Turbines as far as the eye can see . . .

[Gib_Papazian]

Gentlemen,

The thread on possible options for public play in the Bay Area jogged my memory in regards to "Mt. House," a Livermore area golf course I recently investigated with the esteemed Neal Meagher.

I'd like to throw their hat into the ring, if for nothing else, the quirk and entertainment factor  
 
The course was built in the hills surrounding Altamont Pass, known for thousands of wind powered turbines used to generate electricity. Imagine a course routed in and around an army of enormous rotating propellers standing sentinel as far as the eye can see.
 
Visually, it is wild.
 
The operation is a mom & pop sort of thing on a crazy piece of land . . . . . which forced some unusual creativity in terms of routing and shot options. The strategies and geometry of some of the holes are completely original.

Everyone calls the owners "grandpa" and grandma because all the kids who work there are their grandchildren. There is not an ounce of pretentiousness anywhere.
 
Now, this place is not for everyone. It is no secret that I'm a little odd and that offbeat courses generally appeal to me. That stated, it is worth a look for most archiphreaks except the humor impaired. (Read: Tom MacWood) . . . ;-)
 
Anybody else wander out there yet? I know it is a wind tunnel, but the owner swears that it only howls late in the afternoon and evening.

I've driven that route many times and played quite a bit of golf at nearby Las Positas, so I believe he is right.

Treehouse dwellers?  
 

[Tom Huckaby]

You've described this course before, Gib.  I still haven't played it... but drove by on 580 last weekend - you could see it off in the distance.  My question is how the hell do you get to the course?  There was no exit anywhere near....

I think Kyle Henderson has played it and liked it - my take still comes from him and you... and the NCGA guys, who all seemingly hated it.  The comment that still resonates is "it's THE RANCH with wind."  Of course a more damning assessment could not possibly be given.  Note they would have played in the afternoon....

I will get out there some time - hopefully soon, now that in a few weeks I am sprung from soccer prison.  And you had me convinced last time we discussed it that I will like it... I too like strange courses.  And lack of pretense is GREAT by me.

TH

[Gib_Papazian]

Huckster,

I think we discussed it via e-mail and not here on the board. I'm curious as to other opinions.

Neal suggested we play it as a means to detoxify from a round on a particularly mundane and repetitious obstacle course whose moniker shall remain secret until the tally is complete.
 
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"No sense in telling him about the bats, the poor bastard will see them soon enough."

Hunter Thompson

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Now, I am not suggesting Mt. House is a great course, but "home made" jobs where the "designer" was forced into some crazy decisions are often the most fun.

[Tom Huckaby]

Gib - you're right - that was via email/IM.  I too am curious for other opinions.  It's just so damn far out there, I don't know anyone who's made the journey other than the ones I mentioned... it seems right up Getka's alley, but remember he only plays Rustic in our state.    

And it still does seem like a hell of a lot of fun to me... "home made job where decisions have to be made"... reminds me of Spring Hills in Watsonville - another weird one I love.

[John Keenan]

Gib

I must add that Altamont Pass is famous for much more than wind power. It was also home to a Rolling Stones free concert that used the Hells Angels as security. Lets just say it did not turn out well.

Quite an evolution from Mick and the boys to the Mt Home development and this quirky golf course.

I live in the east bay and have not been out there yet but given your write up I will now make a trip.

[Gib_Papazian]

Going towards the valley (East), take Grant Line Road and go over the freeway to the left. At the first stop sign, go left - there is a sign.

Mt. House GC and the housing development have nothing to do with each other. The development is a couple miles in the distance.

I guess I've reached a point - after playing a zillion golf courses - that anything unique piques my interest.

For instance, I loved Dublin Ranch - par of 63 and loads of fun . . . . . Maybe Los Lagos is another worth mentioning on that other thread.

[Brad Tufts]

It's funny you say that Gib....as I have been thinking along those lines since I began working a 9-5 (8:30-4 in the summer!!) job.  

I feel like any course is worth a play once.  Some have said (tongue-in-cheek for some) that GCA has increased their architectural snobbery, but I feel that for me, it has taught me that every course has something to teach, even if it's how not to do something...

I actually did see the Mt. House pics on greenskeeper while perusing earlier today...looked interesting...

-Brad

[Tom Huckaby]

Los Lagos is very cool - 2nd home - the routing still pisses me off though, making one cross the long bridge twice.  And I really liked Dublin Ranch also.

