I ended up at Rooster Run for my afternoon round. I debated between here and Adobe Creek and was very satisfied with my selection of Rooster Run. The course isn’t far from Highway 101, towards the edge of the developed part of Petaluma. I got out right away and was given the resident walking rate of $33. Sweet!

While the course is on a flat piece of land it has good views, something that I love about many of the Bay Area courses. Petaluma is in a small valley and I was able to see the coastal hills, inland hills, and local vineyards from the course.

I played the course from the tournament tees which are 73.8/136/7001 and found that it was forgiving, considering its tougher rating. The routing of the holes is pretty simple (think many parallel holes) with the front nine playing on the south side of a road and the back nine playing on the north side. I found the front to be the more “vanilla” nine as the 1st through the 4th play away from the clubhouse, out to the edge of the property. Then, the 5th through 9th play in the opposite direction, right next to the opening holes.

The course started to get memorable once I got to the 7th hole – the start of some monster holes. The 7th is a 460 yard par-4 with a little trouble and the 8th is a 230 yard par- 3. The 9th is a 606 yard par-5 with water, a very difficult hole. This stretch of consecutive, long holes is something that I don’t get to play too often and was a good challenge.

I found the back nine to be more interesting, with some fun holes. The 11th is a deceptive par-3 over water and one of those holes where the water shouldn’t come into play, but certainly could with an awful shot. The next few holes are position par-4’s before getting to the 14th which is a 420 yard par-4 that doglegs left around a corner. The 18th is a risk/reward par-5 with trouble short of the green.

The course was in good shape for this time of year. Because I played during the rainy season, I found that the greens were a little bumpy and held footprints. However, I am sure that come tournament time they would be great.

I think most golfers should be able to enjoy Rooster Run as long as they aren’t expecting a destination course. I liked the fact that the course rewarded good shots while not being too punishing for the horrible ones. If I lived nearby, I’d play here frequently.

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