[Kyle Henderson]

Place: TPC San Francisco Bay at Stonebrae (quite the mouthful…), Hayward, CA

General Topography/Site considerations:
The course was built on the side of a ridge overlooking the San Francisco Bay from the eastern range. Home sites will eventually border most of the front nine, while the back nine is on more severe terrain that will remain housing free for the foreseeable future.
Overall, the course has gorgeous views and some very fun holes. DMK’s team did a great job of disguising most of their earthworks. But, sadly, spectators at the annual Nationwide Tour Event (held on property each March) are in for a very difficult hike, most likely in stiff breezes under saturated clouds.

The Card: The Black Tees are rated at 75.1, Slope 138 and measure at 7188 yards in length.

According to Jim Haley’s “Highlandgolfservices.com:”

OPENED: 2003
TYPE: Private Members Club
GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT: David McLay Kidd
OWNER/DEVELOPER: YCS (Hong Kong) & Potomac Golf Development


RECOGNITION:
• Golf Digest – Best New Private Courses 2008 6th Place

• Golfweek Magazine – Best New Private Courses 2008 20th place

• Travel & Leisure Golf Magazine - Top Ten Best New Private Courses in 2007


NOTEWORTHY:
Extreme building conditions were present during construction of Stonebrae. Over 13 million cubic yards of dirt were relocated during the project's mass grading that paved the way for golf holes to be threaded through a portion of the real estate, allowing for residential construction. Other significant challenges include wetland mitigation and endangered species throughout the property, forcing the golf architect and builder to overcome numerous obstructions, both legal and physical.
Translation: the site was a difficult canvass on which to produce a quality golf course.

*Note: I believe the course actually opened in 2007, not 2003 as claimed on the website. The awards cited speak to this probability.

And now some images with captions (scroll right to see more):

Enjoy!


1st hole: 396 yards, par 4

1st green complex (viewed from left/front)
 
2nd hole: 461 yards, par 4

3rd hole: 193 yards, par 3 (viewed from left/front)

4th hole: 479 yard, par 5

5th hole: 326 yards, par 4

5th green (viewed from left front)

6th hole: 606 yards, par 5. This shows a gap in the fairway filled with native grasses and rocks that one must consider laying-up short of with the 2nd shot of if their drive is diminutive.

Looking across the 7th green from the left

7th hole: 176 yards, par 3

8th hole: 466 yards, par 4

9th hole: 438 yards, par 4. This is the view of the intimidating second shot.

10th hole: 437 yards, par 4. A considerable portion of the fairway is hidden along the left side. The line is therefore over the left fairway bunker. Driver is probably too much club.

11th hole: 240 yards, par 3. A shot drawing from the right and landing a bit short will feed onto the green nicely (the ground slopes away from the tee short of the right/front edge of the green).

12th hole: 625 yards, par 5

The second shot offers the options of a)going for the green, b) laying up over the gap to the right c) laying-up short of the gap.

Looking back from behind the 12th green

A view of the 12th from on high.

13th hole: 160 yards, par 3

14th hole: 377 yards, par 4

View of the 14th hole from on high looking back towards the tee.

15th hole: 188 yards, par 3

A view of the 15th from on high (the hole plays from tees beyond the left edge of the frame). The 12th hole is seen in the distance.

16th hole: 557 yards, par 5

17th hole: 465 yards, par 4, This is the view of the downhill approach shot after an uphill drive.

18th hole: 598 yards, par 5. This view is from right of the desired landing area for tee shots.

[Derek Dirksen]

Thanks for the photos.  The course seems to flow very nicely with the terrain.   From the photos it doesn't look overly bunkered, which is nice.  13 millions yards is a lot of earth being moved.  How much of that was strictly for residential?  You can see where there were some big cuts but in my opinion it doesn't look like 13 million yards were moved.  I suppose that is testiment to the architect/construction team. 

[Tim Bert]

Nice pictures.

I played the course this summer, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I thought that it might be a bit unplayable from some pictures I had seen, but that was not the case and it was an enjoyable day.  It was good enough that we debated an extra nine when we walked off of 18, but ultimately not quite good enough to pull the trigger and delay our arrival in Monterey.

[Kyle Henderson]

Thanks for the photos.  The course seems to flow very nicely with the terrain.   From the photos it doesn't look overly bunkered, which is nice.  13 millions yards is a lot of earth being moved.  How much of that was strictly for residential?  You can see where there were some big cuts but in my opinion it doesn't look like 13 million yards were moved.  I suppose that is testiment to the architect/construction team. 

The members also enjoy a very large (and well-designed) practice range that looks as though it required a fair amount of shaping.

Hopefully Mr. Haley will chime in with specifics on this front.

[Eric_Terhorst]

Kyle,

Thanks for the pics, the terrain and views certainly remind me of my many years spent living in the Bay Area, and remind me of some golf courses that I played and immediately forgot--like Blackhawk in Danville.   I assume it's better than that based on the awards.

As a SF resident or visitor, to play a course like this in the East Bay requires a negotiating a bridge and miles and miles of traffic--is it worth it?  Honestly from your informative pics I can't immediately find a reason to stray from San Francisco, especially if you're lucky enough to have friends who can tour you around the great golf courses within 15 miles of the Transamerica building.

You mention the back tees and slope rating--are there some other tees that would be more playable and fun for guys who don't hit it as far as you do? 

[Jim Haley]

Kyle,

Thanks for the heads up on the dates... The range was built by bay area native Scott Clem who also shaped the bunkers at Huntsman Springs.
The project was made more difficult by the 900lb gorilla "Granite Construction".

