Antioch California: Lone Tree Golf Course

March 23, 2020 Off By BBF

I imagine golfers will look back at our current time as a very dark time for golf. Golf courses shut down in droves and four weeks of PGA championships cancelled or postponed. The golf world seemingly on the very brink of its flame going out. But golf will live on, and for one weekend in 2020 in Northern California there was a single shining light holding up the traditions that we have held dear since the 1400’s: Lone Tree Golf Club in Antioch, CA. They adopted the ‘Park and Play’ protocol and stayed open for play. BBF went and checked it out. For sure, up until Mid- March 2020, Lone Tree would never be considered a Bucket List golf course worthy of travel. However, in today’s topsy turvy Corona world, it might just be the only golf course open for some time…for Northern Californians at least.

You can see the rolling hills of cow pasture in the distance behind this green

Lone Tree is in Antioch, about an hour away from San Francisco, along the San Joaquin River Delta nestled in rolling hills adjacent to cow pastures. The paradoxical name seems to imply a desert or links style layout with a single “lone” tree. However, that is not the case, one cannot really find a lonely tree on this tree-lined parkland track–and many hundred trees will come into play if you are not accurate with your shots. Even if you are, the course is not far from a windmill farm, and where there are windmills there’s strong wind, so keep that in consideration as well.

Nine holes of the golf course were built in 1934 and the second nine were added in the 1950’s. Although it’s not clear which nine is which, the course is definitely a tale of two 9’s. The front 9 is the more eclectic of the two with a lot of elevation change, raised greens, raised tee boxes, and some very interesting and fun holes. One thing Lone Tree does not lack is its share of blind shots. Both from the tee as well as from the second shot.

The greens were rebuilt with Champion Bermuda. You can see the difference in the 2 types of grass on this course

The back 9 plays out a little more flat and humdrum. However, there are some definite holes that will test your ability. The number 12 tee box might be the most dangerous place to be on any golf course anywhere in the world. Yanked tee shots from 11 can pepper you, but also from the oncoming par 4 to the left. Keep lively. The trees and nearby lake make this course a favorite of local wildlife. Turkeys and very talkative geese will heckle your poor shots.

The thing you will remember most about Lone Tree is the greens. All of the greens were rebuilt in 2019 to be planted with Champion Bermuda. It gets hot in the summer in Antioch and apparently the Bermuda grass stands up to the heat much better than other grasses. It gives an unusual visual because it is very obvious the greens are a completely different grass than the rest of the course. They play relatively true, and much, much faster than you would expect a parkland municipal golf course greens to play.

I had only ever seen a Stoplight on a golf course in Scotland before this round

All in all this is a decent golfing experience, and they deserve Kudo’s for trying to work out how we can keep golf open during Corona. If you live in the Bay Area or come here often I encourage you to head out and play it. If you are coming to the Bay Area for some bucket list golf Lone Tree is probably not the destination golf you are looking for, but we are grateful to have it in our neck of the woods.

Ranking System

Bucket list rank (from 1to 5 buckets): 0 Buckets
Caddies: None
Location: 6
Spectacle/ visual: 6
History: 5 it actually dates back to 1934 and has some lore to it
New/ancient: Modern
Playability : 5
Memorability : 3
Buddy-a-bility : NA Social Distancing
Service/etc: NA Social Distancing
Value: 7
Shopping: NA Social Distancing
Warm up facilities/Range: 6
Food & Drink: NA Social Distancing

Category0 Buckets Golf in a Post Corona World United States: California

About The Author

BBF

BBF or “Big Ball First” comes from a golf saying for hitting a shot fat. Or hitting the “big ball first” in that you hit the ground (the big ball) before hitting the golf ball. In the BBF blog, it’s a metaphor for traveling the planet, soaking in exclusive experiences, and pointing people to the Awesome, the Great, the Good, and the not so good out there. We’re hitting the big ball running with tales from international golf courses, with fine wine, fine food, did I mention golf…well, especially the ‘buddies bucket list golf trips’. The hope is that like minded people will enjoy the stories, and hopefully use it as a reference point. If this blog helps people prioritize the experiences they want to have on our planet then we will have succeeded on our mission. We only have so many go’s at “bucket list” travel experiences. Especially the bucket list buddies golf experiences. My hope is you can refine your experience based upon my learning, and take your “big ball first” experiences to the next level.