Presidio, 8th Hole, Great Weather

The Weather

Whether its July or December, the weather will be a factor. Our day started out beautiful with sun and very little wind. However, between the 8th and 10th holes we went from sunshine to fog to rain. I’ve included some photos of the drastic weather change. There are two things to consider with the weather. First, bring a track suit. Once the fog kicks in it will be thick and wet. The location of the Presidio is on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the first piece of land between China and the USA so you can bet that the cold air hovering over the Pacific is going to be cold and affect your golf shots. Second, you will need to consider adding 10 extra yards to any distance you have. So if you are 150 yards out it will play more like 160 yards.

Presidio, 10th Hole, Normal Weather

The Hills

The hills are no joke either. Although there are many elevation changes I feel the biggest factor is the side-hill lies that you will encounter. Don’t get too excited if you hit it down the middle of the fairway because you are likely to have an uneven lie for your second shot. You will also encounter this around the greens as well.

The Cypress Trees

The entire course is lined with huge Cypress trees. They grow in a way that creates a canopy about 60 feet off the ground. And although they are beautiful, the canopy always seems to be right at the top of any shot you have. There are also several tee shots where you will need to hit through narrow rows of trees. This in my opinion is very intimidating.

Here is the satellite map of the Presidio Golf Course. Keep in mind it doesn’t reflect the elevation changes.

The good news is that there are plenty of holes that you can make birdies on. In fact as I think about it, there are only a few holes that are really difficult. Again, this is assuming you can manage the weather, hills and trees. The greens were decent for December and I made quite a few putts. The greens are usually very good, but we were playing in December and overall the course was pretty wet.

The tee times are usually very expensive as well. We got a great residence rate on GolfNow of $49 at 12:09 (twilight in December). Normally the rates are above $85. The facilities are great and so is the staff. It is definitely a resort atmosphere. The round took us 4 hours 45 minutes to play. According to the NCGA, this is the average pace for the course.

Earl Fry Course, $54 on GolfNow for a Saturday at 12:18, 5 hours 15 minutes to play.

Here is the map of the Earl Fry Golf Course

Earl Fry Golf Course, Reverse view of hole 5

Of the two courses, this is the preferred course to play. And now that I have played both, I agree that it is better. However it took way too long to play it. I actually played quite well but the pace of play is a real downer. There is water on 13 of the holes as well.

Earl Fry Golf Course, Approach to the par 5, 6th hole

Jack Clark Course, $37 on GolfNow for a Saturday at 12:15, 3 hours 35 minutes to play. Are you kidding me, a round under 4 hours on a public course!

Here is the map of the Jack Clark Golf Course

Jack Clark Golf Course, Hole 13

The Jack Clark course has much less water and trouble than the Earl Fry course. The layout just isn’t quite as good as the Earl Fry course either. But based on pace of play, its more enjoyable.

Both courses are fairly similar in that they are flat. There is zero elevation on either course. They both are lined with old growth trees, mostly eucalyptus trees.

The grass is Bermuda, which is a grass that grows laterally. Some might refer to it as crab grass. Bermuda grass is nice to look at and grows nicely but brings an added difficulty for golf. Regular grass makes nice rectangular divots where Bermuda divots seem to tear randomly. The key is the pick the ball of the grass with as little contact with the ground as possible. There is also an added level of difficulty when chipping on Bermuda as well.

As for the greens, I’d say they were decent. I would give them a higher review but there were a lot of unrepaired ball marks. But besides this they rolled nicely and don’t break too much.

I am giving both courses a good review for the following reasons. First, the value is good and the courses are also in good condition. Second, of all the courses in the area these are the best value/condition. Monarch Bay is no were near as nice and lack trees and the same goes for Metropolitan. Plus both Monarch and Metropolitan are at least $20 more to play on average. It has a similar feel / layout to Skywest in Hayward, but both courses are better. So if you are playing in the Oakland/Alameda area, choose one of the Chuck Corica courses over the others.

Crystal Springs Golf Course

The course is located in Burlingame between highway 280 and the Crystal Springs reservoir.

Check out the map of Crystal Springs Golf Course.

Keep in mind that the satellite map doesn’t capture the elevation changes.

There are several holes with sever elevation changes and all the trees around the course are huge. The signature hole on the front nine would be the par 4, 6th hole. You tee off from the top of a hill and it’s a long dogleg left which is all downhill. The view from the tee is so good; they have weddings from an area right next to the tee. Both of the par 5’s on the front are under 500 yards from the blue tees, so you can make some birdies on these. The ninth hole is one of the hardest holes in the Bay Area (assuming your playing the blue tees). The fairway is narrow and everything funnels to the OB on the left. The second shot is down an extremely narrow fairway and the green is also pretty small. Surviving this hole is key to playing well at Crystal Springs.

The back nine is easier from a scoring perspective. There are three short par 4’s and the final three holes present opportunities for good scores. 16 is a short par 5, 17 is a short par 4 and 18 is a par 5 with a wide fairway. One of the main problems with the course is it will wear you down over time. Be prepared for elevation changes, un-even stances, difficult chips and difficult greens. The greens are firm, quick and have a way of leaving you with fast, side breaking 4 foot putts.

