Course Source: Lake Chabot, Spanish Bay
IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Lake Chabot Golf Course in Oakland, Calif.
THE LAYOUT: Lake Chabot reopened in April of 2007 after completion of a much-needed renovation that restored the classic course that introduced generations of East Bay residents to golf.
Included in the improvements were comprehensive re-seeding, fertilization and improved irrigation that have significantly improved course conditioning and playability.
Also, the historic Spanish-style clubhouse was remodeled, including an upgrade to the Chabot Cafe, and enhanced banquet and catering facilities.
Operated by the City of Oakland, Lake Chabot was designed by William Lock and opened in 1923. It measures 5,972 yards from the back tees, but because it is located on hilly terrain overlooking the city, many holes play longer than the actual yardage.
While the course is a spectacular walk through the Oakland Hills adjacent to the Anthony Chabot Regional Park, with magnificent views of San Francisco Bay and the hills of Contra Costa County, use a cart unless you are in excellent shape.
However, Chabot's outstanding par-3 course is the perfect walk in the park.
Several top players have grown up playing at Lake Chabot, most notably Tony Lema (St. Elizabeth's High in Oakland), the 1964 British Open champion; Pat Hurst (San Leandro High), the 1998 Nabisco Dinah Shore champion; John Brodie (Oakland Tech High), former All-Pro quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers who played on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours, and Gary Vanier (Skyline High in Oakland), the 1982 California Amateur champion and 2007 California Senior Amateur champion, who played on the Stanford golf team with Tom Watson.
HEAD PROFESSIONAL: Brandon Chapman.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Regulars at Lake Chabot know to consider at least one more club when playing the uphill holes, not only because of the elevation changes but because the omnipresent fog that rolls in off San Francisco Bay can make the air heavy.
Standing out on the front nine are back-to-back roller-coaster par-5s, Nos. 3 and 4, that play only 458 and 464 yards but are very difficult to reach in two. The tee shots on both holes from elevated tees carry downhill into a valley and across the road that enters the course, but the approach shots are severely uphill.
The ninth probably is the most fun hole on the course, playing 151 yards from a tee perched on the side of a hill to a green more than 100 feet below. A short tee shot is in the weeds, long is in the trees beyond the green and left is into a gully, but the green complex is ample.
No. 14 features a blind tee shot to an elevated fairway, with a periscope situated next to the tee from which to see if the fairway is clear. The hole plays longer than its 358 yards because usually it is into the prevailing wind.
The most spectacular views on the course are on the last four holes, starting with the reachable 259-yard 15th, where a gully gobbles up wayward slices.
The home hole is the most remarkable on the course, a downhill 673-yard monster that plays to a par 6 -- and that's no typo. The hole lost its par-6 rating several years ago when the course fell into a bit of disrepair, but when Raymond Chester, former All-Pro tight end of the Oakland Raiders, came aboard as general manager several years ago, the course was retooled and the designation was returned by the Northern California Golf Association.
Kevin Hardy, an Oakland kid (St. Elizabeth's High) who was a 270-pound All-American defensive tackle for Notre Dame in the 1960s, once drove the ball to the bottom of the hill, wedged his second shot to the elevated green and sank the putt for a rare double-eagle 3.
OTHERS COURSES IN THE AREA: The City of Oakland also operates the Metropolitan Golf Links, a Scottish-style course formerly known as Galbraith Golf Course on the Bay adjacent to the Oakland Airport, and the par-3 layout at Montclair Golf Course.
Not far from the Metropolitan is Monarch Bay Golf Club in San Leandro, featuring the 18-hole Tony Lema Course and the 9-hole Marina Course.
Across the Oakland Estuary in Alameda are two fine muni courses at Chuck Corsica Golf Complex, the Earl Fry Course and the Jack Clark Course, named for a longtime sportswriter with the Alameda Times-Star.
Also a short drive away is Tilden Park Golf Course, another traditional muni course that opened in 1937, in the Berkeley Hills above the University of California.
Yet another nearby public course is Willow Park Golf Course in Castro Valley.
WHERE TO STAY: Other than the Marriott Oakland City Center in the revitalized downtown, the best places to stay in Oakland are in trendy Jack London Square or near the Oakland Airport.
Try the Hilton Oakland Airport, the Best Western Airport Inn and Suites or the Oakland Airport Hotel in the Hegenberger Road area. Closer to downtown are the Jack London Inn, the Waterfront Plaza Hotel and the Homewood Oakland Waterfront.
Another option is the venerable Claremont Resort and Spa, which opened in 1915, on the Oakland-Berkeley border below Tilden Park. Right next door to the Claremont is the Berkeley Tennis Club, where greats Don Budge and Helen Wills Moody once were members.
ON THE WEB: www.lakechabotgolf.com.
THE LAST RESORT: The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, Calif.
THE LAYOUT: When the Pebble Beach Co. was planning to build a links course to complement Pebble Beach Golf Links, one of the greatest courses in the world, it assembled the perfect design team.
Along with the renowned architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. and Sandy Tatum, former president of the United States Golf Assn., Pebble Beach enlisted Tom Watson, who knows his way around a links course as well as any American -- having won the British Open five times.
Watson said of the property: "Spanish Bay is so much like Scotland, you can almost hear the bagpipes."
Well, actually you can, because a kilted Scotsman walks the across the links at sunset to signal the end of the day with his bagpipes.
