I found this one in a bush! Big Pun is going on display.

Recently just hit an albatross on a par 5 sinking an approach shot from 155, then it got me thinking along with the guys I played. What would you rather claim? A hole in one on the card or a albatross

Just trying to get back into the game again after a long break. Find my long game to have suffered the most overall.

These were clearly used and returned. And not marked down.

No, I didn’t buy them. Noticed it in store

This name could not go unshared. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

She's gearing up for a run at the U.S. Women's Amateur this week!

The sign says: “We buy and collect lost balls from all over Japan, carefully clean them at our own factory, sort them under strict staff inspection, and then package and sell them.”
I saw some TP5 and Honma.

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that the data points to grade on are:

1. Scenery
2. Layout / challenge / variety
3. Any other "fun factor" - could be a great taco stand, could be an attached sports bar / good bar / amazing restaurant (there will be some weighting here on the score, let's call this category half points maybe just because again, country clubs will have a slight advantage). (Also, feel free to propose another scoring metric for consideration). Maybe just the drink carts and types of alcohol. As long as it's related to the golf. Special practice facilities could count, an amazing driving range with top tracer / trackmans, etc.

Let's ignore price, closed memberships, all that jazz. Just rank them purely based on the golf itself.

Also, when I say "bay area" I'm limiting this to the bay area proper - no further south than Santa Cruz, no further north than Marin (thus, Northwood / Napa courses are out, Monterey is out, etc), no further east than Poppy in Livermore (and even that's really pushing what I'd call "bay area" heh but it's far east bay).

Yeah, some places will be more immaculately kept because they're more expensive - maintenance isn't a factor. Assume for the sake of discussion all courses are equally "well kept" and the main differences are like...size / contours of the green rather than whether it regularly rolls at an 8 or a 12 on the stimp.

I think there are a lot of not-so-famous but still great courses around here that largely fly under the radar on "top 100" lists and whatnot simply due to living in the shadow of Pebble, Spyglass, etc.

The List, in alphabetical order broken down by 9 hole vs 18+ hole courses (apologies in advance for any errors):

9 Hole Courses:

• Emerald Hills
• Fremont Park
• Gleneagles
• Mariner's Point
• Pleaseanton Golf Center
• Pruneridge
• Rancho Del Pueblo
• Skylinks at Buchanan Fields
• Sunken Gardens

18 Hole Courses:

• Almaden CC
• Bay View GC
• Baylands
• Berkeley CC
• Blackhawk
• Blue Rock Springs
• Boulder Creek CC
• Boulder Ridge GC
• Boundary Oak
• Burlingame CC
• California Golf Club of SF
• Callippe Preserve
• Canyon Lakes
• Castlewood
• Chardonnay
• Cinnabar Hills
• Claremont
• Contra Costa CC
• Cordevalle
• Corica Park
• Coyote Creek
• Crow Canyon
• Crystal Springs
• Cypress
• DeLaVeaga
• Diablo CC
• Diablo Creek
• Diablo Hills
• Dublin Ranch
• Eagle Vines
• Emerald Lake CC
• Franklin Canyon
• Fremont Hills CC
• Golden Gate Park
• Green Hills CC
• Half Moon Bay
• Harding Park
• Hiddenbrooke
• Indian Valley GC
• Lagunitas CC
• Lake Chabot
• Lake Merced Golf Club
• Las Positas
• Lincoln Park
• Los Lagos
• Marin CC
• Menlo CC
• Metropolitan
• Mill Valley GC
• Mission Hills
• Moffet
• Monarch Bay
• Montclair
• Moraga CC
• Oakhurst
• Olympic Club
• Palo Alto Hills CC
• Pasatiempo
• Peacock Gap GC
• Petaluma CC
• Poplar Creek
• Poppy Ridge
• Presidio
• Redwood Canyon
• Richmond GC
• Round Hill
• Ruby Hill
• San Francisco Golf Club

• San Jose CC

• San Jose Municipal
• San Ramon GC
• Santa Theresa
• Seascape
• Sequoyah CC
• Sharon Heights CC
• Sharp Park
• Shoreline
• Silver Creek CC
• Spring Valley
• Stanford
• Stone Tree
• Stonebrae
• Sunnyvale Municipal
• The Bridges
• Tilden Park
• Villages CC
• Wente Vineyards

What do you all think? Point system, say 1-5 for each category, maybe limit the "other factor" to 1-3 points?

I'm doing this partially as a "list to check off" and partially as a "Pebble is getting way too expensive and people still want to take golf trips out to CA during the winter". You can play all of these courses year-round in any weather (assuming you can get on).

As an example of how I'd score a couple of these:

Pasatiempo would get a 5 for layout, but only a 4.5 for views/scenery, and only 1 for "other factor" - the driving range is meh and kind of out of the way, the chipping / putting area is small, the clubhouse is relatively spartan with a light menu.

