By Delbert Camp
An unlikely place for golf!
This is the story of the Likely Golf Course in remote Northeast California where green fees will set you back $40. Is it convenient to get to? No. Is it worth getting to? Yes.
Located in the West Valley below the Warner Mountain Range, Likely Place Golf and RV Resort is a totally unexpected golf experience in remote NorCal.
Likely is a small town in Modoc County. Of course, one may want to know how a town was named “Likely.” The local story is that residents were unable to agree what to name their town. Frustrated, one of the local ranchers observed that they would most likely never agree upon a name, at which point someone nominated the name, "Likely.” And there it was.
The rest of the story pictures rancher Rich Hamel sitting on his horse on a hill looking down at Highway US 395, a scenic alternative to Interstate 5. Highway 395 follows the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Oregon to Hesperia in Southern California. It is favored by
RV travelers who prefer scenic roads to the speed and boredom of Interstate highways. Mr. Hamel the rancher watched the expensive big rig motorhomes and trailers zooming by and wondered how he might entice some of them to get off the highway and spend some time and
money in his neighborhood.
After some research and the help of his nephew’s master's project, Hamels thought a golf course would be a good way to bring people to Likely. After studying golf course design, Hamel decided he particularly liked Alister MacKenzie’s approach of moving as little dirt as
possible. His research led him to Fall River Mills Golf course and course designer Clark Glasson. Unfortunately, Glasson was busy on other assignments but did look over the topography maps to pinpoint tee box and green placements for nine holes.
It was then up to Mr. Hamel to move the dirt to shape the tees, fairways and greens. Following the practice of MacKenzie, Hamel moved as
little dirt as possible, and the first nine holes of Likely Place Golf Course were created. When it came time to expand Hamel contacted Steve Macilraith, a course rater with knowledge of several
other Northern California courses.
Steve provided some much-needed assistance to create an
additional nine holes. Integral to the result was the first and current superintendent, Jose Madrigal. Using an ancient Caterpillar D8, Madrigal moved a bit of dirt and to this day maintains the excellent turf, tee boxes and greens of the course. In 2010, Jose decided the course needed more length, so he took it the old Cat D8 and built new tee boxes to lengthen the course to more modern standards. Not crazy long, but he did construct a 688-yard par 5 to challenge the big hitters. But overall, the length tops out at just over 6,900 yards--a very playable layout with incredible views from every tee box and green complex with very affordable daily fees. No fancy hotel, but a there is a great little
RV Resort to accommodate guests.
Likely Place GC is a scenic and well-playing resort golf course for casual golfers, family outings and can challenge the highly skilled. Being family and dog-friendly, Fido can ride along and get a great run over the 18 holes. Every golfer encountered on the course is impressed with the condition of the course, the scenery and the very fair challenge it presents. Let’s take a
tour.
Just like Augusta National each hole is named. A round starts off with “And They’re Off” and finishes with the appropriate “Happy Trails” for the 18th hole. In between are “Turtle Back” and “Katelyn’s Hole in One” (Owner Dennis Tate’s daughter aced it), the shortish scenic par-3
16th. In the spring golfers may be treated to watching cowboys herding and branding calves along the side of the 8th, “Ikes Pasture” making it a truly cowboy country golf experience.
While every hole is interesting as heck, some of the more memorable holes are the short par-4 13th “Quick Draw” featuring an opportunity to cut a dogleg left and leave a short pitch to the green and the equally short par-4 15th “Boomerang”, a dogleg right offering a similar opportunity to
cut the corner and leave either a very short pitch or even an eagle putt. Contrasting with these shorter holes is the magnificent and scenic par-5 6th “Shack Nasty Jim”, a monster of 688 yards from Madrigal's newly built Blue tee.
Of course, no golf experience is complete without a tasty café. Kathy’s serves a down-home small-town cafe breakfast menu to energize golfers before heading out and for lunch her mushroom-swiss burger is unbeatable. The café stocks a nice selection of wines and some
interesting brews.
Check out Likely Place Golf and RV Resort at likelyplace.com. Make your reservation and have an affordable and unforgettable golf experience in Remote Northern California