Poppy Ridge

Big hills ... big bunkers ... 27 holes.

If you want your golf super-sized, go to Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore. The links-style course features three nines of fun ... and more sand than you'll see on some beaches.

Picture Hiddenbrooke with fewer trees (actually, the tree on the eighth hole of the Chardonnay nine is the only one on the entire track).

This isn't the Chardonnay Club, although the Napa club's Vineyards track is destined to go to 27 holes this spring.

Poppy Ridge has been handling the 27-hole routine since opening in 1996, and has it down to a science. The nines - they are named Chardonnay, Merlot and Zinfandel - are rotated for maintenance purposes, although you can play all three in one day if space is available.

They are similar, with Merlot being slightly harder and longer, and Zinfandel a little shorter with a little more water. Chardonnay is a mixture of the other two tracks, and winds its way through both.

The bunkers are consistent throughout, though. And because of the lack of trees, they provide the real hazards. The rough also is nasty now, although it should be cropped a little more closely once the track dries a little more.

Since you may start anywhere, let's just take the nines alphabetically.

Chardonnay begins with a tough, uphill par-4, including an absolutely wicked approach to a two-tiered green guarded in front by a daunting bunker.

Three huge bunkers await on the right side of No. 2, but don't get too scared. If you miss too far left, you'll be on the driving range. Use an iron on Poppy Ridge's shortest par-4 and you'll be fine.

Most of the par-3s are downhill and surrounded by bunkers, including No. 3.

The par-4s and 5s afterward are narrow, and the wind can put you in the rough, or worse, in the wastelands surrounding the holes.

Many of the par 4s also are long. In fact, the 27-hole layout has eight that are at least 390 yards, even from the white tees.

Remember, with the links style, the front of most of the greens are open to rolling shots up. If you don't have that much control of your long irons, you'll have to play some of the 4s like 5s, and just hope for one-putts.

Designer Rees Jones has made one putts tough, with large, undulating greens the norm. But the greens are consistent, and hold well.

Score on the par 3s, and have fun on the 5s, which are arguably the best facet of this course.

Chardonnay's No. 9 is a beauty, a short, downhill 5 that will tempt you to go for the green in two. Don't do it, because a layup on the right side will take the water out of play and still make a birdie possible. Watch the ridge on the green.

Merlot starts with another tough, uphill par-4, and follows with another downhill 3 guarded by a huge bunker.

The par-5s are even better on this nine, although you can spend a good chunk of the day in the huge bunkers on No. 5.

Merlot No. 9 is probably the finest hole on the course, a dogleg left par-5 bordered on the left by water.

Zinfandel starts and ends with water, and features short par 3s over water at Nos. 2 and 7. There are fewer bunkers, although you won't believe that if you're in one of the monsters on Nos. 3 or 5.

The finishing hole again is a beauty, another long par-4 with water guarding the green on the right side.

Routing takes you back to the clubhouse after every nine, and Mulligan's is more than a solid snack bar. Have a hot dog in between nines, because you'll take a minute looking for directions to the next nine, anyway.

The price is competitive, if hard to pin down. Poppy Ridge is one of two Northern California Golf Association courses (Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach is the other), so NCGA members get a definite break on prices.

Depending on whether you are a member, a guest of a member, or neither, you'll pay anywhere from $50 on the weekdays to $93 on weekends. It's a little steep for non-members, but still a good buy.

There is a walking rate, but you probably won't want to walk this course. There is plenty of real estate between holes, especially on the Chardonnay nine, and the hills make walking a bear.

Invest the extra $6 on the yardage book, which gives you yardage to the greens, and to clear most of the pertinent bunkers ... and there are plenty.

The conditions are solid, even after the hard rains. They should be even better in a few more weeks.

Directions - Take Interstate 80 west to I-680 south. Take I-580 east to Livermore. Take the Vasco Avenue exit south, and turn left on Tesla Road. Turn right on Greenville Road. The course is on the left.