As he makes his way around the Sacramento area, going from course to course to play in standing games each week, Peter Lansburgh is starting to hear more and more from people in the golfing community.
Lansburgh said he is hearing “a lot of good things.”
That’s the way it is when word gets out about the way Lansburgh, a professional, is playing and the consistently super-low scores that he happens to be shooting.
“I’ve got people coming up to me, left and right, telling me: ‘You’re playing better than everybody else in town.‘; ‘You’re shooting scores that are unheard of.’; ‘You’re doing it on a regular basis.’”
Lansburgh plays out of Whitney Oaks Golf Club in Rocklin. During the week, he plays at the Alister MacKenzie Golf Course at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, Bing Maloney Golf Complex, Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course, Whitney Oaks, and Mather Golf Course.
He is becoming one of the biggest names in Sacramento golf – the result of years and years of work that he has put into his game, the course records that he has around town, the confidence level he plays with.
“What’s ended up happening out of all of these rounds that I’ve played around town is that I’ve turned in my own little slice of Sacramento’s local history,” Lansburgh, 33, said.
“I’ve always been working toward the number one goal – and that is to be competitive on the PGA Tour. It’s awesome to take my hometown, my area that I call home, and kind of use that as a building block toward my biggest goal and to have all this kind of local notoriety kind of come with that.
“Honestly, it’s awesome. More people are learning the name and even more, people are learning how to spell it.”
Lansburgh played in city tournaments and Northern California Golf Association events from 2007 to 2011. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship three straight years, from 2008 to 2010.
He has made two hole-in-ones and has four double-eagles in his career.
He owns course records at Bartley Cavanaugh, Arcade Creek Golf Course at Haggin Oaks, Davis Golf Course, and WildHawk Golf Club in Sacramento.
He tied the course record at Whitney Oaks, Quail Lodge & Golf Club at Carmel-By-The-Sea, and Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
“Just around town, I’ve shot some really low scores. And these aren’t one-time things either,” said Lansburgh.
“I play in about six money games a week in the Sacramento area. It’s never made me fearful to go too low. There’s no such thing as too low. You just keep going. If I have four holes left, I’m going to birdie the four holes left.”
He added another course record to his golf resume, firing a spectacular 12-under-par 60 on Sept. 2 at Bing Maloney. His round featured 12 birdies, including seven straight, and six pars, on the par-72, 6,569-yard layout in Sacramento.
The previous course record was 62, set by former head professional Tom Doris. It had stood since April of 1970.
Lansburgh was dialed in and on top of his game, hitting 13-of-14 fairways in regulation and hitting 16-of-18 greens in regulation. He sank birdie putts. He made par-saving putts. He had 21 putts for the day. It was a bogey-free round.
In looking back on his record-setting round of golf, Lansburgh, a Sacramento resident, said:
“To be completely honest, in my opinion, I finally kind of exposed what my potential really was. I knew that I’ve shot 12-under before. So that was what ties into this whole thing here, is saying, I’ve shot 62 a bunch of times. I’ve shot 61 a bunch of times. And I’ve shot 60 before. These things don’t really surprise me.”
”It’s just about that personal control, how well you can control what you can control and let your ability expose itself.”
“It’s not one of those out-of-body experiences where everything’s going my way. I honestly felt like I was doing what I should be doing. A lot of this stuff is driver-wedge. If what I’m trying to do is make it to that next level, these are the things that I should be doing, so it really wasn’t an eye-opening thing. It was one of those things where I felt like when I put things together I know I can shoot scores that will help me further my career and take me to another level.”
“It wasn’t that I got good bounces. It wasn’t that I got lucky breaks off of hitting a tree. It had nothing to do with that. I played like I knew I could and then also that I should.”
There is a lot of history to Bing Maloney, a championship layout, which opened in 1952. Morton Golf Management oversees Bing Maloney.
According to its website, www.bingmaloney.com:
“50-plus years of rich local golf history make the Bing Maloney GC an integral piece of the golf landscape here in Sacramento. People who grew up in Sacramento have witnessed a large number of oak trees mature, making this a classic design to be enjoyed by golfers of all abilities.”
“A round at Bing Maloney in South Sacramento offers you a relaxing and friendly day of golf on a championship course with a unique history. Our par 72, 18-hole course was designed by M.J. McDonaugh, an associate of the famed golf architect Alister MacKenzie.”
“We offer traditional golf on tree-lined fairways where massive oaks create interesting tests for players. It’s a fair and playable course with no trick holes or gimmicks. This is classic, time-honored golf in the best sense, but with sloping greens that will challenge your short-game skills.”
From the blue tees, Bing Maloney measures 6,569 yards, with a 70.8 rating and 121 slopes. According to www.mortongolfmanagement.com:
“50-plus years of rich local golf history means that the Bing Maloney GC is an unarguable integral piece of the golf landscape in Sacramento. It remains a great tribute to the mission of daily fee municipal golf mission that the City of Sacramento set forth with back in the 1950’s – making affordable golf available to everyone.”
Taking a look at the course record
Lansburgh’s birdies at Bing Maloney came on holes:
- No. 1, par-4, 393 yards.
- No. 2, par-4, 396 yards.
- No. 6, par-5, 517 yards.
- No. 7, par-4, 405 yards.
- No. 8, par-4, 378 yards.
- No. 9, par-5, 527 yards.
- No. 10, par-4, 393 yards.
