Saddle Creek Resort – the gated, 900-acre Castle & Cooke golf community in the Central Sierra foothills – is rated the No. 8 golf course in California in Golfweek’s 2008 “Best You Can Play” rankings.
This marks the fifth straight year Saddle Creek, located in Copperpolis, has ranked among the top 10 courses in the state and the third time in three years it has held down the No. 8 spot in the hyper-competitive California market. Further solidifying its position among the elite layouts in America, Saddle Creek is positioned above such prestigious courses as the South Course at Torrey Pines, site of this year’s U.S. Open Championship, the Links at Spanish Bay (Pebble Beach) and Harding Park.
The survey, which included nearly 800 California courses, examined overall strength of routing, feature shaping, natural setting, greens, variety and memorability of holes, conditioning and maintenance, landscape management and other criteria. Golfweek, which has a readership of more than 400,000, perennially sends roughly 300 “America’s Best” raters in search of notable places the public can play.
“California is home to many of the most-scenic, most-storied courses in the U.S., and it is a great honor to be mentioned in the same breath as these outstanding bastions of the game,” says Bill Troyanoski, Saddle Creek Resort general manager.
Saddle Creek has been buoyed in Golfweek’s “Best You Can Play” rankings in recent years by an agronomy program that has the course in its best condition since opening in 1996. Troyanoski and head superintendent Scott Dickson have implemented a system that takes full advantage of Saddle Creek’s native soil and temperate climate.
“The playing surface is as good if not better than it has ever been,” adds Troyanoski.
The course and resort are coming off of an 18-month period in which all 100 bunkers were renovated and re-sanded, a new practice facility with target greens, short game area and full-length par-3 were installed, and a new 1500-bottle wine cellar opened in the award-winning Copper Grille (Saddle Creek’s chef-driven restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner).
For more information about Saddle Creek Resort and real estate, visit www.saddlecreek.com or call 800-611-7722.