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Played here on a weekdaay in March. Hadn't played Lake Chabot in a looong time. Course was pretty much dried out from lack of rain. Greens were very dry and not holding well. Downhill putts and chips were extremely treacherous. My downhill birdie putt on the Par 5 lipped out and ended up in the fringe. Very small greens with very few, if any, greenside bunkers. Short course, especially with the technology of today's clubs. Par 5's are pretty easy, but the par 3's are more challenging.
I used to walk this course when I was in my 20's. Now that I'm nearing 70, walking is unimaginable. Billy goat golf. We had an online special for $26 including cart.
All in all it's a fun course to play. The par 3 ninth hole distance is about 140 yards, but the green is also about 50 yards below the tee box. But the real fun comes on the 18th hole-- a 660 yard Par 6, that is almost all downhill. Needless to say it plays a lot shorter. I was in the back fringe after my third shot, but made par after my downhill chip rolled off the front of te green.

Teeboxes were uneven. Fairways were good. Rough was quite thick is some places. Greens needed water.
5 Likes.
Played an afternoon round with Johnny GK and two other gurus yesterday. Other than some brown spots in the fairways and a few traps that needed some attention, thecourse was in pretty good shape. Greens were very good, but my opinion may be colored by the fact that my putts were going in. Wind usually picks up in the afternoon, but it wasn't bad yesterday. Still, you need to pay attention to the wind on all of the par 3's. As a general approach on this course, left is best off the tee on the par 4's and 5's. Exceptions are #'s 2, 10 (maybe), 11, and 13. Great to meet Johnny GK and play a round!
4 Likes.
Played here on a late summer Saturday afternoon with a college buddy who has a cabin on the course. The conditions are very nice. Tee boxes, fairways, greens and traps were all well maintained. The layout of the course is strongly influenced by its location. It's in the mountains and adjacent to the Feather River. Accordingly, it is hilly with a lot of water. It is also tight. Several holes require you to be very precise with your approach shots. If you are 75 yards from the center of the green on a few holes, you need to hit between 70 and 80 yards, or you're looking at a penalty. This happened to me on a few holes, especially # 6. My tee shot was 75 yards to the green. I hit a decent wedge that sailed over the narrow green (and over the water hazard in front of the green) only to find the water hazard behind the green. The green was only about 10 yards wide. At least I scored it as a water ball. There were white takes along with the red stakes behind the green. On several holes the water hazards are within only a few yards of the green, and they guard a large portion of it. My approach shot that was pulled a few yards to the left of the green on number 8 disappeared into the cat tails. However, these holes seemed almost fair compared to #'s 9 and 10. With # 9 you know you're in the mountains, because the green is at the top of a ridge, or at least it seems that way. A good driver and three iron left me about 30 yards short. An admittedly poor chip to the back fringe left me with a delicate chip to the pin in the middle of the green. I watched in horror as my chip rolled slowly to the hole, and kept on rolling to the front fringe. Hole # 10 is a short, very tight dogleg left with water in the front of the green. A drive of much more than 150 yards is likely to end up in the water, as mine did.
This is a course where a little course knowledge goes a long way. I can't say I'm aching to go back, though.
Bottom line: If you can't hit the ball straight, don't bother with this course.
Staff were quite friendly. Longboards is one of the nicest places around.
9 Likes.
Step back in time. This course was built in 1928. It was designed Alistair Mackenzie. Yes, that Alistair Mackenzie. Designed a few other courses you might have heard of. Like Augusta National and Cypress Point.
There are other courses that have redwood trees. This course is played through a redwood forest. It is only nine holes, unfortunately. But the nine holes are majestic. It's short, par 36, but most of the par 4's are pretty short. Only the ninth hole has any kind of length to it at over 500 yards from the white tees. (No blue or black tees. The whites are the tips.)The fairways tend to narrow as you approach the green. Other than #8, there aren't many sand traps. And no water. But the trees will force you to hit the ball fairly straight. The greens are fair but challenging. Some are on the small size, at least compared to contemporary courses.

This course is in Monte Rio on the Russian River. As you drive down Hwy 116, you'd better keep your eyes peeled or you may miss it.

