SF Bay Area Course Rec's/ Home Course Tendencies?

Hey all, just wondering if there's anyone near by me with some favorite courses to recommend. I played the Presidio course in SF over the weekend and though it kicked my a$$, I couldn't help thinking that playing nice courses like this is where it's at.

For those of you who aren't in my immediate area, do you tend to play your "home" course all the time, or bounce around? Maybe some communities don't have as many solid courses so close, but I guess I'm wondering if people choose to play the same place over and over because of comfort-ability, or maybe price? Not sure if I will settle into a home course type of play, but for right now I am definitely having fun taking new recommendations and getting out to somewhere new each weekend!

Thanks Aro, will definitely look into Gleneagles; it keeps coming up on golfnow, not sure why I haven't gone by yet. I've been hesistant to venture over the golden gate to try Marin, thinking everything will be over $120 for 18. I've been going south to SJ and east as well, but maybe it's time to check north also!

Any reason why you left the area? I was in AZ for awhile, but had to come back to the bay.

You may want try Mare Island Golf Course.  Or there are some in american canyon and Napa that are nice as well though a bit further.

I'm not from the Bay Area but I've played a lot of golf there. Shoreline in Redwood Shores is nice and my BIL likes Crystal Springs in Burlingame right off of I-280.

Otherwise I love Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz which is private but allows public play. It's over $200.00/round though. And if you don't mind a bit of a drive, San Juan Oaks in Hollister is a great track. Across the bay, Poppy Ridge is great as is the course at Wente Vinyards.

Thanks for all the responses, I will definitely be trying a few of these out. Big ups MSchott, I think you have mapped out a solid month's worth of excursions outside my immediate area!

I play there ALL the time. They have this twilight players card where for $18 you can play 18 holes any weekday after 3:30 AND get two free beers! It is an unheard of deal for bay area golf. [quote name="arogolf" url="/forum/thread/47645/sf-bay-area-course-rec-s-home-course-tendencies#post_616027"]I loved it, awesome place. From east coast tho, came back home eventually. Fortunately we've got great courses out here in philly/nj too. Also, there is a course at/near berkley that is pretty good muni, don't remember the name....[/quote] The course you are thinking of is Tilden. When I was doing my undergrad at Berkeley I played there a lot but it was usually an excuse to try and drink a 12 pack during the afternoon. I have played there a couple times since graduating, and not as focused on beer, and it is a pretty challenging course with lots of elevation changes. Coop

Go Bears! Tilden is an excellent hidden course.

I live in Oklahoma, but my family (and wife's family) is in the Bay Area, and I get out there about twice a year (and keep a bag out there).

I'll second Tilden and Shoreline -- I like those.

I've been thinking about going to Crystal Springs for a while. Heard good things, but I've never gone.

Oklahoma is flat, so I really enjoy playing Lake Chabot. If you haven't played there, you really should (at least once).  It's crazy vertical. (And 18 is a par-6 where the first 500 or so yards are all downhill.)  They also have really good deals if you sign up for the emails -- $25 if you play before 7, $29 if you play after 3:00 -- and that's including the cart.

I got to play a place called Seascape in Aptos once.  That was reasonable ($50 range), and it was a bit fun.

If you have friends in the 1%, you could see about getting on at Sharon Heights.  It's supposed to be quite nice.

My home course has been called the best deal in the "bay area" however it's about 45 minutes to an hour from SF without traffic, I get to bring guests for $20.00 M-F. This also is not a "beginners course" I see people all the time try to play from the tips only to give up after 5 or 6 holes, rate 74.5 slope 142

http://www.roddyranch.com/golf/proto/roddyranch/

Here's my home course - http://youtu.be/gOFhJknXNjs  Roddy Ranch in Antioch...really fun track...not to expensive!

Tilden is a nice course, I also like Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland. Monarch Bay is nice but it gets windy as it's right near the water.

GO BEARS!

I always thought Metro was more windy than Monarch, which is why I prefer Monarch better. They're both good courses, but Metro can run up it's greens fees pretty high (they do have a grass range which is nice) while Monarch usually has good prices. Tilden is also a great course with good value. The drive getting up there through UC Berkeley is nice going up the hills too.

Go Trojans!

I will only hit balls at Metro for that reason. Very true about the fees though, I guess they gotta pay for all those GPS Enabled carts LOL