The West's Best: "D" is for Dotcom

by Vic Williams and Darin Bunch

CordeValle opened in a small, cinematically gorgeous valley a half hour’s drive south of San Jose just as the dotcom boom of the late 1990s peaked. The idea was to give Silicon Valley’s neo-zillionaires a club where they could work deals and entertainment clients and friends. That’s still the case despite the crash of 2000. Thankfully this unique property not only survived, it created its own high-end niche that, believe it or not, pulls more than a few luxury-seeking golfers away from the Monterey Peninsula. It’s got all the private club goods a well-heeled member could want, and they’re available to anyone who makes a reservation in one of its 48 resort units.

Run by Rosewood Resorts, CordeValle drips of warm, understated NorCal privilege, but the golf course is all about manicured muscle. Robert Trent Jones Jr., who lives in nearby Palo Alto, called it “one of those rare, pure ‘core golf’ experiences. It is perhaps my finest golf course creation.”

For a man who has authored or co-authored some of the world’s true golf masterpieces including the Links at Spanish Bay in Monterey, the Prince Course in Kauai, Winchester Country Club near Auburn, the Resort at Squaw Creek near Lake Tahoe and many others, that’s a bold statement, but it’s not hyperbole. CordeValle elicits a slew of emotions in the span of 18 spectacular holes — wonder, fear, exhilaration, calm, humility, determination and out-and-out, gut-level joy. It’s not tricked up by length or forced carries or funky green complexes; it requires a lot of different shots and strategy off the tee. It’s penalizing, but not overly brutal for the higher handicapper. It’s very similar in character to Robert Trent Jones’ famous Mauna Kea on Hawaii’s Big Island — playable but tough to score on.

Given the breadth of land and the corridors, Jones took the opportunity to pay homage not only to his father but other famous architects. There’s a few tributes in bunkering to Tillinghast, and a couple of the green complexes that have a little bit of Donald Ross to them. There’s some Mackenzie-esque features as well. He definitely had a lot of land to take advantage of — the natural contours of the creeks that run through the valley.

As a caddie told FG during its first round at CordeValle, Jones pulls you in with the first four holes, after which “the course really begins.” The front nine comes to a literal and figurative high point at holes 8 and 9, which offer a peak at the resort’s own winery tucked in the valley’s far corner. But holes 13-17 compose CordeValle’s true heart. The uphill, tree-lined No. 13 looks menacing from the tee with most of the green hidden from view, but a well-placed tee shot yields an open shot to the surface. No. 14 glides back down the hill, its fairway veering left and pinching in at the large bunker that marks the optimum driving zone. No. 15 measures only 480 zigzagging yards from the back tees, but it’s uphill to a Ross-ish crowned green guarded by four traps.

CordeValle’s handsome, California Craftsman-styled pro shop, club, spa and club suites can be seen from a few holes, but they blend beautifully and unobtrusively into the hills and dales just north of the course. Even the practice range is off by itself in a little valley.

There’s no need to leave CordeValle’s refined environs — why would you? The staying, dining and wining options are as elegant and well-presented as you’d expect. But with the garlic capital of the world a nine-iron away and the big city variety of San Jose not much farther, you might want to sneak out the gate and get your fill of some local cuisine. In fact, with CordeValle at ground zero of perhaps the most famous golf region in the West, you’d have the makings of an epic several-day journey.

Then again, just one day among this jewel’s creature comforts and five-star service makes returning to the real world outside the gates a difficult deal. But return is inevitable — and as with any golf experience worth its weight in gold, the experience will be just as phenomenal. FG

CordeValle Resort | 408.695.4500 | www.cordevalle.com