It only takes about 2 hours to play the nine holes, so if you visiting the area on a wine tasting trip, you can easily get in nine holes in the morning or early afternoon. You'll enjoy the sight of your ball sailing against the backdrop of the redwood trees

You get the sense that you are playing golf the way Alistair Mackenzie, a Scot, wanted it played.
5 Likes.
Played here on a breezy summer afternoon. I had the good fortune to play with a regular who gave me great tips on shot placement and green reads. It's important to know how balls will roll in the fairway. With the drought some of the fairways were a little dry. You will get more length than you expect on some of the downhill fairways, especially #'s 1 and 10 when the wind is blowing, as it was when I played. It is predominately a links style course, with very few trees that come into play. There are quite a few fairway bunkers that come into play. And creeks, lots of creeks, especially on the back nine. The front nine seems much easier than the back, with #'s 7 and 9 presenting challenge, especially when the wind is blowing. The greens and fairways were in very good condition.
As others have noted, the back nine has much more elevation change. It also presents more strategic challenges. Take #12 for example. This is short par four, that plays even shorter because it is downwind and downhill, with the fairway narrowing at about 170 yards. I hit a five iron off the tee and this was really too much club. Maybe two short irons is the way to play it unless you can play a draw that misses the fairway trap on the left side of the fairway. #'s 17 and 18 are brutal playing into the wind. I agree with the other commentators that #18 is the hardest hole on the course, but 17 isn't far behind. The greens held and rolled true. The sand traps were in great condition.
This is a relatively new course, and it is one of the very best municipal courses around.
7 Likes.
Played here on a beautiful summer day. This course is basically the working man's Monterey Peninsula course. It's very short (par 69) and some of the holes are less than 100 yards, at least from the white tees. It's also right on the flight path to the Monterey airport. The tee for #11 was closed the day I played, turning the par 4 and #2 handicap hole into a 145 yard par 3. The short #4 hole has a high net running the length of the fairway to prevent errant balls from reaching the trailer park adjacent to the course.

The cypress trees on the course let you know you're on the Monterey Peninsula. Otherwise, it's a pretty mundane track, never to be confused with Pebble, Spyglass, or even the Bayonet courses. I'd recommend hitting an iron off the tee on almost every hole with the possible exceptions of the two par 5's (#'s 1 and 16) and #18. The greens were hard and did not hold approach shots or chips well. However, the greens rolled pretty true, but watch the speed on downhill putts.

Staff in the pro shop and the grill were very friendly. $4 each for a small bucket and a hot dog were value propositions. This is a good course to play with your high handicap friends.
6 Likes.
Played here on a beautiful weekday morning in late March. The course had been aerated about three weeks before, but other than the greens being a little slow, it didn't seem to affect play. The course was actually in very good shape as it usually is. Kudos to the maintenance staff.

This is one of the nicest municipal courses I know of. I paid a senior rack rate of $32 to walk. The course is a little hilly, especially the back nine, but walking is manageable if you're in reasonable shape.

As most reviewers have noted, the greens are quite large and undulating. Reaching the green in regulation isn't the biggest problem on most holes; it's avoiding a three putt or worse.
Try to avoid reaching the front of the green of a blue flagged hole, because you will almost certainly three putt. This is especially true of some of the steeply sloped greens on the back nine, especially #'s 13, 16, and 18.
5 Likes.
I played here on a beautiful fall day. Check-in was fine. I have played here off and on since I was a teenager. I have never seen the course in a, uh, more challenging condition. The tee boxes were in pretty good shape, and that was the highlight. The greens were slow. The fairways were atrocious, with brown spots on many holes. Much hard pan or mud was found in the rough. There was also a good sized pond of casual water on the left side of the 14th hole that seemed to have swallowed my ball. I couldn't tell because the pond was opaque, and I didn't want to risk further exploration. Given that California is currently in a drought, you wonder where the water could have come from. If you were thirsty on the course, they had water containers but no cups to drink from. Oh, and I came back with a few mosquito bites, so think about repellent if you're going to play.

As much as I liked the course growing up (the layout is quite good), I doubt that I will go back unless I hear that improvements are made. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I paid a senior rate of $23, but it wasn't worth it.
6 Likes.
I played here in the afternoon on a warm summer day. Had a tee time around 1pm for a twosome. The starter told us we could go ahead because it was wide open, and it was for the front nine, although we played slowly. It backed up around the ninth hole, and was very slow for the back nine. The course was in very good condition. As with all courses I could see that a little course knowledge would come in handy. For example, on the 13th hole I could see the cattails and what I thought was the fairway to the left of them. So I hit my tee shot to the left of the cattails. It turns out there's a small strip of land between the cattails and a pond which you can't see off the tee. I was dry, but next time I'll hit less club and aim to the right. Also, on number 14, if you hit your driver more than 200 yards, thing about taking less club.