But in terms of directing visitors where to go, well... you'd have to at least give caveats as to how short they are and what the par is - each is less than 70.

Mountain House fooled me because going west, we saw a "golf" sign only after PASSING Grant Line Road - and with the course visible in the distance, the sign pointed west.. I kept waiting for an exit that never came, and imagined the world's longest entrance road.  I found it on the map now... it is simple to get to indeed.

TH

[Kevin_Reilly]

I haven't played it, and had never heard about it before either...will have to look into it when my weekend soccer/flagfootball/basketball activities ease up a bit.

[Mike Benham]

Pictures of the layout are available at Greenskeeper.org (requires free membership to view).

The property looks far more acceptable for golf then a neighboring course called Poppy Ridge ...

The MattWard for the course is:

BLUE     par 72   6,184 yards
WHITE  par 72    5,532 yards


The scorecard:
         
Hole    BLUE    WHITE    Hcp    Par    RED    Hcp
1    320    280    NA    4    200    NA
2    515    480    NA    5    380    NA
3    478    450    NA    5    417    NA
4    343    323    NA    4    227    NA
5    225    180    NA    3    125    NA
6    130    90    NA    3    70    NA
7    315    297    NA    4    240    NA
8    180    145    NA    3    113    NA
9    350    320    NA    4    290    NA
-    -    -    -    -    -    -
10    490    460    NA    5    413    NA
11    175    150    NA    3    93    NA
12    340    315    NA    4    253    NA
13    535    460    NA    5    376    NA
14    155    130    NA    3    120    NA
15    403    350    NA    4    248    NA
16    386    375    NA    4    300    NA
17    327    250    NA    4    200    NA
18    517    477    NA    5    390    NA

[Tom Huckaby]

Note zero bunkers on the course....

And Mike, have you see the land on which this course sits?  Hard to call it more acceptable for golf than Poppy Ridge... if anything it makes Poppy Ridge look FLAT.  It's just to the east side of the large hills comprising the Altamont pass.

In any case, methinks we need to make a jaunt out there.  Next GCA Bay area gig?

TH

[ed_getka]

Evan Green and I are trying to find a hole in our schedule some Friday before the winter rains set in to see Mountain House. I'll post something when we pick a day if anyone would like to join us.

Gib,
    Pick one hole and tell me what you liked about it.

[Bob_Huntley]

Gib,

You have brought up a most delicate subject.

I hate wind turbines.

Back in 1983 I had made a couple of dollars and decided to shelter my gains by investing in a turbine. The tax incentives were absolutely enormous. Federal, State and other incentives made me feel like a modern day alchemist.

It was only two or three years later when Southern California Edison advised me that they had been paying me six and a half cents per kilowatt of avoided costs instead of their revised two cents that I realized that I had been had. To get out of a costly legal battle I ceded my interest in the turbine to SCE. Later the IRS let me know that there was something called "recapture." Now this word seems quite innocuous to the innocent but to the party of the first part who has been screwed by the party of the second part, it became quite expensive.

When driving down to Palm Desert for the Kings Putter, I drove down I-10 and saw hundreds and hundreds of turbines. I was stunned and the pain of my loss was rekindled. I was unable to compete for the whole weekend and losing to Joe Perches at Stone Eagle was the crowning indignity.... although I did hold him to having me four down after four holes. I blame it all on wind turbines.

Bob

[Kevin_Reilly]

Bob, avoid the Wailea side of Maui...the turbines are starting to appear there, alas.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Have you ever been under a wind turbine?  They are often littered with dead birds.  Particularly large turbine farms consume 1000s of birds annually.  The tree huggers who demand alternate power sources are sometimes shocked to hear this.  JC

[Forrest Richardson]

Gib — Congratulations. For the first time ever the words "esteemed" and "Meagher" have appeared in one paragraph.  

