Tips:
• Bring water
• Bring money for parking ($5-$8 I believe)
• Bring snacks
• Use the restroom before you hike to #1
• Bring a friend/spotter
• There's a warm up area with a basket near the far-right parking lot, which is the best place to park for the shortest walk to the course.
• The photos on this website for this course don't reflect the current conditions. Trust me, it is much improved.
• Don't forget to be out before they lock the gate.
• Don't forget to try the 5 bonus holes just ahead and right of #4's basket
Random Thoughts:
This is a fantastic course! When you add it all up, it's the best I've played so far. It's isolated from the rest of the park, well though out, and has a wide variety of tee/hole/shot selection options on each hole. It's a beautiful park in a beautiful area, and is an absolute pleasure to walk and play through. Having said that: this is not a beginner course. It's quite long (probably a 3 hour round) and there are numerous areas that you can lose a disc, which is why I recommend a spotter. There are also a few shots where it can be a challenge to land your disc in a 'safe' area, which some people might find frustrating. I tend to like the challenge, but I'll confess that my wife did get a bit frustrated. The other thing I would point out is that the front half of the course is quite a bit more challenging from a lost disc perspective than the back half so be patient if things start out rough. The other advice I would give to the beginner is to wave and keep walking when you come to the 'back' tee on those holes that have them. Other than maybe the side of the mountain hole (#6) these tees are REDICULOUS. =) And I mean that in the nicest way. My hats off to the folks that throw from these tees but, as daring as I am, I didn't even try. I figured it'd be easier to wad up $20 and throw it in the forest, because I'm surely not at a level where I'm confident I can make it to the 'safe zone'.
Bottom line: There are so many memorable things about this course from the couple 'bomb it off the side of a mountain' shots to the views and the wildlife walking around to the wonderful attention and care paid to the course, that no review would do it justice. You must play this course!
Update 12/24/2020: It's well past time I did an update on my review above as there have been numerous changes to this course over the many years since I wrote it so here goes:
• There are now a few 'warm-up' holes on your walk in to the course that start on the left side of the road just as you reach the bike track area and continue all the way to the bend that goes left towards the course. Not sure exactly where the tees will be permanently but you can see some flags and roughed out areas. My advice if you decide to play these is 'be right' as in keep your disc to the right, because if you go into that nasty on the left, good luck.
• There is now a 'Hole Zero' just in front of the steps on the road to the course that plays to a basket straight ahead on the hill on the left side of the steps (with a #18 on it, not to be confused with the actual #18 to the left). A really good warm-up hole before you 'make the climb'. Incidentally, course designers, if this is 'Hole Zero', will the prior ones be -1, -2, -3, etc?
• #1 short tee is still in place but it's quite overgrown now. Not sure what the plans are for it but it's still my friend when the basket is up on top.
• You can see the basket from Hole 2 long now! Not sure why the trees got cut down but I threw from this tee for the first time ever today annnnnnnd promptly tugged it a smidge right into the trees. Dang it....
• The bonus holes (4A-4E) now have artificial grass tee pads with fairly roughed out paths to find them. There are also small signs, and it appears, a fair amount of work has been done to clean up this area. In particular, the poison oak is waaaaaaay better now. Nice job course crew! There are a fair amount of downed trees though so do be careful where you step. Bonus tip: 4D is up the hill and back a bit from 4C's basket. Easy to miss as 4E is right in front of you.
• The epic, I so love it, top of the world, 6 long tee box is still in decent shape, however, the trees/bushes in front are now so high that this shot requires ever more precision. You used to have a really wide window. Now, not so much. I'm tempted to bring a hedge trimmer up there and bzzzzzt them all straight across. In any event, still a fun shot, but certainly one I think about a lot more than I used to.
• There's now a #13 1/2 that you'll likely see on your walk to #14. You're throwing to a basket straight ahead and between the old hole in the middle bush and the big tree. Do be paying attention to folks teeing off on #7-left above when you reach the basket (if that one's in play on the particular day you're there).
• There are also now two #14s or a #13 3/4 and a #14 or however the heck you want to play it that day. Basically, there are now two tees and two baskets. There's the original tee under the big tree and another one way up the hill just past #7-left's tee. I think the idea is to have the original tee play to basket that's up on the side of the hill straight ahead, and the long tee plays to the basket way down at the end of the valley near #15 tee. I suppose you could also criss-cross them if you like and that's part of the fun. I usually play the long one to the long basket though, because, well you know: Bombs away! And it's a par 4, so a birdie is very doable.
As you can see, a vast amount of love and improvements have been made to the course and it continues to be a joy to come out and play, even if it's still quite possibly the most difficult course in the Bay Area. Great job course crew!