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South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2014

LIVERMORE VALLEY THE COURSE AT WENTE VINEYARDS 64 South Bay Accent LEFT TO RIGHT: COURTESY OF THE PURPLE ORCHID; COURTESY OF WENTE VINEYARDS, COURTESY OF THE COURSE AT WENTE VINEYARDS THE VITALS • STATS The Course at Wente Vineyards, 5040 Arroyo Road, Livermore. 7,181 yards from the tips, 18-holes, par 72, rating/slope 75.3/142. Green fees: Monday-Thursday $95; Friday-Sunday and holidays $120. Twilight rates and many specials throughout the year. Golf shop, 925/456-2475. www.wentevineyards.com. • SIP Wente Vineyards wine is served in the cozy Grill next to the golf shop, or embark on a full tasting of Wente wines at the nearby Vineyard Tasting Room next to The Restaurant. Livermore Valley features more than 70 private vineyards where oenophiles may tickle their palates with a full catalog of varietals. • SUP The Restaurant on the premises features a menu influenced by French and Italian provincial cuisine. Key ingredients are drawn from the site’s own organic garden. The wine list presents more than 1,000 selections. Lunch and dinner served. The Grill offers casual fare and a full bar, open daily from dawn until dusk. www.wentevineyards.com. • STAY The Purple Orchid Wine Country Resort & Spa (4549 Cross Road, Livermore) offers 10 country-style rooms and suites, each with a fireplace and Jacuzzi. Swimming pool and spa are on site, and the grounds feature a luscious garden. The inn is about 10-15 minutes from The Course. For reservations: 925/606-8855, www.purpleorchid. com. Another option, The Rose Hotel, is in the heart of Pleasanton (807 Main St.). Spacious, individually decorated rooms offer all the modern conveniences. Visit www.rosehotel.net for details. • SEE Many of Livermore Valley’s estimated 80 wineries offer tasting throughout the year. The Harvest Wine Festival over the Labor Day weekend is the largest annual event in the valley. Explore many outstanding hiking trails near Wente Vineyards, including Sycamore Grove Park with an entrance on Arroyo Road near Wente Vineyards. Hiking, running, bicycling and horseback riding are on groomed trails ranging over 775 acres. You can also hike from the golf course to Lake Del Valle, a reservoir offering small-craft water recreation, atop the nearby hills. Wente Vineyards also features a music concert series during the summer. Teeing off on the first hole at The Course in the hills above Livermore can be compared to reaching the top of a giant roller coaster and preparing yourself for a rollicking ride. The elevated tee of this 474-yard par-4 features a severe drop. As you peer down on the greensward fairway awaiting your shot far below, note that this scenic joy ride passes through three distinct topographies—native woodlands, mature vineyards and rolling hills of natural grasslands. Designed by legendary pro golfer Greg Norman and opened in 1998, The Course presents dramatic holes and situations befitting the swashbuckling Norman. For example, hole No. 2, a par-4, is only 307 yards tips to green. You know Norman would ruthlessly go for it. But beware if you do because the fairway is narrow and includes protective oak and sycamore trees. Risk versus reward is written all over it. And so it goes, as you wind your way along ledges to hilltop tees and greens with views that go on for miles. Five tees for men and two for women give every level of player an opportunity to score and enjoy more than the scenery. In addition, you are literally immersed in 3,000 acres of Wente estate vineyards, reminding you that this is more than the usual golf outing. We were particularly smitten with hole No. 12, a par-5 that can be played from 413-564 yards, depending on which tee you choose. The fairway runs along a ridge, with your second shot designed to shoot a blind gap leading to a spectacular scene. The distant green appears as an island hovering above the Livermore Valley. A mature oak tree sits threateningly on the right-center of the fairway, a formidable obstacle some 75 yards from the green. Fire away, Norman would tell you. Wente is somewhat unique in that the routing is similar to a traditional links course, where you play out to the 10th hole, turn around and play nine holes back to the clubhouse. THE PURPLE ORCHID WINE COUNTRY RESORT & SPA CONCERTS AT WENTE VINEYARDS


South Bay Accent - Apr/May 2014
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