One year since my last post. This remains one of the top 3 public courses in the entire bay area,in my view. BUT.... the problems remain, and make the golf experience unpleasant for a singleton. a twosome would face the same . There are always extremely slow,extremely unskilled players,4-somes,3-somes, hacking their way at snails pace along the course..... completely oblivious that they are playing at a 5 and 1/2 hour pace. As a singleton playing behind them, the golf day is ruined. But it does no good to try and play through...the group ahead of them is just as bad and just as slow.
Unless you pay the high rates to tee off at 9 or 10 am....or pay the (still higher than average) twilight rates to squeeze in 9 holes before sunset..... you will suffer a long day behind bunched up slow 4 somes on this course. and with never a marshal in sight..... there is nothing to do but stand and wait 10 minutes on every shot. that is not golf . it is torture. and it spoils Hiddenbrooke. as it does with many other courses in the crowded bay area.
It almost doesnt matter now where you try to play.

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 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 live a mile away from this course and never thought enough of it to bother playing it until now. But now,the cost of gas makes me shy away from long trips to better courses, and after finally playing on Earl Frye a few weeks ago for the first time in years,I discovered..... this is actually not a bad course at all. Its better than I thought it would be. Compared to high quality landscapes like Hiddenbrooke and Stonetree, alameda ,of course,cant shine like that, but for what its worth,alameda(earl frye) has just enough interesting landscape, mostly found in the dog leg holes,there are just enough interesting golf shots,over trees,cutting corners, just enough interesting contour of the course,avoiding water hazards,etc,nice condition fairways,and greens that are in good shape (for the moment/ but they will get chopped up through the summer),a decent twilight price of 20 bucks for residents, ....that it all makes this golf course a decent place to play.Not spectacular,but just good enough to be satisfied. and the bonus,for me, is that when I'm finished....I'm 4 minutes away from home. would I go out of my way and drive 40 miles to play here? No. would I pay 30+ dollars to play it ? no. In comparison to other courses you may be familiar with, I would call it slightly better than Metropolitan; maybe on a par with Tilden and Franklin Canyon. not quite as good as San Geronimo,Rancho Solano,Roddy Ranch or Shadow Lakes in terms of scenic beauty, or great golf shot landscape. Alameda is a flat course,and I like the rolling hills and interesting contours of courses like Delta View and Tilden,different looks to every hole,elevated greens,just things that make a hole Look interesting and memorable,inviting you with enough challenge to make a great shot .Alameda has some places where that happens,mostly on those nice dog leg holes.... but theres not alot that a designer can do with a flat landscape to make it look interesting, and alameda does about as good as it can to give you some interesting golf shots...a few narrow fairways,a few interesting water hazards,nice dog legs, strong wind at times,and just enough challenge to make you work for a good score.
Earl Frye is a decent golf experience. the staff in the proshop is considerate and flexible.The course is typically crowded but the pace of play is not hideous.
The practice facility is very good.and is lit up at night.
Its worth playing Alameda (earl frye) and if you live in the east bay, you might find it as nice to play as metropolitan and maybe even a little better.

Lets give this golf course a thoughtful review. Many years ago,old timers told me this course(galbraith) was a dump...(literally) ..and poorly kept, and became a landfill dump,until johnny miller turned it into what you now see. What it is is a decent,links style, somewhat bland,public course, that gets a lot of play, and manages to do ok with what it has to offer.
I would never get too excited about this golf course. I live 5 miles from it but drive 50 miles to play roddy ranch,and Rancho solano instead. I live 1 mile from the alameda golf complex, which is even worse than Metropolitan.
Metro is not a bad golf course. its just that it lacks much character, doesnt have anything really memorable about it. no spectacular vistas, no great holes that make you go "wow". nothing to inspire you to come back soon. So if you find the course crowded, or more expensive than it should be(which it is),then you probably play there because you live nearby. ho hum. Its a links style,that looks a bit dull . what you see on the first tee box as you look down the open fairway into the bland distance,is dullness. what you see on the second tee box is dullness dog leg left. what you see on the third is slightly interesting ,actually looks like a decent landscape. but dont get your hopes up. most of the holes are just a little too dull and at best only marginally interesting. the view means alot to me. the contour of the fairway. the shape of your shot into the green. the vista of the landscape around the course.... its all an important part of the aesthetic beauty (or lack of) at a golf course. and metropolitan, went from a flat landfill dump to a flat uninspiring mild at best place to play a round of golf. afternoon time will give you unpleasant wind. other times will give you slow play on a crowded course. Probably the most interesting hole on the course is the par 5 10th hole. There are one or two other holes that are nice enough to stay in the memory but I have to think hard to remember. thats what I mean. I find it a better choice to drive 40 or 50 miles away to other more interesting and more fun golf courses , like san geronimo, rancho solano,shadow lakes.chardonnay, etc...
I'd play metro for 20 bucks. if they offered it. but they dont. for 30 or 35 , you can do better at several other places.

