I finally decided to take the initiative and play the Tournament course at Coyote Creek Golf Club in San Jose. I’ve been wanting to play here for the last couple years, but it just never worked out for various reasons.

I had an appointment in San Jose in the morning and then headed over to golf in the afternoon. I got out right away and it was surprisingly quiet. I golfed by myself and played in about four hours. Almost unheard of in the Bay Area on a weekend!

I played the back tees which are 74.8/144/7027. That turned out to be more than my game could handle, especially with a two club wind. There are a number of long par-4’s (425+ yards), which made for a lot of longer irons for me. In hindsight, I should have tried the course from the next set of tees up – 6,633 yards.

The Tournament course sits in a valley along Highway 101. Most of the front nine is up in the foothills with some hilly terrain and oak trees that can impact play. The back nine is on the flatter, west side of the highway with Coyote Creek’s Valley course – which I haven’t played.

The holes in the hills were my favorite. There is some elevation change – not more than a club – and the views are nice. Overall, the fairways at the Tournament course are generous and a wayward day with the driver won’t result in too many lost balls. The main challenge comes around the greens. The greens are heavily bunkered and a short sided shot will almost always be a bogey, unless you are a short game magician. Jack Nicklaus designed the course and the green complexes are pretty severe. Typical for Nicklaus though.

The conditioning was great. The greens rolled true and were quick. The tee boxes and fairways were cut down and lush for late summer. The twilight rate was $75, not crazy for a premium public course in the Bay Area, but not necessarily a great deal either.

Overall, I’d recommend a round on the Tournament course. The course is little rich for my blood to play consistently and if I’m going to splurge for a nice round I’d prefer playing Cinnabar Hills. Cinnabar Hills isn’t far and the setting there is quite a bit better. The road noise from Highway 101 at Coyote Creek is quite noticeable. But, Coyote Creek is a solid option in the South Bay.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):