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Boulder Ridge Country Club

by | Mar 27, 2017

Damage from recent storms

Par 3, 148 yards

Top of the mountain

Boulder Ridge CC is located adjacent to Almaden Valley in San Jose.  Overlooking Almaden Lake and in an elevated location, the course sports some very nice views of the Bay Area.  The word “boulder” is operable here as the course is carved out of mountain with a plethora of “boulders” that present some interesting challenges for errant shots as balls can careen just about anywhere off the “boulders.”  For example the par 3 second hole of 175 yards presents boulders on the left and boulders on the right leaving the player with a shot that has to be straight and true.  Any bounce of the boulders on this hole will result in a huge number.

The main topic of this post is the damage to the course caused by the recent spate of monster rainstorms that pelted the Bay Area in the months of February and March.  Yesterday, I went out to play the back nine and found that the a portion of the 10th fairway hill had collapsed and will require significant regrading.  While this damage seems relatively minor, I was really surprised when I reached the 13th hole.  I don’t like the 13th hole (a par 4 of 370 yards) as the tee shot needs to carry a hill at least 200 yards to the fairway.  My ball flight is not high enough sometimes to carry this hill.  As we putted out on the 12th hole-we noticed that the cart path was closed and we were being rerouted around the tee box.  From the tee, the entire hill seems to have collapsed making the hole dangerous and unplayable so the club has closed the hole and created a temporary par 3.  I would imagine but can’t authoritatively say that the club is considering how to repair the hill and the mounding.  It seems to me that the hole should be redesigned and will require a retaining wall to prevent a recurrence.  This situation has never occurred before which demonstrates the severity of the recent storms.  The rest of the course is in very good shape but still drying out.  The views from the 13th and 14th tees are really spectacular.

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