Great views and a rather relaxing course that can be forgiving for those who slice or hook. Pace of play can be off at times. I had to wait for groups in front of me at 2 separate par 3 holes. Bunkers have powdery sand and the fairways are well maintained. A GPS screen in one of the golf carts in my group was broken, so a staff member had to replace it in the middle of the game. He did it quickly, so they only had to go without GPS for 2 holes. I still would be happy to return. read more

I used to play quite a bit here before the remodel. It was our first time playing here and after the remodel and our expectations were high. However as soon as we checked we decided to grab some food and drinks. Asked one of the guys who worked there which direction the first tee was it was almost like he was annoyed to answer our question. He replied look at the sign it says it right there. Ok.... We got to the first tee and the starter was there to welcome us. Told us the rules of the course and what to expect on the greens. We teed offed the first hole and for whatever reason ended up on the wrong side of the cart path. As we approached our balls in the fairway we noticed there was no opening for us to drive our carts onto the fairway. We later learned we should have gone the other way because there wasn't clear signage and we ended up driving through "wildlife" or whatever the call it. Literally just dead grass.. We get to our ball and as we hit we notice the Marshall was there waiting for us. He asks us to come over and immediately tells us if you guys don't want to follow the rules you guys don't have to play here. He proceeds to tell us the starter specially told you not to drive through it and if you guys don't follow rules we will be kicked off the course. We tried to first explain ourselves and without even letting us finish he says I don't care what you have to say. I'm tired of people not following the rules. He then proceeds to tell us that he was retired PD. At this point I am just shocked at how he is talking to us like we committed a serious crime. Finally we get to tell him that we went up the wrong side of the cart path and that we didn't see an opening for us to drive through. At this point he calms down and says ok I see what you mean. Tells us that there are rules here and we shouldn't drive through any wildlife. Honestly just the two interactions alone just ruined our day because I couldn't believe how we were being treated. We completely accepted the fact we were in the wrong and apologized to the Marshall but the fact he treated us like that was bullshit. As we drove away he even asked us where we were from. Why the fuck does that even matter? For how much they charge on this course it is definitely not worth it. Thank god we were NCGA members and didn't pay full price. I will stick to going back to Wente and play there for a better experience. Never playing at poppy again read more

We planned to check out Poppy Ridge Golf Course after the renovations. Check in process was good. We expected to have a 4.5 -5.5 hour round on a Sunday afternoon. The group behind us did not. They kept hitting into our group and then harassed us for playing slow. Brah. We get it. We are also used to country club golf. We are also waiting. Nope. The group kept hitting into us and also confronted us fro slow play on a Sunday afternoon. No marshal. No help from Poppy Ridge Golf Course. We do not need to make the drive out to Livermore for a 5+ hour round of golf and to be yelled at by old people. read more

This place will always have a special spot in my heart. I hit my first hole in one there #14 on Oct 4. They have nothing for hole in "oners..." I work at Los Lagos and we have hole in one flags for people, we have a certificate, we take their picture. We report it to the San Jose Mercury News. We do all these things, but Poppy Ridge does nothing. Very odd as the NCGA HQ's. Love the new renovation though. read more

