It says something about a golf course when it’s listed along with an olive oil farm on Google Maps. I had the pleasure of being invited by Steve Pajak, the golf editor at the Sacramento Bee, for his On Tour series.
The course should be divided into three parts: the first nine, the second nine and all eighteen greens. The front is a placement game, none of the par-4s are above 400 yards and a driver wil get you into more trouble than a shot towards the fairway. The first seven holes are all doglegs, with some elevation changes from tee to fairway. If you look at all but the slope/rating for the course, you’d think it wouldn’t be anything unusual. 6479 yards from the Blue tees, the first nine is even less than 3000 yards. However, the 147/72.3 numbers on the right side of the scorecard come from the greens.
The opening hole is an uphill dogleg right where a power fade is the ideal shot, the second hole a downhill dogleg left with an elevated green that adds a club to the approach. That green is severely sloped back to front and one of my playing partners had to hit his putt from the back and ended up eight yards off the green.
The third hole is almost a chip shot downhill to a green with a lake in front for some protection. With the elevated tee box, target a few yards behind the pin and let the spin take care of the rest.
The green on the fourth hole is the focal point. I didn’t pace it off, but the green is approximately 50 yards across and 12 deep. With a bunker across the front and two on the backside. The pin was towards the front of the green when I played, but I put my approach shot in the front bunker. I decided to fly it 20 yards past the green and had to hit a pitch shot from the top of the hill back down which put me across the green again. Thankfully I drained the last chip shot to save a bogey.
Be warned for the water hazard that crosses the sixth fairway. My GPS told me it was 225 to clear the weeds, but the 45° weather and crosswind left the 3-wood wet. My playing partners used either a 5-iron to lay up or a driver to get across. Either/or would work, and be sure to shoot to the flag.
The seventh hole is supposed to be the toughest on the course, with a 190-220 yard downhill shot to the landing area with another 120-140 downhill shot to a large green that is supposed to be surrounded by water. Right now it’s a 5-wood, 8-iron and 3 putt with an empty marshland surrounding the green. The green itself is large, quick and protected by an olive tree grove on the high side, but not necessarily difficult. Fire at the pin to shrink the green and it should be easier.
The eighth and ninth are the first two holes where a driver can be used and target golf doesn’t come into play. With straight shots off the tee, and some rescue areas for errant shots, these two holes are only notable in that first nine ends 1-17-3 on the handicap rating.
The second nine opens up the course and transforms it from a target course to an open links style format. It felt moreso like that since the skies were gray, the grass a dormant rye, and the trees down to a bare winter bark. A quick tip from the pro on the tenth hole, aim down the left side and hit to the eighth fairway. The hole is down the left side of a longer par-5 and this takes the woods to the right out of play.
The eleventh hole is a similar go/no-go akin to the fifth. Either go with a driver to clear the waste area or a five iron to lay up short. This green is the rare front to back slope that makes the approach shot easier (when not muffed). Aim short and let the bounce/roll take care of the rest if the pin is in the middle or back, take a club and a half less if in the front.
Golfers may recognize the twelfth hole as the driving range. It’s also the only par-4 over 400 yards, with OB and access road on the left and a waste area on the right. The approach shot leaves an uphill approach guarded by a creek short, OB long and a waste collection area on the right.
A hidden bunker greets a good drive on the par-5 double dipped thirteenth. The hole is a dogleg left that heads over a hill with a bunker on the right side. The downhill second shot needs to clear a waste area for a 150 uphill shot to the green. I’m happy I parred the hole after going into the bunker, left side rough and two putted. The green is somewhat cock-eyed to the fairway as it originally called for a much more severe angle to the green, but the actual construction took a softer turn.
The next two holes are notable due to their elevated teeboxes and requiring a target shot. The fourteenth is a 195-yard par-3 that played shorter due to a tailwind and elevation change. Steve hit a 175 shot to four feet and my push found a stone-lined bunker short right and popped into the water. At least I put my chip to within a few feet and saved the bogey. The strategy for the fifteenth is easy, aim at the tree and miss. An olive grove protects the weak side and a waste area on the left. There’s also a small creek in front of the green protecting any short shots to the elongated green.
The eighteenth is a consummate finishing hole. Check the GPS as a hidden waste area lies at the 260 mark taking the driver out of play unless you can hit a 290 drive on the fly. Aim towards the 150 post for the second shot to line up an approach to the green. While hidden from the fairway, aim to the right side of the green, as the pro demonstrated the severity of the slope. All shots will collect to the right side of the 45-yard wide green, and the pro hit a couple of pitch shots towards the back left corner from 20 yards out. All of the shots trickled down most of the way of the green. Aim right and putt uphill, as each shot will collect there anyhow. The course also has a scoreboard set up behind the green, with plans to place bleachers for viewing. The scoreboard will be linked in to the on-cart scorecard so finishing groups will have their scores flashed up.
The greens truly define the course. They’re slick, sloped and large. The carts come with GPS and show distances to the front, back and pin. Pay attention to the pin location as the greens can be shrunk down by firing at them. The greens also hold shots pretty well, but anyone with a high shot will have some additional spin because of their speed and slope. You may want to club up and hit a three quarter shot into the green to minimize backspin causing the ball to slide off the front of the green. This isn’t too bad of a thing though, as uphill chips are easier shots to handle than downhill putts.
I ended up in bunkers on #1, 4, 13, 15 and 16. The sand is compact and the landscape netting pokes through in a few spots. One of the downsides of the course is a stone-in-mortar wall that affects some bunkers. There isn’t a local rule in place yet clarifying their status, whether they are an immovable obstruction, an integral part of the course or an integral part of the bunker itself. I didn’t have to hit a shot in or near the rocks, but I couldn’t imagine trying. Anyone ending up in them would need to take a drop out of the area.
A few additional notes about the course. The course has an interesting backstory, which Steve researched pretty well. Come with provisions as the clubhouse is pretty light on those. Our deal included a made to order sandwich from a local deli and additional sundries. It does, however, sell olive oil and artisan soaps. The soaps are for a planned spa facility and the oil is literally made from the olives on the course; I think we walked away with a few bottles in the end. One of the legends of the course is that the owner got into a tiff with the county and maintained his course was a agro-tourism destination and did not sell tee times. However, you could buy a bottle of olive oil and get access to the facilities which happened to include a golf course. A bottle was $100. Genius.
The 12th hole currently doubles as the practice area. A warm-up facility will be added when the course is complete, but the practice green is insufficient for players to get the full scope of the greens on the course. The speed is similar, but it lacks the different slopes, bumps and especially the distances you’ll have to putt to.
I’m not sure if it is the newness of the course, the fact they can’t advertise much due to restrictions on play or the general weather conditions, but it was wide open. One of the members of our group tried to make the tee time at 10AM, we were told it was taken and asked if we wanted the 10:15. When we showed up on the first tee, we found ourselves behind the only other group on the course for the day. Thankfully they let us play through on the first but it still took us 5 hours to finish the round.
In the end, I shot a 90 with 6 penalty strokes and 3 3-putts on the front, which accounted for too many extra strokes. This is the type of course that will humble a good golfer, and challenging enough to make me want to come back to improve and maintain a respectable score.