Overall the round was good however the pace of play was 4 hours 45 minutes. I think that is a bit slow considering the cost of green fees, although it was later in the day. Past experience has proved that the pace of play is always pretty slow no matter what time you tee off out here. I think in general most of the people who play out there suck and the difficulty of the course beats them down and makes them play even slower.

Panoramic View from the 8th Tee

The good: Overall Stonetree is in excellent condition, has a beautiful club house and a great staff. It was built within the past 5 years and has nice greens. I like the bag drop area and the young people who handle your bags. It’s nice and makes me feel like I’m at a country club.

The bad: The first is the course layout. It’s essentially two different courses. Part of it is dead flat and the other part goes up some serious hills. They did do a nice job of inter-mixing the flat vs. hill holes so they are divided up between the nines. So the first 6 holes are flat, the next 3 are hills, then 3 flat, then the dreaded four (I’ll get back to these), and then the final 2 are flat again.

The entire course is links style and all about target golf. The flat holes have ungulated fairways so even if you are in the middle; you are most likely on a small mound. The holes in the hills are just plain difficult. And saying hills really doesn’t do them justice. These are serious hills, so steep that they won’t allow carts off the paths.

The dreaded four (13, 14, 15 and 16)

Check out the map of Stonetree Golf Course. Keep in mind that the satellite map doesn’t capture the elevation changes.

These holes are just plain wrong. 13 is straight up hill with OB on both sides and the green has three-tiers. 14 is like a giant V. You tee off on top of a hill, hit to the bottom and then go straight back up another hill. 15 is a long dogleg right with OB and oak trees all over it. And then there is 16… It’s the final par 5 on the course. It has the skinniest fairway of any golf hole I’ve ever played. The final 200 yards is about 20 yards wide and even if you hit it, it will roll left into the hazard. I hate this hole and it needs to be either widened or blown up with a bomb.

Green fees are steep at Stonetree as well. Probably over $100 prime weekend rate. And on GolfNow they always say the price includes a free bucket of range balls. BTW, they don’t have a range, it’s a net so why they keep saying free range ball seems ridiculous to me.

I only advise playing here if you are like my dumb ass buddy who likes to pay through the nose and get his ass handed to him on difficult courses. Stonetree is hard but I would say its architecture is a bit contrived, unfair and penalizes good shots.

Tilden Park Golf Course, Approach to the 8th hole

First, its way, way overpriced. Their usual prime time rate on GolfNow is $72. I’m no pro here but I do play enough to say it isn’t worth more than $55 prime time. Heck, if you’re going to pay that much just go down to Pleasanton and play Callippe Preserve, it’s 10 times better.

Second, it’s seriously dangerous out there. Every time you’re standing on a tee you notice that its right next to the green you just got off. So any slightly off target shot is coming for your head.
Many of the fairways are parallel and too close to each other. The worst case being the 13th and 18th holes where the only thing separating the two greens is a cart path. Some joker on 18 hit it onto the 13th green while we were there… actually it’s not that hard to do, but I also don’t want to be the guy who got killed from a golf ball to the head.

Here is the satellite map of Tilden Park Golf Couse. Check out the 13/18th holes for what I mentioned above.

Finally, the greens suck. They sure looked nice but every ball that was putted in our group bumped and jumped all the way to the hole. They seemed spongy and apparently people don’t bother to fix their ball marks much. People please fix your mark and one other… Please…

The funny thing here is that my review wouldn’t have been so harsh if the rates were $20 less. Sorry TP, but you’ve been putting lipstick on a pig for too long. Sure your location is good and redwood trees are nice but if you’re going to charge $72 you need some serious improvements. I’d suggest starting with the greens and perhaps making people wear helmets.

But in 1998 the US Open was played at The Olympic Club right across the lake. And during The Open, they used Harding Park as a parking lot for spectators. The USGA rented it out and in return gave a huge chunk of money to the course to renovate it. They also did this with the idea of making it worthy of professional events.

Harding Park Golf Course, Holes 16, 17 and 18

Today it is completely renovated and hosts either a PGA, LPGA or Senior event every year. They rotate between the three. This year in October will be the Presidents Cup with the US team competing against an International team.

Here is the satellite map of Harding Park

If you zoom out the map a few clicks you can see the Olympic Club and the San Francisco Golf Club. Both of which are private and I’ve sadly never played.

If you’re going to play Harding Park here are a few things to consider. First, if you get a cart, its cart path only. This pretty much defeats the purpose of having a cart in my book. Second, they have really narrowed the fairways and started growing up the rough. So although the fairways are wide between the trees, the actual mowed fairways are quite narrow. Third, the course is lined with giant cypress trees. Incidentally cypress trees are my favorite, the look like giant bonzi trees. And finally, tee times are being limited as they get closer to the Presidents Cup.