Whoa my last review for this place was 18 years ago, whaaaa?!! There are humans that were born then graduated high school since then, wtf is goin' on here. Lol. I do like coming here about 1-2 times per year but this past year, they did a pretty major renovation on the course design. I think they even closed the place down for almost a year. My childhood buddy who's also an avid golfer, lives in this town. He invited a few of us to check out the new layout this summer 2025, so figured an update could be of pertinence. This is a Northern California Golf Association course, so there is some weight involved in the operations. This is more for serious golfers, not beginners or monthly weekend hackers out to drink. There are courses for those peeps, so pick accordingly. The one thing that'll weed out most non-serious golfers here is their price. It was $160 or so to play here on a weekend morning. It is not cheap and will infuriate you if you suck. Lol. And that price only includes your green fee and a cart to ride in. No practice balls, no packed lunch/drink, all those are extra cha-ching. You can save a little by being a NCGA member and also if you choose to walk the course. If you go those routes your round may get whittled down $110-$120. I actually found the newer design to be much more friendly/fair. Like less penalizing as it was before. Which makes it more fun to play. And you can make it harder by playing further tees if it is starting to seem too easy. The outside rough isn't fully grown yet also, so maybe that had something to do with it being currently easier. We were able to find our balls in the rough most times we looked. Their grass is super plush from fairways to greens. I was even able to putt many of my chips around the greens as it all just seemed like carpet textured grass. And that helped my score that day as it just seemed easier to get next to the hole. They actually put yardage markers on most sprinklers around the course. Most places are doing away with this since most people are using technology to find their yardage. I still like this old school method as I don't have to carry anything or push buttons to look for info. But that's my old school ass. We didn't eat/drink that day here as we had reservations for a brunch outing afterwards. But a cart person drove around for service and the main building is still the same Spanish looking villa where you can wine and dine in more bougie settings. Course is now too expensive for me to be a regular, but 3-4 times per year is totally doable. I'm not an avid golfer either, but I do go out probably more than the average casual golfer. Poppy Ridge you did good on your improvements. Now I'll do good by including you in my rotation and by bringing others who have not experienced your new offerings. *golf claps* read more

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Such a disappointing experience for Mothers Day brunch. Clearly understaffed- and no host/hostess to check folks in. Elderly people forced to stand for 20+ minutes to just try and talk to someone! Staff saw them and just ignored. Tables left unbussed outside with birds picking off the plates. You could probably understand the craziness of a holiday but the buffet was outside with fruit and cheese and shrimp in the direct sun and flies swarming/landing. Had to be a health code violation. Not the experience we wanted on Mother's Day. Folks need to think twice before going there. read more

A good place for lunch or dinner even if you're not playing golf. Nice outdoor patio overlooking the golf course and the vineyard. I see golfers, friends, a business meeting taking place here. Pretty casual but more quiet setting thanks to the spacious dining area. My club sandwich was huge and very tasty. Good service but need to be patient when it is busy with golfers coming in and out. read more

Poppy Ridge Golf Course - Traditional club sandwich - Golf Near Me - Livermore, California

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What a stunningly beautiful place! The views are simply breathtaking!! But honestly that's about it. Service while well intentioned is not the best and the food is rather expensive for meh bites. I once tried to make and reservation by calling the number on the website. No one picked up even though I called several times throughout the day. I went in person to make the reservation. And when I arrived on the appointed day, staff had lost the reservation. I honestly wasn't surprised. They were able to accommodate us though. and We were politely served our mid meal. Paying for the meal turned into another ordeal due to misunderstanding on the servers part. And everyone had to be refunded, then charged again. The whole experience was a persistent headache. Thankfully the beautiful scenery alleviated it some. read more

This is for the grill. Poppy Ridge reopened in May 2025 after a remodel, so we thought we would revisit. Our first and only visit was in 2018, and it wasn't good. I'm REALLY glad we decided to give the grill another chance. The stunning views, peaceful setting, and great accessibility for elderly patrons still exists. The notable improvement for us came in the food. It was 100x better than before. Everything we got was delicious with many more appetizing choices on the menu that we will certainly come back to try. read more

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I played Poppy Ridge yesterday for the first time and absolutely loved it. The course was in excellent condition and the round moved along very quickly, with mid morning tee time. All staff were very friendly but the course conditions were the most impressive aspect of this course. I'm not a huge a links golf fan, but this course was special. Great things going on over there. Thank you read more

I'm not a golfer but love riding my bike to Poppy Ridge because of the hill climb. The club house restaurant is a popular destination for cyclists after their ride. It's nice to sit outside and enjoy the view of the golf course and surrounding hills. read more

