Thirty years and one year. Those are the two big milestones being celebrated at NCGA member course Poppy Ridge in 2026.
The course originally opened on Oct. 1, 1996, featuring 27 holes split into three nine-hole courses—Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Merlot—in an ode to the neighboring vineyards.
Last May, an entirely new Poppy Ridge was unveiled. The course now hosts an 18-hole championship course, a shorter 9-hole course (The Ridge 9) and reimagined practice area.
Officially reopened on May 31, 2025, after 13 months of construction, architect Jay Blasi designed the spectacular new 18-hole course to be an exciting tournament course for the world’s best golfers, while being enjoyable for all recreational golfers. The course features six sets of tee box areas on each hole, which was an important design objective being that the NCGA has over 230,000 members who utilize Poppy Ridge as part of their NCGA Membership Benefits package.
Other highlights of the 18-hole course is all new Santa Ana bermuda turf, which was carefully selected to support outstanding playing conditions while becoming more water efficient. Similar turf has been used at several top 100 golf courses including the esteemed Valley Club of Montecito in Montecito and The Preserve Golf Club in Carmel.
In addition to the all-new 18-hole Poppy Ridge Golf Course, the facility has a newly renovated practice facility and a fun, shorter nine-hole course, appropriately named ‘The Ridge 9.’
We recently caught up with three of the major figures involved with the new Poppy Ridge—former Poppy Holding Inc. COO Steve Schroeder, current Poppy Holding Inc. COO Brett Armstrong and Jay Blasi, architect of the new 18-hole championship course, to talk about where Poppy Ridge has been, and where it is going.