Cordevalle Golf Club

Right when you drive up to the gates of this small golf retreat you feel as though you're in a special place.  This beautiful valley was a hidden gem, even to locals, until it poked it's head out as one of the top resort courses in America.  As a host to a PGA Cup, PGA Tour event, and a collegiate event in the same year, Cordevalle's maintenance staff proves they are an elite crew.  Although this near 7350 yard course is fairly open, they fairways aren't the widest you will see on most resort courses.  Open year round with 46 rooms and villas, this get away is perfect for couples as the spa can distract the ladies as the golf course often distracts the men.  

The opening hole is a fun dog leg right, and you learn off the first tee that the "fingers" in the bunkers are the RTJ II design feature that assists in aiming for the player.  They switch the front and back nines for the Frys.Com Open during the fall series, so you can see the front nine quite a lot.  If you elect to play the black tees get ready for a ride.  The second hole gets your juices flowing as a par 3 that can stretch up to 245 yards makes you get aggressive if you intend on getting close to the pin.  Lateral hazard and bunkers along the right, and grassy hallows on the left make this subtle looking green quite small.  

If the second hole wasn't enough, this 605 yard par 5 will get you thinking.  One stream flows twice through this hole, which nearly takes away a chance to be on in two (It happened twice during the 2010 Frys.Com Open, both of which by the same player).  With trees narrowing your second shot, hitting the fairway is a premium on this hole, as is a good second shot to the fairway as you will need as much control as possible to this wicked green.  Three tiers on the front right, rear, and left sides of this green make attention to the pin location just one more thought on this difficult hole.  

The Par 5 3rd hole.  The fairway is just wider than the gap in the trees, so even hitting the fairway doesn't guarantee an easy second shot.

Now that you're on to the fourth hole, you're only in the middle of the hardest three hole stretch I've played.  Four is, none the less, a fun golf hole.  Bunkers defining the fairway, giving you proper aiming points, and an elevated green with a swail to it's right to catch errant golf balls.  And five is long, near 500 yards for the big boys on tour, with what feels like a narrow landing spot, is just one big visual intimidation.  Favorably, after the fifth hole the course opens up quite nicely.  A par 5 hole with birdie opportunities (Eagle if you're Rocco in 2010) is next on the list.  More aiming bunkers guard the left side of the fairway, as anything right and likely you're grabbing another ball.  The seventh is a kind distance, downhill, but with a difficult green.  And of course the eighth hole is a beautiful, short par 4 with a short greenside lake.  If you are long, and have wind, going for it will be in the back of your head!  If you'd prefer the conservative route like Rocco Mediate, lay up with a hybrid in the fairway, and then hole out from the fairway!  Nothing too it!  

The Par 4 8th holes.  Aim for the green and LET IT RIP!!!

And nine is just as memorable as any of the holes on the course as a downhill par 4 with a stream splitting the fairway.  Now you can breathe at the turn.  All the thinking, the excitement, the stunning views all can take a short break at the turn as you are driven from the ninth green to the Lion's Peak Grill next to the golf shop.  A quick bite and a good drink and you're prepared for the back!

The tee box on 9 sits on top of a hill.  A creek splits the fairways, so the option to go left is plenty safe with a tree slightly guarding the green.  Going right of the stream requires a decent carry, and the more on line with the bunker, the bolder the carry is.

10 is another nice opening hole, and not too strenuous as is the eleventh being a short and sandy hole.  Stepping on to the tee at twelve you get a great view of the course with the ability to see many of the holes from the position.  Now that you take in the view, take in a breathe because this long par 3 is a thoughtful one.  Any pin on the right is tough, but if you play it like you're on a links course, hitting a low running ball up the right side the hill may be able to place it right next to the pin!  More than one way to play this par 3. Thirteen and fourteen are great, and sneaky difficult, par 4s.  Both do make up for it with the views of the resort though, so you can't be too upset.

12 green looks terrifying.  The two right bunkers are 100 yards short of the green, leaving that room to run the ball up the hill on the right and on to the green.

Hole 17, the downhill par 4 offers more challenge than most downhill holes.  The bunkers go from aiming bunkers, to distracting bunkers, and then "please don't go in" bunkers... sometimes all during the same stroke.  

Overall, Cordevalle is a place you have to visit.  Between their youth foundation tournaments and their great stay and play deals, this facility is one that you will want to return to as well.  Whether it's a romantic getaway or a guys weekend away for golf and drinks, Cordevalle won't leave you disappointed.

Kapalua Plantation Course

This is the course champions play every year.  One of the smallest fields, one of the most intimate settings, and one of the favorite venues for the beach, the food, and the beautiful views of Maui.

This course isn't on the top 100, but as resorts go there is no way that this isn't one of the best resorts in America.  It has two 18 hole courses that have each had a professional event held on them (Plantation Course for the PGA, Bay Course for the LPGA).  It has great packages to golf and stay here so take advantage of it and enjoy my favorite island in Hawaii.


