Northern California 2016- Day 5 Whitney Oaks GC- Rocklin CA

Whitney Oaks G.C. – Rocklin, CA

Well our week away in Northern California was to end at another reputable course and what made it especially exciting for Myra and me was the reaction we received previous to playing Whitney Oaks from other members of the Sacramento golf fraternity.

“ Oh you will really enjoy it”, “ That’s a really well designed course” “ The greens there are sweet” and on and on.

Thus with the bar set pretty high we were more than eager to play it. It didn’t disappoint and it lived up to its billing for sure. It was sweet, the greens were mint and we loved this Johnny Miller designed nugget. Could this really be the same guy whose layout tortured us a few month earlier us at the immaculate Maderas GC in Escondido?

The course is set within a beautiful subdivision of gorgeous homes in Rocklin, CA about a 30-minute drive from our Sacramento base. Although surrounded by a number of these spectacular mansions, the course was far enough from them that they didn’t impede the way to play the course.

The oak trees were full and flourishing in the sunny early spring weather and various strains of long grasses, shrubbery and wetlands framed the fairways. Intermingled were rock outcroppings and enormous boulders bordering the pathways also, the course was very smartly detailed. Directions towards the next tee were marked clearly with black numbers on smaller tan colored boulders.

Hummingbirds darted around at will and the wide rolling fairways contoured to bring off center shots back into play made this must play course a must return destination.

From Zach greeting us in the pro shop when we checked it to player assistant Kelly a solid 13-handicap freshman at Sierra College directing us to the first tee, the staff mantra complimented the course in every way. Professional and poised without any pretense.

Our host General Manager Mr. Jerry Bow wasn’t around on the day but if he was I would have given him one very firm handshake at the end of our round. Superintendent Brad Bonino and his team of greens keepers really know their stuff and if we were residents of this town we would look at this as our home course or at least a regular place to pay green fees.

One of the many aspects of the great practice area overlooked by the clubhouse.

Mr. Bow had arranged an 11 am tee time for us and we set out as a two some, never pushed and never lagging behind. We are very social golfers who will play with anyone but sometimes we are quite happy going out as a two some. We have our “own” little sayings and ways of celebrating a great par, a long putt and this day almost my first ace. A one-foot tap in birdie 2 on the 182-yard Par 3 hole number 8 known as “ Take Care” should have been that one in a million shot. As soon as I hit it I knew it was one of those real beauties. I called out to Myra sitting on the cart to “ Look towards the flag, hon”. Flying as straight as an arrow my ball landed about 12 feet passed the flag and spun back a little and then meandered towards the flag on the downhill slope, as we couldn’t see it for a second “ I yelled get in” as if it was listening and my ball teasingly caromed off the flag to rest frustratingly one foot away. Damn another one got away. I tapped it in, as I do no matter how short a tap in it is, you see I never take a gimme for a birdie.

With the houses up on hillsides, out of the way, the tough Par 4 6th hole, “Donner Pass”

We cruised along in just under 4 hours, the clear blue 72F weather maintaining itself the whole time we were there. Finishing up the round and our thank yous and best wishes taken care of we both agreed that no one hole was any greater than the last and not one looked out of place or inferior on this great lay out. Later while reviewing the various aspects of the course the “out of 10” scores we allocate on the review sheet we use for everything from course conditions to clubhouse appearance, customer service to playability was a bunch of 8’s and 9’s consistently.