[Keith Doleshel]

I wouldn't describe myself as a total newbie, but never did formally introduce myself to the GCA community.  Everyone else is, and I almost feel left out.  Below is a little introduction, look forward to the questions.

Name- Keith Doleshel
Age- 27
Occupation- Tournament director and golf shop assistant- Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, San Jose, California
Favorite Architect- Alistair MacKenzie
Top Five Favorite Golf Courses- Valley Club of Montecito, San Francisco Golf Club, Meadow Club, Pasatiempo, The Preserve (in that order, tough list to make, been very lucky to play some great golf courses)
Why I joined- Love of golf, the ability to converse with people who love golf architecture, seeing some awesome pictures and reviews of golf courses I have never seen before.

I have a special affinity for 9 hole golf courses, par 3 courses, and places to play off the beaten path.  Played the majority of my golf in Northern California, where we are blessed to have some tremendous courses.  Would describe myself as a bit of a golf course geek, but don't mean that in a derogatory way.  Really enjoy the converstion on here, visit daily.

This really shouldn't have taken this long to introduce myself, not sure why it didn't happen earlier.

Keith

[Rich Goodale]

Hi Keith

No reason to worry about not introducing yourself.  Just about anybody who is still alive is welcome here.  Keep on posting when you feel like it and try to join in on a gca.com get-together when you can (King's Putter 2013 would be a good start).

You were probably too young to be around then, but I spent a good amount of time at Cinnabar Hills from August 2000-August 2002 when we lived in South San Jose.  I think that John Harbottle's 27 holes there are masterpieces of creativty and restraint within the context of a very architecturally challenging landform.  Added to that, the great ancillary facilities (golf museum, practice areas, restaurant, etc.) and the pristine (is it still so?) location make me wonder why the course is so rarely talked about on this site.  Can you tell us (me) more about how Cinnabar ais doing since I left?

Thanks and all the best

Rich

EDIT:  make the time of my stay 2000-2002 (see changes above)..Sorry

[Tim Leahy]

Sacramento resident here. But I have played 2 of the 3 nines at Cinnabar and enjoyed the layout, but not the speed of play on a weekend. We have a couple of good nine holers here in the Sacto area, Landpark and Black Oak in Auburn. Enjoy the site.

[Keith Doleshel]

Hi Rich,
I have been only been working at Cinnabar since April of 2011.  Previously, I worked at Santa Teresa Golf Club from October 2006-March of 2010.

Cinnabar Hills is a great place to work, and a treat to play.  It was my favorite local public golf course in the area long before I started working here, and that continues to be the case.  Visitors or first time players always seem to be impressed by the place, especially with the added attraction of the museum and clubhouse.  The golf course is still in tremendous shape generally, with fast and true greens, and relatively fast and firm conditions the majority of the year.

There are a few things which I'm sure factor in why it isn't talked about more on here.  Looking at past posts, many feel that there are an excessive number of elevated tee shots and it is unwalkable.  I'm not sure there was any way around the elevated tee shots, as your mentioned, it couldn't have been an easy property for Mr. Harbottle to work with.  There are certain locations on the course where he probably didn't have any other option.  Most of the holes fit in very well with the property, and look as natural as possible given the surroundings.  There are a good variety of shots to be had out here, and I agree that  Mr. Harbottle did a wonderful job in using the land to his advantage in terms of creativity.  The walkability issue is warranted, but we do have customers that walk regularly.  I enjoy walking, but it is quite the trek, especially the Canyon with some long walks from green to next teebox, and up the 7th hole.

I have played a few of Harbottle's designs besides Cinnabar, Stevinson Ranch and Gold Mountain being the others.  I enjoyed both of those courses as well.  I did see similarities between Cinnabar and Stevinson, despite the latter being on a flat piece of land.  Stevinson is an enjoyable golf course, even if it is in the middle of nowhere.  Did you play it when you were living here.

Hope to play in the King's Putter or another GCA event.  Would be fun.

Keith

[Keith Doleshel]

Hi Tim,
Pace of play here is generally pretty good for a public course, but can be a challenge at times.  Our tee times are at 10 minute intervals, which helps, but having different course rotations can lead to some issues if groups play considerably faster than others.  There are occasionally logjams when groups are coming around making the turn to their second nine.  Too bad you caught it on a slow day.

Appreciate the recommendation on the nine hole courses in Sacto.  I have not played either.  Will check them out next time I am up that way.

[Rich Goodale]

Keith

One of my first GCA.com golf "dates" was with Gib Papazian and Dan King at Stevenson Ranch, and I played it 2-3 more times in 2000-2002.  Superb course particularly since it was built/designed on a basically flat piece of land.  The King's Putter II was played there in the fall of 2002 (I missed it, alas).  I also walked all 3 nines at Cinnabar Hills at least once during my time in the area, and while challenging, none of them were particularly strenuous, even for the 55-year old geezer that I was at that time.  Of course I also walked Pasadera during that period which was borderline suicidal.  Next time I visit CH, however, I'll probably take a cart.....

Rich

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