The first hole is memorable, a hole that nearly any player has the chance to drive through the green as it plays dramatically downhill.  Then you have to negotiate a downhill lie to the green which is incredibly undulated and large in size as all the greens are here.  It is a fantastic resort course as well because of that feature: wide fairways and giant greens!

The second hole will remind some people from Northern California of the Tahoe/Truckee region of the state.  Surrounded by trees, wind off the ocean, and covered with bunkers, this par 3 can make things interesting quickly if you're not careful.  Luckily I made things exciting quickly!  This green is much more flat that the first hole.  with views of dream houses in the backround once you approach the green.

This course just offers some of the most scenic drives (with a golf club and a golf cart) in golf which is what draws people to this beautiful course every day.  The bermuda grasses that handle the tropical weather so well can cause a few problems if you stray from the fairway as it can sit up, and at times sit down.  But overall the course is typically in very good shape, greens rolling around a 9-10 max I would guess, mainly for pace of play for any tourists who may not be as accomplished a golfer as the tour professionals that play every January.

Number 8 at the Plantation Course is on my list of my Top 4 Favorite Par 3's.  Hitting over the valley of barranca  to a green that is 200 yards away and surrounded by bunkers from the tips can give any play a lot of different thoughts until it lands, and possibly the same amount after it lands. 

Possibly the widest fairway in America, nearly impossible to miss, this finishing hole is widely recognizable.  This par 5 is not reachable by nearly anybody, but enjoyed by everybody.  It's hard to leave this place with anything but a smile on your face after this hole.  

Poppy Hills Golf Course

Monterey houses two courses inside the top 5 in America, and top 7 in the world.  Unfortunately for the average golfer, most courses inside the 17 Mile Drive are not as affordable as their local muni, with the exception of Poppy Hills Golf Course.  This ex-PGA Tour stop was part of the AT&T Pro-Am for years, recently replaced with Monterey Peninsula Country Club, is an exceptional public facility.  Plans to reconstruct the clubhouse and the golf course are in order to attempt to have the course play more to the lay of the land, reduce the drastic dog legs, and possibly return back to being on the big show.

For anyone who has a NCGA card, this course is only $55.  A huge discount in comparison to the $200 it is for the rest of the public to play the course.  Although it doesn't even reach 6900 yards at it's longest, the rating from their longest tee is still 74.3.  That's one tough course.  It's a difficult start with a dog leg right par 4 at 413 yards, it still has a ton of bite throughout the entire 18 holes.

The back nine, in my opinion, is the easier of the two.  With the tenth hole as a downhill par 5, it is one of my favorite holes I've played, up there with 18 at Kapalua's Plantation Course.

The seventh hole, one of the most demanding driving holes on the course, is no easy task from the fairway either.  It may look open, but the green complex is a tricky one like most on the course.  

Respect to RTJ II for a worthy challenge that is still fun.

Hole ten offers a downhill holes, and with a good drive, the kick down the hill gets you even closer to the green.  There is a tree on the left that attempts to guard the green as though the lake short of the green isn't enough.  The bail out is long... Easy task isn't it?  What does this course tell you? Play from the tees that your course handicap suggests, or suffer.  Have some fun.  

The "Tee it Forward" program from the PGA of America is one of the best programs designed.

Poppy Hills offers great golf, no matter how hard the PGA Tour Pros bashed the course, no matter how silly Tiger Woods says some of the holes are, it is a course that you have to think a lot on every hole.  It's tree lined.  It's difficult.  And although made slower for public play, so pace of play isn't dreadfully slow, if made firm like the pros like it I can see it making a good chance of coming back to the tour.  Let's look forward to that, and maybe even a USGA junior event some day.  If you come to play Pebble and are staying at the resorts, it's worth it to see what it's made of.

San Francisco Golf Club

Last September I crossed the first course off the list of Top 100 in US, and also the world.  I drove up early that morning as a great birthday present for myself playing with my Head Professional, an Assistant, and our Assistant Caddie Master.  Getting there was easy, the weather we could not have predicted.  Imagine the one day a year that is absolutely perfect in San Francisco for golf, sunny all day, hot even!  As we met in the quaint pro shop you could tell this club was one of the most classic clubs in the nation.  No big screen tv's, no tv's at all in fact.  A few shirts, towels, hats, ball markers, but I'm certain my bedroom is bigger than this golf shop.  As you step out of the shop, you're virtually on the first tee, which you can see about 8 holes from.  I've only seen Augusta on tv and in a video game, but I can imagine this is similar.  Hilly, well kept, with a great design.  Can you get much better?

Above is the first hole.  A straight away par 5.  And a stunning day I might add.

The bunkering is so well kept with the designs of Tillinghast classics, I can't wait to compare the rest of his designs.  

The famed "Duel" hole with the last duel in the USA.  

As you finish your round this distinct and classic clubhouse reminds you what a gem you just finished.  I've played a decent handful of courses in my short, near 6 year, golf career, but this is one where I could play every day and never get bored.  That is what makes an amazing golf course.  

This is my first blog, so stay tuned for more, and I'm sorry if it's a little choppy at first.  It will be getting better I promise.