The fairways tend to be very wide and forgiving ( I sometimes felt like I was on a driving range when teeing off), and the par 5's are pretty easy. I thought the back nine was a little tougher than the front. I'd say hole 15 is the toughest, a long par 4 uphill. Still, tee boxes, fairways, greens and bunkers were all in good shape, which is impressive given how much play the course gets.

I want to play this course again, if only to improve upon a mediocre score with three penalty strokes that a little course knowledge might help avoid.
3 Likes.
I decided to play this course because I saw it on a ranking of best public courses in California. I played it on a beautiful summer day with little wind and a fairly good pace of play (around 4.5 hours.
The course runs through the hill in the gold rush country between Auburn and Grass Valley. There are sometimes long distances between a green and the next tee, so the included cart is necessary. It took me a little while to adjust to the color of the greens which appear as almost turquoise to my eyes. The staff in the pro shop was helpful, but the starter insisted the my twosome needed to tee off a few minutes before our scheduled tee time. All other staff were congenial and helpful.
The course has a wide variety of holes, from short par threes to a couple of monster par 5's and one or two very long par 4's from the blue tees. The fairways were in good shape. The rough was pretty good as long as you weren't in the tall stuff. The sand traps were pretty firm, so I'd recommend playing them as though they are wet sand. The greens will likely haunt my dreams for some time to come. Some are huge, often with a pronounced ridge in the middle, which made me think of the "turtle shell" greens of Pinehurst, as least as described at the US Open (I haven't been to Pinehurst.)
(I have to admit that I spent some extra time on the greens repairing ball marks that others had carelessly left.)
It's not too difficult to figure out how to play each hole. Each hole has areas where you can safely miss, and each green seems to be constructed the same way. Of course , knowing where you can safely hit the ball and actually doing so are two entirely different things.

This course is for golfers. There's no fancy parking lot, bag drop, or restaurant suitable for wedding receptions. Just a nicely laid out course that will require your "A" game.
7 Likes.
Played here on a hot weekday during the middle of the day.The course has been re-routed since I wrote my first review. Also, they have removed several traps from around the greens. But it's still a beast to play that demands accuracy. As the course has been re-routed, the back nine is far harder than the front, even though par for the front nine is 37 with par on the backthe back now being 35.
The signature hole is No. 15, 500+ yards over two creeks and into a prevailing wind. The small, narrow green is just on the other side of the second creek. It's been lengthened since I first played it, and I'll tip my cap to anyone who can par it, including Johnny Miller. Hole 14 is no longer a split fairway, but it's 200 yards downhill to the creek from the white tees. I thought an easy four-iron would leave me in good shape, but the wind and my enthusiasm cost my one of my nine penalty stokes for the round. If you can hit the ball more than 250 yards in the air to clear the creek, it may be an easier hole for you.
The course conditions were great. The greens were not as fast as in the past, but you need to know whether you're going uphill or down. Tip: it's always downhill to the creek. Fairways were in great shape.
On the hot day I played the marshal circulated the course with ice water for the players. This was greatly appreciated.
3 Likes.
Even though I live in San Ramon, I hadn't played here for a while. The course is tight, for the most part, winding its way through a suburban housing development. The course had undergone aeration about a week before I played and the greens were still sandy and slow. Nevertheless, one can see improvements that have been made over the last few years. There are some new undulations in the fairways, and the rough isn't an afterthought anymore. I tried chipping through the rough near the green and got held up in the stiff grass, something i don't recall seeing a few years ago. (This is a good thing.)
Holes 14 and 15 have power lines that can come into play, and there's not much the course can do about it. Hole 9 has an island green that can definitely psyche you out. Hole 18 is a peninsula green that pretty much requires a similar shot over water.

Pay attention to the wind, because even if it isn't that noticeable on the ground, it will definitely affect you club selection on some holes.

The fairways, rough, and sand traps were in good shape. I won't comment on the greens because of the aeration. Tee boxes were generally good, although there were a few uneven places the day I played.

The real problem this course has is that it's in the same town as The Bridges and Canyon Lakes, both good daily fee courses. SRGC would appeal to someone who really wants to walk a course because walking is easily doable here but not the others. It's not as difficult as The Bridges, so it's probably better for the bogey golfer.
5 Likes.
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