Coloma was where James Marshall discovered gold in 1848.  This past weekend, another first look at gold occurred near Coloma, where brush in drainages leading to the American River showed California’s first gold of autumn.  For more about California Fall Color, CLICK HERE.

What goes best with wine? Ask Californians and they’re likely to say, “golf.�

Just about anywhere you travel here, you’ll find two things in common… golf and wine, as California’s sun-kissed climate has made “The Golden Stateâ€? the ideal place to experience grapes and “birdies.â€? For every golf course in the state, there’s a commercial winery – about 800 of each – and all are worth tasting.Â

North of San Francisco lie the famous wine growing regions of Sonoma and Napa Counties. Rodney Strong, Jordan, Ferrari-Carano, Mondavi, Cakebread and Heitz are among the names of viticultural baronies found along Sonoma and Napa county roads. Their wineries, aging cellars and tasting rooms are impressive grand chateaus, aerie lookouts and surrealistic structures that that overlook a landscape scribed with rows of vineyards and lined with fairways.

Start your California golf and wine sojourn by visiting the California Welcome Center in Rohnert Park. The connection between California wine and golf is immediately evident adjacent to the Center at the 36-hole Mountain Shadows Golf Course and nearby Matanzas Creek winery, with its impressive gardens. One of the oldest wineries in California, Gundlach-Bundschu, is a 3-wood drive from Sonoma Golf Club, once declared “near perfectâ€? by golf legend Bobby Jones. And for a true California twist, sip California sparkling wine at the Korbel Champagne Cellars, then tee off through towering redwood trees at Northwood, an executive course designed by Alistair Mackenzie of Augusta National fame.Â

Four major “wine courses,� are found in the Napa Valley. Chardonnay Golf Club, across from the newly completed Kirkland Ranch winery, has the highest rated 36 holes in the region. Vineyards actually encroach upon Chardonnay’s greens. Or is it the other way around? Further up the Valley in the Atlas Peak wine-growing district is Napa’s preeminent golf resort, Silverado, with 36 holes that host the Senior PGA Transamerica Tournament, each October. Chimney Rock, off the Silverado Trail, is the only Napa Valley golf course actually on the property of a winery. If golf, wine and fine dining are appealing, drive over to the new Yountville Golf Club, then dine in one of Yountville’s exceptional restaurants.

Most San Francisco visitors think the wine country exists only to the north, but there’s actually much larger appellations east and south of San Francisco. Beyond the east hills is the vast Central Valley where most of California’s grapes are cultivated. The Lodi-Woodbridge region is its premiere appellation. Cool evening breezes off the Sacramento River Delta and hot days create a microclimate here that’s ideal for growing grapes and apparently for golf, too, as San Francisco Chronicle readers once rated the Dry Creek Ranch Golf Course in nearby Galt as the best public golf course in Northern California.Â

California’s Gold Country along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada gained fame for the gold rush of 1849, but today the region is gaining new reputation for its red wines and ports. In Murphy’s close to where Mark Twain wrote the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Ironstone Vineyards is winning awards for its library of best-selling wines, though its impressive seven-story winery and entertainment complex modeled after a 19th-century gold stamp mill is equally impressive with 10,000 square feet of caves, spectacular gardens that bloom with tens of thousands of brightly colored daffodils in springtime, a gold rush museum, and the world’s largest goldleaf nugget, a 44-pound crystalline beauty that’s housed in a special vault.

Minutes away in Angel’s Camp is Greenhorn Creek, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. “lay of the land� course that meanders through foothills and is decorated with historical artifacts from the gold rush era. Five historic gold mines are on the property, though most golfers strike it rich on the course’s signature sixth hole, a 210-yard par 3 to a peninsula green surrounded by water on three sides. But don’t let your gold country golf tour stop here, additional courses and wineries are located in Mariposa, Sonora, Amador and El Dorado Counties. Favorites are the challenging Pine Mountain Lake Golf Club near Groveland on Hwy 120 and the Wawona Golf Course in Yosemite National Park.

Southeast of Oakland in the Livermore Valley is the stunning, Greg Norman-designed, 18-hole Wente Golf Club that winds through working vineyards and beautiful foothill canyons. And, San José, at the southern end of San Francisco Bay though better-known today as the capital of Silicon Valley, features 18 fine wineries, including J. Lohr, Mirassou and Byington.Â

Several resort and public courses, including Jack Nicklaus’ 36-hole Coyote Creek Golf Club in Morgan Hill make one wonder what keeps those Silicon Valley tycoons in their offices and not out on a fairway. It’s even more perplexing when one realizes that Francis Duane and Arnold Palmer’s Link Course and Arthur Hills’ Ocean Course on the edge of the Pacific at Half Moon Bay are just minutes away, both among the most highly rated public courses in the U.S.