- No. 11, par-5, 513 yards.
- No. 12, par-4, 430 yards.
- No. 14, par-5, 488 yards.
- No. 15, par-4, 395 yards.
- No. 18, par-4, 368 yards.
Lansburgh has played a lot at Bing Maloney over the years.
“I knew this 60 wasn’t really that far out of my reach. I just needed to bear down and do it,” he said.
He only missed two greens in regulation, but the misses were just off the putting surface, in the fringe.
Eleven of the putts he made for birdie were from inside of 10 feet, said Lansburgh. His longest birdie putt came on the second hole as he rolled it in from 18 to 20 feet.
His longest putt to save par was from one foot.
“I never had to grind one time, not once to make a par,” he said.
Lansburgh’s putt for birdie from 20-25 feet on the par-3, 179-yard fifth hole lipped out.
“I hit such a good putt. I thought I made it and it had such a nasty lip out,” he said.
That’s how close he came to shooting 59. That’s how close he came to making eight birdies in a row, something he has done before at Bing Maloney.
“Even though it didn’t go in, I still managed to birdie 18 to get the record,” he said.
Knowing the greens, where to be putting from, the pace and speed are key, said Lansburgh.
“Being a local and knowing the course, knowing what sides of the hole you want to putt from and things like that, I made it easier for myself, I would say,” he said.
He just missed a birdie putt on No. 3. He also missed a birdie putt from 8-10 feet on No. 16.
Lansburgh played in a fivesome the day he broke the course record. Bryan Hunt, Matt Jimenez, Sam Flores, and Eddie Burnell played in Lansburgh’s group that day – all witnessing one of the greatest rounds in Sacramento golf history.
Each of the players in the group signed the scorecard, which is in possession of Bing Maloney.
“One of my playing partners, Bryan had never told me it was his birthday that day until after the round. He mentioned it by saying, ‘I will forever remember this course record because it happened on my birthday.’ I went, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s awesome. That’s pretty cool,’ ” said Lansburgh.
There was no celebrating after the round.
“I just treated it like another day and felt like, we’re getting closer to reaching my full potential here,” said Lansburgh.
“I’m not too concerned about these course records and accolades. All they do is just prove that I can play and that I’ve got the potential to play at another level.”
Golfing background
Lansburgh graduated from Woodland High School in 2005.
He played two years of golf at Woodland High. He played one year of college golf for American River College of Sacramento and played in both the Northern California and state championships during the 2007 season.
He worked at Davis Golf Course and Mountain Valley Golf Center in Woodland.
He played in NCGA and city events from 2007 to 2011. He won city tournaments all over the place – in Fairfield, Vacaville, Roseville, Davis, and Woodland.
He owns course records at:
- WildHawk Golf Club in Sacramento: 12-under-par 60.
- Davis Golf Course: 13-under-par 54.
- Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course: 11-under-par 60.
- Arcade Creek Golf Course: 11-under-par 61.
He tied the course record at:
- Whitney Oaks: 10-under-par 61.
- Cypress Ridge: 9-under-par 63.
- Quail Lodge: 9-under-par 62.
Lansburgh turned pro in 2012.
He won 12 events on The Pepsi Tour, playing in California and Arizona. He made his home in Scottsdale, Arizona for four years, from 2013 to 2017.
He played on The Dakotas Tour and won an event in 2013 at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, S.D.
He won a mini-tour event in 2019 at Fairways Golf Club in Cheney, Washington.
He played in pre-qualifiers and final qualifying this year for two PGA Tour events, the Fortinet Championship in September at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa and the Barracuda Championship at Tahoe Mountain Club-Old Greenwood in Truckee.
Off to Q-school
Lansburgh is making his third attempt at a PGA Tour card, as he is playing in the first stage of qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, at Dayton Valley Golf Club in Carson City, Nevada.
It’s the first stage of qualifying. There is a second stage and then the finals.
“This will be my third attempt to try and get out of the first stage,” he said.
“My game has progressed so much since the last few times I’ve been to Q-school. I’m excited, for sure.”
According to www.pgatour.com:
“The Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament is the premier way to gain status on the following year’s Korn Ferry Tour. Each year, several worthy players take their shot at advancing through pre-qualifying, First Stage, and Second Stage at various sites across the country all leading up to the Final Stage. Players who advance to Final Stage are assured a Korn Ferry Tour card for the following season, and the top 45 finishers (and ties) at Final Stage are assured a healthy number of starts in the first part of the following Korn Ferry Tour season.”
Course history According to its website, www.bingmaloney.com, Bing Maloney was built in 1952 on a 125-acre site and is named in memory of John B. “Bing” Maloney, a former superintendent of the City of Sacramento’s Recreation Department.
“Maloney was instrumental in persuading the city to build the course,” according to www.bingmaloney.com.
The course was designed by Michael J. McDonaugh, a city employee and an associate of Alister MacKenzie, according to www.bingmaloney.com.
“ … McDonaugh worked on the construction crew that had built Cypress Point and Pasatiempo golf courses and the Alister MacKenzie Course at Haggin Oaks in Sacramento.”
McDonaugh worked as the golf course superintendent at Bing Maloney.
The Bing Maloney Golf Complex is open to the public and also features a pro shop, 40-station, night-lighted driving range for lessons or practice, practice putting greens, a full-service café, tournament scoreboard, and barbecue areas, according to www.bingmaloney.com.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor, and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.
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