[Tim Leahy]

Played Mountain House on Sunday. Great weather, almost no wind, I think that is a rareity there and I'm sure it made the course play much easier. The back side is more guarded from the wind by the hills and will most likely give you some relief when it is blowing. Very hilly, and routing is not walker friendly but the length probably makes it walkable. Cart is included in the $55 weekend prime rate. Played in 4 hours on a Sunday, rare in these parts on a public course. Very interesting greens, some big, some small, different shapes and contours. Not fast but consistent, new but in good shape.
Really loved the par three's, good mix of long and short shots, elevation changes, hazards, but had bail out areas for short hitters. Long hitters will tear this course up, but you do have to keep it straight, although not as penal as "The Ranch". Mostly grass bunkers. Par fives are reachable with good shots. There still is some work going on here and there, so it is not yet complete, but that didn't interfere with play. No driving range, but multiple nets with mats for warmup, no charge. Practice putting green. Clubhouse is a trailer, no liquor license yet. I really enjoyed the changes in elevation and will play there again, course knowledge is a big plus and would make a first time tough, I was lucky enough to play it with a friend who had played there before. I enjoyed it much more than Poppy Ridge although it is easier and not as long. Turbines turned on just before I was about to hit, but did they did not annoy play. Electrical wires run through(over) the course but do not really come into play. Turbines and electrial towers take away from the experience and I wish the course didn't have them but the views and rolling hills offset the distractions.

[Tom Huckaby]

Tim - cool!  Thanks for the review.  I gotta get out there - I surely am intrigued.  Methinks I get to play Fri post-Thanksgiving... this might have to be the site.

One question - are there ANY sand bunkers?  I had heard there were none.  Still true?

TH

[Tim Leahy]

Tim - cool!  Thanks for the review.  I gotta get out there - I surely am intrigued.  Methinks I get to play Fri post-Thanksgiving... this might have to be the site.
One question - are there ANY sand bunkers?  I had heard there were none.  Still true?TH

There is one for sure, I noticed it because I thought there were none also, and I think it was a fairway sand trap on one of the early holes. Why just the one I don't know, it looked out of place. I don't think there are any greenside sand traps, just grass bunkers, not too severe, but makes you play a good shot to get up and down. No. 9 is a severe down hill par 4 that is driveable, I was pin high off the green and my friend about 8 feet, unfortunately we drove into the group in front of us because it doesn't look that close. You will love the par three's, good variety of shots and holes.

[Tom Huckaby]

Cool.  I do remain very intrigued by this golf course.  Thanks!

TH

[Neal_Meagher]

Tim,

Before Gib and I played the course the owner discussed the history and all the things he went through to get it done, and one of the things we talked about were the bunkers.

At that time, in September, none of them had had sand placed yet due to the fact that they had only recently found a good source for a sand that wouldn't blow out of the bunkers.  A very fine sand would just vanish due to the extreme winds that blow through that area between the SF Bay and the Central Valley.

So, as they get time, and remember, this is a mom and pop without the means to hire Wadsworth to swoop in for construction work, they are slowly putting sand into the depressions that were built for sand during the initial construction.

[Doug Siebert]

Have you ever been under a wind turbine?  They are often littered with dead birds.  Particularly large turbine farms consume 1000s of birds annually.  The tree huggers who demand alternate power sources are sometimes shocked to hear this.  JC

Big deal, my mom's cat killed at least a thousand during her 21 years (the cat, not my mom)  Of all the objections to wind power, killing birds is the dumbest one.  If we covered the US with one turbine per acre they probably couldn't come close to the annual tally wrought by the common house cat.

Besides, there are new designs that rotate vertically and thus kill no birds for those who are unable to cope the idea of "green energy" killing wildlife.  I suppose you just don't see the birds who die of lung cancer living near a coal fired power plant since they don't all pile up right next to it

They ought to put wind turbines on top of the buildings in NYC, killing pigeons would be doing everyone a favor.  They wouldn't even need to hook them up to the grid, just sharpen the blades, let them spin and sushi those ugly flying rats!!

[Gib_Papazian]

Uncle Bob,

Sorry about your disaster - I've also gotten spanked with the "recaptured income" IRS scam. . . . . for that reason I continue to be an unapologetic Libertarian.

However, putting aside the folly of constructing a million windmills as an energy solution, there was something viscerally interesting to stand in the center of that much visual motion with a golf club in my hand.

Again, I am not advertising this as a great golf course - nor even a *hidden gem;" Mt. House is a strange and interesting golf course in a strange, interesting and unusual place.

We see these turbines from afar, yet it is a completely different sensation to be a Lilliputian in the center of an army of mechanical giants.

As for the wind - as I stated before - I believe the owner is right in that the wind blows fiercely at night and late afternoon, but once the temperature rises up, more often than not it calms down to reasonable levels.

Worth a look, just to say you did.

Forrest,

You have got to know better than to talk smack about my blood brother. Plus, that plaid coat looks just as ugly on you as it does Neal.      

[Chris Parker]

I found a pic.