From Tee to Shining Tee
Bucket lists, budget golf and everything in between— Northern California courses have it all BY BRADLEY S. KLEIN
y any stretch of landscape imagination, Northern California is a big, diverse
place. Its golf courses embody the full range of settings, surfaces and playing textures, from the rollicking, wide-open linksland back nine of Pacific Grove on the coastline of the Monterey Peninsula to the deep, dark forested parkland of Schaffer’s Mill, a mile above sea level in the Sierra Nevada west of Lake Tahoe. Green fees obviously vary across
Northern California, from the two- digit, easily affordable range to the three-digit, bucket list realm. Those with privileged access to the exclu- sive private world of golf can play courses like Cypress Point along the rocky shoreline, and Martis Camp in high wooded land. But many of the region’s distinctive layouts are readily accessible daily-fee courses or re- sorts. Northern California is open to exploration by itinerant golfers with a penchant for interesting destinations. There’s a rich design history to be
found in Northern California, such as Alister MacKenzie’s Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz. This 1929 gem was cre- ated by a British-born physician who
turned a lifelong interest in military camouflage into a second career as a world-traveling course architect. His use of the native terrain, as well as the arroyos and natural high points makes the back nine especially compelling— particularly given the juxtaposing back and forth nature of the opening nine. MacKenzie even lived the last few years of his life in a house along the left side of the narrow par-5 sixth hole at Pasatiempo. MacKenzie’s work at Cypress
Point might be the single best exam- ple of a routing that moves through several distinct Northern California landscape rooms. The course starts through a maritime forest, transi- tions to sandy dunesland at the par-4 eighth hole, and then famously breaks onto rocky shoreline at the first of two back-to-back par 3s on the 15th. A consistent engagement of indigenous landforms can be found at Wente Vineyards, a Greg Norman design in Livermore, 30 miles inland from San Francisco Bay, at the base of the northern end of the Diablo Range. The opening and closing holes sit at the toe of a huge grassed foothill and are dotted with oaks and syca-
MacKenzie’s work at Cypress Point might be the single
best example of a routing that moves through several distinct Northern California landscape rooms.
28 /
NCGA.ORG / WINTER 2015
Architect Kyle Phillips discovered a brand new cape hole when he created No. 7 while renovating the Cal Club.
PHOTO: MICHAEL LANDRY
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