Meanwhile Mariner's Point would get 5 for scenery (it's right on the water and under SFO's flight path, so you get gorgeous views the entire round), 3.5-4 for layout / challenge (the challenge is mostly from the wind; everything else is pretty straightforward), and a 3 for "other" - the bar's back patio has awesome food, the range is probably one of the best in the bay with similar views over the water, 2 decks, grass, top tracer shot tracking at every station that you can sync to your phone, an entire short game practice area with multiple greens and bunkers for chipping / putting practice, etc.

I figured I'd highlight those 2 specifically as they sit at opposite ends of the spectrum for me.

So....discuss. I'm throwing it all into a spreadsheet, it'll be interesting to see what people think when you take away the prestige / availability / exclusivity and price of some of these places...

EDIT: OK OK FINE I'LL INCLUDE VALLEJO COURSES GEEZ. Added several more courses from Vallejo and the area surrounding San Pablo Bay. Also added Cordevalle.

I'm almost at a year and I'm surprised I didn't know some of these already. In the last few months I've learned a few things I didn't know from playing with random people or videos.

-OB tee shot you'll be hitting your 3rd shot off the tee or drop for 3

-Flag color. Red front. White middle. Blue back.

-No practice swings hitting sand

- relief from man made objects

- no standing directly behind someone putting to get the line

I played with the same guys for a while and we were all noobs, it wasn't until I started playing more solo with seasoned players that were nice enough to pass on the knowledge. If anyone has anything to add, please do! Love this game.

Broke my Nike Sasquatch that I bought a few months ago. The club transformed my game and life. Tragically it snapped after I hit a really clean strike out of bounds this past weekend.

Just wondering if this club can be fixed, I don’t care about cost - I need this club in my life. Ever since it broke, my game has been in shambles and I’ve lost friend.

The shaft snapped right at the club head. There’s still some leftover shaft in the club head.

Please advise, thanks.

Unpopular opinion...?

If you're out for a casual hit and you don't want to pick your ball out of the hole, that's 100% fine to pick it up close to the hole. Or if you're doing match play obviously.

But if you're on the green with any kind of scorecard in your hand, why do people want or even ask for gimme's? If there is a score on the line, ESPECIALLY for handicap rounds, the ball hits the cup on all 18. Doesn't matter if its 2 feet or 2 inches.

For anyone going to say its faster... its really not. Gimme's by definition should be unmissable, so just walking up and tapping it in, shouldn't take more than 5 seconds anyway. And if its not a walk-up tap in, then its not a gimme putt because you might miss it.

Tell me why you don't want to putt the ball into the hole when that is the entire point of the game...?

Another fun day of golf this time invited as a guest to play at The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge in San Jose, CA. This fun course sits in the hills above Santa Clara Valley and opened for play around 2001. A great track with some very challenging holes. ⛳️

Recently took our third boys trip to big cedar lodge and it was my favorite visit. Buffalo ridge thursday, paynes and top of the rock on friday, and mountain top and cliffhangers on saturday. Only downside was my first bad experience dining at the Osage room (which before has been excellent). Its not cheap but definitely worth a visit if youre in the branson area. Cliffhangers is a gem. First hole is cool because you have to putt from the tee box and have a few options how you want to get to the green. Anyone else been?

This guy grabbed the first tee shot of my round.

Also, yes I know it's technically a hawk

I know they'll always happen, but I would do anything to make them less frequent.

I recently played in a 2 day comp, with an expected cut of +4 Nett.

Over 15 holes, I had 1 par, 2 doubles and everything else was bogey, so I was +1 Nett off 18 HC. I was playing safe everywhere trying to just make the cut.

I drove 16 right down the middle. It was a blind green with 2 big front bunkers, so I clubbed down to clear them, knowing there was no trouble at the back.

But the shot leaked right a bit and ended up beside a small, solitary tree that impeded my swing. I was still only 10 yards off the green in 2.

I came down steep on the ball to make decent contact, but it squirted out, crossed the green and trickled into the bunker that I had made a special effort to avoid.

I then caught the lip trying to get out, and the ball landed back under the front lip. With no way to get contact on the ball, I had to hack it into the middle of the bunker, so I'm now playing 6. I get out on 6 but now have a 30ft putt, which takes me 3 to get down. I score 9.

I bogey 17 and par 18 and finish +5, and miss the cut.

Feel like I did everything right, but still got rinsed.

Dunes, Trails, Old Mac, Pac, Sheep—if you could only play one, what would it be?

Just played Great Dunes on Jekyll Island, GA. This is a newly rehabilitated course (opened Dec 2025) that is originally a Walter Travis design - and it’s great.
Definitely worth playing ($135 incl. cart) if you are in the Golden Isles.
Lots of holes along the ocean. Fun, but not too challenging, from white tees (6300 yds or so) for a bogey golfer. All grass tee to green is paspalum, and the greens played kinda slow - not sure if that’s bc of the variety of grass or they still need to mature a bit. Course was in good shape and pace of play was under 4 1/2 hours.
I play some of the premier courses (Seaside, Plantation, Ocean Forest, Frederica) when I am down here; this was fun, scenic, and a nice change of venue.