Played in the rain today! Finished in under 4 hours. Some areas were muddy but what do you expect??? Aside from that, the greens were decent. Actually faster than when it was hotter!!

Played here yesterday on a beautiful day on the coast. Sunshine and low wind aided in an enjoyable day here.

Course opened in 1974 and was done by Robert Muir Graves who did many fine courses in CA. He did the first 9 in 74 and the back 9 in 95. Locals say that was due to environmental decisions at the time. But I love his courses and put this one in my top ten of them.... » More

Played here yesterday on a beautiful day on the coast. Sunshine and low wind aided in an enjoyable day here.

Course opened in 1974 and was done by Robert Muir Graves who did many fine courses in CA. He did the first 9 in 74 and the back 9 in 95. Locals say that was due to environmental decisions at the time. But I love his courses and put this one in my top ten of them. Anyone familiar with Westridge? Look him up and you will recognize many of them and played a lot of them w/o knowing he did the design.

In January 2025 – Management shut down the golf course indefinitely because of unsustainable financial issues. And it reopened in October 2025 after the Sea Ranch homeowners' association arranged a new lease, with management handed over to Kemper Sports.

They like to call this course a "links course" and while there are many great views from the course only # 8 is overlooking the ocean. But not on it like many links courses are in Ireland and Scotland. But most of the course is in a meadow and cypress groves and it reminded me of Pacific Grove in some ways.

So after playing Bodega Harbour in the morning I drove up here along the coast on Hwy 1. Very slow going with the Labor Day weekend traffic, the winding road and it took about an hour and spent the night in Gualala about 15 minutes N of the course. The hotel rates in Sea Ranch are outrageous and this area has the best selection of lodging if one decides to come up here.

It is a trek to get up here no doubt and IMO one should play Bodega Harbour and then spend the night N of Sea Ranch and play the next day. The course was not crowded even being the Labor Day weekend and they gave me a great rate of $75 due to being a veteran. It really makes for great golf trip either with golfing buddies or the family.

I found the course to be in very nice playing condition. Nice driving range and putting green to get warmed up.

It is a good challenging course and choosing the right tee will enhance the round. B 6604 Blue 6217 W 5423 R 4802. Graves did a great job in the layout of this course and the design of his holes. Add in the trees some creeks what they call sea grass rough and you can add up the score quickly. So stay in the fairways as much as possible.

Tee boxes were all playable.

Fairways had good coverage and lies and decent rollout.

Rough is bad farther off the fairways and good luck finding your ball. And I hope they find you if you go too far LOL

Traps are playable but being near the ocean and with winds you can find some better than others in sand coverage.

Greens are great and chipped/putted just fine with good speed all round.

The customer service is excellent at all levels. There is a small cafe on site and plenty of great restaurant choices in the area.

As I said before if one is looking for a different type of golf trip within CA this might just be it. The area in both areas is beautiful. The drive along Hwy 1 is great. Golf is great. Lodging is very good. And the prices are not Pebble Beach prices.

And as a side note in history. Bodega Bay is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed the movie The Birds.
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I like Oak Valley a lot but I don't love it. The conditions are generally the best in the pass area, greens are always subtle and roll true, there's sand in most of the bunkers but some have bad drainage. The course is a great test of golf from any teebox. The knocks against Oak Valley in my mind are: no walking (horrible rule), and customer service is generally an afterthought... » More

I like Oak Valley a lot but I don't love it. The conditions are generally the best in the pass area, greens are always subtle and roll true, there's sand in most of the bunkers but some have bad drainage. The course is a great test of golf from any teebox. The knocks against Oak Valley in my mind are: no walking (horrible rule), and customer service is generally an afterthought. James, the starter, is wonderful, when you run into him. The pro shop and cart barn staff tend towards apathetic, except for Abel who's always kind and enthusiastic. Why is there no GPS on these carts in 2026? How do you close the snack bar at 3pm on a Friday with a range full of people? All I wanted was a beer and a turn dog after paying $70 for a 1:30 tee time.
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Played here this morning. Very heavy fog for the first 3/4 holes and then the sun came out. And then you saw the beautiful area you were in.

