Can’t wait. Would love to meet some other Refugees. 
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Oh man sounds great. Can’t make it but heading down there in a few months to cross it off the list. Playing anywhere else while you are up here?
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Gang,
1:00 pm on Monday the 12th at Corica South. I have a tee time booked as a single but looks like there are a couple spots left at 1 pm if anyone wants to join
This damn thing called work is getting in the way but I love the spirit and intent and at some point I will make this work
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It’s just me and @buckeyedude7 on Sunday. Still have 2 spots.
Really wish I could make it, out of town for the next two weekends
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I’d love to join you, I also have a buddy @rskoontz44 if is still available!
Great you’re in @alby! I may already have filled the other spot. Getting confirmation.
Next time @Mack
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I’m in Monterey often so I will absolutely take you up on that, quick jog from Santa Cruz
Thanks! Let me know once the 4th is confirmed.
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@alby , 4th not able to make it work , @rskoontz44, fourth spot is you if you want it.
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Awesome, I’ll take it. Need some redemption on 18. Thank you.
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awesome! I’m excited to meet you and @buckeyedude7!
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The next few months are pretty busy for me, but based on the consistent activity on this thread, I’m thinking we should organize a Bay Area Refuge outing.
Some place interesting and central. Any ideas?
Also - any Bay Area folks heading to the Common Ground event? I’ll be there!
A few people here have played and Gleneagles and I try to play there every Tuesday after work, I think it would be a cool venue, a little rough around the edges but the elevation changes, and wind do make it fairly challenging. Plus the clubhouse is dope and every time I’ve been it hasn’t been very busy so I am sure they would be willing to host some type of gathering.
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Several weeks ago I posted on this thread (and another one) seeking advice on which courses I should play on my 10-day trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. I appreciate all of the advice that I received. I posted a recap of the eight rounds of golf (with pictures) on the Northern California/Bay Area advice thread. I am posting it here too:
Several weeks ago I posted on this thread (and another one) seeking advice on which courses I should play on my 10-day trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. I appreciate all of the advice that I received. Below is a recap of my eight rounds of golf during the trip (with pictures). I post this primarily for others who may be travelling to the Bay Area and would like guidance on which courses to play. I will post this on both threads I sought advice on.
I will try to keep to the essentials–course, tee time, total price–and not stray into excuses as to why my scores were not better (but they definitely could have been). However, I feel compelled to note that I hate poa annua greens. We don’t have poa annua grass in Florida, and I hope I never have to play on them again. My scores certainly would have been better but-for the poa annua greens.
I used a cart on all of the courses, but all of them are walkable except Wente Vineyards…and I wouldn’t recommend walking Callippe Preserve. I made early tee times to beat traffic, except at Pebble where I didn’t have a choice…if I had to do it over again, I might make late morning tee times at the coastal and near-coastal courses so that I could have seen more of the course, as it was pretty foggy in the mornings.
Finally, I’m sure that not everyone will agree with my opinion…I don’t care.
Day One: Pebble Beach, 3:10 pm, $595. Score: 82 from the white tees. It was even better than in my dreams. Everything was perfect. It was slowish, but that was okay because I didn’t want it to end. My tee time was the last “guaranteed to finish” tee time, and we just made it, playing 18 in low light as the sun set. Score would have been better except the greens were poa annua. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth the price, it is …which is not to say that they should charge $550 plus $45 cart fee…because they should not. However, it was worth the price.
Day Two: Corica Park - South Course 8:00 am, $79. Score: 79 from the blue tees. Nice course which was recommended by a few people on these threads. Very well maintained and interesting. Definitely a good course for someone staying in or around Oakland. The greens were very fast and very firm.
Day Three: rest
Day Four: Pasatiempo, 8:30 am, $307. Score: 82 from the white tees. This course is a GEM. Superb layout, superbly maintained, quiet. A must-play. A little foggy for the first several holes, but then it cleared out. Plays way longer than the yardage (and they tell you this before you tee off). The greens are tricky (poa annua)…I’m certain that I saw at least two putts break uphill. Actually, the whole course is challenging, but super fun. I started poorly and kind of just hung on for the rest of the round, but enjoyed it very much.
Day Five: TPC Harding Park, 8:00 am, $213. Score: 81 from the white tees. Played longer than yardage. Also, they were already preparing for next year’s PGA Championship, so they had pulled the fairways in 25-30% and had overseeded the rough (lucky me). Very foggy/wet and very cold the morning I played, which made scoring difficult for me. Also, I played the first seven holes with my range finder on the “meters” setting, rather than “yards,” which completely screwed up my score (back nine I was two over par). Anyway, I really liked the course…the trees are awesome. It’s not a terribly difficult course (except for the weather). What I loved most was that the greens were bent grass (woot woot)! The greens were true and I was rewarded for hitting good putts. Because the course gets a lot of play in wet conditions there were quite a few pitch marks in the greens, but that just comes with the territory. I really enjoyed the course.
Day Six: Spyglass Hill, 8:30 am, $440. Score: 84 from the white tees. Played longer than yardage…I also found it to be sneaky difficult, maybe because I just wasn’t hitting the ball straight. Very foggy for the first 5 holes, which are the ocean holes…so I feel like I didn’t get my money’s worth because the ocean was obscured. Also, I was just having a terrible day in general (indigestion, bad night’s sleep, etc.), so I wasn’t enjoying myself like I normally would have. That said, it’s a beautiful course, very well maintained. I just wish I had made a later tee time so that I would have had the benefit of playing the ocean holes with the ocean on full display.
Day Eight: Callippe Preserve, 9:56 am, $70. Score: 79 from the blue tees. This is a nice, fun course in Pleasanton, CA. Great views, elevation changes, interesting holes. Greens were a bit slow and/or inconsistent. Also, I played in a twosome which was behind several groups of seniors (their weekly game), so it played slow, but not sure it’s always like that. Definitely worth the money…I had a lot of fun. Different climate than the coastal courses…got very hot, which was ok.
Day Nine: Wente Vineyards, 9:00 am, $119. Score: 82. I loved this course (which was also recommended by some people on these threads). This course is an absolute gem. Major elevation changes, outstanding views, super well-maintained, really interesting holes. It’s the type of course that you will probably play 5 strokes better the second time you play it because you’ll learn how to manage the course. This is a must-play. I really enjoyed myself.
Day Ten: Half Moon Bay - Ocean Course, 7:10 am, $148.40. Score: 79 from the blue tees. Great course with amazing views…everything was first class. Super well-maintained. The greens were a bit slow (and poa annua), but smooth. We were the first group out so pace was not an issue for us. Foggy at the beginning but cleared out later. I really enjoyed this course, and not just because of the views…it’s just a really good course.
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Going to be heading down to Santa Cruz the weekend of the 31st. Driving down Friday the 30th, anybody interested in getting a Friday afternoon game going somewhere around The Bay? Corica Park maybe?
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I’ll be headed out of town for the holiday weekend but would have loved to otherwise
Half moon bay looks great. How exactly did you get the tee time for Pebble Beach? Any reason you took a cart? (I have never played there but might in the next 1-2 years)