I headed over to the North Bay this weekend to check out a couple new-to-me courses. First up was a round at The Links at Bodega Harbour which is a course set along Bodega Bay. This was my first time playing here and I was excited for the dramatic scenery. The course’s website shows some pretty awesome pictures.
The highlight of the round at Bodega Harbour is the views. The best views of the ocean come on the front nine, which plays into the steep coastal hillside. The 4th green and 5th tee are located at the high point of the property and offer a great view of the bay. The 6th and 7th play downhill towards the bay and give you a good view was well. The first part of the back nine turns back inland before the last three holes get close to the bay. Unfortunately, the sand dunes hide much of the bay from view on the three holes.
For me personally, I think it was a case of setting my expectations too high. I thought the course would have a more natural setting, but it is mostly a residential course. Homes line most holes and there is a lot of out of bounds. The way the course is laid out it felt like the designer, Robert Trent Jones Jr., wasn’t given enough land to properly design a course. Parts of the layout felt missing or forced. I guess with such valuable land for homes that shouldn’t be too surprising.
I played the black tees which are 71.5/129/6290. The course is a par-70 with five par-3’s, ten par-4’s and three par-5’s. It is one of those courses that is much tougher than the scorecard indicates. The total yardage isn’t bad, but there are enough uphill holes that made the course feel longer. Plus, it was tricky to figure out where I needed to hit the ball. Visually, it is difficult course with many blind and semi-blind shots. Thankfully, it wasn’t busy so I was able to drive the cart up to where I thought I wanted to play to and see what trouble was around.
There are some interesting holes at Bodega Harbour. For example, the 5th is a 506 yard par-5 that plays significantly downhill. If the tee shot ends up okay then someone can go for the green in two, but the second shot has to be played over an internal out of bounds area. A nearby road angles into the fairway, making for an odd angle to the green.
The last three holes are the course’s signature stretch since they get close to the bay. The 16th is a 319 yard par-4 that moves left and has a tee shot with a tough angle. I’m sure the bigger hitters could drive the green with the right wind. The 17th is a pretty par-3 that plays over a marsh with a hillside to the right. The 18th is a long par-4 (459 yards) with a blind 2nd shot.
Overall, Bodega Harbour is a unique course and one worth playing if you are in the North Bay. The conditioning was good. The setting on the coast is nice, but I thought all the homes surrounding the course and a couple funky holes did take away something from the round. I paid $42 for a weekend morning tee time which cannot be beat.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):
