top three Cali courses

[plastic_fondler]

You think that was massive...you should have seen his line on hole 14. 14 from the short tee to the long position. You know how there is a righty hzyer window to the C and D positions over the trees where your disc hyzers over the B position.....he hit a righty flick flex shot through that gap and parked the long position. I about dropped my jaw. Funny how all the humboldt golfers are so good at going huge over trees.

For the visiting cali question, it would seem that SF, LA or Sac would give you access to the most courses. You would need a car though.

[k-os]

I've stayed in downtown SF before. I really like the setting and going to China Town is interesting and fun. What courses would you recommend in the SF area? Probably 20 miles or less from San Francisco.

[Desafinado]

Like Nick said, you'd really need a car, the courses are well spaced out.

Within 20 miles of downtown SF, there are only two 18-hole courses, one great one(Golden Gate Park in SF itself) and one.. decent one, but some folks hate it(Aquatic Park in Berkeley, across the bay.) Aquatic is my home course, and I've come to love it, but the first time I played it I wasn't a big fan, mainly because I was a lot worse as a player then.

If you expand to 40 miles away, you get two more great 18-hole courses- Stafford Lake in Novato and Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa.

So you'd have three great 18 holers within about 45 minute drive radius, and then if you haven't been I highly recommend a day trip to Santa Cruz to play De Laveaga. That's about an hour and a half drive from downtown SF, one-way, but totally worth it.

Here's a list from PDGA.com of courses near downtown SF:

http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_s ... rch=Search

[Elevated Plastic]

1De La
2 Browns & Bows(splat hill- 36 hole private course)
3 Oroville (36 holes of goodness)

[idiot]

kirkwood, ca.....i am bias because it is my home course

shady oaks park, sacamento, ca......a very fun course although crowded because it is the only really nice course close by

the next would be a toss-up between bijou, south lake tahoe, ca and tahoe vista on the north shore of tahoe.....both courses are fantastic and worth playing

[cjskier]

For me:

De La

Auburn

La Mirada

Wow, auburn? I'm shocked to see that. I lived right next to that course, used to play there every day this summer. Its good, but not great. I hate it being mixed with a public park, too many joggers/ dogs/ people in the way.

My Favorite is Toney's Mountain golf, in the Grass valley area. But not for the faint of heart, VERY DIFFICULT!!!

Condon park in Grass valley, Shady oaks in Penn valley and Tahoe Vista in North lake Tahoe all tie for a close second. All have lots of trees and bushes, Very technical courses.

[the unwrinkled ear]

i'm surprised la mirada makes anyone's list - i live in LA and while it's nice to play on grass, and they do special things for tournaments, on a dialy basis it doesn't offer much of interest to me - it's too open, the minimal elevation changes are used too standardly, and and each hole offers too similar a challenge.

i learned disc golf in south carolina, and was frankly VERY dissapointed by the courses in southern california when i moved out here, especially by that la mirada since it was hyped. it wouldn't even make my list of top three courses in columbia south carolina if it was there.

the one course near LA that i do think is worth a top 3 in california is wrightwood's 27 hole mountain high course. though only open for half the year or so, the views and the challenge are over the top.

i also REALLY loved that stafford lake course in novato when i got a chance to play it earlier in the year (the proximity to the lagunitas brewery also makes a great case for that course)

casitas in ventura is great too - i've been playing up there the last couple weeks to get ready for their annual tourney, and the 20 hole additional course they put in for that tourney is pretty fucking amazing. it would be in my top three if it was permanent. wind, water, mountains, desert, dense uphill battles, insane sharp downhills. i'm psyched just to get to play it again

1. stafford
2. wrightwood
3. dodger stadium/ chavez ridge course - i live literally 5 minutes away, and play it all the time, so i kind of have to love it (and have gradually grown to genuinely do so)

[plastic_fondler]

next time your a stafford and looking for a case....check out Novato's local brewery Moylan's.

cheers and chains!

