California, USA
Poppy Ridge Golf Course occupies 65 hectares of rolling terrain in Livermore Valley wine country, 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of San Francisco. The Northern California Golf Association opened the facility in 1996 as the first allied golf association in the United States to own and operate two courses, pairing it with Poppy Hills Golf Course on the Monterey Peninsula. A complete reconstruction by architect Jay Blasi produced an entirely new 18-hole layout that reopened in May 2025.
Poppy Ridge Golf Course occupies 65 hectares of rolling terrain in Livermore Valley wine country, 65 kilometres (40 miles) east of San Francisco. The Northern California Golf Association opened the facility in 1996 as the first allied golf association in the United States to own and operate two courses, pairing it with Poppy Hills Golf Course on the Monterey Peninsula. A complete reconstruction by architect Jay Blasi produced an entirely new 18-hole layout that reopened in May 2025.
The 2025 redesign by Jay Blasi converted three original nine-hole loops into a single cohesive 18-hole routing across Livermore Valley's prominent ridges, reducing the total walk by two kilometres (1.25 miles) and cutting 120 metres (400 feet) of elevation change from the original layout. Six sets of tees spanning 3,870 to 6,710 metres (4,225 to 7,345 yards) make the layout equally suited to recreational play and national collegiate or professional tournaments.
The NCGA commissioned Rees Jones to design 27 holes through Livermore Valley. Jones shaped three distinct nine-hole courses, the Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel, around the open, rolling site, and Poppy Ridge opened to public play in 1996. The facility quickly accumulated more than 50,000 rounds annually across its membership base of over 185,000 golfers.
By the early 2020s, the original infrastructure required significant reinvestment, and the NCGA chose a full redesign rather than a phased repair programme. The 13-month construction and grow-in process, overseen by Blasi, concluded in May 2025 with the opening of the new 18-hole championship course and a supplementary par-34 Ridge 9. The Ridge 9 is a shorter layout built primarily from holes retained from the original Merlot nine alongside three newly designed holes.
The new Blasi layout plays as a par-72 layout of 6,410 metres (7,010 yards) from the standard back tees, with a tournament configuration of 6,710 metres (7,345 yards) set up as a par 70.
The routing uses the boldest ridges and deepest ravines on the property, with new holes moving in opposing directions to maximise interaction with the prevailing Livermore wind.
Fairways are wide and contoured with firm, warm-weather turf that rewards ground-game approaches to most targets.
Green complexes vary considerably in shape and orientation — some are bowl-shaped, some crowned, others set at angles partially obscured from the fairway.
The par-3 holes feature flexible yardage options from 97 to 180 metres (106 to 197 yards), with green shapes that require different club selections day to day.
Warm-weather turf throughout the playing corridors produces a consistent bounce-and-run game in keeping with the open, exposed nature of the site.
The 2025 reconstruction resolves the structural weaknesses of the original Rees Jones layout, namely, excessive elevation change, long inter-hole walks and a routing that prioritised aerial golf. It did, however, retain the open vine-country setting that distinguishes Poppy Ridge from tree-lined Bay Area alternatives.
Blasi's version is a more walkable, more cohesive design with a tournament-ready yardage range and public-access pricing, making it the most significant new public golf opening in Northern California in recent years.
Combine a round at Poppy Ridge with the nearby Wente Vineyards course and the greater Bay Area portfolio to construct a golf holiday that spans the full range of Northern California's public-access offerings.
Overall rating
5.0
Overall rating
5.0
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