the clubhouse and the Santa Ynez Mountains

Course name: The Valley Club of Montecito
Location: Montecito (Santa Barbara), California
Four Word Course Review: The perfect members' club

The Valley Club's great putting surfaces are apparent the second you step out of your car - the drama of the 15th and 18th greens at the foot of the clubhouse drawing the eye almost as strongly as the long view down over the closing holes to the Pacific Ocean beyond.

The beauty is quintessential MacKenzie and the course seems to display perfectly the ideals of golf design he spoke about during his lifetime and packed into the likes of Augusta National, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne and Alwoodley.

Not overly long, plenty wide, very little water... it would seem at first glance that The Valley Club (as with many of the courses named above) is a relaxing doddle that might yield a career score: then you get to the greens.

While the 15th and 18th here are your first look at what awaits with the flatstick in hand, they are not really representative of what you'll find on the course. Subtlety is largely the order of the day, with slight slopes at the 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 13th demanding precise green-reading skills if you want that lengthy putt to finish anywhere near the hole.

Many times on sections of green that looked flat, I watched balls roll... and roll... and roll... until that two-putt was a mere dream or, even more embarrassingly, the golfer was swapping his putter for a wedge to play the next shot!

That subtlety in the greens that were rebuilt in 2007 by Jim Urbina is the crucial aspect of scoring. Being on the right side of the hole is crucial and so, working backwards, you realise that wide expanse of short grass you were gazing at off the tee was hiding one or two enviable approach angles among others that were a slow track to a certain bogey.

This is a course that will roll over and let a player in form scratch its belly - I managed to get from the 8th tee to the 16th tee in three-under - but also one that penalises poor planning just as much as poor shotmaking (five bogeys from the 2nd to the 7th!). In short, it's thrilling golf where anything can happen from one hole to the next.

The short par four 6th is a case in point, with acres of short grass in which to hit an iron and earn a good angle in, but such modest length that a driver is almost too tempting, despite the fact the bad angles get progressively worse the closer you get to the green. The green itself, as much as the surrounding bunkering, dominates that strategy.

Likewise, at the short par five 2nd it's easy to become pre-occupied with getting a short birdie putt and miss the fact that any ball left above the hole (especially to a front or middle pin) could easily be putted right back down to the fairway.

But of course a round of golf is a journey, and no golf course has been a more joyful one for me than The Valley Club thanks to a routing that moves more or less out-and-back, but makes great use of a hill on the eastern parcel from which you play on three of the four par threes - the 4th, 8th and 11th: each posing a different shotmaking challenge as they head off from the central hub.

For mine the best of the one-shotters is the 8th, played a cross a valley to a benched green set at an angle and defended short by a handful of the gorgeous bunkers that help to set the mood of the course. It's only a mid-iron, but it, like many holes on the course, plays much harder than it looks.

The par fives won't scare you when you look at their lengths on the scorecard, but the greens at the 2nd and 15th, recovery shots at the 1st and sidehill drive that feeds into a creek at the 10th all demand precision and careful planning.

The high handicapper need never feel overwhelmed or out of his depth at The Valley Club, but the better player will find all the challenge he could ever need. As far as a template for the perfect members' club, MacKenzie's Montecito masterpiece may well be it!