NorCal: Greens Beat Grapes?

by Susan Fornoff

With apologies to the Wente family, who have been stomping grapes for 123 years now, it’s hard to imagine 18 bottles of wine in the Livermore Valley that could generate more enjoyment than 18 holes on the Greg Norman golf course that opened eight years ago.

OK, the wine might last longer, in a crowd of sippers-not-chuggers. But when all’s said and done, the golfer will walk away soothed by distinctive views of Cabernet vineyards and the Cresta Blanca range and pampered by impeccable service that includes an unobtrusive, “nonverbal” pace-of-play program. And the smartest golfer will walk away full of the freshest seasonal specialties the estate’s four-star Restaurant at Wente Vineyards can conjure up, having had a glass or two of that not-as-good-as-golf wine and wishing only for a cozy pillow on which to lay one’s head and dream of the next round.

The Wentes are working on that pillow — more on that later. For now, the idyllic visit to the Livermore Valley begins with a phone call to the only purveyor of lodging in its wine country, a refreshingly unfussy Bed and Breakfast called the Purple Orchid Inn (www.PurpleOrchid.com).

The Purple Orchid, a contemporary log cabin visible from several holes on Poppy Ridge Golf Course, loves golfers and caters to them in all sorts of ways. There’s even a Double Eagle Suite with a jacuzzi for two and an extra-large shower for two — not for the whole foursome at once, presumably, because it sleeps just two. Overnight stays range from $150 (for two of the rooms, which both have queen-size beds, sitting areas and big bathrooms with spa tubs) to $360 (for two humongous suites, with party-size living rooms, that are in a secluded addition behind the main building) on weeknights, $20 more on weekends, and include a happy hour with wine and cheese and a full breakfast to order. It is a really Full Breakfast, deserving of capital letters, and I defy anyone to eat everything that comes to the table.

With Livermore only about 35 miles from San Francisco, this makes for a great little overnight rat-race respite. In the summer, the pool and its invigorating waterfall cool the golfer and resuscitate the wine taster; in winter, fireplaces cozy up the sometimes frosty evenings. The latter are worth remembering; Livermore makes an enticing golf getaway year-round, especially with the changing foliage of the vines, but frost delays are not uncommon on winter mornings, when it might be best to plan a round for no earlier than late morning.

When my husband and I hit the road, we golf non-Wente on the way in, then have some lunch either at the course or one of the Livermore Valley’s cafes, and do a bit of wine tasting before settling in at the Purple Orchid. The valley has something like 38 wineries — excuse the imprecision, but the number does seem to change every week — and the inn also has a spa near the pool, which may lure the non-golfer along on this getaway.

By golfing non-Wente first, we figure we save the best — Wente — for last and maximize our enjoyment of the warmup course. Sometimes, that’s been Las Positas, the tree-filled local municipal course that is a treat to walk on all but the hottest summer days. Other times, it’s been Poppy Ridge, the treeless home course to the Northern California Golf Association.

More recently, it’s Callippe Preserve that’s captured our interest. Opened only about a year ago in Pleasanton, just a few miles west of Livermore and in the neighborhood of Castlewood Country Club, and managed for the city by CourseCo, Callippe rambles up and down, over and around a wildlife habitat including creeks and oaks. With lots of elevation changes, it challenges walkers — we saw a few but did not envy them — and presents a whole different perspective on the back nine, which gets into the back country.

The coming of Callippe helped raise the profile of area golf a notch, enough so that Wente and friends are busy forming a golf consortium involving courses in San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton and Sunol. The thinking, says Wente’s Marketing Director Nancy Mueller, is that a consortium can put Livermore on the golf traveler’s map in a way that Wente alone cannot. Though Livermore can’t compete with the Monterey Peninsula as a golf destination or with the Napa Valley as a wine destination, it can combine greens with grapes to lure the fan of both.

And it all starts at Wente, where Head Professional Steve Ficovich is so service-crazed that he once picked up the gift left behind by a certain horse, just to show his staff — oops ... “staff, I hate that word, we’re a team here,” he says — that no job is too demeaning.

The horse belonged to Carolyn Wente, who lives in the gorgeous house overlooking the golf course. She’s one of three siblings running Wente — Carolyn does the marketing, Phil the development and Eric the wine — and all of them play golf because their mother is Jean Wente, an 80-year-old golf nut who helped found Castlewood Country Club in nearby Pleasanton and has a membership at Cypress Point.

On that fateful day, Carolyn rode one of her horses down the hill into the vineyards below, and as they crossed the bag drop area outside the golf clubhouse, the horse did what horses are known to do. The “team” looked around, and here came Ficovich with the cardboard box for clean up. He let them know he didn’t expect to have to do that next time — yet, he obviously would.

“I came here from Half Moon Bay, where all the managers went through Ritz Carlton training, and so the No.1 thing is service,” says Ficovich, a three-year veteran at Wente.

And so, for example: A summer heat wave scorched many Northern California golf courses, yet Wente appeared untouched. Superintendent Glenn Matthews brought his crews, who generally work from 5:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., out at 5 p.m. those days watering sun spots and checking on sprinklers until after sunset.

And so, for example: In the winter, frost delays often force the course to hold a morning shotgun start at 9:30 or so. Pro shop staff advises patrons making tee times that frost is a possibility, and when it’s imminent, they call or e-mail all of the scheduled players to suggest they delay their arrival until 9:30 or 10.

