GolfGuide

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

A funny thing is happening in the golfing world. It’s actually becoming easier to book tee times and then to play without delays.

A couple of factors are in play with this development. One is the increasing number of world class golf courses being built not only in the Bay Area, but all over this golf-mad land. Another is the economic downturn, which has compelled some people to cut back on their recreational budgets. Let us hope the tide soon turns on this latter factor, lest society’s mental health budget skyrockets due to golfers not getting their minimum daily requirement of golf.

The plus side for now is that the opportunities for great golf continue to grow. So come your next off day, here’s to expanding your horizons by inviting a friend, wife, child or anybody with whom you might enjoy sharing the magic and conviviality of golf.

Consider: How many other sports afford you the opportunity to romp around in the exact same setting as the pros? When the golf gods are with you, you can drive and reach the 18th green in two at Pebble Beach, but what prayer do you have to launch a home run into McCovey Cove at Pac Bell Park?

This year, the selection of courses to play has never been better, and golf courses certainly want your business. They also want your feedback.

With the warm weather months ending and golfing opportunities abounding, yes, dear readers, it’s O.K. to play again!

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

For twelve years now, we have been engaged in publishing the definitive directory of golf courses for the area. Personally, I’ve been in the magazine publishing business for over 25 years, and it probably won’t surprise anyone reading this that publishing the Golf Guide is by far the most rewarding venture I’ve undertaken. Perhaps this is in part due to my passion for the game of golf?

You see, my friends do not always consider me the most rational person when it comes to the game I love. Maybe you also have friends who think you a bit dingy in your relationship to the game?

The only time I won’t play is if the course is closed due to foul weather, which around here is quite infrequent. For me to wear long pants, it had better be pretty cold and windy, too. Needless to say, I don’t have to wear long pants very often.

Simply stated, I love the game of golf, in spite of my inconsistent performance. So I’m pleased to report that this issue includes a few new courses to tempt us. As we grow, we intend to feature additional courses – which is where you can help. If you can’t find your favorite courses in this guide, let us know. If you know the contact person for that facility, let us know that too, along with any other features you’d like to see in this publication. The best way is via email: rick@golfguide.org.

Remember, we publish only three times a year, and our goal is to consistently improve and update this resource for you, the golf fanatic. Don’t be shy, and always keep in mind as you gaze out your window at the start of each day: There is no guarantee you’ll be able to play tomorrow when today beckons your game.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

One of the reservations I often hear from people wondering whether they should take up golf is that “it takes up so much time.” As any even modestly experienced golfer knows, that reservation evaporates quickly once you get out there on the links and realize how well spent the time is. Then there’s the issue of how much time we actually do have in life. Let’s see: 24- hour days, 365-day years—how many of those hours and days have been spent doing all manner of things less productive, healthy and plain fun than playing golf?

All of us working types strive to provide the necessities of life for ourselves and our families. What we’ve come to learn, though, is that recreation is also one of those necessities. For me, the fact that playing a round of golf takes a few hours is something to savor. Personally, I find it much easier to recall golfing experiences than many other activities in my life. That says something about the heightened sense of awareness we experience while playing. This awareness encompasses not only ourselves but those who are sharing the round with us. Not a bad place to be.

Speaking of time and awareness, as wonderful as it is to be strolling in the park-like setting of golf courses in our region, it can still be painful to be following a group playing r-e-a-l s-l-o-w. Just remember, no matter how much time you have, those behind you may be playing to a different rhythm. So always be considerate of your fellow golfers. Their idea of a good time might not include watching you plumb bob and line up your putt for five minutes while they wait to take their approach shot to the green you have taken over.

The good news in not being slowed down by slow play is you get to play 36, so you can spend even more time doing that thing you do.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

In this, our twelfth year of publishing NorCal Golf Guide, we are grateful for the overwhelming response and support our readers have given our magazine and website. If you have been reading us for a few years, you know this is not the place to find the latest professional tour statistics, nor to achieve great insights into the spectacular personal lives of PGA tour professionals. What you find here instead are the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all the golf courses within Northern & Central California, Southern & Central Oregon and the Reno/Tahoe areas, thus compli-cating your life with questions such as: Where shall I play next? To assist you with this challenging question, we even provide in-depth information on a few dozen courses, including color photos, maps, course statistics and write-ups that assist you in choosing which of the nearly 500+ golf courses in the region you would like to challenge soon.

