Lincoln Hills Golf Club, Lincoln

Lincoln Hills Golf Club houses two 72-par courses, both flecked in the serene leaves of pines and redwoods. Even after creating its first 18-hole Hills course, designed by professional golfer Billy Casper and famed course architect Greg Nash, the club decided it wanted another. Its ambition created a second par 72 layout—the Orchard course—giving golfers a choice between two courses where large greens nestle amid rolling hills and naturally occurring wetlands. The club also entices players with an 8-acre driving range plus a practice area for putting and chipping.

• The Hills course: unfurls over 6,876 yards. Its second hole demands a tee shot over a lake and onto a tight fairway before players even begin to aim at a green guarded by a bunker on the left.

• The Orchard course: also makes golfers sweat at the second fairway, its hardest, which earns a par 5 by coming in at 598 yards and offering a plethora of sand bunkers as well as a 75-foot slope from the tee box to the green.