La Purisima sits on about 309 acres of rolling, oak-studded sand hills in the Santa Rita Hills east of Lompoc. Developer Kenneth Hume Hunter Jr. set out in 1986 to build a pure test of golf, and he hired architect Robert Muir Graves, whose 2003 obituary called it probably the best course of his later career. It is known for wind and difficulty, and regulars have nicknamed it "La Piranha."