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Missed the rain today. They moved back a group as I missed my original tee time. We had rain off and on for 3 days including hard rain Tuesday night Weds morning. Course was in great shape, no puddles on course at all. Amazing drainage!! We played in just under 4 hours. read more

NCGA really screwed up the redesign and execution of this course. Customer service is terrible with little guidance or structure. The money spent should have been to redo what they already had (keeping 3 nines), rather than a half baked, poorly executed plan. Playing here does not feel like real golf with how the balls roll/funnel towards the greens (and eventually off). Lots of blind shots that put people in front of you in danger. The list goes on and on but this goes down as an "epic failure." read more

I really enjoyed my round! I loved the grass range, the green, and pace of play! I finished 18 holes in about 4 1/2 hours. It was also reassuring to see a Marshall out on the course. Please keep doing what you're doing Poppy Ridge. This will be my new go to spot! read more

Poppy Ridge Golf Course - Golf Near Me - Livermore, California

For the new course. It's a hybrid mostly of zin and Chardonnay old nines. Likes: they kept cost same and some interesting holes. Dislikes: undefined greens and blind shots on a few holes. Bunkers in middle of fairways. Rock hard greens, some guys hit high good approaches near pin that rocketed 10 yards past into traps. Greens great for putting, true roll. Oddity: 14-18 have greens and tee boxes right on top of each other, like they ran out of room. Lots of yapping. Service was good and staff is nice. $90 on weekend with cart, ncga member, not bad. It's a fun challenge. read more

If yelp gave a 3 1/2 - that is what poppy ridge would get based off my experience today. The good - the course redesign is really fun & at $125 for NCGA members it's great value. The new taco shack was pretty cool - not an extremely quick option, but very fun & delicious. The course seems like it could use a little more staff everywhere. The Bad - being that this is a new course - they are overly psycho about "the rules". I have been golfing for 32 years and I have never had a more unpleasant greeting by a starter than what happened today. The starter basically gave us 10 rules and threatened us nastily that we would be removed from the golf course for driving in the rough w/o a refund. It immediately put as all in a terrible mood - worrying. Additionally on hole 1 you have to cross a small amount of rough to get to the fairway. I ended up parking my cart on the cart path after driving on to the fairway bc I was so worried I was doing something wrong. Everyone was stressed and it lead to unwanted anxiety - the exact opposite of what you want on a golf course on a Saturday - with your friends. If PR is so psycho and threatening about the rules then put ropes up - all down the rough. No one will drive over a rope. Course is cool - starters rude delivery on hole 1was inexcusable. Pass until they aren't threatening patrons on hole 1. read more

New course is nice I like it. Bunkers are consistent and greens are ridiculously beautiful. Now that's the good , driving range has gone to hell. Where's the grass ? Someone's needs to learn how to grow grass. This is on the sup plan and simple. Let's go ncga make the changes needed since we are members. read more

I really loved the course, it was in amazing condition, and we were honored to be able to play it on the first day, the service was awesome, and we got to meet the architect! The only issues that I had were that there weren't enough water stations and we were literally thirsty like in a desert by the 16th hole... We also had issues with the flags and being able to differentiate whether it was a back pin, middle pin, or front pin. Otherwise, it was simply awesome. read more

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Had a bridal shower here. It's a beautiful location, with delicious food. The staff was very accommodating. The event coordinator, Tiffani, kept in contact and was super helpful in planning for the day. We were able to customize our menu, come early to decorate the table and set up a little cake table. This place is great. read more