Harding Park is also a little pricy and tee times can be difficult to get. They offer San Francisco residents a residence card for $45 which you have to buy at city hall. This cuts the rate to about $65 prime time. They have a Bay Area rate of about $95 and finally a out of area rate of around $125. Once you have a residence card you can then use the automated telephone system to get a tee time, but you’ll need to book about two weeks out to secure a decent time.

The 5th Hole at Rooster Run

I happen to think that Rooster Run is one of the best courses in the Petaluma area. It’s much better than Adobe Creek and the pricing is reasonable as well. They recently change the front nine and back nine and that has made the course much easier to score on down the stretch holes.

If you play a right to left ball or a hook you could have some issues because just about every hole has OB left. Check out the map to see what I mean: Rooster Run Golf Course Map

Also, check out the Hooked on Golf virtual tour at: Virtual Tour

The front nine (which was 10-18) is brutal. The first 4 holes are almost always downwind and fairly easy. But the last 5 holes are extremely long and into the wind. And the wind seems to pickup as the day goes on. Seven, eight and nine are the three hardest holes on the course. All three are directly into the wind and if you hit the greens in regulation then you’ve accomplished a lot.

The Club House at Rooster Run

The second nine (formerly the front nine) isn’t nearly as hard and you can make some good scores down the stretch. They have an island green on the par 3, 15th hole. The island is bigger than you’d think and the hole is only about 130 yards from the blue tees. So just don’t get psyched out… you can do it, I believe in you. When you get to the 18th get your head right and get a birdie. It’s a short par 5 that will be down wind. Just make sure if you layup that you’re in the middle because there is a small creek in front of the green with a narrow opening between some trees. You’ll need to split the uprights so to speak. So do the right thing and make sure you layup leaves you at least 120 yards out. Or just strap a pair on and go for it in two and get an eagle…

Jeremy with the Long Drive Driver

In my quest to qualify for the Long Drive Championship I went and saw the King of Clubs in Elk Grove last week.

The King is a PGA professional and a certified club fitter as well. If you go and see him he will put you into the cage and he has a really nice computer that analyses your ball speed, club speed, launch angle and a bunch of other stuff. He can then change out shafts and club heads to reduce your target variance. It’s a nice way to go if you’re thinking about purchasing new clubs. He can give you a lot more information than just some guy at the golf shop measuring your arm length. Oh, and if you suck, and face it, you do… he can give you a lesson as well. A fitting takes about 60-90 minutes and he changes $60 for this.

Here is the link for more information on The King: The King of Clubs

So I got into the cage and tried out a few drivers and shafts for the long drive championship. According to the machine and the math, I don’t have what it takes to get very far in the competition. The magic numbers that the best long drive guys have are 200mph ball speed and 135mph club head speed. Then it’s just a matter of getting it into the grid under pressure.

My numbers were 160mph ball speed and 124mph club head speed. According to the math, I suck. I hate math, I was never good at math and I’m hard headed. The King did fit me for a Long Drive Driver and was kind enough to lend it to me for a month. So I’m going to practice with it and see if I can increase my numbers.

Teeing off on the 10th hole

Monday I took the day off work to play my home course San Geronimo. San G is located in West Marin, Forrest Knolls to be exact. It’s about 15 minutes from San Rafael.

Here is the map: San Geronimo Golf Course

In short San Geronimo is the best course and best value in the entire Bay Area. Their rates are lower than every other 18-hole course in the area and the course itself is awesome. But be warned, it’s extremely difficult. It’s long, well maintained and has firm and fast greens.

Every hole is a double bogey waiting to happen. There is constant danger off every tee and if you are above the hole once you’re on the green your screwed. There are plenty of elevation changes, lakes, bunkers and large oak and pine trees to mess with your head.

All that being said… there are opportunities for birdies. Three of the four par 5’s are birdie holes and reachable in two for longer hitters. As for the par 3’s, forget about it. There is only one manageable par 3 (the 13th) and even that one has a difficult green. Again I can’t stress enough the value of being below the hole at San G.

I was partnered with a couple of cool guys whose names escape me. But they were both good players and we played the black (back) tees. I was pretty surprised that I shot 80 and putted real well - 32 total putts to be exact. We teed off at 11:45 and the rate was $38 with a cart on GolfNow. The round took us 4 hours and 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, we were too late to enter which was probably a good thing. I was expecting an organized event, which it was. But I didn’t understand the format and was surprised by the fact that the competitors stay out there all day. I thought it was just show up, pay, hit and the longest advances. Apparently if you hit it over the range, which 5 guys did, then there is a playoff. BTW, to hit it over the range is over 400 yards.

So its the real deal. And even if you can hit the ball along way, you need a special long drive driver if you think your going to hit it 400 yards.

The good news is that there is one more qualifer in July. And that will give me time to get a long drive driver and learn to hit it 400 yards right? Then I just have to qualify two times, go to Vegas, and win the whole thing for 250K. I’ll be on ESPN during the middle of the night and everyone is invited to the after party at Tao.