Southridge Golf Club

There's a deal in the foothills ... and a little something for everyone.

If you like flat courses, Southridge Golf Club in Sutter offers a gentle beginning and a links-style front nine. If you like to head for the hills, Southridge's back nine gives you enough elevation change to test any golf cart engine.

But your best memory may come at check-in. You can play Southridge with a cart during the week for just $32.

The walking rate is an unheard of $20, although a cart is as close as you'll come to a necessity on the back nine, which winds into the edge of the Sutter Buttes.

The 1991 design isn't long on frills, but it is long - the gold-tee yardage is 7,047. The white-tee distance of 6,105 yields a not-too-tough 68.9 rating and a 118 slope.

But don't be deceived. Southridge can be a bear when the wind blows, and even on calm days an errant driver will kill your score.

Sacrifice distance for placement, especially on the front side, which is almost 200 yards shorter than the back but has water in play on seven of the nine holes.

One of the few holes without water is the first, a long-but-straight par-4 with one of only two two-tiered greens on the course.

The greens are quick, so stay below the hole when you can.

Water runs behind the second green, and all the way down the right side of No. 3.

No. 4 is a short par-3, but all over water and usually into the wind to a shallow green.

The highlights of the front side are the par-5s, starting with No. 5, a dogleg-right around water. No. 9 may be the best hole on the course, a double-dogleg-right with water complicating all three shots.

Another unique par-5 comes at No. 16, a 637-yarder (from the gold tees) that demands either a (right-hander's) draw around the dogleg left or a layup off the tee. The rest of the monster hole is straight downhill and across a ravine.

The screaming ride downhill comes after a laborious trip uphill at No. 12, a short par-4 to a severely sloped, two-tiered green.

There is more weirdness at No. 14, a long par-3 straight downhill and across a hazard with the prevailing wind at your back. Most hackers would rather fly the green than club down while staring at a hazard.

End your day with a short par-4 to another severely sloped green.

Variety and price are the biggest positives at Southridge. You can even play all day long for $50 during the week, and after taking the 70-mile trip north you may want to stay for the day.

Conditioning is a real challenge in Sutter, with the elevation changes and the occasional whipping wind. But maintenance crews spend extra time on the greens, which are consistent and very fast.

Bring an extra sleeve of balls, because the wind can wreak havoc with your game, and there are hazards on 14 of the 18 holes.

But the money you save at check-in should more than make up for the money you spend buying new balls.

Directions - Take Interstate 80 east. Take Highway 113 north. Take George Washington Boulevard north, and turn left on Highway 20. Turn right on Acacia Road, and left on South Butte Road. The course is on the right.