Cal Club Tour with Back Nine added

[Andrew Bertram]

I was fortunate while in the US on business to take in games at The Cal Club, Cypress, Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails.

The followingnis from Cal Club. A perfect day in SF. I had only heard snippets about Cal Club before some posts here a few moths ago.

Very happy to have followed then info up and arranged a game. The club were most welcoming and the day could not have gone better.

Course far exceeded expectations with most holes greeted with with great expectation upon reaching the tee.
We played form the back tees, venturi course and found a very strong test of golf. 7216 yard par 72.
Fairways quite generous in most cases.
There are no yardages on the course, they do give you a small chart that has yardges from some bunkers and trees.

Club House from 2nd fairway


1st hole view to green par 5

an excellent opening hole with significant green contouring

2nd hole taken from fairway par 4


2nd hole approach shot


Appraoch played with long iorn / hybrid. Flat landing area short of green allows ball to be run onto green. Ball played over RHS bunkers will feed lefyt onto the green.

3rd hole tee shot - par 4


down hill tee shot to generous landing area. hole is well framed by the trees.

3rd green

slightly elevated large green

4th hole tee shot - par 5

I love how they have left the trees they have to frame the tee shot.
sorry no green photos, we had a single on our tails for a couple of holes and he didn't want to go through

5th hole tee shot - par 4

Short uphill par 4 with many options for tee shot. You could play driver, 3 wood or hybrid and be left in a good position. Bunkering off the tee allows risk for reward shots

5th hole approach

well bunkered elevated green, small target of appropriate size for wedge / short iron. significant slope from back to front

5th hole green side



6th hole par 3



The clearing done all around the course to bring in the wonderful views. The roof tops of the surrounding suburb make a visual treat.

although the 6th appears to play slightly down hill, we both came up short right at the front edge. green drops away at the back sharply.

7th hole green view


the tee shot on 7 is challenging in how much to chew off. The hole appears longer visually and you are tempted to take more than you need to. After a solid, yet cautious tee shot i had 8 iron left.

 

9th green approach




a magnificent green and my favorite on the course. Excellent movement with different shelves.

The bunker shapes, green contouring and elevation changes made for an extremely enjoyable first nine.

I hope you enjoy and before some one jumps down my throught for posting photos of a private club i did ask the head professional if it would be ok to post and he asked if i would as they are very proud of the course changes.

Some fairways are still quite thin as they had some trouble with rain washing the seeding away during the growing season. Hence there is some poa in parts of the back nine.

Since the course re opened in July 2008 they have signed approx 100 new members. Very impressive in the current climate. Membership is capped at 340 and they were down to about 200 before renovatios began.

I will post the back nine tomorrow.


Club House from 11th fairway


11th green with 18 in back ground


11th with club house


12th hole


One of my favourites. Uses the land very well for this 240 yard par 3. Good landing area short right where ball can be run in.

13th hole


13th greenside bunkering


simply beautiful shaping for the bunkers

14th hole


14 green is in back left of photo. down hill dogleg, tonm of room down right side off tee

14th green


The left half of fairway is preferred line to get best angle, line down left is quite tight

14 green side bunkers


NOte the slope away from the RHS of the green





Note the way the green has been built into slope, very narrow target with deep bunkers in front



17th hole


Tee shot, landing area slopes left to right.


View from were tee shot finished. Right hand traps are 100 yards short of green, over those is thickish rough
I love the colouring and effect of the houses in background





Green is quite deep with slope front to back and left to right. This green was extremely firm in comparison to others and the ball released foreards and left a long way. The slope is difficult to see from fairway and adds to this mid length par 5

18th hole



The bunkering blends beautifully into the surroundings


View of bunkers from left hand side of greens showing slope and elevation change



you can see a ridge that runs through the green from left to right


Overall a wonderful renovation to this golf course.

There is a question asking me how i compare to the other Cal courses i have played.

With the tree style it felt like SFGC, the bunkering is certainly similar to CPC and the renovayted traps at Pastiempo.

The open expanses through the course give you a sense of grandeur that i find a common thread through great courses.

Of the Cal courses i have played i would rate them as follows for my personal preference.

1. CPC
2. SFGC
3. Cal Club
4. Riviera
5. Olympic Lake
6. Monterey Dunes
7. LACC North
8. Pasatiempo
9. Pebble
10. Valley Club
11. Spyglass
12. Bel Air
13. Harding Park


The following is my favorite photo from CPC



I was lucky to have Lay up Louie on the bag and he was such a wealth of knowledge, he had bagged for Geoff Ogilvy the week after Riviera. Geoff had 65 and played the course as it should be placing the ball around rather than just smashing driver everywhere.

