Baywood Golf & Country Club

Detailed description of Baywood Golf & Country Club

Baywood Golf & Country Club is a Private, 18 hole golf course located in Arcata, California.

The front nine of the golf course was built in 1933 pursuant to a design by H. Chandler Egan, an architect who designed courses in California, Oregon, and Washington from 1911 until 1936. He designed Rogue Valley Country Club, Eugene Country Club, Pacific Grove Links, and was retained to revise Pebble Beach in 1929 in preparation for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

The back nine was built in 1957 and was designed by Bob Baldock who designed numerous courses throughout California and other Western states including Alta Sierra, Golf Hills, and Monterey Peninsula (Shore course).

Baywood renovated the front nine in the mid 1960's with Baldock as the consultant. The repeating oval shape of the bunkers on both nines give evidence of a single designer. However, the larger front nine greens reflect the different philosophy between Egan and Baldock.

In the late 1970's the Club hired Robert Muir Graves to develop a master plan to renovate both nines. Graves was one of the first college trained landscape architects to work full time as a golf course architect. Experience at over 300 courses includes Big Meadow at Black Butte Ranch, La Purisema, Sea Ranch, Carmel Valley, and Port Ludlow in Washington.

When Graves created the master plan in 1980 he called for reshaping of existing bunkers for both aesthetic and strategic purposes. He also suggested the redesign of a number of greens.

The addition of bunkers was controversial. The idea of bunkers originated at St. Andrews where the first ones were created by nature. They are part of the history of golf, and it can be argued that a course without bunkers is not really a golf course.

Many early American golf courses had over 150 bunkers, and some twice that. In 1980 Baywood had 20 bunkers, 15 on the front and five on the back. Currently there are 39 bunkers, 20 on the front and 19 on the back.

Baywood Golf Course has narrow, tree-lined fairways that provides a good test for your skills. The front nine is more open than the wooded back nine. Water hazards (two ponds and a creek) come into play on six holes. The signature hole is #5, a 166-yard, par 3, which plays from an elevated tee over a pond with swans.

The course measures 6,149 from the white tees and plays a par of 70.3 with a 129 slope rating. The blue tees play 6,427 and a par of 71.3 with a 134 slope. The red tees measures 5,757 with a 73.3 par and 124 slope.