Northern California
Destination Guide
Night and day. Black and white. Northern California and Southern
California. Polar opposition is at its best in the Golden State
and golfers are the ones who stand to benefit. For every sun-scorched
fairway in Palm Springs in the summer, there's a tee box in
Northern California shroud in cool, ocean mist.
While nearly impossible to catalog all the outstanding golfing
venues of this geographically immense area, traveling golfers
would be well-served to turn their attention towards the Monterey
Peninsula, the Lake-Tahoe Reno area, and San Francisco and the
Napa Valley.
With storied courses like Pebble Beach, Cypress
Point, and Spanish Bay, the Monterey Peninsula is hardly
in need of a wordy introduction. What many golfers don't realize
is that the "MP" plays host to a handful of bargain tracks with
exceptional scenery and solid design, case in point being the
venerable Pacific
Grove Municipal course.
The Lake Tahoe-Reno area is Northern California's undisputed
champ for scenery and celebrity watching. The topographical
diversity and a cadre of outstanding resort courses are the
attraction. Within minutes one can play High Sierra 70-degree
golf among the Ponderosa pines and granite boulders at Coyote
Moon or descend into the Reno-Carson City foothills and be challenged
by ruggedly beautiful arroyo-forced carries and sagebrush rough
in 90-degree weather at Arrow Creek.
San Francisco's arduous Olympic Club once inspired Mark Twain
to turn such famous quotations as "golf a good walk spoiled."
Thankfully, the Golden Peninsula plays host to a grand selection
of more player and wallet friendly layouts. Poplar Creek, Palo
Alto, and Harding
Park can all be had for under $50, while the highly decorated
Half Moon Bay stands out as the "GP's" upscale offering.
Golf and wine - perhaps the golf and beer of the new millennium
- explode in harmonic convergence on the vineyards and fairways
of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The former (over 400) out numbers
the later (just over a dozen), to the tune of 33 to one. Still,
we recommend over indulgence on the golf in the form of courses
like Fountaingrove, Rooster Run, and most recently, Greg Norman's
masterpiece at Wente Vineyards.
From the ocean to the mountains, Northern California offers
a climatic and topographical diversity unheard of in most American
golf destinations. One wonders what Twain would have to say
about the region today, given its collection of outstanding
layouts, and of course, a few lessons.
Northern California Course Reviews
DESTINATION
GUIDES
