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California Golf - Northern
Sacramento
Since its opening last fall, DarkHorse Golf Club in Auburn, has raced to the top of the golf world with surprising speed. Award after award has been showered on this course, designed by Keith Foster, on a site that lies in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Golf Magazine chose DarkHorse as one of its Top 10 You Can Play in America; The Sacramento Bee voted the club as its No. 1 course to play in the Sacramento area within six months of our opening. New honors could be on the way soon.
One of the finest courses built in Northern California in many years, DarkHorse lies in Auburn in the Sierra Nevada foothills, about 50 miles east of Sacramento. The course was laid out on what was once a 1,100-acre cattle ranch and features magnificent elevation changes. But there is much more than that for those who truly love golf. Holes were gently placed into the curving valleys on the site; the greens are subtly contoured; there are bunkers that will remind you of the work of Alistair McKenzie and George C. Thomas Jr.
Reno Tahoe Golf
Coyote Moon is the first of three Tahoe Mountain Resort courses planned by a Truckee development partnership. Old Greenwood, several miles to the east, will have a Jack Nicklaus signature course and 99 home sites. It is expected to open in 2004. Gray's Crossing, a bit south of Old Greenwood, also will incorporate homes into the layout. Peter Jacobsen's design company is handling that project, which will get under way in 2004.
NorthStar
The front nine is laid out in the Martis Valley and is thus pretty flat. It' s also nondescript. The course was in pretty dismal shape, too, in early June. Northstar's managers attributed the poor greens to snow rot, a disease that can take six weeks from which to recover. Tahoe had a big snowfall in April, and Northstar does sit 6,000 feet above sea level.
The best advice is to play the back nine at Northstar if you love a challenge, are a masochist or have an uncommon sense of smell. The scent from the abundant pine trees makes the adventure almost worth it. Better yet, go for a walk in a forest.
Resort at Squaw Creek
A decade ago a national golf magazine rated this course among the top 10 public courses in the country. Yet while it's hard to find fault with the gorgeous setting, some don't like Squaw Creek's modest length, lack of elevation changes and target golf style, with wooden bridges spanning protected wetlands.
No. 8 is a prime example. The par-4 is only 338 yards from the back tees, and hitting a driver is folly because the fairway ends about 60 yards from the green, with wetlands nearly surrounding the tiny green. The fairway is similarly isolated. You need about a 100-yard carry to reach it. Duffers undoubtedly will lose a lot of balls at Squaw Creek. But who said golf was easy? And who wants it to be? Bike riding is easy, so is swimming once you learn how. Can't help hitting ground balls off the tee? Maybe it's time to take up bowling.
It's tough to find fault with the resort, a nine-story beauty that leads sits near the foot of one of Squaw Valley's six peaks. The resort has 403 rooms, and nearly half are suites. Visitors are surrounded by mountain peaks as they gaze at meadows, grand strands of pines and the course.
If you start to lose a few balls, just take a deep breath, exhale and enjoy the view. The scenery will restore your blood pressure to a healthy level.
Coyote Moon's head pro, Dirk Skillicorn, says Coyote Moon will be the least-expensive of the three at $150. It's hard to imagine it will trail much in quality, playability or scenery. The only drawback is the absence of a practice area, although there is a public range a mile or so away.
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