[Jonathan McCord]

Well the McCord Tour will enter a by-week with Christmas coming up as I will be returning to meet up with the family in Minneapolis.  However the twelve courses I've played out here in Nor Cal have been great and I cannot wait to start it up again in 2007.  Today, I made the trek down to San Martin and had a beautiful day on the course, all by my lonesome.

I was very surprised at what I saw at CordeValle.  I was expecting a more modern feeling course, but besides some of the mounding and such, the greens and some of the holes set up like classics.  The course provides one redan and one reverse redan.  NOW, they are not redans by strict definition, but fairly close by modern standards.  (Pictures Below)  The greens had some unique movements and the bunkering is on a scale I have rarely witnessed.

I would recommend this course to anyone in the Bay Area.  It is a tough test from the back tees, but the greens and the bunkering certainly make this course unique.  Please enjoy the pictures and descriptions!

Bunkering on the Downhill Par 4 17th - The 17th plays 450ish down the hill to a fairly tight driving area with three bunkers running at an angle to the green.


Short Par 3 16th - Awesome Par 3 due to dramatic bunkering


Short Uphill Par 5 15th - At only 480 yds. up the hill, this hole is one of the easier on the course if you play yourself into proper position.


Par 4 13th - Great Strategic Options, Challenge the right side, (Its a long carry) and you are awarded with a great angle into a deep green.


From the right side of the (Redan) 12th.  Note slope from back to front.  Even my putt moved towards the back of the green!


230 yd. Par 3 12th from the teebox (Redan)


Par 4 11th - Great Hole in which you must challenge the bunkers for a shorter approach or an approach from the proper angle.


425 yd. Downhill 9th - One of the best holes on the course.  A great array of options from the tee.  You can stay short of the creek and have a better angle to the green or hit over the creek and have a shorter club to the hole.


210 yd. Par 3 7th - (Reverse Redan)  The features of this hole are not has true as the features of the 12th.  Although a high handicapper is certainly encouraged to play left of the bunkers and let his ball bound right towards the green.


Uphill Par 5 6th - This hole also favors the player who challenges the right side, (longer carry) as the green opens up more from the right side of the fairway.


Long Par 4 5th - Great Green, note the horseshoe shape, which reminds any who play this hole of some classic courses.


From the fairway on the Par 4 5th.


Panoramic View from the back of the 16th Tee.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Jonathon, I played Corde Valle the year it opened.  It seems to me that it was private but soon became a resort.  Do you know the story?

[Jonathan McCord]

Sorry Tommy, I do not know the story behind that.  My guess would be they couldn't reach the number of members they were needing to make the course at least some what profitable.

None the less, the service is that of a top notch private club and resort, and the playing conditions are great, especially for December.

[Jeff Doerr]

Thanks Jonathan! I used to live in Fremont years ago...

Does anyone know who worked on the design with RTJ2?

[Mike Benham]

Jonathon, I played Corde Valle the year it opened.  It seems to me that it was private but soon became a resort.  Do you know the story?

Built during the hey-day of Silly-Con Valley (1999), the club was targeted to be "corporate" memberships only (think Intel, HP, Yahoo (before Huck)), with onsite accomodations, all top-notch and first class.

Now a Rosewood Resort with the cheapest off season bungalow going for $ 495 a night.

I was onsite during construction of the course 2 or 3 times and prior to grading, it was a nice serene valley, dotted with large oaks.  I do feel that the mounding and undulations in the fairway are too manufactured for what was present beforehand.  Perhaps this mounding was a design requirement to hide the cart paths as they did do a fine job of this.  

And too many bunkers for my taste ...

Jonathan - How were the conditions?  In past winters, the course, even with the gently hilly terrain and creeks, did not drain well ...

[Tommy Williamsen]

Mike, thanks for the info.  I do remember now that it was meant as a corporate retreat of some sort.

[Jonathan McCord]

Mike - Conditions there yesterday were very good.  I don't think they got as much rain as we did up here in Fairfax, but the course was certainly drier then most I've played recently.  The greens were firm and rolling very well.  I think it would be tough to find greens as true as those in the Bay Area right now.

