May be heading to the Bay area weekend of October 10

[DrRyan]

I may be in the San Fran/Bay area the weekend of October 10 for a seminar. I am planning to have that Sunday free after the seminar on Saturday. I would love some input from the Bay area disc golfers. Being so close and having not played in NorCal before, I am going to do my best to play DeLa.

1. Would it be possible/feasible to play DeLa and Golden Gate both on Sunday and make a 7pm-ish flight back out of town?

2. If not, what are you recommendations on course/s to play in the Bay area in this short window?

3. I would like to hear any and all recommendations please, and thank you in advance.

Ryan

[Elevated Plastic]

I'm not in the bay area but play both those courses as much as i can. De La and GG with the 7 oclock flight is makeable. You'd had to get to De La early obviously to make GG and then the airport. Assuming you have a car I think if you play De La 8amish, finish before 11, you could stop for lunch and be at GG before 3 easily. GG is kinda of crowded especially on a saturday, but it's awseome landscape enjoy the views. If for some reason you can't make it to De la, you should for sure atleast check out http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=774 , it's closer to San Fran than De La. It's a totally different course, longer and more elevation. IMO I would stick with the De La GG combo, but Novato is one hell of a course.

[DrRyan]

Sounds good. The Novato course does look long after checking it out on DGCR. What is course par on that course? Seeing there is 1000, 600, and 500 footer, regardless of elevation change I have to guess it plays more than 54.

It sounds like just playing DeLa and hanging out with some buddies for a drink or two would make the most sense.

[Dickies]

It will be difficult to get both courses in IMHO. You'd have to play DeLa really early and leave by 11am. It will take approx 90 minutes to drive between the courses, and GGP has their weekly tournament on sunday, which in my experience bogs down the course for the whole day. Weekend play at GGP is very crowded and slow.

[JHern]

I disagree with earlier assessments. Play DeLaveaga and plan to spend the day there, and play GG the next time you're in town. Trying to do both in one day will be very stressful as GG is crowded, and Santa Cruz is about 1.5 hour drive (depending on traffic) and is anyways a very long course. Unless you like stress!

Just get out to DeLa as early as possible, take a bunch of beer and some food (sandwich, etc.), find some locals to fall in with, and enjoy it. Play as much as you can, then head to the airport at 4:30-ish (to be safe).

[plastic_fondler]

Hello,

You could play GG on sunday super early and still have time for one round at DeLa and then drive back up. I'm assuming you are flying out of SFO. However, Sunday in GG is the weekly that starts early. You could avoid this if you start very early ala 8AM. If I were you and wanted to play both those courses, I'd play GG on Saturday night and then have a full day at DeLa. Stafford is better than both courses in many ways, but it is 2-3hr round from the parking lot for me..first time might be 3-4hours. I'd go for two rounds at Dela on sunday. If you start early you will be fine.

[mark12b]

if you haven't booked your flight yet, you might want to see how the san jose airport works with your other plans... it's closer to dela and overall much less stressful than sfo.

[DrRyan]

if you haven't booked your flight yet, you might want to see how the san jose airport works with your other plans... it's closer to dela and overall much less stressful than sfo.

Thanks Mark, I just booked the flights to SFO. The seminar I am coming up for is in San Fran so flying into San Jose would not have worked well with the agenda. Looks like I am going to plan on playing DeLa early on Oct. 11 if anyone is in the area and wanting to play then.

[Yehosha]

I know this is blasphemy to some but Dela is overrated IMO. I liked Stafford Lake in Novato, CA much better. If I were you I'd play GG Park in the morning then drive North to play Stafford Lake. Way less crowded, closer, and IMO a better park.

GG's Ace Pot is reaching, if not over, 1,000 bucks. You gotta take a crack at that. Stafford Lake I promise you won't dissapoint.

[JHern]

I know this is blasphemy to some but Dela is overrated IMO. I liked Stafford Lake in Novato, CA much better. If I were you I'd play GG Park in the morning then drive North to play Stafford Lake. Way less crowded, closer, and IMO a better park.

GG's Ace Pot is reaching, if not over, 1,000 bucks. You gotta take a crack at that. Stafford Lake I promise you won't dissapoint.

It's not blasphemy at all. Everyone has their own preferences. These are all different courses in many respects. GG is newer, well-kempt, and well-heeled, just like the rest of the beautiful park it resides within, but doesn't have any holes of extraordinary or extreme/unique challenge (though many are quite fun and exquisite). Stafford is a rough country course with big distances, big topography, blind fairways, and some uniquely challenging holes (not to mention mountain lions). DeLaveaga is in between: it has some big holes and some good topography and a touch of wildness to it, but is also fairly well-groomed in comparison to Stafford.

On a scale of 10 I'd personally rate all of them around 9, with DeLaveaga slightly edging out the others. The reasons I prefer DeLa are (not necessarily in this order)...
1...Mature disc golf culture
2...Super cool people
3...Large variety of well-thought out holes with distinct character
4...Better accessibility (SF is a not easy to get around or park, Stafford is in the sticks and a hike to hole 1)
5...A gold standard course for every player's score
6...Risk/reward is properly balanced
7...The mixtiure of forested (big and small trees come into play on different holes) and open holes are great, changes things up a lot.

There are other nice courses in the region. Napa's Skyline Wilderness course is spectacular, a bit like Stafford in its wildness but better equipped/signed/tee-padded/etc.

[DrRyan]

Looks like it is going to be DeLa early on Sunday morning. If that happens to change it will likely be for Novato. I guess I will just have to make another trip to NorCal sooner than later!

[JHern]

Looks like it is going to be DeLa early on Sunday morning. If that happens to change it will likely be for Novato. I guess I will just have to make another trip to NorCal sooner than later!

Yes! Come for a week or two, and make a trip up to Oregon as well!