UPDATED
Since my sept. 2006 posting, this course has new ownership,which has taken away the old discount rates and ,why am I not surprised, raised the fees ..combining their system with the other course they own ,across the street,Deer Ranch. ....so what they have now, is something like,a membership card which allows you to play either course. and its not a bad deal if you live nearby and can manage to get out and play these courses about 100 times a year to get your money's worth.
Most people I talked to said they thought deer ridge was not challenging enough , so they play Shadow Lakes more often.
for the general public, I believe the twilight rates,are now 35, they used to be 25. I would play it for 25 $ but not for 35. Roddy Ranch is the better course to play now.
I liked shadow lakes last year. But now its time to move on.

Played this course for the first time. expecting it to be a 'quality' golf course(like a good private course). Here's what I found.

It was a good golf course,some holes are great,most are just good enough to call this a good all around golf course. just enough scenic beauty to be good,but not enough to call it great. One thing that was great were the putting greens. best,most true greens Ive played on in the whole bay area.

Johnny Millers design on half the holes created long long,monotonously long par 4's.... too many of them.one or two 475 yard par 4's are enough. this course,thanks to him has about 5. which means all day youre hitting a drive and a 2 iron.
So my best advise is when you play there......dont just tee off every hole from the same black,or blue tees all the time. mix it up. hit from the blacks on the par 5's. hit from the whites on some of those 490 yard par 4's. same with the par 3's...several are 200 yds. from the black tee...theres that 2 iron again... give yourselves a better variety and chance to use every club in your bag and it will be a more fun course to play.

In the later afternoon ,when the wind starts blowing stronger, the 16 th hole ,from the black tee,at 610 yards,Into the wind,plays like 715 yards..do you really want to play from the black tee on that hole??!

Its a very nice golf course. Afew holes could use some landscape tweaking that would add to the beauty,but I'm being picky. most of the course is good enough to make for a nice day of golf. Comparing it to other courses, for scenic beauty and course layout,Hiddenbrooke is somewhat better,in my view. stonetree is better, Eagle vines is about on a par with Rancho Solano.and Chardonnay.I would drive 40 miles to play there but not 60 miles. I would pay 30/40 dollars but not 60.

Well Ive played Hiddenbrooke a handful more times since my last post.and the problems are the same. I cant really recommend playing here.the main reason,the pro shop makes the tee time reservations all bunched up from late morning to 1 pm....all bunched together ,it seems ultra slow 4 somes,on every hole ,with no marshals to speed play, you wait 8 minutes to hit every shot,if youre playing there from 11 am thru 2 pm,it will be a drag the pace of play. as a singleton or in a 2-some, you'll be frustrated waiting and waiting to hit one shot. Dont bother trying to play through, theres nothing but slow 3-somes and 4-somes on every hole .not at 10 am .not at 4 pm. but at the prime time of day,theyve jammed everybody into a 3 hour slot from 11 to 2 pm.
The last 2 times I went there at 1 pm. I made it through the front nine ok,and then found the back nine so jammed with 4-somes and 5-somes!! that I couldnt play it at all. Why? because there was a men's club tournament that day !! a wednesday afternoon in november?! give me a break.
the other day I played there.same problem.I got through the front nine and then found the back nine all jammed with slow 4-somes who must have started around 11 am. The idea of standing at the tee box or in the middle of the fairway Waiting and waiting for 4 hackers to hack their ball, waiting for 10 minutes in order to hit my next shot,is so repulsive that I cant play on this course anymore if this is how its going to be. my only advise to you is Dont EVER play there as a singleton in the late morning or early afternoon,any weekday, ever.
unless you like to stand behind an endless stream of 4-some hackers who are oblivious to the aging process.
I ended up playing the front nine twice. it was a meager consolation to me. the back noine is the nicest part of the golf course. I pay 13 dollars in gas and tolls to drive to this place ,plus the online deal at $29.... but in the end, I cant say its worth it anymore.
and thats a shame because the golf course itself is a lovely well maintained,pretty landscape, with nature,and vistas,and a nice layout, a quality golf course that is ruined by poor course management. This course desperately needs marshals who speed up play.and it needs to schedual tee times 15 minutes apart ,throughout the longer day, not bunch them all together tight ,from 11 to 130(winter) or from 2 to 330 (summer)

Is there ANY nice golf course in the bay area that is not over crowded with ultra slow 4-somes on every hole???

