Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park is the municipal 18-hole course on the south end of Napa, opened in 1968 as a collaboration between Bob E. Baldock, a prolific post-war western architect, and Jack Fleming, who is best known for his work on the Olympic Club's Lake Course. The course is managed by CourseCo and serves as the home of the Napa Men's Golf Club, an NCGA member club. Over the years it has hosted qualifying rounds for the Kaiser Invitational and the U.S. Open.

On the course

The layout is a true "core" routing with no houses bordering the holes and short green-to-tee transitions that make it walkable. The property sits next to the Napa River wetlands, and water comes into play on 16 of the 18 holes. Bob Baldock and Jack Fleming used the natural land: the east side plays through tree-lined fairways shaded by pines, redwoods, sequoias and oaks, while the holes on the west side open onto flatter ground along the river with several lakes. Clay-based soil tends to hold moisture and reduce roll, and the raised greens have subtle breaks rather than dramatic contours. The course is also enrolled in the Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary Program.

Who it suits

The signature hole is the par-4 10th, where a large valley oak sits in the fairway and forces a decision off the tee, with the ideal drive landing just left of the tree to leave roughly 150 yards into a small green bunkered front-right. The closing 18th is a 510-yard par-5 that doglegs left around an oak and hazard, offering longer hitters a realistic look at the green in two. From the black tees the course measures about 6,700 yards with a rating of 72.7 and slope of 131, but four tee sets and a generally forgiving routing make it a fair test for mid- and high-handicappers as well.

Architect: Bob Baldock and Jack Fleming · Opened: 1968