SARATOGA CC
Nine-Hole Masterpiece
I heard the rumors for some time. A golf course that could truly be called a masterpiece sat somewhere in the hills directly above Silicon Valley. But nobody knew it existed. It was a secret.
BY RON SALSIG T
he mystery piqued my casual inter- est, until the day came when I finally had to investigate what was going on in those Saratoga hills. My moment of clarity happened at the Fry’s stop on the PGA Tour last year. A prominent architect confirmed the rumor. Saratoga Country Club opened in
1962, a Robert Muir Graves creation. But it was only a nine-hole track, with- out particular merit, quickly dismissed by area golfers. Carter Morrish really created something special when he was brought in to renovate the course. Carter is the son of Jay Morrish and
the father’s influence was noticeably present in the design of the course. Jay Morrish teamed with Tom Weiskopf to
create marvelous golf courses around the world. But Morrish had always had an eye on nine-hole courses, as golf ’s salvation. The short course he built at The Olympic Club with Weiskopf is an example of what Morrish thought possible. The completed renovation of Saratoga is a tribute to their vision of a nine-hole course. The renovation was methodically and painstakingly phased in over a 12-year period. To the uninitiated, it remains a masterpiece to be discovered. To those unwilling to consider the unique value of a nine- hole course, Saratoga sits in stereotype, quickly dismissed. I have lived in the Bay Area my
entire life, but I had never heard of a Saratoga CC. But I had spent the last decade trying to save the nine-hole Mif Albright course in my hometown of Alameda, from developers. There were too many seniors, juniors and newcom- ers to the game who needed that course, admired it and fought valiantly to save it. James Hahn of the Nationwide Tour
spoke eloquently of the value of nine- hole courses like the Mif at a national press conference a couple of years ago, at Stonebrae. He grew up on the Mif. We won our battle in Alameda at the beginning of this year. Now I wanted to see a nine-hole course that approached masterpiece. Prospect Road begins as a wide bou-
levard off 85, but begins to narrow up the hill, until it resembled a mountain trail. By the time I saw the entrance to the club I had the curious feeling that this was like Alice going through the rabbit hole, to a whole new world. Suddenly, a golf course—quite hilly, but manicured to perfection. The clubhouse sat on top of the hill, with a simplicity of design and character that gave it the look of a Zen retreat. Busy Silicon Valley was clearly visible below, through a wide gap in the hills. Yet this was a very peaceful place. The people inside the clubhouse were warm and friendly. I was introduced to Rich Burton,
president of the club for at least the past 14 years. He proved to be a primary contributor and steward in moving the club forward from the vision of what it could be, to my view of it as a masterpiece. Burton quickly explained why
Saratoga was so often dismissed. “Most people who come to this course look at the scorecard and figure this is easy,” said Burton, noting that the par-34 course had very short par 4s with a total yardage of around 2,400. “Then they shoot nine shots over their index.” Carter Morrish was hired to do a
complete re-design around 1998. That renovation finally began 12 years ago, one hole at a time. It was finished in April of this year. “We decided to challenge the golfer with our greens, to make this a golf
SUMMER 2012 /
NCGA.ORG / 25
SARATOGA CC PHOTOS: PREMIER AERIALS INT LLC
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