I played here a month ago. heres what I found. This is a nice golf course in just enough of the right ways....enough scenic beauty, just challenging enough for a good golfer, almost but not too crowded (make sure there isnt a tournament in front of you), what else, twilight tee times are reasonable, not too much wind to hurt you.... alot to like about this golf course, even the houses around the course are not too many ,not everywhere, or so it seems,more unobtrusive than other housing community /golf complexes. Its a nice golf course. if you can get a discount tee time its worth it. the course conditions are good, greens are good, the pro shop staff is friendly and flexible. I missed my tee time and they said dont worry. it was nice. I would like to have this course all to myself.

I got back into golf in a big way last year,practiced a lot, didnt play on courses much until this year. the first two courses that caught my fancy were San Geronimo in san rafael and Hiddenbrooke in Vallejo. I am never willing to pay full price(50 to 80) (or higher??!) for any golf course. I still believe 18 holes should cost 20 bucks. period. you go play coyote moon for 175 and have a great time. I'll keep trying to find some place alot like it with a web discount for 25.
So with the online special, sometimes I've found hiddenbrooke at 29. but theres a problem. sometimes, youve found the same special, and we end up having to play together and you are not much fun to play with. I'm a great guy. but you,you and your buddy, are a bunch of idiots who dont have a clue about golf ettiquette and good sportsmanship. and now,Ive got to play with you for 4 hours. .....lol... well, unfortunately I'm only half kidding here. It seems the online discount gods of fate almost always put me together with fellows you would never be friends with,to put it politely. and thats a problem for me, I come from a golfing family, my dad ,my uncles, my best friends in high school, etc, I grew up playing with friends and thats a big part of what golf means to me. now I have to play with you and your rotten buddy who didnt even say "nice par" when I sank a 20 footer.whats wrong with him. This is the world of online golf discounts.

In the beginning ,this spring when I first started playing Hiddenbrooke, I was often lucky to play alone. and I discovered that the whole course...let me say that again, thewhole freakin beautiful golf course was almost empty. The whole day,I would see maybe one 3-some 4 holes away over there and another 2-some later in the day...and me...that was it . Talk about having the whole course to yourself. it was really great to play this course like that. but now, since you discovered the online discount,I have to play with your sorry ass if I go back there. and here's why. in the beginning, they would also let me tee off the 10 th to start. what a great idea. why? because there were 2 3-somes on the first 2 holes and the rest of the whole course was open. why not allow that? well, it seems the starter/asst.pro(whoever) decided that they wont let anyone start on the 10 th. so now, I have to start on the 1 st...and guess who's there on the 1 st tee.... You and your rotten buddy . thanks for spoiling my fun.

ok, enough joking. here's what hiddenbrooke is like. I know the course very well. pay close attention to the advise of the other poster about the wet conditions in winter and early spring. I believe him.
when the course is playable... the afternoon tee times are going to give you alot of wind to deal with. the wind is a Big factor. Thats the reason other posters said the yardage is off the mark. its the wind. and it starts right at the first hole. blowing at you and across at the same time. the hole plays 30 to 40 yards longer. the hard slope sidehill of the first fairway along with the wind will take your ball and pull it down left and roll on into the swamp out of bounds left. welcome to hiddenbrooke.
but its a very pretty hole. so just enjoy the view and hit another ball right into the same swamp again.
the second shot to the green will need an extra club to get there. WIND.
ok, now the fun begins even worse at the second hole. rated hardest hole and it is,for one reason....WIND. the par 5 says on the card (if memory serves me) something like 520 yards,or 499, something short like that) ok? NO. the wind will make it write this down....670 yards. it will take a great drive slam,a great 2 wood slam, and with 80 to 100 Still to go , dont take out a wedge.... you'll need maybe an 8 iron,and it might get there. and when you get there the green is sloping and undulating all over the place. and your rotten buddie doesnt have the sportsmanship to say"nice par" to me !!!??? ok, well, you get the idea.

the first 3 holes are the toughest starting holes Anywhere in the bay area.
the whole course has to deal with wind in the afternoon(like alot of bay area courses) but the layout is very nice, lots of scenic beauty, well designed, as someone posted, you can tell this course used to host a womens tour event. you can still see some of the very far back tee boxes they dont use anymore.
this course was becoming my favorite place to play until it became too unpredictable for me. I'd rather play alone than with a poor sport. and I'd rather start on the 10 th. and they dont have a casual approach at the starter pro shop it seems like they first did. some courses will have a more casual user friendly approach to your tee time. if there is a bottleneck on the first waiting.... you might be allowed to start on the 10 th if youre not jumping in front of players finishin on 9. thats a good friendly way for a course to make golf fun. I wont say which courses will do that because I'll end up playing with you and your rotten buddy.