The greens had been cored and sanded a week and a half earlier but still putted pretty well.

On 4 i hit wedge flag high only to watch it trickle off the front. Pin was centre just forward, i pitched it up to a foot, it stopped and then rolled back to my feet.

Finished 2,4,3 for 73. On 18 i hit one of the trees and had to play 4 iron from 185 with a big cut. best shot i played all day after 3 wood on 16 to 10 feet.









Is this the best walk in golf?

I hope you all enjoyed




 

[Kyle Henderson]

That's quite a trip! Thanks for sharing. I hope you got to meet some of us (The Northern California GCAers) during your stay and I look forward to hearing some of your opinions about the those courses' strengths, weaknesses and unique features.

Looks like you picked a good patch of weather for you Cal Club visit!

[Jed Peters]

Fantastic golf course, and second only to SFGC with regards to "top honors" in the SF area.

I really enjoyed my round there as well. The only golf hole I think that I'd like to see a bit more work done on is 15--but the green complex is fantastic (so I dunno).

I just wasn't a fan of the tee shot.

By the way,  7 is probably the best short par 4 I've ever played.

[Rob Rigg]

Andrew,

Good man for posting those pics - an epic day in the Bay Area.

Wonderful what the Membership and Crew have done in renovating and updating Cal Club. A spectacular classic course.

Chapeau!

[ed_getka]

Andrew,
   Thanks for posting the pix. I toured the course last year and was very impressed by the work Kyle and Mark did there. There were a couple of greens that I thought were a bit unusual in that there was a  fair amount of unpinnable area, but I couldn't figure out why. What did you think of the hole that doglegs right, up above the driving range?

[Andrew Bertram]

Jed

I agree on 15, i photographed the green complex but felt the tee shot and 2nd shot are quite dull. the second shot is semi blind to green even though it is a par 5.

The new 7th, above the driving range for Ed, is a wonderful hole. Jed you mention a short par 4, my memory without scorecard in front of me is of a 440ish yard par 4 from the back tees. The tee shot had me really guessing for the line as it was difficult to judge by eyesight. It played tricks on me wanting to take it over the right hand traps.

I played to the left of the traps and caught it solid and landed 25 yards onto the fairway which left me an 8 iron from 170 yards. The 2nd shot really begs for you to land short and bounce the ball in, it is currently a bit soft in front and did not kick on as expected.

IMO the opportunity to use this land that was once a dump ground is what pulled the whole renovation together.

I asked Mark Doss (head Pro) our host about the areas of the greens that were unpinnable and he suggested that as they were trying to replicate the 9 holes that they were keeping and build 9 new holes that fitted into their style they were left with some greens from the originals that at todays speed did have unpinnable areas.

The greens are pure bent and were great to putton, how long they can keep poa out is the great unknown.

Of the front nine the 9th green was my favourite green. Pin was tucked all way back left with the green having being segmented. The pin was in a quadrant of it's own and a shot played to the fat part of the green 20 feet right left a putt that broke a lot right to left and was over a slight ridge and then down hill.

The green on the short par 4 5th had a lot of back to front left to right slope and i could see some diabolical putts if you went long left.

8 is not shown, it is a par 3 of 230 yards down hill to a green with bunkers on the left and favouring a high draw shot.

My partner on the day is also a Golf Pro. He has never played outside Australia. We played We Ko Pa Saguro in Phoenix which we walked and enjoyed. We then played Karsten Golf Club at ASU with Ping staff. We flew to SF early in the morning amd i took him to Olympic, harding Park and SFGC to have a look at the facilities. He was blown away by the above 3. When we arrived at Cal Club it was at least as impressive as SFGC and Olympic, the drive in is great.

Each tee we stood on the reaction was wow this is a pure hole. The bunkering fits the landscape so well and having been built in a similar style as well as designed in a similar style to the bunkers Mackenzie did gave them a look that fitted the green structures.
To a first game player there all 18 holes blend together very well and Kyle Phillips has used the elevation changes to great effect.


We did get very lucky with the weather here and at CPC, however the weather gods bit back at Bandon. 54 holes, 48 of them in varying levels of rain and cold!





 
 

[ed_getka]

Andrew,
   Thanks for the feedback, sounds like you had a great trip. Barnbougle was my Bandon when I came down a couple of years ago.

