By Brian Murphy
Look at you, pretty Poppy Ridge.
Ready for your close up?
The answer coming from those who have played the gorgeously remade golf course is a resounding YES, as the NCGA’s hilly Livermore gem readies to host the prestigious Pacific Coast Amateur July 21-24.
Since its opening in 1996, Poppy Ridge has always been a distinctly Northern Californian beauty: the views of vineyards and ranch land in the Livermore wine country, mountains on the eastern horizon and oak trees set against the rolling hills with grass the color of a lion’s mane.
In the 1996 vision, three separate nine-hole tracks meant players could mix and match to their choosing. While that was enjoyable for a time, the NCGA has decided it’s time for Poppy Ridge, 2.0: Bring on the big boys.
Renowned architect Jay Blasi teamed with the NCGA on a 13-month, $20 million makeover that turned Poppy Ridge into an indisputable championship 18, reopened in May of 2025 as a track that can be tipped out to nearly 7,500 yards if the mood strikes, according to Steve Schroeder, former chief operating officer for Poppy Holding.
The reviews are boffo. In June, Golfweek listed Poppy Ridge at No. 36 in the top 200 modern public golf courses in the land. And Golf Digest went so far as to list Poppy Ridge as one of five public golf courses that could hold a major championship.
“The real impetus was to end up with a property that would allow us to basically host some great events,” Schroeder said.
And that’s not all. The leftover nine holes were formed into The Ridge 9, “a shorter version of the real thing,” Schroeder said, that more recreational players are playing and enjoying.
The Pacific Coast Amateur will be Poppy Ridge’s maiden voyage as host of a big-time championship, and fittingly so given the NCGA’s long connection to the Pacific Coast Am. In 1901, the championship was held at the San Francisco Golf Club at the Presidio, and the NCGA was specifically formed to send a team to the event.
“The Pacific Coast Am is the main reason the NCGA exists,” said NCGA President Lance Parker. “We are celebrating our 125th anniversary this year and will showcase the new and improved Poppy Ridge. Hosting some of the best amateur golfers in the nation is a true honor, and doing so on one of our two courses makes it even more special.”
That iteration of the event ended in 1911, and the Pacific Coast Am was not reborn until 1967 up at Seattle Golf Club. Since then, the majority of the championships have been held in the Pacific Northwest. In terms of local sites, San Francisco’s Olympic Club hosted in 2000, 2006 and 2018; Martis Camp in Truckee served as the venue in 2011 and Poppy Hills took a turn in 1996. Pebble Beach Golf Links hosted in 1968. Outside of that, we haven’t had much of a chance to see an event that is circled in ink for the top amateurs in the nation, and whose roster of champions includes PGA Tour winners such as Will Zalatoris, Ben Crane, Jason Gore, Billy Mayfair, Curt Byrum and Mike Reid. Last year, USC’s Jaden Dumdumaya, a De La Salle High product born in Vallejo and raised in Benicia, won the event at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Bottom line: it’s the premier amateur championship on the West Coast.
If you’re coming to watch the Pacific Coast Am — and you should — know that you will see the best amateurs in the land tested in both brawn and brains. While the elevation changes make for dramatic sights and views, the test of the course for the Pacific Coast Am field is more granular: How to play the famous winds? How to master the contours of the landing areas on the new Santa Ana Bermuda fairways? How to maximize the ground game and get away from the aerial game, as Schroeder noted the new Poppy Ridge asks?
Blasi said in a 2025 interview that “the green complexes offer an infinite variety of shots to play into and around the (Prestige Bentgrass) greens . . . forcing good players to think their way around the course and play the ball on the ground more than they would like.”
In other words, classic golf. Championship golf. Right here at Poppy Ridge.