Northwood Golf Club

Northwood is a nine-hole course laid out by Alister MacKenzie in 1928 on an elbow of the Russian River near Guerneville, originally built for members of the Bohemian Club whose summer grove sits just to the south. Measuring roughly 2,893 yards to a par of 36, it is intimate by design, its fairways framed by towering coast redwoods that have grown to cathedral scale in the decades since play began. After changing hands several times, the course found lasting stability under its current ownership in 1970 and, unusually for a MacKenzie design, remains open to the public. Though small, it is widely celebrated, regularly appearing among the finest nine-hole courses in the country and offering a rare, unhurried round through one of California's most atmospheric settings.