While the course is lined with homes you really are not affected by them unless you are so wild then you should not be playing golf. And the views of Bodega Bay and the ocean are prevelant on almost every hole adding to the beauty ... » More

Played here this morning. Very heavy fog for the first 3/4 holes and then the sun came out. And then you saw the beautiful area you were in.

While the course is lined with homes you really are not affected by them unless you are so wild then you should not be playing golf. And the views of Bodega Bay and the ocean are prevelant on almost every hole adding to the beauty of the area.

I was fortunate enough to play with two guys from Santa Rosa who play here often and that was helpful. They said the first 4 holes are difficult and the last 3 are as well. But I found only the first two holes difficult and the last 3 I would not use the word difficult. But this is a family site after all (more later).

As I said when the sun came out you could see what a great looking course this is. Unfortunately the fog had been so heavy that the course was very damp most of the round.

I would not call the course very long (6284 B 5892 B 5465 W) but with the elevation changes and the routing of holes with many side hill lies and rough that is thick and nasty + many traps it plays harder than what the scorecard shows. Add in a day of fog, wind and that would make things even better LOL.

A great mixture of 3, 4, 5 pars to keep you interested the whole round.

Tee boxes all level and clean.

Fairways wide with great coverage but early morning dampness controlled roll out but the lies were great all round.

Traps were in excellent shape. In two and no issues playing out of them. Same for my partners.

Greens are large. Much larger than I expected. Most have undulations and they to were damp so putting was slow for the first 9 holes but back 9 they had speed and you did not want to be above any hole.

Now for #16, 17 and 18. (You can see pics on the club site.) And they are all on the ocean.

16 and 17 are in an environmental marsh. I have never seen anything like this before. You have to park your cart and take clubs or your whole bag (pull carts are provided but they are old and heavy) and walk over the wooden walkways to play these two holes.

16 requires you to hit over high marsh and your landing area is at least 190-215 yards from the Black, Blue and White tees. The Gold tee markers are on the other side of the marsh for we seniors LOL.

#17 is a par 3 and also you hit over the marsh to an uphill green guarded by a front bunker.

I have no idea what happens if someone in your group has trouble walking? But my guess would be they skip those two holes? And a handicap player would not play them either.

So after playing 16/17 you put your clubs back on your cart and proceed to the 18th hole. And what a finishing hole.

459 yds from B/Blue and the tee sets 50/60 yards below the fairway. White tee is up on the hill above and level with fairway. And the green sits some 50/75/100 + yards below where the fairway ends depending upon how long your drive is. Huge trees line the left side down the green which is gaurded by one huge bunker and large undulating green.

So start out with 2/3/4 hard holes and end with 3 unique holes like nothing I have ever seen before in all my years of golf and you have a round of golf that will stay in your mind for years to come.

I am glad I played it and I would go back again w/o hesitation. $80 w cart I felt was good price for a resort course like this.

Great customer service. Small shop and snack bar. Hitting bays to warm up. Two good putting greens. Great carts with a good GPS. Excellent restaurant on site called Bluewater Lounge with great food, drinks and views.

Bodega Harbour is conveniently situated along the Sonoma County Coast, only an hour from San Francisco and two hours from Sacramento. Using 101 N, US 1 N or I 80 W to Hwy 12 through Napa and Sonoma.

I am not going to say this a "Pebble Beach" look alike. But it is a great great links golf course that anyone who loves golf would love to play.

Highly recommended.
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What can you say but amazing, fairways almost perfect, rough cut short. sand traps PGA quality, greens needed a magnifying glass to find pitch marks and rolled as true as could be. Had to be the best shape of any course we have played this year.