Spotlight: CordeValle

by Darin Bunch

BETTER WITH AGE

There was a flashlight no bigger than my thumb on the nightstand next to our bed. Why would we need a flashlight?

Why wouldn’t we. How many times have you stayed in a hotel room, only to wake up in need of light or food or drink or a path to the bathroom, you name it. How many resorts — and I’ve stayed in more than I can count for vacations and magazine stories and impromptu getaways — have given me my own easy-to-use mini-flashlight?

One. CordeValle.

If, as someone once said, God is in the details, then CordeValle is simply heavenly. Your bungalow or villa suite has the extra touches that seldom occur to the traveling golfer — or any traveler. There are binoculars for viewing wildlife (deer, bobcats, even turkeys) from the lounge chair on your back porch. There’s a digital camera loan program, where, at the end of your stay, the staff will burn your photos onto a take-home DVD.

Candles are placed around the large bathtub in advance of your arrival, with eco-friendly refillable bottles of lotion, shampoo and other necessities ready for your use. Television surround sound is pumped into the bathroom, with volume controls at your fingertips.

The desk is stocked with pencils and a deck of playing cards. The small wet bar in the entryway has a silver toaster. Yes, a toaster.

Each room has a small library of books to read as you relax while overlooking the stunning golf course just outside your sliding, wood-shuttered glass doors or slouched into a soft leather armchair by the fireplace inside. And no Reader’s Digest condensed tomes here. We’re talkin’ Grisham, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, Dominick Dunne. And, of course, Golf by Design by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the author of the exquisite 18-hole track that winds its way through the foothills and valley below.

It’s no secret that CordeValle is one of the great golf courses of Northern California, if not the entire Golden State — so good that you wish more than the members and handful of resort guests had the opportunity to wander its often windswept fairways.

But, in a sense, it’s a difficult course to describe shot by shot because so much of Jones’ genius comes in the form of rhythm rather than today’s overused “signature” hole hype. CordeValle ebbs and flows perfectly.

Sure, you could point out the tricky 3-pars or the brutal par-4 No. 5, the toughest on the course, which plays 461 yards. Or the tight, par-4 No. 11, where you stare into the fairway and wonder if there’s a landing area out there at all. Or the left-to-right No. 17, which can turn a good round bad at the wrong time.

But CordeValle is the music of a choir, not a collection of soloists. So perhaps the best advice we can offer comes from Tom Gray, golf course superintendent, when he says to hit the fairways, get out of the bunkers on the first try and watch out for snakes. Oh, and suck up all the eye-popping scenery you can.

“That’s the big key to this place — the vistas,” Gray says. “You can see the whole valley from No. 9. And it’s the same looking back from No. 16.”

In fact, vantage points abound around this service-oriented property, which extends north to its next-door neighbor, Clos LaChance Winery. Sit out back on the hand-crafted stone patio, with a glass in hand, overlooking the vineyards backed by Jones’ artistry painted upon the Creator’s canvas, and you’ll wonder just how you arrived at this magical moment.
A tour of the winery takes guests through the craft, from vines and varietals to harvest to refrigeration to the use and construction of oak barrels. And, of course, there’s quite a bit of tasting along the way, most notably by syringe from vintages in various stages of storage. With wines in three categories — Special Selections Series, Estate Series and Hummingbird Series, named after the winery’s label inspiration — including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo, Grenache, Merlot and Zinfandel, there’s something to please everyone’s palate.

After the tour, there’s a mulberry grove and a regulation-size bocce ball court to enjoy, adding to the quaint atmosphere that keeps visitors returning, both from CordeValle and all parts California.

Together, Clos LaChance and CordeValle make for a dazzling duo few other golf resorts, if any, can match — one of those rare destinations where you can spend a week and never think about the outside world. And that’s a recipe to which we can raise our glasses. FG

CordeValle

San Martin, Calif. | www.cordevalle.com

Bungalow Rates from $495 / night

Green Fees
Resort Guests only rom $390/round

Getting There
Off Highway 101 in San Martin, between Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
For custom driving directions, use the FG CourseFinder

Clos LaChance Winery

www.clos.com

Take a Tour: Enhance your knowledge and taste some really great wines with a visit to Clos LaChance. To experience a true passion for the grape, ask for Director of Hospitality and Estate Sommelier Dominic Tufo by name — he’s friendly and full of information. Trust us, you won’t want the tour to end.