Brentwood Golf Club

Deja vu can be a very good thing.

Step up to the first tee on the Creekside Nine at Brentwood Golf Club and you can't help but think about The Golf Club at Rio Vista.

The two Ted Robinson courses both opened in the mid-1990s. They feature similar terrain, similar conditions ... even similar housing tracts not too far off course.

But Brentwood is worth its own look on several fronts. If you travel another 20 miles after Rio Vista, you'll find a 27-hole option, superb conditioning, four sets of tees to challenge any level of player, water challenges on all three nines ... and a few more hills, twists and turns than Brentwood's more familiar (to Solano County residents) sister course.

Robinson scored big twice in the same region. Brentwood is a course you may want to return to, especially if you can hit your irons into well-protected, very fair greens.

The Diablo Nine is the oldest of the three nines, built in 1994. It also is the shortest, just 3,124 yards from the black tees. It's the narrowest as well, but it can be a fun alternative from the other two nines.

Water comes into play on six of the nine holes, including the opener, a medium-length par-4 with a hazard up the left side of the fairway leading to the green.

The second hole provides plenty of fun or trouble, depending on your point of view. The par-4 is just 297 yards from the back tees, but the dogleg right has water all along the right side.

The signature hole is No. 5, a short par-3 over a lake, with a waterfall left of the green.

The par-5s (Nos. 6 and 8) are relatively free of water, but both are long and feature greens protected by bunkers.

End your shorter nine with another short par-4, this time a dogleg left with water left at the green.

The Creekside Nine is the newest of the three, and provides another opportunity to shoot low, provided you can survive a grueling start.

A par-5 with water at No. 1 is followed by a long par-4, a long par-5 and another long par-4.

The fun really starts at No. 5, a short par-4 with bunkers left and water right off the tee. Longer hitters may have to club down off the tee, because the final 80 yards of the hole is pure carry over water to a sloping green.

No. 6 is another great hole, a short par-3 coming back over the same lake but into the wind and to a two-tiered green.

Finish that nine with a long par-4 straight uphill to an elevated green guarded in front by bunkers.

The Creekside Nine leads right into the Hillside Nine, which is appropriately named. The first hole is another short par-4, but one that doglegs left, uphill and into the prevailing wind. Beware of the elevated green, because it has two tiers and is a three-putt waiting to happen.

Another scary green awaits at No. 7, a short par-4 with six bunkers and a narrow, two-tiered putting surface that is wide but shallow.

The heart of the nine again is the water holes. No. 4 is a short par-5 that will tempt long hitters to go for the green in two, but the final 50 yards is all over water.

No. 5 is another short par-4 that goes first uphill and then down to a sloping green fronted by another hazard.

The finish is another gem, a long par-4 where the approach must carry water to a small green with more water on the right.

Positives abound at Brentwood, including the conditioning. The greens are touted as the best around, and they definitely are solid, but the fairways are some of the best you'll play on anywhere.

This is a solid track that will test your iron play, and your nerve on the carries over water. There is plenty of variety on short and long holes, with the wind and against, left and right, and more up and down than you'll find at Rio Vista.

The $53 weekday price includes a cart, and you probably wouldn't want to play without one. The hills aren't arduous, but there are several long drives between the holes, including a few through housing tracts.

The homes aren't really in play, unless you get very wild. But the presence of the home points up another challenge ... this course hosts a lot of rounds, so you may be waiting between shots.

The presence of the homes all over this community leads to another challenge. You'll probably go through at least a dozen traffic signals after you leave Highway 4, so leave early.

If you hit green lights, you can simply tone your game on the putting green.

Directions - Take Highway 12 east. After the Rio Vista Bridge, turn right on Highway 160. Take Highway 4 east toward Brentwood. Turn right on Neroly Road, right on Empire Avenue and right on Lone Tree Way. Turn left on the Highway 4 bypass, and left on Balfour Road. Turn right on Summerset Drive.