[Jed Peters]

Jed

The new 7th, above the driving range for Ed, is a wonderful hole. Jed you mention a short par 4, my memory without scorecard in front of me is of a 440ish yard par 4 from the back tees. The tee shot had me really guessing for the line as it was difficult to judge by eyesight. It played tricks on me wanting to take it over the right hand traps.

I played to the left of the traps and caught it solid and landed 25 yards onto the fairway which left me an 8 iron from 170 yards. The 2nd shot really begs for you to land short and bounce the ball in, it is currently a bit soft in front and did not kick on as expected.

I only say it's short as one of the guys in my group went at the green and was in the right greenside bunker.

I hit driver (250ish carry) over the traps, cutting off quite a bit of room and had a small pitching wedge.

I think Mike Benham did the same/had the same shot. I can see where the hole can play quite long if you don't cut a bit off it.

[Andrew Bertram]

Back nine now added

enjoy

[Ronald Montesano]

And I quote "On 4 i hit wedge flag high only to watch it trickle off the front. Pin was centre just forward, i pitched it up to a foot, it stopped and then rolled back to my feet. "

Pitching it up to a foot and having it trickle back should NEVER happen.  That is 18th-hole-at-Olympic stuff.

[TX Golf]

Andrew,

The course really looks like it is starting to mature.... How were the fairways? They look great considering parts were hydroseeded less than a year ago.

The 7th hole is interesting in that it can play VERY short, or VERY long. From the back tees, when into the wind, carrying the center bunkers is a BIG hit, depending on how far left you go I have had up to a six iron.

However, on a nice day with a helping breeze or no wind at all, the big hitters can go for the green. I personally think the best idea is to hit a cut into the area about 50 yards left of the green between the bunkers (when looking from the tee) and feed it down to the front left chipping area. Any drive that last on or just short of that green is gonna go bounding over the back and into some trouble.

The 15th tee shot is by no means the best on the course, but when playing from the back  tees and trying to reach the green in two, those bunkers on the left definitely make you think about how much you want to cut off.

Great pictures.

Robert

[Mike Benham]

And I quote "On 4 i hit wedge flag high only to watch it trickle off the front. Pin was centre just forward, i pitched it up to a foot, it stopped and then rolled back to my feet. "

Pitching it up to a foot and having it trickle back should NEVER happen.  That is 18th-hole-at-Olympic stuff.

Ronnie -

If I recall, the 4th is a rather large green, there is some slope at the front right of the green so I will question the accuracy of the author's statement, I don't think a shot pitched to the middle will roll back off the front of the green.

The best to respond to the slope on that green is Robert Warren ...

Mike

[Jed Peters]

Mike, I know it won't.

I hit to the front left side of the green, and the ball held just fine. If you recall, we had a front pin when we played there.

[Andrew Bertram]

Robert

The fairways were excellent to play from. There were some areas that the hydroseeding had washed away during Autumn and had to be redone. These areas had poa coming through but were very playable.
 
Agree about your comment on 7.

Ron and Mike, my comment on the 4th green was regarding the 4th at CPC which has a significant amount of slope from back right to front left. The pin was cut just over what one would consider a false front, my ball got to the top of the false front and then rolled back.

I did not have any concern about it at all as my caddy did say that any ball short of that pin will run back down the green.

My playing partners who putted from above hole vcertainly had fun with their putts! Trying to lag to the hole was difficult with the pin position on the day.


Andrew

[Gerry B]

the place is a hidden gem - that won't be for long - loved it - the I-280 corridor(with a couple of quick detours) is pretty great

[Mike Benham]

Ron and Mike, my comment on the 4th green was regarding the 4th at CPC which has a significant amount of slope from back right to front left. The pin was cut just over what one would consider a false front, my ball got to the top of the false front and then rolled back.

Well, holy smokes, that is what you/I get for mixing review/comments of two golf courses in one topic ...


Jed - If I recall, I think I hit 3wood on 7 which left a half-pitch to the green and the hole was front left with a knob just short of the green.  This knob made the "landing short and bouncing it on" option nearly impossible ...

[TX Golf]

Mike,

That second shot on #7 is definitely a little more tricky than it seems at first. If the flag is in the middle or back then it is no big deal and you can land the ball on the front and it will release back... However, if the flag is up front the knob/ridge that you mentioned makes things quite tricky and difficult.

After playing a handful of times now I have realized that you either need to try and land it within 1-5 yards of the front of the green and it will release forward, or land it more than 10 yards short and it will hit the hard downslope and trundle over the knob.

But like you said if you land it in that 5-10 yard area, it hits the upslope of that knob and is killed. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but it always seems to make you think and try different shots!!!