The back nine at hiddenbrooke is the prettiest...all 9 holes are nice. some are very windy and thats a problem, too much wind,a little is ok, but too much gets a bit riduculous. So as other posters mentioned about the yardage cards etc... its not so much about the markers , although the card is very useful for depicting traps and streams, etc... this course is all about the wind and how strong it is. and it definitely helps to have course knowledge. play it a few times and you'll score better. I wish I still had this course to myself. . The management does this other thing too that is strange. they schedual tee times for the public (it seems) between 1 and 3 pm. prior to that the course is virtually empty except for a few resident/members. or golfers who payed the full price to play at 11 am. so what happens when you go to play at 230.... you get bunched into a log jam,while the rest of the course is empty. this seems strange and unnecessary to me....and frankly, it spoils the golf experience at hiddenbrooke. too bad because for any discount price around 30 or even 40 dollars, this is a nice golf course. now let me help you....go like this...."nice par".... you can do it. nice drive. good up and down... you'll get it.

I played this course about a month ago. heres what I found. The other posters are right,its nothing special ,and never for a high fee. even the online discount at 30 dollars is iffy. remember this is san fran freezing cisco... in the summer. so the day I played, at noon, sported a thick windy heavy fog rolling right through the whole course the whole 4 hours I was there. That alone,playing in this kind of late fall chilly windy unpleasant weather, is reason enough not to playhere again. and in fact,I wont. but its also because the pace of play,with 4-somes on every tee,fairway,and green,was so slow, try standing and waiting 5 minutes on every shot In this foggy cold. what fun!!
and this was a weekday.no, wait, let me be honest, we werent waiting 5 minutes on every shot , it was really more like 4 minutes. sometimes 5.
So whats the course like? well, the last 6 holes are scenically nice. they would be perfect if they were on Tilden in berkeley. now that would make a sweet golf course. take the handful of rinky-dink filler holes at Tilden(you know the ones) and replace them with the Presidio's last 6 holes . ...and get it the hell out of san francisco's rotten fog. gee whiz. who needs it.
at the presidio, in this windy fog, be prepared to hit a 3 or 4 iron on the 150 yard par 3 . be prepared to put on a windbreaker over your sweatshirt.be prepared for a slow pace of play. and like others said...forget about the practice range. when I got back home to alameda, it was sunny and 72 degrees and I was back to reality again. goodbye presidio.

I played the meadows/lakes combo about a month ago too. it was ok,but not great. This course(chardonnay) was always on my list of 'quality' golf courses, more exotic than the norm, .I used to drive by it for many years,wondering what it must be like. I imagined beautiful vistas of scenic holes weaving inbetween vineyards,and the high price must certainly be because its a great course.
well,heres what I found.
It isnt. It was ok, decent, not spectacular at all. the layout of the meadows/lakes combination was more ordinary than I expected. Where are those beautiful holes I thought I saw from the highway? they must be on the Vineyards 9 because they werent on meadows at all, or was it lakes...doesnt matter.
this course I played, in my financial view is worth maybe the 20 to 35 dollar fee range....but I would never pay more for it. the condition was good in some places and dry in places, it was not immaculate at all. the winding of the course thru the vineyards was not anything special at all along the meadows/lakes tracks. there were some vineyard orchards here and there...but they stood out in a manner that felt more like thry were 'in the way of the hole' rather than a pretty scenic part of the course. I know I'm being picky here, but the beauty of a golf course means alot to me. Isnt that what the extra cost is supposed to be about?
Ive seen many prettier courses than this one. Hiddenbrooke is prittier. stonetree is prettier. My idea of a well designed and scenically flowing,pretty golf course that feels right is rancho canada down in carmel. even rancho solano in fairfield is prettier than chardonnay.
My quest is to find a public course that looks and feels and has all the best qualities of a fine private course. hiddenbrooke has that. san geronimo almost does. chick corica doesnt. tilden almost does. stone tree has it. chardonnay almost does but sort of doesnt. and never for the full green fee.
chardonnay is nice enough if you can get the online special for maybe 30. otherwise I would always choose a course like franklin canyon for 20. franklin canyon isnt a bad course in its own right.