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Fall is the perfect time for a Wine Country swing
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No. 17 at the Links at Bodega Harbour, one of Sonoma County's best public courses.
There's a reason the PGA Tour keeps bringing its senior circuit's Charles Schwab Cup Championship back to Northern California's vaunted Wine Country. Actually, several reasons, from its richness of wine tasting and restaurant choices to its proximity to San Francisco, which remains on a golf high after hosting the Presidents Cup earlier this month. But the top reason the Champions Tour's top 30 players saddle up at Sonoma Golf Club every autumn is, of course, the weather.
Despite a cold snap early this week, temperatures for the tournament, which begins Thursday, should top out in the low 70s each day, with zero chance of rain. That'll put past champs like Tom Watson, Fred Funk and Loren Roberts in go-low mode, and fans in a great mood not only for watching golf, but perhaps squeezing in a round or two of their own at various courses throughout the wine country.
Perhaps the most popular all-around golf destination in the entire region is Napa's Silverado Resort. Its two Robert Trent Jones II layouts are classic old-school in character, fairly flat, tree-lined and toughened up with great bunkering and well-placed water hazards. Couple 36 holes of private-club-caliber golf with great accommodations, a clubhouse that's right out of a Gone With the Wind movie set (check out those columns!) and the outstanding continental dining showcase of Royal Oak, and you've got the perfect home base for a week-long cab-and-chardonnay-soaked golf junket. The Champions Tour set itself has teed it up there in the past, so it certainly has the bona fides for the rest of us.
In Sonoma County itself, the golf options actually grow quickly beyond this week's tournament venue, which is considered one of the top resort courses in Northern California. Drive a few miles south to the edge of Marin County, just off Highway 37 and you'll find StoneTree, one of the area's most unique treks through wooded hills and North Bay wetlands — it's really two courses in one, and the transitions between them are dramatic. The clubhouse is simply spectacular.
But it's up the Highway 101 corridor and beyond where the Wine Country's golf banquet really gets fulfilling. Cruise out to the coast and discover The Links at Bodega Harbour, another Trent Jones II product that underwent some tasty improvements recently and boasts killer ocean views when the fog rolls out (which is the case this time of year). Then make your way back to the main drag and check out a good half-dozen public courses including Windsor Golf Club just north of Santa Rosa and the 36-hole Foxtail complex in Petaluma. All offer reasonable rates as Bay Area courses go, along with great food, solid service and perfect fall conditioning.
Got the picture? Why let the Champions Tour's finest have all the fun? Even when they've packed up and left one of the Golden State's most beautiful and tourist-friendly areas, there's a wealth of good golf and world-class wine and cuisine to savor for everyone else, not just in the warmth of harvest season but at any point on the calendar.
For more on West Coast golf travel, personalities, equipment and much more, visit Fairways + Greens Magazine.
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