However, the granddaddy of all California public courses is, of course, the Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula. At $4755 per round, plus a cart at $25 per person, Pebble Beach may be public, but playing this great course, home to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, comes at a price. Less expensive alternatives to experiencing a Monterey Peninsula ocean course vary from the Links at Spanish Bay (at $250 + $25 cart) to the very affordable Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links which is only $35 midweek and $40 on weekends. This gem of a municipal course has sweeping views of the Pacific from several of its holes. Two challenging courses, Bayonnet and Black Horse, recently opened to the public on the former Fort Ord military post, priced from $57 to $128.Â

Of course, with 18 great golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula and in the Carmel Valley (not all are open to the public), you may not have time to taste the area’s great wines and that would be worse than a double bogey, as with 30 wineries covering 40,000 acres, Monterey County has as much wine growing country as Napa, Burgundy and Bordeaux combined! That’s a lot of wine tasting possibilities, so you might want to begin in the Carmel Valley where six boutique wineries are within a short drive of the Rancho Canada, Quail Lodge and Carmel Valley Ranch golf courses.

California’s Central Coast has two other great wine-growing regions. San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties comprise California’s “Cote d’Azur� which produces some of the most buttery and classic of California Chardonnays from the Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Maria and Santa Ynez appellations. Classic golf is found at Black Hills and Avila Beach in SLO County, while Santa Barbara boasts Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s Rancho San Marcos Golf Course and the secluded River Course at The Alisal in Solvang.

Southern California also has its wine country. Temecula in the Inland Empire, to the southeast of Los Angeles, is Southern California’s most prominent wine-growing district, with the Ted Robinson and Dick Rossen-designed Temecula Creek Inn Golf Resort and Ron Fream’s Redhawk Golf Club among the area’s most prominent courses. Thirteen wineries flourish here in a perfect balance of geography, microclimate and well-drained soil.  Just like Southern California’s famous golf courses, its wines are surprisingly complex, influenced by respected winemakers. There’s even a Callaway in Temecula’s bag of wineries.Â

Speaking of Callaway, the famous golf club manufacturer is located nearby in northern San Diego County not far from the prestigious Four Seasons Aviara, La Costa and Rancho Bernardo golf resorts and not far from several great wineries including Orfila Vineyards, known for its Merlots. With 25% of the world’s golf manufacturers based here, San Diego County has the largest concentration of golf manufacturers in the world. Could the 90 diverse courses to be played in San Diego County be the reason they’ve located here? Perhaps its San Diego’s legendary weather with average daily temperatures at 70.5 F/ 21.4 C, or its seemingly endless sunny days. Â

No, it must be California wines that have attracted them, as nothing seems to go better with golf in California, than wine.

A woman once said, “I love California. It’s as green as Ireland.” I responded, “You must have visited in March.” “Yes, but how did you know?” she answered.

From March through May, California’s Central Valley – particularly along its eastern foothills — is carpeted with lush, verdant grasses and wildflowers. However, the show is shortlived, turning to gold in June as grasses dry and remaining such until the following spring, but for those few months, it’s easy to imagine – as my acquaintance did – that California is always dressed in Irish green.

I spent the last couple of days in such a place… Lake Camanche, a recreational area operated by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District, approximately 50 miles southeast of Sacramento.  I’ve been there in the heat of summer and there’s little comparison to the bucolic scene to be enjoyed at this time of year. Camanche is now surrounded by undulating grass-covered hills that are forested with Valley oaks whose newborn leaves decorate dark boughs in bright yellow-green. Across these emerald pastures, black Angus steers graze in languid ecstasy likely unaware that such perfection will soon enough be desicated.

The fresh snowmelt that has filled Lake Camanche has turned the lake and its nearby neighbors (Pardee and New Hogan reservoirs), yet few anglers or boaters were out on the lake, and those that were had the idyllic scene and trout and bass to themselves. In summer, it’s a much busier place. Full body contact is allowed (jet skis, wakeboarding, towables, etc.) which attracts folks out for wet, cooling excitement.

Located between SR 88 to the north and SR 12 to the south, Lake Camanche is midway between Lodi and the Gold Country.  The lake offers tent campsites and cottages on both shores of the lake with RV hookups on the south shore, only. Onsite convenience stores and marinas and snack stands on both shores provide the basics or you can shop or dine nearby or drive 20 minutes to SR 49 for Gold Country restaurants, shops and casino action.

More about Lake Camanche is found at www.camancherecreation.com