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This is my review of the new 18 hole championship course at Poppy Ridge, set to open for public play on May 30, 2025. I had an opportunity to play the course as part of the NCGA Associate club representatives who were allowed to play it before it opened to the public. The old Poppy Ridge was challenging for the wrong reasons - narrow fairways, that mostly routed back and forth, often into the wind or a crosswind, which wreaked havoc on your game. There were steep slopes on the sides of fairways that shot your ball off into the weeded netherlands, often never to be seen again. And oh how that contributed to slow play! Not knowing there was a different way, we all accepted the course as we found it, and played through. Not anymore. The new Poppy Ridge is fair, playable, walkable, more manageable in the wind, and just a more fun golf course to play now. Don't let the wide fairways, fewer bunkers and less elevation changes fool you. This course is as challenging as the old one, but now it is challenging for the right reasons. The new course offers golfers of any ability to now have greater control over his/her game. Gone are the days when the wind, narrow fairways, steep slopes, and numerous sand bunkers (in very poor condition, usually) would punish even the best golfers. The new course has wide, generous fairways that allow you to play into, with or in a sideways wind, and still find the fairway to give you an opportunity to play the hole in front of you. And yes, the fairways are wide, but now it is up to you to execute your next shot, instead of playing a blind recovery shot from an adjacent fairway. See the difference? You will when you play the course. Another change that I like is the rough has been eliminated from around the greens, so you can now use any club in the bag to hit onto the green. I used my putter from well over 20 feet from the green several times. This will make it easier for the average golfer, but harder for the good players as they will have to determine which kind of shot to play - use a putter, wedge, hybrid? Several holes now have blind tee shots, and you cannot see the green from the tee. It provides a nice visual from the tee box, and adds to the mystery of the best strategy to play the hole. There are also several "risk/reward" dilemmas on the course - #16 is a great example - do you drive directly at the green and leave yourself a short, lofted shot to an elevated green? Or, do you put your drive out to the right where there is a longer approach shot to a level green. I can tell you that I took the latter approach, and fared much better than my playing partners, who all took the direct route and could not keep their balls on the green with their approach shots. The course is definitely more walkable, with much shorter green to tee connections. The old course was estimated to be over 10,000 yards to walk, with 1,700 feet of cumulative elevation changes. The new course is now 8,150 yards, with 1,250 feet of elevation changes. For comparison, Poppy Hills is 9,120 yards to walk, and 900 feet of elevation changes. In my opinion, it is more walkable, but I'm not sure it is an easy walk, just more "walkable." The most important takeaway for me is that your outcome on the new course is now more on you, and not the elements and poor course design. The old narrow fairways, poor routing, the wind controlling strategy instead of vice versa, excessive sand bunkers, sloping hillsides...you know them all. A day on the old Poppy Ridge was a frustrating day of golf. The new course has its own set of challenges that take into account the natural landscape and wind directions, and then places the burden on you to execute good shots from tee to green. The course is difficult, but not harsh. Rewarding, not frustrating. In all, this is a successful transformation. And what did I shoot? My 92 was about what I would have scored on the old course. But there was one thing that was different - I felt completely satisfied that I gave the course my best shot, and nothing external to my game took anything away from me. Not the wind or a poorly laid out golf course. It was all within my control, and that made for a great day at the new Poppy Ridge. I hope you'll get a chance to play it soon. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. read more

we know that the NCGA is the wealthiest public golf assoc. in America...assume that one of the landowners that surround the golf course donated the land for the course to enhance real estate growth around the course. so how much did they pay for the renovation?The new layout is difficult with plenty of blind shots going into the greens. the tee shot can be sprayed all over. like that they built a executive9 course to entertain grandpa and the grandkids...price was reasonable but I prefer the old layout. nothing special, save your $ for PoppyHills. read more

wow what a course. i wish my son could've got the youth on course rate but it was too early so we couldn't get the deal. the course was in fabulous shape. definitely recommend read more

Really slow pace of play and game warden does a very poor job at facilitating pace of play. 4 hours for 12 holes

