Northern California's 100 Best Public Golf Courses
Press Release:
From Doug Dawson, author, Northern California’s Best 100 Public Golf Courses
55 Dior Terrace
Los Altos, CA
408-829-5608
Hunter Ranch gains accolades, Ranks No.1
Just when golfers thought nothing new was happening to the game, a new book comes out and ranks Paso Robles’ own Hunter Ranch as the top Championship course in San Luis Obispo County. That’s a great result considering tough competition from newer courses Monarch Dunes and Cypress Ridge near Nipomo.
Golf volume has been on the skids the past few years. Courses have had to work hard to keep their quality up and costs down. According to author Doug Dawson, Hunter Ranch has maintained consistent excellent good playing conditions, complementing their terrific design.
And he should know, just having played all 220 Northern CA public 18-hole courses. His new book, Northern CA’s Best 100 Public Golf Courses was a labor of love during the playing phase, but writing, editing, layout, proofing, and marketing are another matter: “I want golfers to know they finally have a book which tells the unbiased truth about the quality of all our courses.” It is the first major CA golf reference piece written since 2002, and also the first to review the 80 courses that are either new or extensively updated.
Renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. was an early supporter. According to Jones, “what better way to find . . . the joy of the game than using (Dawson’s) advice to find new places to play.”
Other courses in San Luis Obispo County get Best 100 rankings too, including Avila Beach and Dairy Creek. Dawson is trying to get the word out to all Northern Californians that our local courses are of the highest quality, and some of the best values for the dollar anywhere.
Dawson has played golf for over 50 years, including on his college and military service teams. He is a 4th generation Californian from the SF Peninsula and still sports a single digit handicap. His goal was to review and rank courses from the viewpoint of a decent, but non-competition player.
Northern California’s Best 100 Public Golf Courses is published by Sureshot Productions: 55 Dior Terrace, Los Altos, CA 94022, phone 408-829-5608. Author: Doug Dawson, illustrations by Jessa Dawson. ISBN # 978-1-61623-281-8, July ’09. Website:
www.best100golf.com.