Unlike other courses where EVERY shot seems to back up, even drives, CordeValle was in great shape for mid-December.

[Tom Huckaby]

Jonathan - cool pics - and boy you do get around!  Have you played Cinnabar Hills yet?  If not you ought to... public version of Cordevalle, more or less.

I any case I've felt for a long time that Cordevalle is kind of a hidden gem - that is, it gets very little talk here or elsewhere.  I guess it's no surprise given how high-end it is and the competition it has in that arena in this area... but still, it is a pretty damn good golf course and it just rarely gets discussed.

TH

[Joel_Stewart]

I've played there a few times and its a really good course.  The problem is that RTJ2 was so obsessed with hiding the cart paths he created these crazy mounds which are absurd.  It really could have had the potential of a top 100 course if the mounding wasn't so artificial.  The course is plush and the resort is really 5 star that is now associated at the club.

The story of Cordevalle was it was built in the heyday of high tech and they sold out their memberships fairly quick.  Alot are corporate memberships at $250,000.  Written into the agreement with the city to build the course with the developer was an agreement that they had to have a certain amount of public access tee times.   A few years go by and all the politicians leave and management changes at the club and everybody forgets.   A few more years go by and somebody seeking access reads the contract and then sues.   Now they have a few tee times daily at $250+.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

I too like Cordevalle. I have had the pleasure to play and stay there. It is too bad it is not closer to the coast. It is a wonderful place with the better service than the Lodge. I felt the course was good but not great. It is under appreciated by most in my mind. The mounding is too much and takes away from some pretty good golf holes and a good routing. It is so unnecesary as well. That said I thinnk it belongs in the discussion of the better courses in Northern California. You get the same feeling you get at Mayacama, The Preserve or the Meadow Club.

[Patrick Schultheis]

I couldn't agree more with the prior posters --- I thought it was a very good, but not great, course.

I played it at the end of November.  The course (and the greens in particular) was in fantastic condition.

I did feel like the mounding and bunkering were a bit much.

The course really has a nice, Northern California feel.  Beautiful old oak trees.  Dry hills west of the course.

I'll certainly play it again.

[Emmy]

Jeff:
Regarding your inquiry (who worked on the project with RTJ2) for some reason I thought it was Don Knott or Gary Linn. I do recall all the public hearings, there were way too many.
The project was originally called Lions Gate and there was also a fellow named Tom Hix who was involved in some type of ownership capacity. He never missed a meeting.

[RJ_Daley]

I agree with Mike Benham.  The first thing I noted in the photos was the fine job of using the mounding and shaping to hide the cart paths.  One of the best jobs of that, I have seen (of course only from photo impressions here...)

[Paul Payne]

My wife and I stayed at CordeValle a few years ago. She is a non-golfer so it was one of those trips when we would do our own thing and then meet up later in the day. I mostly played alone because the resort was pretty empty (week after new year). I really enjoyed the course but part of it was just having my own little world of golf.

The resort is outstanding even if you don't golf. They have a great restaraunt and spa. It ended up being one of our favorite long weekend trips.

[Jon Spaulding]

Thanks for posting some nice photos; I've not been there in a while and need to get back!

[Anthony_Nysse]

CordeValle just hired a new Superintendent-Mr. Tom Grey, CGCS, formally of Olympia Fields and Franklin Hills. Mr. Grey is a very solid and avid golfer. I'd look for some positives in the maintenance of the golf course.

Tony Nysse
Sr. Asst. Supt.
Long Cove Club
HHI, SC

[Joel_Stewart]

CordeValle just hired a new Superintendent-Mr. Tom Grey, CGCS, formally of Olympia Fields and Franklin Hills. Mr. Grey is a very solid and avid golfer. I'd look for some positives in the maintenance of the golf course.

Tony:
Cordevalle doesn't have any problems with conditioning, so I doubt Tom Grey has any big plans on changing anything with regards to conditioning.  It will be interesting to see if he can work with the owners (and RTJ2) on the unnatural moundings and cart paths.

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