[Bob_Gold]

    Just wondering what people think of Public courses in the Bay Area.  I've been playing around out here for a few years and I have my own opinion.  Here is my opinion of the public courses I have played in the Bay area.
1.  Presidio  -  good old course.  very pretty.  some weker holes but not too many.  too bad about the weather.
2.  Franklin Canyon  -  I'm not sure why but this course does it for me.  I guess I like the fact there are no really weak holes on the course.
3.  Poppy Ridge - A little too far for me (1 hour drive) but I like the design.  I'm not a huge fan of modern links style (in my opinion, too many times this means they had a treeless plot of land and didn't want to plant any)
4.  Tilden Park - Very pretty old course.  Some holes are weak some are strong.  Nice park setting.  Many elevation changes make it interesting.  Decent conditions.  
5.  San Geronimo - Not a great course but pretty challenging.  Especially the back 9.
6.  Pacifica - this is not the name of the course but the location.  The back nine is beautiful seaside links. the front nine decent but not as good.
7.  Gleneagles - 9 hole course.  extremely difficult.  Very interesting.  No boring holes.  Many side hill lies.  Not really long but narrow and greens are tough.  conditions are fair to just OK.  Price is right and it's not crowded.
8.  Monarch Bay - This used to be landfill.  The pictures and advertising make it look like a beauty but it's only so so.  Another modern links course
9.  Chuck Corica -  Not really that interesting.  A good ego boost.  Hard pressed to find an uneven lie on the whole course.
10.  Lincoln Park - Intersting to play (view of a beautiful museum and GG Bridge.  Conditions are poor and overall layout is not that strong.  Too many weak holes.  Pretty though.
  
I've heard that Half Moon Bay, Stonetree and Roddy Ranch are good.  I have yet to play them.  Who else has an opinion?
Bob

[ziggy]

Strongly suggest LoneTree in Antioch and Bennett Valley in Santa Rosa (redo of greens still going on;probaly 80% complete). Especially Lone Tree..

[Joel_Stewart]

Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz is far better than any of the courses mentioned.  As for design, I would have to include Harding park in the top 10 list somewhere?

As for new courses, Stonetree in Novato has a number of very interesting holes as well as Wild Horse in Davis and Shadow Lakes in Brentwood.

[Dan Grossman]

I think StoneTree is awful.  The back nine shouldn't
have even been built.  The topography is entirely
too severe.  And they are charging over $100+...

Half Moon is pretty good, although very pricey these days.
I think it is at least $140.  

To echo Joel's comments, for $140 - I'll take Pasatiempo every time.  Hands down.

I've heard very good things about the Valley course at Coyote
Creek.  I have only played the tournament course and I spent the entire round looking at the Valley course cursing my decision.  There are several folks on this site who really like that course, although it hasn't been talked about much.

I think Monarch Bay is actually a great golf course, especially
considering the value ($65 on weekends).  Although it is too
soft to utilize the ground game, the greens are very firm.  Because the greens are so firm, you really have to think about
where you want to play your approach shot from to have an opportunity to get close to the pin.  All of the par 5's are great in this respect.  A couple of them are almost reachable, but if you get too close to the green in the wrong spot, you can't get it close and might have trouble keeping it on the green.

Mare Island in Vallejo is a fun golf course as well.  It is an old Navy course with an old nine (short and tight) and a new nine (longer and treeless).  Its only about $50 on the weekends.

[David_Tepper]

I played the Presidio regularly for 18 years and really like the layout. However, I think the renovations (enlarging greens, adding bunkers, etc.) made by the Palmer group have diminished the character of the course.  Several of the greens (#6, #7 & #8) have far too much slope as well.  The larger greens stand up to the increased level of play, but they contrast too sharply with the smaller greens on the rest of the course.  The new fairway bunkers (which are also too large) sprinkled thru the course are not really needed when the fairways are so narrow to begin with. Clearly, the course is better conditioned and groomed than it was in the old days.
In southern Sonoma, I really like Windsor and Rooster Run. Windsor makes excellent use of the creeks, big trees and terrain of the property. Rooster Run is not too challenging off the tee, but the areas around the greens are very well done and, if you short-side the green, getting up-and-down is very tough.
Finally, while Rocklin is not really in the SF Bay Area, I think Twelve Bridges could be the best designed public course in Northern California.      

[Scott Seward]

I know this might be a stretch, but Cordevalle now is not totally private - pretty good course. Also in the San Jose area is Cinnibar Hills - fun to play and a nice property.

[Remediator]

I'm glad someone mentioned Twelve Bridges, which is one of my favorite courses of all time.  Also deserving a mention, and just two miles from Twelve Bridges, is Turkey Creek.  This is not quite as difficult as 12B, but darn near as beautiful, and maybe a little more fun, without being silly.

As for closer to home in the East Bay (I live in Alamo), I agree that Roddy Ranch is a nice track, though the one time I played it, the greens were so hard you had to land a full-out PW 10 yards short of the green, or else chip your next one back.  Shadow Lakes also gets a strong thumbs up.

Nobody has mentioned Pittsburg Delta View.  I respect this course for it's high difficulty/price ratio, and the fact that nine of the holes are from A. MacKenzie.  When the wind blows here (and oh yes, the wind do blow here), it can be a really stout test for $ 20.
  

[Jeff_Stettner]

Remediator:
I have to try and give a little insight about Delta View. Mackenzie, while the author of the original routing, never was involved in the construction of the course. The nine holes you speak of, which were redesigned by Graves and Pascuzzo, were built in 1947, long after Mackenzie moved on. The newer nine also has to have the worst starting hole I've ever, and i mean ever, seen, a 90 degree dogleg par four of 160 yards with water short of the green. The entire hole plays seven iron off the tee followed by a wedge. Brutally terrible. It may be 20 bucks, but its 20 bucks floating off into that proverbial breeze.
As for public golf, Dan G. is right about Monarch Bay's design. It's superb. As soon as they grow grass out there it will be a very good golf course. Further out, I'll go to Saddle Creek, Spanos Park, 12 Bridges, Stevenson and Wildhorse before any of the Bay Area stuff.

[Jeff_Stettner]

Remediator:
I have to try and give a little insight about Delta View. Mackenzie, while the author of the original routing, never was involved in the construction of the course. The nine holes you speak of, which were redesigned by Graves and Pascuzzo, were built in 1947, long after Mackenzie moved on. The newer nine also has to have the worst starting hole I've ever, and i mean ever, seen, a 90 degree dogleg par four of 160 yards with water short of the green. The entire hole plays seven iron off the tee followed by a wedge. Brutally terrible. It may be 20 bucks, but its 20 bucks floating off into that proverbial breeze.
As for public golf, Dan G. is right about Monarch Bay's design. It's superb. As soon as they grow grass out there it will be a very good golf course. Further out, I'll go to Saddle Creek, Spanos Park, 12 Bridges, Stevenson and Wildhorse before any of the Bay Area stuff.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

Jeff I am glad to see you on. I hope to play Stevenson with you soon

[Bob_Gold]

Thanks for all the comments.  I think my next road trip will be out to Twelve Bridges.  What's it about 2 hours out there from San Francisco?
Thanks,
Bob

[rjones]

It is not exactly in the "Bay Area", but Stevinson Ranch is an hour and a half away, and I think is the best desgin of newer courses in the bay area for better golfers.  Play it twice, and take the time to really look at the layout while you play.

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