Played here this morning. Very heavy fog for the first 3/4 holes and then the sun came out. And then you saw the beautiful area you were in. While the course is lined with homes you really are not a... Continue »

Played here this morning. Very heavy fog for the first 3/4 holes and then the sun came out. And then you saw the beautiful area you were in. While the course is lined with homes you really are not affected by them unless you are so wild then you should not be playing golf. And the views of Bodega Bay and the ocean are prevelant on almost every hole adding to the beauty of the area. I was fortunate enough to play with two guys from Santa Rosa who play here often and that was helpful. They said the first 4 holes are difficult and the last 3 are as well. But I found only the first two holes difficult and the last 3 I would not use the word difficult. But this is a family site after all (more later). As I said when the sun came out you could see what a great looking course this is. Unfortunately the fog had been so heavy that the course was very damp most of the round. I would not call the course very long (6284 B 5892 B 5465 W) but with the elevation changes and the routing of holes with many side hill lies and rough that is thick and nasty + many traps it plays harder than what the scorecard shows. Add in a day of fog, wind and that would make things even better LOL. A great mixture of 3, 4, 5 pars to keep you interested the whole round. Tee boxes all level and clean. Fairways wide with great coverage but early morning dampness controlled roll out but the lies were great all round. Traps were in excellent shape. In two and no issues playing out of them. Same for my partners. Greens are large. Much larger than I expected. Most have undulations and they to were damp so putting was slow for the first 9 holes but back 9 they had speed and you did not want to be above any hole. Now for #16, 17 and 18. (You can see pics on the club site.) And they are all on the ocean. 16 and 17 are in an environmental marsh. I have never seen anything like this before. You have to park your cart and take clubs or your whole bag (pull carts are provided but they are old and heavy) and walk over the wooden walkways to play these two holes. 16 requires you to hit over high marsh and your landing area is at least 190-215 yards from the Black, Blue and White tees. The Gold tee markers are on the other side of the marsh for we seniors LOL. #17 is a par 3 and also you hit over the marsh to an uphill green guarded by a front bunker. I have no idea what happens if someone in your group has trouble walking? But my guess would be they skip those two holes? And a handicap player would not play them either. So after playing 16/17 you put your clubs back on your cart and proceed to the 18th hole. And what a finishing hole. 459 yds from B/Blue and the tee sets 50/60 yards below the fairway. White tee is up on the hill above and level with fairway. And the green sits some 50/75/100 + yards below where the fairway ends depending upon how long your drive is. Huge trees line the left side down the green which is gaurded by one huge bunker and large undulating green. So start out with 2/3/4 hard holes and end with 3 unique holes like nothing I have ever seen before in all my years of golf and you have a round of golf that will stay in your mind for years to come. I am glad I played it and I would go back again w/o hesitation. $80 w cart I felt was good price for a resort course like this. Great customer service. Small shop and snack bar. Hitting bays to warm up. Two good putting greens. Great carts with a good GPS. Excellent restaurant on site called Bluewater Lounge with great food, drinks and views. Bodega Harbour is conveniently situated along the Sonoma County Coast, only an hour from San Francisco and two hours from Sacramento. Using 101 N, US 1 N or I 80 W to Hwy 12 through Napa and Sonoma. I am not going to say this a "Pebble Beach" look alike. But it is a great great links golf course that anyone who loves golf would love to play. Highly recommended.