Lake Chabot is an OLD course and needs to be judged based on its ability to have lasted this many years and still provide challenges. I admire this course as the architect tried to maximize based on ... Continue »

Lake Chabot is an OLD course and needs to be judged based on its ability to have lasted this many years and still provide challenges. I admire this course as the architect tried to maximize based on what he had. The holed down and up the middle of the canyon are fairly similar, but it is not often you get to blast balls over the main road in/out of the course. Several holes are spectacular on their own. The 9th is a short but VERY steep downhill 3 that is like trying to hit a ball into a tea cup. On a windy day, you have to consider distance, drop and wind conditions. Makes you think! The back nine has several holes that view over Oakland to SF and beyond. Amazing view and I can't think of many better ones in the entire SF Bay Area. The fininshing hole is one of the last par 6's out there and it is a monster.

Adding to this - the course allows and pretty much encourages young golfers. So, we brought a fivesome out and everyone was all smiles and glad to see you here. Not that we were two-headed freaks. Any course that allows and encourages five somes gets a BIG thumbs up in my books. (and YES, my kids keep up, know how to fix a ball mark, and my 8 year old drives a cart better than most 40 year olds I know.) He's been on the course since he was 6.

I played this course for the first time in 10 years...and apparently they made some improvements in fairway grass, bunkers, and ammenities, etc,.... I dont really remember the course at all from 10 y... Continue »

I played this course for the first time in 10 years...and apparently they made some improvements in fairway grass, bunkers, and ammenities, etc,.... I dont really remember the course at all from 10 years ago,so I was curious to see what it was like. Ive been playing delta view all summer,my new favorite course, Ive played all the popular courses in the bay area, san geronimo, rancho solano, metropolitan, lone tree,alameda,tilden,shadow lakes,roddy ranch, hiddenbrooke, and stonetree,and some others... Lake Chabot in about in the middle...its a step nicer than lone tree but not as scenicaly nice as delta view,or franklin canyon.
Landscape design is a big factor for me in the golf experience, I want a course to look nice,sport scenic views, wildlife,trees,interesting contour of fairways, something memorable that gives you a 'wow' feeling when you look down the fairway. some courses like lone tree or alameda, have very little of that...other courses like hiddenbrooke and stonetree ...and delta view have alot of that beauty. lake chabot had a little but not alot. I wouldnt be drawn back to play there for the scenic beauty.
Playing the course was a mixed bag.... the pace of play ,on a thursday afternoon... !!!?!.... was very slow.... as a singleton, I had to skip holes,bypass slow 4 somes,skip other holes, come back later,zig zag all day...at least the marshall understood and allowed me to do that...otherwise it was a 20 minute pace on every hole. That makes playing unpleasant.
If its like that on a thursday afternoon, I cant imagine weekends....!!

wind conditions were ok on that day. not a problem.
greens were in very nice condition. A+.
online deal was 25 $...not bad but I dont know if I'd play again soon.
The best thrill of this course is the big tee shots downhill. but the layout of this course for me was a bit dull after a while. when most of the par 3's are uphill,and look the same, and several elevated greens look the same,something about this layout doesnt do it for me.
Go play delta view,and you will see what I mean, or hiddenbrooke. A golf course should look interesting,it should look inviting to play on...not just a track to whack a golf ball on. thats why I think metro is boring,and much of alameda is too.
I'd rather drive 35 miles to delta view than 10 miles to lake chabot.

pace of play and overcrowded was too slow...course layout is nice but not overly engaging.too many holes looked the same after a while.....uphill,then downhill, back uphill,back downhill.... maybe 4 m... Continue »

pace of play and overcrowded was too slow...course layout is nice but not overly engaging.too many holes looked the same after a while.....uphill,then downhill, back uphill,back downhill.... maybe 4 memorable holes. the driver off the tee is the fun of this golf course,yardage plays longer than scorecard,its a fair challenge. but too slow pace of play disappoints.

I played Chabot on the 15 of may. I read the previous feedback and I do agree on some things. I lived in oakland all my life and been playing Chabot for about 15yrs now and the locals know (well the o... Continue »

I played Chabot on the 15 of may. I read the previous feedback and I do agree on some things. I lived in oakland all my life and been playing Chabot for about 15yrs now and the locals know (well the ones Iknow) say "don't play chabot in the winter or after heavy rains." But I do have to say it was the best I've seen it in about 3 yrs now. I walked the course which is a workout, I felt the fairways to be in decent shape. Most greens were o.k. some needed alot of help, but hay a good golfer doesn't need manicured greens to make par. And for 15 dollar twilight, the views of the bay, deer, wild turkey and peace and quiet right in Oakland you can't go wrong. peace. Willy