Bay Area Top Public Courses

[Seidinho]

Wow, the rough is really nowhere near it was mid-Jan to early Feb.

[Gnucastle]

Hear, hear for Freewheel! Get a carne asada regular burrito next door at Los Gallos and a pint of Freewheel English IPA or Mind the Gap. Good post-round treat.

Sometimes if you are lucky the grocery store Delucchi's in the same parking lot has bottles of Freewheel beer - enjoy.

[Left Rough]

Poplar Creek.... as in several other walks of life sometimes you just need a SlumpBuster!

[duffer987]

Ya from my time in the UK I am a big fan of warm brown beer, so having a bunch of hand pumps on offer is awesome! Especially when almost everywhere else keeps pumping out 6%+ IPAs and 'hazy' and 'juicy' this and thats. I actually bought 4 bottles on the weekend. Thanks for the tip on Los Gallos, I've just grabbed food from the pub, but always up for new burrito options.

[duffer987]

Ya that's a good follow - wonder if he needs OK's from the bosses before posting? It would be cool if they get a good Swinley Forest/Pulborough Surrey heathland feel out of the North course, to go with the Aussie sandbelt pastiche on the South.

Once done the only competition as such will be Bayo/Blackhorse and the playability of Corica will surely pip it, as having a wonky swing day down at Fort Ord can make for a pretty high score.

[James the Hogan Fan]

How many 36 hole public complexes are there within reasonablity to the bay area anyway?

Corica when doneSunol valley

Coyote Creek

Bayonet/Black Horse

Half Moon Bay

Haggin Oaks?

As far as all CA, Pelican and Torrey Pines come to mind

[ASN21]

Coyote Creek has two solid 18's as well. The Valley might not be that great but I think the Tournament side makes up for it.

[duffer987]

Ya can almost get the same amount of closed as open in Norcal ;-)Rancho CanadaDiablo Grande (18 not left)Shadow Lakes/Deer Ranch

Blue Rock (Some question about future dev/closure of 18)

Old Greenwood/Gray's Crossing

[pappaf2]

Yeah I was going to say the west coast (obviously Bandon excluded) but I really don't know enough about the 36 hole+ complexes in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington to really compare.

 

[pappaf2]

That's what I am hoping they are going for, a heathland vibe would be so good.

It's funny, when the project started it was going to be cartpath and drainage work on the North Course. Now the renovations are as extensive as the South.

 

[James the Hogan Fan]

Wasn't trying to nitpick too hard, I was mostly lamenting the lack of 36 hole facilities available... (I only know of one in Washington state, for example)

From what I've read the complex is being paid to take fill from BART construction, so they basically have unlimited free/small profit sand fill to cap their course with. I suspect Greenway decided if they had unlimited dirt for free or even positive money, then no time like the present to make it happen. And that 'if we're gonna do it let's do it right' mentality takes over for the bunkers and things.

I'm really excited for it because I prefer the north to the south course (and for a time, my personal career low rounds anywhere were a 76 on north and a 79 on south. Ive since beaten them at Callippe but having my first 80 break at Alameda, in a high school event was special). And I am a sucker for rivetted bunkers. If its half of what the south turned into while keeping the routing I'm going to be very happy.

[pappaf2]

No worries on nitpicking at all.

 

I figured they must be getting another deal on fill dirt like they did for the South course to even be considering it. I always really liked the North Course too. I feel like I heard they are going to change the routing somewhat, having the original first few holes tie in with the latter part of the old back 9. Either way totally looking forward to it.

[duffer987]

Ya reckon they did blow past the original remit. Even what's currently on their site doesn't sound as substantial as what they were doing. And looking at the guy's Insta - they've definitely changed the routing, unless he's getting hole numbering wrong. One plus with the construction in the Bay Area, free fill. I was wondering if they got it from the estuary dredging or one of the downtown projects, but BART makes sense too.

The course quality (however we want to measure it) needs to be in the neighbourhood of the South course for sure or no one (OK not no one, but still) would play it. Fry was always better than Clark in the past, cause Clark was rubbish :-) People who never played the old course wouldn't believe how incredibly mundane it was.

[pappaf2]

Just asked JC_GCturf on Instagram what the vision for the course was. Describes it as a classic golden age style with very few bunkers, and water coming into play a good amount. Says it will compliment the South course. Also rearranged the routing.

[Gnucastle]

I think Diablo Grande is now officially closed - since October 2019 no more Ranch course. So they are down to zero holes.

[ASN21]

I played at The Club at Pasadera in Monterey yesterday. Fun Jack Nicklaus course! Weather was darn near perfect for me. Didn’t play well so definitely want another crack at it.

[ASN21]

Oh and the views on the back 9 are insane! So much elevation change.

[duffer987]

Cool sounds promising :-) I was wondering how they'd handle the existing ponds, if they go some way to getting a local version of Caledonia Fish & Golf (Mike Strantz's old school fee compact course) that'd be fantastic. Whatever we get, that it can only make tee times on the South easier to make the better.

[LeftRightLeftRight]

Bay Area native here, but now live in Sacramento for the last 25 years. Golf is certainly more affordable up here.

I used to play Roddy pretty regularly, driving down to meet Bay Area friends. Miss that course, too. Bargain!

As for top 10, you all have covered it pretty well. I noticed Presidio hasn't been mentioned. I haven't played it in a long time, but I recall liking the course. StoneTree is OK except for the green fee.

I see a lack of love for Tilden. While certainly not a top 10, I used to like that course when it played firm and wasn't so raggedy. I loved the way some of the fairways tilted and you had to draw or fade your tee shot to keep it on the short grass. I remember it as a shot maker's golf course. It was kind of a poor man's Castlewood (Hill course), but on the cooler side of the hills. My guess is that conditioning must be really poor, because the layout is not that bad.

 

[Seidinho]

TPC Harding closed at least until 4/7 due to corona virus.

[James the Hogan Fan]

When I last played Tilden conditioning was fantastic for mid-December. It is a fun layout but it's a little short and tight, and I think juuuust a tad overpriced for what it is. I think it's a solid option but not at the top of the list. (Same class as Los Positas, Monarch Bay, Diablo Creek, etc.)

The nice thing about the bay area is there aren't that many dumps. Skywest and recently Summit Pointe, but otherwise the bland layouts tend to be in good shape overall, and then there are some affordable solid options as well.