The classic links course, which wraps around the Inn at Spanish Bay, meanders through the sand dunes and into the Del Monte Forest on the famed 17-mile drive, plays to a par of 72 and measures 6,821 yards.
Spanish Bay is rated at 74.1 with a slope of 146 by the Northern California Golf Assn., but is resort-friendly with five sets of tees.
HEAD PROFESSIONAL: Rich Cosand.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Spanish Bay is a delight to the golfer right from the start, the 500-yard par 5 first hole, which plays downhill to a green perched above the breakers on the Pacific Ocean. The green is guarded by two traps on the left and a marsh to the right, and shots that go long might land on the beach.
No. 5 is a 451-yard monster of a par 4, rated as the most difficult hole on the card, with three pot bunkers waiting in the right-center of the fairway. Take the long way around to the left or play risk-reward down the shorter, narrow right side. Second shots, again toward the ocean, that hug the right side will kick toward the green.
The eighth hole is a gorgeous par 3, 158 yards from an elevated tee, across a large seaside lake to a narrow green. Club selection is key with the wind coming off the ocean to the right.
No. 10 is the first of three par 5s on the back nine, a double dogleg that plays uphill through a chute of trees in the forest with a demanding tee shot required over a protruding sand dune. The left side of the fairway is the riskiest for the second shot but will reward the golfer with a shorter approach to the multi-tiered green.
Perhaps the best hole on the hill above the dunes is No. 12, a narrow 432-yard par 4 that requires a long approach or a prudent lay-up shot to avoid a deep gully 30 yards short of the green. Be careful even if you have a wedge shot to the wide, shallow green because you don't want to wind up on the slope above the hole.
The 200-yard 16th is a deceptive par 3 that runs parallel to the beach, where the tee is protected from the offshore breezes that push shots toward three bunkers on the right.
Save something for the big finish, a 547-yard par 5 that plays uphill to a green protected by a large patch of gorse and other native grasses. Try to stay to the right side of the fairway on the first two shots to set up a better angle for the approach to a green guarded by two bunkers on the right.
Try to get a feel for the speed on the practice green because these greens are slick all the way around, and avoid the temptation to feed the deer that share the course with the golfers.
OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: Pebble Beach owns three other championship golf courses, all remarkable in their own right, in addition to the par-3 Peter Hay Course.
Pebble Beach Golf Links, designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, host course of the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (still The Crosby to purists), has been recognized as one of the greatest courses in the world since it opened in 1919.
Spyglass Hill Golf Course, which takes its name from a location in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island, is a unique challenge designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr. that opened in 1966, and also is in the AT&T rotation.
Old Del Monte Golf Course, located on the grounds of the Hyatt Regency Monterey, was designed by Charles Maud and is the oldest continuously-operating course west of the Mississippi River -- having challenged golfers since 1897.
There might be more exceptional golf courses in this region on the Central Coast of California than any similar area in the world.
Also nearby are Poppy Hills Golf Course (Robert Trent Jones Jr.) in Pebble Beach; Pacific Grove Golf Links (Chandler Egan and Jack Neville); Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Courses (Gen. Robert McClure) in Seaside; Laguna Seca Golf Ranch (Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr.) in Monterey; Carmel Valley Ranch Resort (Pete Dye); Quail Lodge Resort (Robert Muir Graves) in Carmel Valley; San Juan Oaks Golf Club in Hollister (Gene Bates and Fred Couples); Pasatiempo Golf Course (Alistair MacKenzie) in Santa Cruz; Half Moon Bay Golf Links (Arnold Palmer and Arthur Hills), and DeLaveaga Golf and Lodge (Bert Stamps) in Santa Cruz.
WHERE TO STAY: The award-winning Inn at Spanish Bay has 253 guest rooms and 17 suites. Guests can enjoy eight plexi-paved tennis courts, a health and fitness center with a swimming pool, a weight room, saunas, steam bath, an aerobic studio and massage rooms.
For dinner, don't miss Roy's, which specializes in Asian-Pacific cuisine, or try Peppoli at Pebble Beach for Tuscan-style seafood, pasta and country-style grilled meats.
The exclusive Lodge at Pebble Beach has been welcoming guests since 1919. There are 161 guest rooms and suites, meeting spaces, four restaurants and lounges, a promenade of shops and boutiques, a post office and a bank.
The Pebble Beach Co. acquired Casa Palmero, a 75-year-old Mediterranean estate, in 1994 and it opened for guests 1999, after an extensive renovation. The 24 exquisitely appointed rooms, adjacent to the first fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links, include fireplaces and outdoor patios with hot tubs.
The 22,000-square-foot Spa at Pebble Beach, nestled in the heart of the Del Monte Forest, can be enjoyed by guests at any of the resorts. It offers an array of massages, body scrubs and wraps, water treatments, skin care, nail care and hair care.
There also are plenty of boutique hotels and charming bed-and-breakfasts in the area, including the Stonehouse Inn in Carmel, the Old Monterey Inn, the Green Gables Inn in Pacific Grove, the Highlands Inn/Park Hyatt a few miles south of Carmel, the Grand View Inn in Pacific Grove, the Jabberwock Inn in Monterey, the Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel, the Pacific Grove Inn, the Pine Inn in Carmel and the Seven Gables Inn in Pacific Grove.
ON THE WEB: www.pebblebeach.com/accommodations/the-inn-at-spanish-bay;
www.pebblebeach.com/golf/the-links-at-spanish-bay.
