Vintner's Golf Club opened on June 1, 1999 on the flat floor of the Napa Valley in Yountville, a town better known for Michelin-starred dining than for golf. Casey O'Callaghan designed the original nine-hole layout with three sets of tees, and in 2003 PGA professional Bob Boldt redesigned it, adding black tees for stronger players. The Boldt name is still on the door: Bob teaches here and his son Jason is the general manager, and Napa Sonoma Magazine has voted it the best up-valley golf course.

On the course

The card reads par 34 with five par 4s, three par 3s, and a lone par 5 at the sixth that plays over 500 yards from the back markers. From the tips the nine measures 3,035 yards, and water is the defining hazard: the club's GolfPass listing puts water in play on seven of the nine holes, including the lake beside the clubhouse. The bentgrass greens are the calling card, quick but fair, and the club's claim to the best greens in the area keeps showing up in player reviews of this flat, vineyard-ringed layout.

Who it suits

The practical case is speed and ease. Nine holes walk comfortably in about two hours on flat, compact ground, and pull carts rent cheaply, so it works as a morning round before a day of tastings. Reviewers rate the greens the best-conditioned part of the property, with fairways and tees drawing more mixed marks, and praise the friendly pro shop staff. An 18-hole rate covers a replay of the nine, and early starters often play beneath the hot-air balloons that lift off from Yountville at dawn.

Practice facilities outclass most nine-holers: a grass driving range with target greens and a practice fairway bunker, a putting and chipping green, and a pro shop, with lessons from PGA professionals including Bob Boldt. The Lakeside Grill serves lunch overlooking the water afterward. Vintner's suits the wine-country visitor who wants real golf without a five-hour commitment, the beginner easing in from the forward tees, and the up-valley local after a quick, well-kept nine.

Architect: Casey O'Callaghan · Opened: 1999