[JHern]

I've played a lot of places in Cali, but haven't made it out to Casitas or Napa yet! It's on my itinerary, for sure. Golden Gate is a great place, but I really didn't find the course to be very challenging.

I was just in San Diego and was about to play the course at Balboa Park, but a wicked ear infection shut me down (ugh! I was pissed!).

My most frequented courses, because of my work/travel schedule, are DeLaveaga, Shady Oaks (in Orangevale), and Rocklin (even further NE of Sacramento). I've played down in Santa Barbara, Casitas, etc., as well.

Anyways, I think NW Oregon has better courses than the Bay area, but I need to do Casitas/Napa first before cementing that opinion.

[JHern]

For the visiting cali question, it would seem that SF, LA or Sac would give you access to the most courses. You would need a car though.

LA is actually pretty slim on courses. There is one at Chavez ridge (haven't played), but according to the PDGA guide that's all you will find inside LA proper. There is another one in the south bay at an open park and of course the original in Pasadena, but that's a ton of driving. I lived in Santa Monica for 6 years, and its a good thing I wasn't addicted to DG back then, as I would have gone totally nuts.

The best place to be in California for DG is definitely the extended bay area (by which I mean from Monterey/Santa Cruz up through the immediate bay cities, then to Sonoma/Napa and then out east through Vacaville, Davis, and the Sacramento region...I guess this area is larger than many states, but we think on larger scales in CA). In this broad region, a lot of nice courses are accessible over a couple hours drive (well, Sac to Santa Cruz is 2.5 hours).

Sacramento itself is not bad, since it is easy to get around, and just an hour or so away from a lot of other courses in the region and close to the Sierras, Tahoe, etc..

[bigrocc01]

I have'nt played Navato but friends tell me it's great. My top Cali courses that I've played are DeLa,Santa Maria(Waller Pines),Ventura,Lake Hogan, and soon to be on everybodies list Hart Park-Bakersfield,Ca.

2 18 hole courses,1 hillside 18 (lots of ELEVATION) 1 grassyside 18(scenic,water,lots of trees). I co-designed these courses with a friend who originally moved from Colorado. So, I belive the variety of shots, along with the variety of terrain, will make this a priority for anyboby who plays in CA.

[JHern]

I finally played Stafford and Napa. Also went to Auburn and Condon Park/Grass Valley recently.

Anyways, now I know what the hell you guys were talking about with respect to Stafford. Simply amazing!

I think I'm dreaming of hole 6 every night.

Hole 1 was the least fun. It was all muddy mountainside and poor footing even though it hadn't been raining for a week. How the hell do you guys ever get up there in 3 throws on that cliffside mud pit? I fell on my ass twice trying to chuck it hard up that slope. I think you Stafford guys put it there to scare away less committed disc golfers right at the outset. If a person still wants to play more after doing hole #1 under these conditions, then they will have a blast on the rest of the course.

So yeah, Stafford is my new favorite in California. Despite some of the mud tees, the hike in from the parking lot, lack of facilities, strict park rangers, etc.. I'm playing La Mirada this coming weekend...interesting to see what SoCal's supposed best course is like after having played a fresh round at Stafford...stay tuned!

[Triplebogey]

1) Wrightwood (If you haven't played, you don't know what you're missing!!)

2) La Mirada

3) Lake Casitas

[JHern]

1) Wrightwood (If you haven't played, you don't know what you're missing!!)

Where the hell is Wrightwood?!

2) La Mirada

Good to hear. I can't wait to play there, now that it has gotten so pumped up for me.

3) Lake Casitas

Near Ventura, correct? I had a chance to play it once, but missed the opportunity. I heard about the hole that goes over the lake...sounds like fun!

TB, have you ever played DeLa, Stafford, or any other NorCal courses?

[Triplebogey]

1) Wrightwood (If you haven't played, you don't know what you're missing!!)

Where the hell is Wrightwood?!

Directly south of Lancaster/Palmdale. It's in the mountians that overlook the Antelope Valley. You can see most of the Antelope Valley from the north side of the course. It's up at almost 7,500 feet!