Vine Country Experience

It’s Not All About Grapes At Eagle Vines—But They’re Never Far Away

by Andrew Hidas

Sure, sure, we’ve heard all about well-established Australia, up-and-coming Argentina, and almost unknown Bolivia. These days, they’re even promoting Mississippi and New Hampshire, just to list two among many domestic upstarts, as scenic Wine Country destinations that you can sandwich around long rounds of golf and other aspects of the Good Life that modern man and woman hold so dear.

But come on, now.

If you’re anywhere west of the Atlantic Ocean and your dreams are churning up images of golf and vines, why would you not be stepping onto a plane or warming up your car for the most direct route possible to Napa Valley?

Fortunately for Eagle Vines Golf Club, there’s no good response to that question. Once you’ve glimpsed—via your own experience, or in pictures, the written word, or the oral testimony of your neighbor—the many charms awaiting you in this most hallowed part of the wine-and-recreation world, the only logical response is to indulge.

Yes, the delicious sights and flavors of Wine Country drench the entire milieu around Eagle Vines, and legendary golf pro and designer Johnny Miller didn’t shy away from capitalizing on it. From beginning to end of his nicely sprawling, 7,200-yard (back tees), par-72 layout, you’ll get enough sights and scents of the surrounding vineyards to know (and appreciate) exactly where you are.

Back in 2002, ten premier holes of the former Shakespeare Course from the nearby Chardonnay Golf Club were sliced off to form the nucleus of Eagle Vines. Miller then set about designing eight new holes and weaving them together for the course’s May 2004 debut. The reviews have been glowing ever since.

Vineyards need water, of course, and Eagle Vines follows in the same spirit with water features playing a prominent role throughout. There are water hazards on eight holes and environmental hazards (wetlands) on the remaining ten.

Major water fun begins on No. 5 with a good-sized lake on the left, balanced by a bunker right. Thread the two with a good drive left center of the fairway and you can maintain your equanimity on this 450-yard test. Then comes the sloped green. Par would be an accomplishment.

This is Eagle Vines’ signature hole, and the signature reads, “Wow…”

No. 6 is a particularly lovely version of a water-drenched hole. A waterfall serenades you on the tee as you gaze down to an island green just 163 yards away. Every one of those yards is bejeweled with trees and grasses and blue sky, vineyards and mountains slightly in the distance, a nifty footbridge showing the way to your ultimate destination.

No. 11 brings two lakes connected by a creek into your picture frame. This is some more beautiful real estate, 565 yards’ worth, and it also gives you a peek up to the waterfalls flowing from No. 18 once you’ve approached your landing area. You’ll thank your gene pool here for the gift of sight.

If you’ve played St. Andrews, you may have one of those little dizzy moments when playing through No. 14. There in front of you lies what for all the world looks exactly like Swilcan Bridge on the Old Course. Yes, Johnny Miller is a major fan of St. A’s. Enjoy your traverse of the creek!

The beauty of Eagle Vines can sometimes obscure its many difficulties. (Or perhaps it simply engenders a forgiving attitude among players.) There’s something for just about every kind of difficulty here, from sheer length (try 610 yards on No. 16) to multiple sloped greens to plentiful water hazards to tricky p.m. winds that have been known to act like a slightly unpredictable uncle who lends so much intrigue to important family gatherings.

With ratings and slope of 75.3/140, the course’s difficulty is not exactly a closely held secret, but it became even tougher to gloss over those numbers recently when San Francisco Business Times rated Eagle Vines the “Fourth Most Difficult Course in the Bay Area,” trailing only Ruby Hill, Spyglass and Wente Vineyards. So yes, you’ll get a nice little golf workout at Eagle Vines. Everyone does-including the two Pro Shop dogs, Stoli and Maverick, black labs who keep over-abundant geese and other avian hoi polloi on the run via major chase games several times a day. This organic form of bird control is proving to be quite the hit at Eagle Vines, helping to keep the dogs in shape, the geese appropriately scarce, and the grounds much cleaner than they would otherwise be.

Prices are in the mid-range of California courses-$65 weekday, $80 Friday and Sunday, $90 on Saturday (carts included), with drastic reductions at twilight, super twilight, and for seniors. So it won’t be green fees taxing your pocketbook at Eagle Vines. If you do make a weekend or longer out of it and pursue other Bay Area options just a short drive away, the toll could mount accordingly, of course. But with a fabulous day of golf under your belt at a world-class locale, you’ll likely be in the mood to treat yourself generously. The advice from here is to go ahead and give in to the temptation.

Once you’ve glimpsed- the only logical response is to indulge.