Sunol Valley Golf Course, Cypress Course, CLOSED 2016

Sunol Valley Golf Club is a 36 hole golf facility located in Sunoi, California. The facility has  two championship courses, The Cypress course and The Palms Course. The unique geography and strategic location of these courses provide a great golf getaway for residents of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The courses are geared towards the mid to high handicap golfer yet both courses can provide a challenge for a golfers of all levels.

The Sunol Valley Golf Course, Cypress Course first opened in 1967. The course was designed by Clark Glasson.

The Cypress course is shorter and tighter than the Palm course. The front-9 carves out a "U" that runs along the outside of the entire Palm course, while the back-9 is on the far side of the parking lot and a few holes run right alongside HWY 680. The first hole of interest is the fairly short par-5 6th. There is a drop-off to a creek that is about 200 yards from the green from which the fairway goes uphill to the green. The uphill approach is what makes it a par-5.

The 8th hole is a little tough because your tee shot is at a fairway that drops down and away from you. If properly placed, you'll only have a wedge shot to a long, narrow green that has bunkers on both sides and drops away sharply in back.

The 10th hole is definitely one to remember. You shoot from an elevated tee to a fairway that bends to the right. If you hug the trees on the right, you may cut yourself off from going around the bend, but if you go too far left, you could go OB. That's not all, though. There's a tree very close to the green in front with a bunker right under it. This makes it very difficult to approach it from a long distance. If you're REALLY daring, you can play your approach into the hill on the right and hope it runs down and onto the green, but this is more luck than anything else.

The 16th and 17th holes look very short on the scorecard, but both have their twists. The 16th looks straight on the card, but when you come up to the tee, you'll notice there's a big hill in your way, so unless you hit a very long and large hook, you'll probably not find the green in one.

The 17th is all uphill, which makes up for the short yardage.

The 18th hole requires a shot to cross a shallow hazard area. If you can hit REALLY long off the tee, you may be able to cross it on your first shot. Otherwise, you'll need to direct your 2nd shot at an uphill fairway toward a multi-level green which is guarded with a bunker in front and on the left. Don't ignore the hazard that runs up the entire right side of the fairway.

One other note of interest is that the wind does kick up, particularly in the afternoon and it gusts especially on the back-9 close to the highway.

The course lies right next to HWY 680 over the hill past Fremont. Heading North on 680, after you go over the hill, take the Andrade Road exit and turn left to go over the freeway and proceed straight up the to the golf course. If you're approaching Fremont from the South, the golf course will be easily visible before you get to Andrade Road. Just exit and turn right.

General Manager Bryan Richardson announced the January 2016 closure December 2015 to 80 employees. Richardson said the move was prompted by economics and California’s historic drought. He said dwindling individual rounds, state-mandated water limits, and a 500% increase in water costs since 2011 had dealt a crippling blow to the 36-hole golf club