And so, for example: A friendly player assistant — or “ambassador,” as they’re sometimes called — starts groups at the tee for a couple of hours, and then moves out onto the course to “nonverbally” enforce the pace of play. That means that when a group is falling behind, the player assistant assumes the role of forecaddie, raking a bunker here, tracking down an elusive shot there, and hangs out until your group is back in position (12 minutes or so behind the forward group). If someone needs a beverage or forgets a club, the ambassador makes a run for it.

“This goes with the entire facility, and the philosophy of great customer service, anticipating needs and exceeding expectations,” Ficovich says. “We want that throughout the delightful restaurant, the tasting rooms, the concert series.”

Great service may satisfy the diners, tasters and listeners, but golfers want a great challenge, great risks, great rewards. And Wente obliges from the first shot, high atop a fairway that has no bunkers but vineyards to the left and the out-of-bounds Arroyo Del Valle off to the right. For the Nationwide Tour player in spring (when Wente hosts the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship), the shot requires carrying the OB to the fairway; for the forward-tees player, the shot requires virtually no carry.

Ficovich notes that women especially take to the course; private club players have been filling the Wente tee shots on Mondays, when clubs are traditionally closed. The 4,866-yard forward tees give the average to better player a chance at hitting driver-iron on some of the 4-pars, or driver-fairway wood-iron on some 5-pars — rather than the usual driver-fairway wood-wedge.

For all, one key to success is in hitting the fairway, especially in spring, when the rough is overgrown for those big boys — 6 to 8 inches vs. 2½ inches in summer. And Wente’s fairways do offer some roll, even in a wet winter, because of the course’s elevation and heavily rocked underlayer.

But enough about golf. Another key to success here is scheduling a tee time that allows the player to enjoy a meal — lunch until 2:30, dinner after 5:30 — in the restaurant. Not the Grill, which is fine for its pulled pork or chicken cobb sandwiches, and especially the spinach and artichoke dip for the foursome. We’re talking Restaurant, where new Executive Chef Jerry Regester spurned his cushy Pebble Beach job to get back into the kitchen.

We played a round of golf with Jerry on a pleasant summer morning. It was his first on the course — he usually played Pebble and Del Monte down on the peninsula — and he was wowed by it. He hits a mean Dunlop hybrid off the tee — hates his driver, loves his putter — and, says Ficovich, “He’s a 24 on the golf course but a plus-handicap in the kitchen.”

Out of the kitchen came an exquisite Caesar, and a bean salad with arugula and goat cheese in a chick pea-sweet onion vinaigrette. Then, sauteed local sturgeon on one plate, roasted free range chicken breast on another, seafood stew (in a chardonnay-fennel butter) on another. And there may have been a slice of cheesecake on the table, but we all caught only a fleeting glimpse. Not sure where that went.

This is a splurge, of course — with rounds at $85 (but hefty twilight discounts) and lunch entrees ranging from $16 to $23. And someday there might be an opportunity to spend, say, $200 or more afterward on a pillow.

“The bungalows are in the five-year plan — again,” Mueller says of the possibility of future after-dark comforts.

“It’s the only thing we’re missing,” Ficovich adds.

Until they materialize on a pretty plot of land near No. 18, hole up at the Orchid, wine your way to Wente and find out why the Shark’s only Northern California remains one of his best … anywhere. FG

Livermore Valley

www.livermorewine.com

HOLIDAYS IN THE VINEYARDS

Livermore’s 30-some wineries unite every year for this free crowd-pleasing event, which involves music, tastings and festivities at every stop. With many of the area’s craftspeople out hawking their wares, this is the way to shop for the holidays — do a little dance, taste a little wine, get gifts today.

Livermore Golf

The Course at Wente Vineyards

925.456.2475, www.wentegolf.com

Par: 72 Yardage: 7,181 back, 4,866 front

Rates: $85 and up for 18 holes, including carts and range balls.

Here’s a great test for the first-timer: Play the course and afterward sit down with your scorecard and see how many holes you can re-envision. Guaranteed 10, possible 18. (Your typical muni, maybe three?)

Callippe Preserve Golf Course

925.426.6666, www.playcallippe.com

Par: 72 Yardage: 6,748 back, 4,788 front

Rates: $42 and up for 18 holes; carts advised, especially on hot days, $13 per person.

Wente Jr.? Callippe is a sort of muni Wente, with elevation changes, ancient trees and distant views of Mount Diablo. Try to play the course with a local so you’ll know what the heck you’re doing at No. 17, which has a creek through the middle of it, and No. 18, a great but confounding par 5 that requires two carries.

Las Positas Golf Course

925.455.7820, www.laspositasgolfcourse.com

Par: 72 Yardage: 6,677 back; 5,270 front

Rates: $30-$41, very walkable

Think About It: Former Wente superintendent Jeff Shafer has been nursing along Livermore’s busiest course, which does not take kindly to the player who brainlessly uncovers the driver at every tee. A word of advice: Examine the diagrams posted at each tee before reaching into the bag.

Poppy Ridge Golf Course

925.456.8202, www.poppyridgegolf.com

Par: 36 on each of three nines. Yardage differs slightly depending on which two nines are played, but it’s about 7,000 from the back, 5,300 from the front, with two options between.

Rates: $37 and up plus another $32 for the cart, which helps negotiate the unwieldy layouts.

Flatstick Priority: Poppy Ridge doesn’t have trees and does have ice-rink-size greens, so why doesn’t it play easier? Well, there’s the wind for one thing, almost always blowing, especially after noon, plus lots of bunkers and pretty but intrusive ponds. Then there’s the sad fact that most of us don’t practice our putting, and so big greens aren’t the big advantage that you might expect.