Played 3/22/2018 on a day a recreational round would be cancelled. Writing this review so GK readers have a 2018 review to reference.
NCGA Pub-links qualifier was the occasion and signing up a month... Continue »

Played 3/22/2018 on a day a recreational round would be cancelled. Writing this review so GK readers have a 2018 review to reference.
NCGA Pub-links qualifier was the occasion and signing up a month prior; the stipulation "inclement weather does not cancel the competition."
Rain, Lt Rain, mist, and sun. Temps 57-60-53 range. Winds 10-20 mph with gusts to 30. Warm up rain jacket was soaked before heading to #1 changed out of that. Rain gear most all day, two holes the sun came out then bigger wind, colder, more light rain most of the 2nd 9. (zinfandel)
The NCGA check-in popup tent was blown from its stakes on the first hole. My first putt into the back hole location (bowl) on #1 Chardonnay side the water level was above the lip of the hole. From there conditions of the course improved.
Poppy Ridge has three 9's that intertwine along in this valley and a top the rolling hills of the course around farm land / vineyards that don't come into play golfing.
Played the ball down and didn't get a mudder but ball was dirty of course. Bunkers had some standing water and occasional casual water through the green.
A challenging day weather wise and two of our foursome decided to not start the event. As a twosome we were last group out and the round was 4 1/2 hours.
A fun track and good choice when in the Livermore area. Second time visiting and was looking forward to it and despite weather made the best of it and enjoyed the challenge.
Will definitely be back soon and will update review with hopefully more genuine playing conditions soon.
Staff and facility are great.

Got a good deal to play a 27-hole special here today. This course has three 9-hole courses, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel. They are all hilly, some with water hazard, and all of them have many b... Continue »

Got a good deal to play a 27-hole special here today. This course has three 9-hole courses, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel. They are all hilly, some with water hazard, and all of them have many bunkers. The courses in general are in good shape, not in great shape. You will be surprised to see so much dry and brown weeds and tall grass along the sides of the fairways. Greens are well maintained but fast. Bunkers are puff. Some par 4s with uphill slopes playing like par 5s. Some greens are not visible from the fairways. It is very interesting to play but not too challenging if you play the white markers. It was a very hot day when we played but with some occasional breeze, it wasn't too bad even the temperature was near 90.

The staff is very friendly and helpful. However, they have to improve the reservation system. They do not give out confirmation number or email confirmation. It is wise to call a few days earlier to confirm your tee time reservation before going there. They lost our second tee time.

One last note is that the course is very high in pollen. Be prepared if you have allergy problems.

Played Merlot/Chardonnay on a Wednesday morning in 5 hours. Pace slowed down on Chard, not sure why, it is the easier of the two. Great NCGA member rate (less than $60), great customer service, grea... Continue »

Played Merlot/Chardonnay on a Wednesday morning in 5 hours. Pace slowed down on Chard, not sure why, it is the easier of the two. Great NCGA member rate (less than $60), great customer service, great practice facilities, grill snack bar, etc. Played white tees and found holes repeating in terms of distance and shape. Great day. Wind minimal, greens, tees, bunkers, fairways, views, all great. Very nice course and well worth the drive from San Jose. Pretty speedy greens with plenty of slope. Check it out.

My second round of the day was at Poppy Ridge. The starters were great in helping me coordinate playing all 27 on a relatively busy Thursday afternoon here. It was the first time ever I played each of... Continue »

My second round of the day was at Poppy Ridge. The starters were great in helping me coordinate playing all 27 on a relatively busy Thursday afternoon here. It was the first time ever I played each of the three nines somewhere with three different playing partners. I started on Merlot, which took about 2 hours. Next I played Zinfandel, which was quickest at 1:30. Then last but not least was Chardonnay, which took another 1:45. It all worked out nicely in the end.

The course is in solid shape overall. The greens are the highlight. You can still see some minor remnants of a recent aeration on a handful of holes, but they had no effect. Otherwise, the greens were firm-ish, rolling very smooth and relatively quick on putts. The tee boxes were good. A couple of the whites were a bit unlevel, but not a major issue. The fairways were mostly good with some spotty areas found throughout. You can tell the drought is having its toll, but they are still working hard to keep the playability good in the most important areas. The rough was more patchy. It was kind of clumpy and dried out in several of the places I found. The ball would always nestle down between two hard tufts of grass with a firm surface underneath and it made for some tough (and a bit painful) recoveries. The bunkers had great soft beach sand.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the course. I wasn't as blown away as I wanted to be, considering how much I've really enjoyed several other Rees Jones courses I've played. It's relatively forgiving from tee to green and then the greens can be pretty tricky and well protected. Kind of linksy style layout playing up, down and around the rolling hills with a lot of natural contour. I think if this place was in pristine non-drought-restricted condition with the outer native area rough more grown out in places (and if the sun was out more than it was), it would present more "pretty" than it did today. But as far as the layout goes, it's a solid design all around. Each of the three nines is pretty similar in style and challenge, so whatever combo you get you can feel good about.

Played April 24 early (Zinfandel/Merlot)
Zin - New bunkers going in on 2 and 8, Greens looked great after punching
Mer - Greens still recovering from punching but rolled true. A couple of the bunke... Continue »

Played April 24 early (Zinfandel/Merlot)
Zin - New bunkers going in on 2 and 8, Greens looked great after punching
Mer - Greens still recovering from punching but rolled true. A couple of the bunkers needed sand.

Played the Merlot/Chardonnay Nines on an unbelievable deal booked through the Poppy Ridge website for $25 with a cart at 2PM and just finished 18 as the sun was almost down. Overall the course is in g... Continue »

Played the Merlot/Chardonnay Nines on an unbelievable deal booked through the Poppy Ridge website for $25 with a cart at 2PM and just finished 18 as the sun was almost down. Overall the course is in great shape except that the greens were pretty bumpy. Just looked like they weren't cut this morning. This is a very tough course off the tee and while some holes I disagree heavily with the design, I learned that the best way to play this course is to stay patient and not pull driver on every hole. Sometimes, the smart move is to leave 200 yds. into a par 4 and aim at the center of the green for par. This mean't pulling 3 iron off the tee more times than driver. The course is worth the rack NCGA rate, but I am not sure about the general public rate.

Played week of 3/18. Greens in fantastic shape as others have said...very firm, minimal pitch marks, rolling great. **NOTE - they are aerating this coming week, April 1/2 **

Played week of 3/18. Greens in fantastic shape as others have said...very firm, minimal pitch marks, rolling great. **NOTE - they are aerating this coming week, April 1/2 **

The greens are incredible, fast and true. The course is great shape except for the sand traps, they can be very thin with only a ¼ inch sand in some of them. So stay out of the sand and your going to ... Continue »

The greens are incredible, fast and true. The course is great shape except for the sand traps, they can be very thin with only a ¼ inch sand in some of them. So stay out of the sand and your going to have a great round.

Played yesterday,great day. Greens perfect, fairways and rough fantastic. Was in a few traps got one plugged lie,one bladed shot into another trap which I bladed out of. Never know what you get fr... Continue »

Played yesterday,great day. Greens perfect, fairways and rough fantastic. Was in a few traps got one plugged lie,one bladed shot into another trap which I bladed out of. Never know what you get from the bunker's. Great value if you are NCGA member.