Swing into history at Catalina Island GC on Southern California’s adventure paradise rising out of the Pacific.
Imagine playing golf on an idyllic island without leaving California. Better yet, if you knew that Catalina Island, the only inhabited island of the eight-island Channel Island archipelago off Southern California’s coast, is a triple-threat golf destination, your reaction might be: “What time does the first boat leave?”
For starters, the nine-hole Catalina GC legitimizes the term “best-kept-secret,” but don’t discount sharpening your putting competence at Golf Gardens Mini Golf or for those in the know, flip frisbees at a secluded disc golf layout on the hillside overlooking Avalon, a tiny hamlet reminiscent of a European coastal village and the primary tourism hub for Catalina Island.
Barring a 26-nautical-mile marathon swim from the shore of Long Beach, the front-runner mode of transport to the rocky islet is a 70-minute ride on Catalina Express (departure points also from Dana Point and San Pedro) which may reward passengers up-close encounters with pods of dolphins or whales. Catalina has also become a regular port of call for cruise lines but for the fastest journey across the channel, Maverick Helicopters will whisk you and golf clubs from their terminal adjacent the Queen Mary, the historic transatlantic ocean-liner docked in Long Beach since 1967 and transformed into a hotel and museum, to the landing pad next to Pebbly Beach on Catalina in 15 minutes.
There are approximately 4,000 residents on the 75-square-mile Catalina Island, 90 percent of whom live in Avalon. That number, however, is dwarfed by the one million visitors arriving every year for one or multiple days to embrace the island’s suspension-in-time charm where fast food and stop lights are non-existent and a traffic jam consists of several golf carts converging at an intersection. Avalon regulates the number of cars (currently, there’s a 20-year waiting list for a permit to have one), so golf carts are the primary means of transportation for residents and visitors to navigate the island.
Beyond all the tourist trappings adjacent the harbor in Avalon, where the majority of shops, restaurants, and accommodations are located, Catalina’s magnetism is embodied in an exhaustive menu of outdoor adventures on land and sea: hiking, biking, fishing, zip lining, camping, kayaking, parasailing, snorkeling, to highlight some. And since the cat has already been let out of the bag there’s an historic captivating golf course tucked into a scenic canyon of eucalyptus and island sage within walking distance from anywhere in town.
Catalina GC was built in 1892, by the island owners, the Banning Brothers, when Catalina was emerging as a vacation playground for mainland travelers. It is now considered the oldest operated course west of the Mississippi. Originally designed as a three-hole course by John Duncan Dunn, considered one of Southern California’s founding fathers of golf, Catalina GC expanded to nine holes in the early 1900s.
In 1919, when chewing gum magnate and Chicago Cubs’ owner, William Wrigley Jr., purchased the island, he pursued his vision to elevate Catalina’s profile as a luxury getaway that included expanding the layout to 18 holes with a $1 green fee. In addition, Wrigley erected a dual-purpose clubhouse catering to golfers plus his baseball team for when they held spring training from 1921-1951 (except during World War II), on the land bordering the course.
Ultimately, the war severely impacted Catalina after it was deemed off limits to visitors from 1942-1945, when Avalon was used by the U.S. Maritime Service as a training station. With the necessary housing required for military personnel, land became a commodity and the course returned to nine holes with four par 3s and five par 4s totaling 2,193 yards (each hole has two sets of tees if playing 18).
With a boatload of bunkers, small undulating greens, and an elevated first tee box demanding a tee shot over a road below, Catalina GC is no pushover, as the likes of Tour pros Phil Mickelson, Corey Pavin, and Amy Alcott once discovered. Even a young prodigy, Tiger Woods, lost a couple matches on this track. The difficulty factor didn’t faze 4th generation Catalina family member and the course’s Head Pro, 30-year-old Gabe Hernandez, from whom I was schooled during my round, when he fired a course record 25 in 2024, a score that held for 70 years.
Catalina GC exudes “island-time” and a local ambiance reflected by the majority of the playing clientele: waiters, bartenders, construction laborers, hotel cooks, busboys, janitors, you name it. They show up for friendly games with their own golf cart donning work clothes, perhaps, flip-flops, but always ready to hustle the next unassuming victim. Nevertheless, in the spirit of island hospitality, it’s a community experience any outsider is welcomed.
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