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Diablo
Grande, Legends West- Patterson
If you’re going
to make the haul to the Central Valley, you don’t want to play a
really good course. You want to play two of them.
That’s what
you get at Diablo Grande, a 36-hole resort in Patterson that is,
in my view, the best all-day golf deal in the Bay Area.
I’ll admit
it. I’m close-minded. When I think Central Valley I think flat and
boring. I think slaughter-houses, suffocating heat, treeless terrain
and pick-up trucks tailgating you at 90 miles per hour.
So I was in
for a surprise when I swung off I-5 and started up the quiet country
road that winds toward Diablo Grande through a lush green gorge,
past creeks, lakes, vineyards and old gnarled oaks. It looked more
like Napa Valley than the Central Valley.
The clubhouse
rests on the top of a hill, an elegant, one-story, resortish looking
place.
Much to my
relief, no one rushed out to snatch my bag out of the trunk. They’re
friendly at Diablo Grande. But they spare you the awkward brown-nosing
that you encounter these days at most high-end courses. That’s a
plus.
What’s also
a plus is that you can play both courses (the Ranch Course and Legends
West) for $100, except during the summer when the rate drops to
$80. The Ranch Course is the tougher of the two, but the Legends
West, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus and the late Gene Sarazen,
is more fun to play.
It’s an aesthetic
gem, dotted by ponds and surrounded by canyons. Old barns and other
antique-looking buildings-relics from the days when the land was
given over to ranching-stand in the background like attractive museum
pieces.
In true Nicklaus
style, optical illusions abound, especially on the par-5 16th, which
is reachable in two if you dare thwack a long-iron or a wood over
an expansive pond.
The Ranch Course
plays long. With plenty of water. And rough that swallows your ball
just as fast. The 621-yard par-5 12th is a bear. But not as brutal
as the 461-yard 14th, which requires a long approach shot over a
yawning gorge.
Although the
greens were a hair on the furry side, the conditions were otherwise
excellent.
But what I
liked best about Diablo Grande was the pace of play. They keep tee-times
spaced at 10 minute intervals, so the course is never jammed. You
don’t spend six hours trapped behind four bozos who plumb-bob over
two-foot putts for double-bogey.
On the weekday,
in fact, you can whiz around either course in about three hours.
But you don’t have to. At Diablo Grande, you never feel rushed.
That only happens
when the pick-up truck races up behind you on the drive back.
By
Josh Sens
Reviewer, sfbaygolf.com
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