Again, thank you for reading and supporting NorCal Golf Guide. We’re pleased to return the favor by supporting your golf game as much as possible.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

When the great Ben Hogan was asked many years ago by Tom Waston how many shots he felt he missed in his final round of 67 to win the 1951 U.S. Open, he warmly said, “Every shot is a missed shot – unless it goes in the hole.”

I guess that means we have only 18 “make” shots per round. All the misses are merely stepping stones to arrive at the shots that go in the hole.

What a refreshing notion to know that it is virtually impossible to play this game perfectly. What it’s really about is making good “misses” to position yourself to “make” the ball dive into the hole 18 times each round.

For some peculiar reason, this notion lessens the negative effect on the psyche when one chili dips or shanks a shot. Unless, of course, those severe misses manage to find the right hole to slip into. It is always amazing when a bad shot goes good. You are grateful for the accomplishment, but embarrassed by the means.

Much more often than not, my severe misses usually mean a higher score, thus more opportunities to try to “make” my ball reach its specific destination.

I try to play with the realization that perfection is out of my reach, but that it’s a whole lot of fun to play every shot as if perfection was possible.

Which it is, come to think of it – because every day on a golf course is as close to perfection as a golfer needs to get.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

When those of us of a certain age consider the trajectory of our (so very amateur) golf careers, we often focus on the diminished strength that sees our drives get shorter by the decade. In reality, however, short putts— the insufficient application of force to get our ball to the intended target—are every bit as much of a drag on our game. Sometimes, waning skills can be as much a matter of subtlety and mental focus as of brute strength.

Nevertheless, the nurturing of subtle skills—including one’s “touch” in putting— can be heavily influenced by…you guessed it…practice practice practice. And fortunately for golfers, such practice can take place in the pleasurable, often sublime conditions available on golf courses both near and far.

Furthering the good news is that golf is not just a pleasurable (though sometimes frustrating) recreational activity, but also a business that employs thousands of fine people who depend on their work to support their families and to support other businesses in the fine circular dance known as an “economy.” This is just one more reason to go play golf: it allows you to do your little part in stimulating the economy while causing your own endorphins to procreate. Not a bad win-win scenario.

The golf courses that grace the pages of this little magazine are the ones who are bucking the forces of a down economy and making a stand for the game of golf and your many options to play it. Nice to be wanted by such desirable partners, isn’t it?

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

The Bay Area Golf Guide has morphed into NorCal Golf Guide. In the spring with its 14+ hours of available golf time, what is your game set to morph into?

In our ten years of publishing Golf Guide, your consistent attention to our book has encouraged us to expand our reach while letting you take advantage of the deliciously varied golf experiences available across the region. With our name change to now reflect the best half of California, we hope to expand further on our offerings and encourage you to play even more golf—a sure prescription for happiness.

The course featured on our cover this issue, Lake Chabot, has re-opened, ready to have you test yourself with its 600+ yard, par-6 finishing hole. I know it’s downhill; hopefully when you’re there it will also be downwind.

Then there’s Lake Shastina Golf Resort under the shadows cast by Mt. Shasta. What a pleasure that north-of-north part of the state is! Avid golfers can think about making it there this summer and then skipping across the border to sample the Oregon courses featured in this book. They include The Running Y Resort, Salmon Run and Sandpines Golf Links.

Wherever you live in Northern California, there are hundreds of golf courses to play within a few hours’ drive from your home. Do yourself proud and consider test driving a new golf course every week. Is there a better way to answer the call of recreation and exploration at this sunniest time of year?