Second time playing here since the renovation and pretty disappointing experience for one of NCGA's two flagship courses. The new layout is fair and challenging. Is it a big improvement from the previous 3 nines layout???? I'm not convinced. Much of the course is a mess right now with players being re-routed in several areas, sod being laid, cement poured and areas surrounding the fairways in disrepair. The signage from hole to hole is very poor and we found it strange that the tee boxes from the White tees were only a few feet away from the previous greens on several holes. I'm trying to be patient as the work continues on the renovated course, but not close to the Poppy Ridge first class experience of the past...at least not yet. read more

Yes it's walkable, views spectacular---but the new course is worse than the previous setup. New course has 5, count then, 5 Par 3s and all of them are totally forgettable, maybe with exception of tricked up 14th where if you hit it 50 yards up the hill it will roll to green. So many holes have excessive roll, usually right to left. Again if you review/recall holes from Zin/Merlot/Chardonnay courses the Par 3s vastly superior. So many blind shots you do not know where ball ends up until you get to green. Worst of worst,, ridiculous 16th hole with "split" fairways. Better hit it close to out of bounds on right to prevent inevitable roll to crap down below and then another blind shot. Really with all effort you'd think this would be better. read more

So we played Poppy Ridge today. We booked our T times 6 days ago and no advice was given to us about the maintenence that would be taking place today.....Friday the 8th. We were charged the full NCGA member price of $120. The entire golf course had just been sanded. Every inch of the fairways were heavily sanded. The 'natural' areas looked and played like Death Valley. The experience sucked.... Hard! What really sucks is that the NCGA has hired a bunch of 20 somethings and they appear to be trained to deliver really poor service and think that its OK. NOT going back voluntarily! read more

I had my wedding here in October of this year and the service was amazing. Our event coordinator was so helpful and communicative. The food was delicious and the venue was absolutely stunning. My husband and I plan to play some rounds of golf and eat their delicious food for anniversaries. read more

I only ever visit Poppy Ridge for their restaurant (The Grill) purely for the great ambiance and view it provides, so this review is on that. In summary, the food is indeed very pricy and is a solid 2/5 but it does the job if you're just looking to have brunch with a good vibe and great service. They expanded the menu significantly from the last time I visited (about 2 years ago) which impressed me a lot. Prices are rather steep here for the quality you get unfortunately. I ordered the Chicken Cilantro Pesto Panini ($17) with their seasoned fries as a side. The chicken was difficult to bite without it all just coming with you in one piece, and tasted as though it lacked seasoning. There's a chipotle aioli meant to be on the sandwich but I didn't taste any spice from this at all either. :( I'd definitely steer clear of the restaurant if you're looking to get a good meal in. Fortunately the servers are really great and attentive, so that made up for our visit (as did the view)! read more

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A lovely afternoon overlooking the Poppy Ridge Golf Course. The cafe offers breakfast and lunch items, as well as chocolate cake as their desert. My breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese, tomatoes, and onions on sourdough bread was flavorful. The chocolate cake was moist and delicious. They offer their space for events, and weddings, as well as their popular golf course. read more

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When I heard championship course, I was expecting something special. I played on Club Rep Day. The course was in perfect shape; no ball marks on greens, consistent lies on bermuda fairways, traps w fresh sand. Gone are many of the interesting, challenging holes. Fairways are huge, little or no OB and fewer sand/water hazards. No definition to tee boxes, simply a continuation of fairway. Hard to define greens with no rough and few sand traps. Would have preferred they left the course the way it was. read more

Played here yesterday after the redo. Got beat up from not knowing it first time out but an awesome job. I am a mid single digit and wanted to see what they did to the old layout. Kinda like Poppy hills redo. It will mature and it will become epic. I have played many championship courses and this one will one day be known as one of the best. GREAT layout and design even though it did kick my arse. Play the right tees and you day will be great. read more

everything was great. great staff in the golf shop. the course was phenomenal greens were fast and fairways were nice tight lies. definitely a course i would come back. read more

