Diablo CC (1914,Neville, W.Watson & more) in Diablo, CA

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Looks like an old money club. Just completed renovation of course and clubhouse :






Members now have exclusive access to a course that has truly reclaimed its golden age. Greens were restored to their original size. Bunkers were recreated, and tees relocated. Drought-tolerant grasses have been planted throughout.

One feature that hasn’t changed is the routing, which remains as challenging as it was when Jack Neville and William Watson first designed the course, with its stunning views of the countryside amid massive oaks, and spectacular vistas of Mt. Diablo and the Las Trampas Range.

Diablo has hosted Professional Exhibitions, the Northern California Open Championship, USGA Amateur Championship qualifiers and US Senior Open qualifiers. The next championships on this magnificent course will take competition to a whole new level – something our members enjoy every day.

Once the playground of San Francisco’s Big Four, Diablo Country Club has been a sanctuary for golfing families for more than a century. This extensive renovation will preserve Diablo’s reputation as the treasure of the East Bay for the next 100 years.






https://www.danvillesanramon.com/news/2019/05/23/diablo-country-club-moves-forward-with-31-million-renovation


https://diablocc.org/golf-reimagined/



https://diablocc.org/the-ideal/

[David_Tepper]

"Looks like an old money club."

There is a whole lot of "new money" in the Bay Area these days!

[Tom_Doak]

Not on my radar at all.  Has anyone been there?


Curious what they mean by “playground to SF’s Big Four”.  Big Four what?  Or whom??

[David_Tepper]

Tom D. -

I have played Diablo 3-4 times in the past, well before this renovation. Have not played it since.

Here is info on San Francisco's "Big Four"

"Who were the big 4 San Francisco?"

"From the beginning, then, the building of the transcontinental railroad was set up in terms of a competition between the two companies. In the West, the Central Pacific would be dominated by the “Big Four”–Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington and Mark Hopkins."

DT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_(Central_Pacific_Railroad)



 
 

[Tom_Doak]

Thanks David.


Those guys really went over to the East Bay to play golf?

[David_Tepper]

Tom -
 
My guess is that Diablo was built back in the day as a "weekend summer getaway" type of place, kind of like the clubs out on the east end of Long Island. It was a place to escape the summer fog and cool temps of the inner Bay Area.

I remember going out there 20-25 years ago and still seeing some smaller bungalow/cottage houses on the road into the golf club. Some of those houses were probably 80-100 years old and were built as weekend homes. Since then almost all those houses have been knocked down and replaced by houses 3 or 4 times as large.

DT 

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Diablo won GolfInc's  "Renovation of the Year" for private clubs. It was a 10M project, including the clubhouse:




https://originsgolfdesign.com/todd-eckenrode-origins-golf-design-proud-to-see-diablo-country-club-win-renovation-of-the-year/


https://www.golfincmagazine.com/content/2021-renovations-year-winners-private-clubs

[Joel_Stewart]

Diablo won GolfInc's  "Renovation of the Year" for private clubs. It was a 10M project, including the clubhouse:

A lot of the $10 million went for a pipeline to bring non portable water onto the property.


It is a nice place with an old money vibe but they do have tech money moving in along with Klay Thompson of the Warriors. The mature oak trees are scattered around the property and especially the 18th which has multiple trees in the middle of the fairway.  It's a bizarre hole but the club thinks its their signature hole?

[Noel Freeman]

I played it last year and was fortunate enough to be there when Todd Eckenrode was on the property and got to spend a little bit of time with him.  I don't know why playing the course reminded me of being down in Montecito at the VC but maybe it was the houses around the course.  I'd put the course more in the class of Orinda from a sportiness nature and fun to play.  The routing is perhaps better than Orinda as parts of that course get shoehorned into the canyons.  I would say the property at Diablo is better grounds for golf and makes it fun to play.  From what I recall, Todd sympathetically renovated the course and I'm not exactly sure what was there before he got to it.


Some things I recalled:


1st hole- short par 4 gentle handshake over a hill and if you block it you will be writing 5 quickly on your scorecard.
 
2nd and 4th holes- good bunkering scheme married to a good maintenance meld where the ball bounced (this was last August).  The 4th bends left and a left-center hazard lures you over that way but the right play if I recall is go to go right and play short of another fairway bunker.


5th hole- Big dogleg to the right and uphill and any block is death.  You really need to place your tee shot and lay up well here.


6th green- nicely contoured green and fall off left.


7th- nice bunkering on a short par 5 that is reachable.


10th hole- great looking green complex here.  I scribbled on my approach that the "look" was "classic".


13th- tough long par 3 over unkempt waste like area (grasses) to another well designed green with good bunkering.


15- great terrain playing over a hill (this is a long par 4 and you need to hit the hill right to make this much shorter).  It is a nice part of the routing b/c it looks tough on the scorecard but you can still be aggressive on it given the hard and fast nature/hill.


16- nice mid to long iron (185ish par 3) to another well bunkered hole and a good green.


17 and 18 were let downs for me.  I don't really understand the 18th and I realize it is what was there and I like quirky golf but I feel it ends on a whimper.   I mean a split fairway bisected by several old oaks?  Not my bag.  Todd told me this is what Neville intended so what can you say.  The old maps of the course in the clubhouse show it.


Overall I do think Todd really did capture the look they were trying to get and the super did an amazing job on playing conditions when I was there.  This course reminded me of sporty courses when I lived in Connecticut like Wykagyl or Round Hill (Greenwich- Travis).  Diablo I and Orinda (the other best course in Contra Costa County) are a toss-up for me.  Orinda was also redone by Todd and I think shaped by George Waters.  Again, think Todd did great work at both.  I'd say they are worth seeing if one has extended time in the Bay Area.


Both clubs (Diablo/Orinda) are a fair amount of $$$ to get into and given that Corica Park (the muni by Oakland Airport) is now opening their 2nd course (the North), I'm lucky that good, affordable muni golf is available now.  The rest of Contra Costa County and Napa County are vapid wastelands for golf-- Contra Costa CC is okay and a nice walk but there is little else around here.  Tis a shame Aetna Springs NLE..

[DFarron]

I second your comment on Aetna Springs. When I lived in the East Bay I would take a trip to Aetna just to clear my head and remember all that was good about golf.