StoneTree Golf Club opened in 2000 in the Black Point area of Novato, just off Highway 37 at the northern gateway to Marin County. The design credits read like a Northern California golf summit: Johnny Miller collaborated with former USGA president Sandy Tatum, Jim Summers and architect Fred Bliss on the layout, which threads through mature oaks between wetland flats and steep wooded hillsides.

On the course

The course splits into two personalities. The opening holes work flatter ground near the wetlands, where ditches and ponds guard otherwise generous fairways, and the land starts climbing and tightening around the turn. The par-3 8th, played across a ravine, is the postcard shot, while the stretch from 13 through 16 is the examination: narrow corridors, severe slopes and quick, tiered bentgrass greens that regulars consider some of the toughest putting in the North Bay. From the back tees it stretches to 6,782 yards against a par of 72.

Who it suits

Access is the big caveat: after years as one of Marin's marquee daily-fee courses, StoneTree now operates as a fully private, gated club under the Bay Club, whose membership connects a network of more than two dozen affiliated clubs. Members and their guests get a course that reviewers consistently rate among the best-conditioned in the county, and a challenge that holds up round after round.

Practice facilities include a driving range and putting green, plus instruction through the Bay Club Academy powered by Troon, with video analysis and launch-monitor coaching. StoneTree fits the Marin golfer weighing a club membership: it plays like a private-club test, demands course management over brute length, and pairs its golf with the Bay Club's broader lifestyle amenities. Public players can no longer simply book a time, but an invitation here is worth accepting.

Architect: Johnny Miller, Sandy Tatum, Jim Summers & Fred Bliss · Opened: 2000