Boulder Creek was established in 1961 along Big Basin Highway in the Santa Cruz Mountains, designed by Jack Fleming — the Alister MacKenzie protégé whose name is on Harding Park's Fleming 9 in San Francisco. Fleming's original nine was joined by a second nine in 1966, completing an 18-hole, par-65 executive layout of about 4,250 yards threaded through towering old-growth redwoods and small lakes at the heart of a planned community.

On the course

The redwoods have always defined the golf here. Fairway corridors run tight between the trees, and with a card built on short par 4s and par 3s, the course has never asked for distance — it asks for straight. Crooked drivers lose balls into the forest; disciplined iron players post scores. It is also simply a striking place to walk — cool, quiet, and deeply shaded even in midsummer — a mountain-forest setting that no course closer to the Bay can really match.

Who it suits

The modern chapter began in August 2020, when the CZU Lightning Complex fire burned through the San Lorenzo Valley and damaged the property. After reconstruction, Boulder Creek reopened as a revitalized nine-hole course rather than the full original 18, so check the current scorecard before planning a marathon day — the classic 18-hole par-65 configuration is now history.

What came back is a genuine community hub. Alongside the nine holes there is a full 18-hole disc golf course, a remodeled clubhouse with a restaurant and bar, a pro shop, and on-site lodging, with both walking and power carts available. For golfers, the draw is unchanged in kind if reduced in length: an inexpensive, unhurried loop under some of the tallest trees you will ever hit a golf shot between.

Architect: Jack Fleming · Opened: 1961