Best Draining Courses in Bay Area?

[lchang]

What courses have the best drainage in the SF Bay Area?

The wet season is apparently here. What courses do you all think drain the best in the SF Bay Area? I believe Metropolitan in Oakland used to drain very well--I assume it still does? I would guess Cinnabar Hills, Half Moon Bay-Ocean (but not Old?), Wente Vineyards, and Callippe Preserve all drain pretty well. What about Monarch Bay? Does Harding Park drain well? Coyote Creek? What about the munis in the south peninsula: Palo Alto, Shoreline, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale? Any others than you know of that drain particularly poorly or well?

I do know that Presidio might be the worst in the area. Crystal Springs used to be terrible, but is much better these days: how much better?

[ceyoung]

[quote name='lchang' timestamp='1290357347' post='2801024']
The wet season is apparently here. What courses do you all think drain the best in the SF Bay Area? I believe Metropolitan in Oakland used to drain very well--I assume it still does? I would guess Cinnabar Hills, Half Moon Bay-Ocean (but not Old?), Wente Vineyards, and Callippe Preserve all drain pretty well. What about Monarch Bay? Does Harding Park drain well? Coyote Creek? What about the munis in the south peninsula: Palo Alto, Shoreline, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale? Any others than you know of that drain particularly poorly or well?

I do know that Presidio might be the worst in the area. Crystal Springs used to be terrible, but is much better these days: how much better?
[/quote]

Poppy Ridge is playable pretty much year round almost always dry.

[bjackson]

Palo Alto and Shoreline aren't terrible, but far from great. I grew up on those courses, and as much as I love them, you certainly can do better. Coyote Creek drains well, especially the Valley course. I've played Harding Park in the SF City when it is coming down sideways and the delay play for hours, and the course is still in great shape. I think for the most part, the better the course the better the drainage when it comes to public courses. It may surprise you, but a lot of the private courses on the Peninsula (I've played just about all of them) don't drain like you think they would or should (Sharon Heights is terrible, Peninsula isn't the best, Menlo is so-so).

[tonster]

In my experience, munis in the east bay tend to drain better than those in the south bay. Poppy Ridge, Wente, and Cinnabar should all be fine except Poppy Ridge is the only walkable course out of the three and the others may be cart path only.

[scotchblade]

Stonetree in Marin.

[Kevin_J]

I agree with presidio being bad. Played there yesterday and there was a small pond on #12. Big enough to out some fish in there and call it a day.

[geesecougar2]

Metro drains great.

[pretzelbag]

Cinnabar tends to drain very well. I played there last winter a number of times (once it hailed for about 10 minutes) and the greens were always in excellent shape.

Poppy Ridge also avoids getting soggy. I was there last week after probably 4 days of rain and while a few drives plugged, the greens were great and there was no standing water anywhere. Only occasionally would the turf get squishy. A steal at $55 with free range balls.

[scotchblade]

[quote name='pretzelbag' timestamp='1293085992' post='2855452']
Poppy Ridge also avoids getting soggy..
[/quote]
Poppy doesn't get sloppy?



Couldn't help myself.

[lchang]

Anyone play Callippe Preserve in Pleasanton lately?

Played Half Moon Bay - Ocean the other day. Pretty darn muddy. Enough to take it off my list for the winter. Too bad, I was hoping with how firm and fast they've made it lately, that it was on good draining soil.

Metropolitan in Oakland continues to be pretty playable.

Any other recommendations out there?

[ProjectX]

Played Eagle Vines today in Napa, it was hit or miss, I wouldn't say it "drains well" after my round today. I just wanted to go out there since I've never played the course and the first Am Tour event is there this season. Coyote Creek and Cinnabar both drain very well. Harding Park drains well on some holes and horribly on others. San Jose Muni doesn't drain well. can't think of anything else I've played wet off the top of my head.

[jackball]

callippe not too bad. at least as good as the met.

[Verlin]

They may be too far for you, but by far the best draining world-class courses are at Ft Ord (Seaside, near Monterey) -- Bayonet and Blackhorse. They're running some terrific deals too. I played on a Weds, for $45 with cart. It was 2 days after a deluge and the course was barely damp.

[ProjectX]

Anyone know what kind of condition Pasatiempo is in. With that deal from NCGA I'm highly considering giving it a go this weekend.

[Sushiyoshi]

HIddenbrooke doesnt drain at all. Play there last winter and the drives got imbedded quite a few times.

Callippe is great.

[santino]

Poppy Ridge is a great value if you are a NCGA member. However, the last time I played it on Thanksgiving it was really sloppy, no roll and the greens were running at about a 8. When is she at her best?

[lchang]

Played Poppy Ridge the other day: it's soft, but very playable. I wouldn't call it "muddy". (I didn't find the greens to be that slow. I kept blowing putts by the hole, in fact, but that's probably because I suck. )

Cinnabar Hills is, not surprisingly, in fine shape.

Very surprisingly (to me) is that Crystal Springs is very playable. I played this morning, and it's, of course, soft out there, but only one embedded ball. Not sloppy.