Most of old holes were better. This is a tricked up golf course. Rock hard and unfair greens----for some reason designer like big time rolls from left to right---balls shooting from hill past green into bunkers (a par 3 on back 9). 16th hole an absolute joke---hit ball into "top" fairway lands and goes downhill about 100 yards into crap. Throw in a few blind holes on green that who knows what will hold or roll. Fairways good---sand good---but for such a massive re-do you'd think it would be better. Otherwise, great practice area---grill--etc. As for greens, played with low teen handicap golfers and they were a mystery. They will have to do a re-design on re-design. read more

Well....I filled out the review questionnaire that arrived in my email yesterday evening. Today my golfing friend received a "no show" notification!!!! What?! I gave the course10's in the review.......except the confusion between the pro shop tee time and the starter did NOT have us on the tee sheet. The starter sent us out anyway (yay!) Here's the pic to prove we were there. Let's get it together Poppy Ridge~ please we truly had a fun day. So let's fix this glitch in communication making tee times. Thank you! read more

Poppy Ridge Golf Course - Merlot #2 hole - Golf Near Me - Livermore, California

Condition of course excellent. The staff were nice & the lunch picks were very good. I'll make it a regular course to play when we come back in the Fall. read more

Definitely one of the best courses in the area. Highly recommend to anyone in the area. CONDITION: The course is always well maintained. The greens roll and the grass is cut nicely. When its not to windy, this is one of the best courses in the east bay! The holes use the natural curvature of the hills as a defense, making your lies different every shot. Additionally, they have some nice elevation changes with some nice elevated tea boxes and uphill holes. Lots of variety and well thought out! PACE OF PLAY: Can be a bit slow. But not the worse in the area. Typically around 4:30. RANGE: All grass range. Need to pay and not included with round. But its always in good condition and love practicing on real grass! FOOD: Typically bar type food and to-go food on the turn. Quick and easy, but nothing special. OVERALL: Must play in the east bay! Warning: can get very hot in the summer with no shade coverings. read more

Played yesterday. New layout is fantastic. Many of the fairways are forgiving. All of the holes are very different. Not terribly long from the white tees. But the biggest challenge are the greens. They are fast and many have a lot of break. They're firm and are hold a shot at times. Fairway are fairly thin, but they roll fast. Hope the fairway grass grows in and gets a little more turf under the ball. Can't wait to come back. read more

This course used to be fantastic, the crown jewel of the NCGA. Unfortunately it has become a shell of its former self. And while some adjustment of expectations is warranted given the construction, it's just a really rough experience at the moment. Skeleton crew staff, no marshalls, had to hunt people down to get a cart, groundskeeping is MIA, fairways look like an airport muni course at this point. Lots of strange holes where you find yourself hitting into others or visa versa. There's also zero services or restrooms on the course, no ball wash stands, it's become a zombie course, I'm surprised the staff still shows up. Personally will avoid playing here until they start taking things seriously again. read more

Played Merlot and Chardonnay on Father's Day. Course was in good condition although it is drying out and there are some GUR areas chalked out in some fairways that they are attending to. Course was not too crowded and pace of play was decent. Started at 1:45 and finished around 6:20. Bunkers were a little inconsistent and prior players did not do a great job raking bunkers. Pro shop has some good discounts at the moment for balls, hats, etc. Refreshment cart was nicely priced and took credit cards, but only came around once on a 90+ degree day. So that was probably my only big issue for the day. As an NCGA member the place is a bargain and the course is both scenic and challenging. The corse has aged nicely over the 30 plus years. What used to be a one tree course now has about 2 dozen that have grown in. But trees is not what marks this course. The ridges and valleys that are windswept on the western side of the Altamont Pass make this a course for those who strike the ball square and know how to play with and into the wind. One of my favorite Northern California courses. read more

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Range is always kept in good condition. Putting green and chipping area are fantastic. The composite 9 currently is great for a quick 9. Food is too expensive for what it is. Also needs more beer options. read more