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

I’ve said it before, but like the seasons themselves, it bears repeating: Fall is the best time of year to enjoy golf in Northern California and, come to think of it, pretty much anywhere at all. Sure, the dusk creeps in a little earlier each day, but there is something special about the lengthening shadows across the fairways and the colors turning on the trees in the rough. Vacations are winding down and there are fewer people out on the links. That just leaves you with more of the good stuff to lap up while you play your round, not waiting for the group ahead of you to hit their next shots.

If you’re fortunate enough to be flying into the Bay Area via the Oakland Airport, you won’t have to drive far to discover the Metropolitan Golf Links, which is adjacent to the eastern flank of the airport property.  Metropolitan Golf Links, offers an utterly unique take on the glories of golf on San Francisco Bay.

To the north, Mt. St. Helena Golf Course graces the upper Napa Valley in the town of Calistoga, where you’ll find the golf challenging and the surroundings worthy of an extended stay. Another new entry in these pages is that rare private club that also allows public play: River Island Country Club in the San Joaquin Valley foothills. Put that together with a fall visit to the nearby Sierra Nevada and you’ll have a fall getaway to remember. 

If you’re the type that packs away your golf shoes and stows your clubs in the garage come the end of summer, time to change that old habit. Hundreds of golf courses beckon you across the region during our consistently playable fall and winter months. Don’t let such an abundance of opportunity slip away from you unclaimed.

Finally, it you’re unsure how to get to any of our featured courses, visit our Directory and you’ll be able to view and print a drive-to map.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

Flashes of brilliance don’t come too often to my golf game. You’d think that by playing nearly 2,000 holes yearly, one would see substantial improvement (if not occasional great play). Well, “substantial” isn’t exactly the word I would apply. I’m not even sure about “minimal”— but I sure had lots of fun.

Perhaps one of my challenges is I’d always rather play on a golf course than practice on a driving range or short-game facility. I should know better, as I have to look no further than my father for an example of how practice makes (almost) perfect. Dad is a mighty fine musician who has played music as long as he has played golf, over 70 years now. Yes, he’s still a better musician than golfer. He can play a keyboard for hours, entertaining not only himself, but everyone within earshot. It helps that he has “practiced” or as he says, “played” countless times over the years.

His golf game is another story. I won’t go into detail on his tee and fairway game, which he has always thrown himself into despite a highly unorthodox swing. His saving grace is that he has become a deft and efficient putter, sometimes taking out his mallet and striking the ball from as far off as 50 yards from the green.

Anyway, Dad has always shied away from the driving range and anything remotely referred to as “practice” for his golf game. Seems we’re both slow learners on this score (although stubbornness probably has a lot more to do with it).

The kind of fun Dad and I seek was in abundance when I played our cover course, Callippe Preserve, in November. What a treat to play a course with 18 unique holes. Be sure to put this one in your must-play category in 2009. Here’s wishing the best in golf for you, your loved ones and friends. It’s always time to play another round.

by Rick Surlow, Publisher

As I look back over these first 13 years of publishing NorCal Golf Guide, I’m not about to argue with the old cliché, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Truly, it has been a gas, though I’ll have to admit I still have more fun playing golf than I do publishing this essential “Where to Play” bible for the Northern California.

I know that those of you who actually read the ramblings in this column each issue pale in comparison to the vast numbers of golf-addicted readers who rely on the contents beyond this page to assist them in making tee times, finding the courses they have yet to play, and just fantasizing about this glorious game.

Even with golf’s place in the recreational and sporting world increasingly secure, the golf courses and associated businesses on display in this magazine continue to be on the cutting edge. We’re in the California, after all, where all manner of extra-curricular activities either get their start or get taken to new levels!
You don’t have to play many courses in this magazine’s coverage area to get the point: the setting, competition, and sheer gumption of the area’s golf industry has created a paradise for golf lovers of every skill level.

As we begin our thirteenth year, I urge you to take advantage of that paradise (with particular attention to the courses in this Guide!). A great place to start is Brentwood Golf Club. With 27 holes under the shadow of Mt. Diablo to tempt you, it’s another “can’t miss” on every golfing fanatic’s ultimate checklist.