[Jim Haley]

Kyle,

Highland Golf Services acted as the golf contractor/owners rep.
The shapers were, Joe Bernat, The Red Leader Jay Kenyon and Scott Clem I played a much smaller roll as shaper.

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle,

Thanks for the pics, the terrain and views certainly remind me of my many years spent living in the Bay Area, and remind me of some golf courses that I played and immediately forgot--like Blackhawk in Danville.   I assume it's better than that based on the awards.

As a SF resident or visitor, to play a course like this in the East Bay requires a negotiating a bridge and miles and miles of traffic--is it worth it?  Honestly from your informative pics I can't immediately find a reason to stray from San Francisco, especially if you're lucky enough to have friends who can tour you around the great golf courses within 15 miles of the Transamerica building.

You mention the back tees and slope rating--are there some other tees that would be more playable and fun for guys who don't hit it as far as you do? 

I would put Stonebrae (probably a Doak 6-7 dpending upon who you ask) well above Blackhawk's Lakes course (Doak 4 at best, probably a 3 by my reckoning... never saw the Falls course).

I'm not able to compare Stonebrae with SF's private courses other than Olympic - Lake. Doak gives the Lake an 8, Lake Merced a 5, Stanford a 6, and SFGC a 9. The "new" Cal Club is probably a Doak 8+ base on what my trusted sources have said.

Thus, I suppose anyone with the $ and fortune to join one of those clubs on the penninsula would probably do so in lieu of braving cross-bay traffic. Conversely, I have yet to see any private courses in the East Bay that outshine Stonebrae's spectacular vistas and balanced routing. What will really hold Stonbrae back in my estimation (aside from the dismal economy), is the high winds. Californians are mostly fair weather golfers, and the nearby lowlands possess milder microclimates.

[Kyle Henderson]

Jim,

Thanks for participating. Can you speak to Derek's inquiry regarding how much (if any) of the 13 million cubic yards of earthworks were for housing? I'd also like to hear which individual holes required the most and least relative amounts of shaping and what the overall design intent of the course reflects  (as voiced by the client(s) and architect).

Thank you in advance for any info you provide. It's great to have you on the site!

-Kyle

[Jim Haley]

Kyle,
Most of the earth works were do to with the housing, however there were some 50 to 80 foot fills on holes 2,4,5,9. Nick Schaan with DMK is a better person to speak to the design intent, however I believe we took a very difficult site and produced a  fun course to play for all.

[Tim Bert]

Eric

Regarding playability from various tees I am neither long off the tee nor particularly straight but we played from the regular mens tees and th course was not overwhelming. There was plenty of room to hit and the carries that I remember were not overly demanding.

[Jim Haley]

Tim,

Very nice of you to say, as there is only 56 acers of maintained turf

[Kyle Henderson]

Eric

Regarding playability from various tees I am neither long off the tee nor particularly straight but we played from the regular mens tees and th course was not overwhelming. There was plenty of room to hit and the carries that I remember were not overly demanding.

I played the course for the first time last April. It was an NCGA event with 160 players in wet, windy, cold conditions. The round took 6.5 hours and the hacks struggled mightily. During my second play (under the sunny skies pictured above), there was almost no wind and the ambent temperature was about 30 degrees higher. The couse was quite playable with cooperative weather and my twosome zipped around in 3 hours flat.

There are some hidden hazards that will turn off some golfers during their introductory rounds, but members will quickly learn how to play the course.

The scorecard, including ratings from each set of tees, is available at the link below.
http://www.tpcsfbay.com/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=272376&ssid=142929&vnf=1

[Jed Peters]

Kyle:

I have a development going in there early next year. It's in one of your pictures....or will be. HA!

Anyhow, I've been to the property many many times, never played.

Yes, it's windy up there...almost all the time.

Is it a better course than Morgan Creek you think?

Need to get you back out here some day to exact some revenge from the last time!

[Kyle Henderson]

Kyle:

I have a development going in there early next year. It's in one of your pictures....or will be. HA!

Anyhow, I've been to the property many many times, never played.

Yes, it's windy up there...almost all the time.

Is it a better course than Morgan Creek you think?

Need to get you back out here some day to exact some revenge from the last time!

I would say it's in the same ballpark as Morgan Creek. Stonebrae's is very good considering how steep it is, whereas Morgan Creek is very good considering how flat and bland most of that property was. Both are also a bit tough on high handicappers.

I'd be glad to play anothr round with you, although I'm not sure why you need revenge. Didn't I hack it up pretty badly that day?

Maybe we'll go head to head at the King'd Putter...

[JohnV]

For those who are interested, the NCGA will have another Member Outing there on May 25.

[Jon Spaulding]

Kyle,

Thanks for the heads up on the dates... The range was built by bay area native Scott Clem who also shaped the bunkers at Huntsman Springs.
The project was made more difficult by the 900lb gorilla "Granite Construction".

Amen to that last part....but then again they make everything difficult....even the simplest of things....

KH, thanks for the photos. Looks to be worth playing if over in the East Bay.  75.1/138 is a unique set of numbers. I would presume that the wind wreaks havoc on a normal afternoon.

The course was snowed in last week, if someone can remind me I will post the photos Monday when back at my office.

[Jed Peters]

I'd be glad to play anothr round with you, although I'm not sure why you need revenge. Didn't I hack it up pretty badly that day?

No, YOU need to get revenge on the course......

LOL. Not me on you.

[Tim Leahy]

As one of the hacks that played on that freezing cold day, I would still give it a 7. Very tough but fair. Great views and some scary shots over ravines and such. I will play there again in better weather hopefully.

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