Eagle Ridge Golf Club: Championship Golf in Gilroy

By David R. Holland, Senior Writer

Championship golf was a long time coming.

Gilroy, the "Garlic Capital of the World", was certainly never mistaken as a golf capital.

For years there was Gilroy Golf Course, built in 1924, home course for veteran pro George Archer. And there was Gavilan Golf Course, built in 1966, both nine-holers.

But in November, Gilroy opened Eagle Ridge Golf Club. At last a championship layout, a severe test of skill, that will surely be the host of competitive events in the future.

For a couple of years Watsonville resident Paul Orsetti made the drive by the golf course construction. Each time he viewed the signature No. 12 hole from the road he wished for the day he'd be on the course.

"I think there have been many golfers who have driven by for the past couple of year's just dreaming of the day they could be out here playing," said Orsetti. "I expected it to be a class course and a tough test and I'm not at all disappointed. I'll be back many times. The toughness of the course doesn't bother me at all. It only makes me want to improve and play it better. This is a golf course that is going to be heavily played from the Bay Area when the word gets out about it."

Director of Golf Scot Hathaway, a San Jose native, said play on Eagle Ridge will be limited until April because of its immaturity.

"We are only going to schedule tee times from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and until 12:30 p.m. on the weekends," Hathaway said. "In March we will start scheduling at 8 a.m. We just need to let the course mature some more.

"Gilroy has been hurting for a championship course of this quality," Hathaway said." Eagle Ridge was not set up to be a tough course. The intent was for the big picture of a development and a very nice upscale housing community."

But Eagle Ridge is a tough test. The bunkering work is extensive.

Fream & Dale/Golfplan were the architects with consultation from Johnny Miller Design Ltd.

A par-72 at 7,005 yards from the back, Eagle Ridge was given lots of contour in the fairways. "You aren't going to see many level lies, but that contour makes the course more interesting," Hathaway said. Six teeing areas make this a winner for the short hitters, too. It plays 5,102 from the shortest red tees.

On this day, only five days after the course had opened, one could tell Eagle Ridge was only a baby. There were lots of newly sodded areas, but all-in-all it was showing what a beauty it will be when it matures. Greens were rolling true and one could tell the deep bunkers were new -- step into them and you sink about five inches.

One real positive was the fact the historic ranch land property, located in rural foothills of the Diablo and Santa Cruz Mountains, had many mature live oaks, sycamores and manzanita plus the Ebas Creek running through the golf course.

"We wanted to make it look like a course that has been around a while and I think that's evident with all the mature trees," Hathaway said.

The greatest negative is that this is a huge master-planned community and you are going to hear hammering, electric saws, the beep-beep of large equipment backing up ... all of this for many years. It is going to be very noisy.

The easiest holes are No. 1 and No. 10, so don't be fooled by the start. No. 2 is a beautiful downhill par-3, 162 yards, with bunkers everywhere. No. 3 has bunkers directly in front of the tee box -- never saw that before! Guess it is for the chili-dippers.

There is a British Open-type bunker in front of the par-3, No. 6. If you fell off this green into the bunker you could get hurt. It is deeper than Shaquille O'Neal is tall. Watch out for the sucker pin placed right behind this mammoth pit.

Nos. 8 and 9 turn back into a hillside draw and are very tough. No. 9 is a par-4, 452 yards, and there is a ravine on the right side. No. 10 is a par-4 at 404 yards. You have to hit a perfect tee shot to have the best angle through a chute of trees and over a ravine on the second shot. The second shot is hard enough, but Miller placed a high-lip bunker 50 yards in front of the green. If you mis-hit the second shot a little that bunker will grab it.

The signature hole No. 12 has a lake all along the left side. It is 438 yards and a par-4. At this point you start climbing in elevation. From the 15th tee box you can look down on the entire length of the par-5 14th. The 15th is a target hole, only 330 yards. If you find the target you can hit a wedge on the approach, but the green has trouble everywhere.

The par-3 16th, at 166 yards, is another great hole. If you aren't on the green you are in deep bunkers or a ravine.

Eagle Ridge is less than an hour away from other upscale daily-fee San Jose area courses such as Cinnabar Hills, San Juan Oaks and the newly renovated Coyote Creek Golf Club. But no one thinks it is overkill. There's plenty of population in the Silicon Valley to support even more golf courses.

Eagle Ridge Golf Club
2951 Club Drive
Gilroy, California 95020
Phone: 408-846-4531
Toll-Free: 1-877-81-EAGLE

Fees: $45 on weekdays with twilight fees in the future. $70 on the weekends. Senior day on Thursday is $35. Carts are $15 per person.

Directions: From Highway 101 take Highway 152 (Outlet Mall exit) west to Santa Teresa and turn left. Watch for signs to Eagle Ridge and pass through the front gate, proceed straight until you see the club house on your right.