Add A Little Golf To Your Wine Tasting Trip In Napa

The perfect day in the Napa Valley:

Arise at 6:30 a.m., head to the first tee of the Silverado Country Club. Play 18 holes on either the North or South course and finish before noon. Head to Mustard’s Grill for lunch, leave about 1:30, and stop at half a dozen vineyards for afternoon wine tastings. Go back to Silverado and practice putting before an exquisite dinner.

That’s golf, that’s life in California’s Napa Valley.

America’s most famous wine region isn’t a golf destination. Wine and food come before almost every other conceivable activity. But golf can be a very pleasant part of the whole Napa Valley experience. And besides, most of the vineyard tasting rooms don’t open until 10 a.m., so an early-morning tee time means that golf won’t cut significantly into your pursuit of the perfect Cabernet.

Silverado Country Club, in the city of Napa, has two delightful, well-conditioned courses that have hosted PGA Tour events in the past. Currently, the Transamerica Classic, a Senior Tour event, is played there annually.

Silverado is pretty and a pretty typical California course, its fairways winding among live oaks, pines, walnuts and eucalyptus. The North Course is tougher than the South, and the first hole on the North might be the toughest hole of all 36. The courses are open to resort guests, members and reciprocal members and is by far the most expensive place to play in the valley with a $100 green fee.

The Chardonnay Golf Club, also in Napa, is less expensive and can be quite a treat. Chardonnay has a public course, called - what else - Vineyards, and a private course called Shakespeare. The Vineyards costs between $55 and $75 to play depending on the day. It has eight water holes, and although short, at a little less than 6,000 yards, it’s challenging.

The Napa Municipal Golf Course, known to the locals as Kennedy Park, is a decent track and at $17 a very good value. You can’t be missing fairways and greens here. There is water on 16 holes. And if you don’t want to eat lunch at one of the valley’s trendy, upscale joints, the Out-of-Bounds Bar and Grill is anything but chichi and not a bad place for a burger.

The other course in Napa is the Napa Valley Country Club. It’s a private course that does allow reciprocal play for members of other clubs. It might also be possible to get on through the auspices of hotels or bed and breakfast establishments. You’ll just have to ask at the front desk. It’s a delightful course, first opened as nine holes in 1914 and expanded to 18 in 1990.

Heading up the valley from Napa, the courses get decidedly smaller. The Chimney Rock Golf Course, a nine-holer off the Silverado Trail, is not a bad track. It used to be an 18-hole layout, but nine holes suffered the wrath of grapes, being plowed under for a vineyard. Grapes always come before golf here.

The Meadowood Resort in St. Helena is posh and peaceful in its little micro-valley. It has a micro course as well, nine holes of mostly par 3 holes that’s a fun test. For a change, only walking is allowed here, no carts. And in case you want to tune up on your croquet, they have a croquet professional as well.

At the top of the valley in Calistoga is the Mount St. Helena Golf Course, a short nine-holer for which you wouldn’t pass up a tour of the nearby Sterling Winery. But, again, the winery doesn’t open until 10. You could tee off at 7:30, get in nine holes and be tasting a fine reserve Cabernet by 10:30.

Then again you might consider this strategy for Napa Valley golf: Arrange the latest afternoon tee time you can get so that you can visit three or four wineries before teeing off. That way you might be sufficiently mellowed out to slow down your backswing and relax over your putter.

Golf can’t be separated from wine and food in the Napa Valley. You don’t come here for 36 holes a day followed by a brewpub dinner.

Apres-golf recommended wineries include V. Sattui, Rombauer, Caymus, Duckhorn, Sterling (fantastic valley views), Beringer (taste reserve wines, see caves) and Mondavi (for the tour more than the wine).

There are plenty of delightful bed and breakfast establishments. The Wine Country Inn in St. Helena (it’s the best town to be in) overlooks a small vineyard. La Residence in Napa is quite elegant and serves a delightful breakfast. For those with money to burn, Auberge du Soleil and Meadowood are where to go.

For eating, the modest Pairs Parkside Cafe in St. Helena is run by the brothers Craig and Keith Schefflert. The eatery is small, the ambition large and the food scrumptious. Also recommended in St. Helena are Showley’s, Brava Terrace, Terra and Tra Vigne as well as the restaurant at Auberge.