Half Moon Bay - Old Course

[North Texas]

Is the Old Course at Half Moon Bay worth playing?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

[falken19150]

Absolutely. Do a super early tee time on the Old and another 18 on the Ocean Course.

 

Played a couple of weeks ago and Jerry Rice was playing in the group behind us.

[North Texas]

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

 

We'll be out there in mid October. We're playing Pebble on Monday and Pasatiempo on Tuesday.

 

Driving to San Fran on Thursday from Monterey and looking for somewhere to play on the way. We've played the Ocean Course and trying for something different. Checked with Cal Club and they had their 3 day Invitational starting on that Thursday (19th) or we could have played there.

 

Haven't thought about Olympic. Thinks that's an option.

 

One other course we've thought about is Cinnabar Hills. Any thoughts on it versus the Old Course?

[golfdummy]

Another private to consider is Lake Merced. It's right across the lake from Olympic Club. Good golf course too, they've played us open sectional there multiple times.

[Left Rough]

IMO Lake Merced is the better track compared to either Oly course

[North Texas]

Any idea how hard it be to get on Lake Merced?

[tw422]

Is the Old Course at Half Moon Bay worth playing?

 

Yes, 100% - way better than the Ocean Course at HMB. Good old style layout.

 

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

 

We'll be out there in mid October. We're playing Pebble on Monday and Pasatiempo on Tuesday.

 

Driving to San Fran on Thursday from Monterey and looking for somewhere to play on the way. We've played the Ocean Course and trying for something different. Checked with Cal Club and they had their 3 day Invitational starting on that Thursday (19th) or we could have played there.

 

Haven't thought about Olympic. Thinks that's an option.

 

One other course we've thought about is Cinnabar Hills. Any thoughts on it versus the Old Course?

 

Cinnabar is average - hilly with some interesting holes but nothing great. Old Course is much better IMO

[SmoothStroker81]

I like both HMB courses, but the Old Course is very classy course.

[duffer987]

Is the Old Course at Half Moon Bay worth playing?

 

Yes, 100% - way better than the Ocean Course at HMB. Good old style layout.

 

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

 

We'll be out there in mid October. We're playing Pebble on Monday and Pasatiempo on Tuesday.

 

Driving to San Fran on Thursday from Monterey and looking for somewhere to play on the way. We've played the Ocean Course and trying for something different. Checked with Cal Club and they had their 3 day Invitational starting on that Thursday (19th) or we could have played there.

 

Haven't thought about Olympic. Thinks that's an option.

 

One other course we've thought about is Cinnabar Hills. Any thoughts on it versus the Old Course?

 

Cinnabar is average - hilly with some interesting holes but nothing great. Old Course is much better IMO

 

Agreed. If you wanted a change of pace and didn't care whether you drove up Hwy 1 back to the city, IMHO San Juan Oaks is the 'best' public access course driving back up, that isn't Pasatiempo.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

 

We'll be out there in mid October. We're playing Pebble on Monday and Pasatiempo on Tuesday.

 

Driving to San Fran on Thursday from Monterey and looking for somewhere to play on the way. We've played the Ocean Course and trying for something different. Checked with Cal Club and they had their 3 day Invitational starting on that Thursday (19th) or we could have played there.

 

Haven't thought about Olympic. Thinks that's an option.

 

One other course we've thought about is Cinnabar Hills. Any thoughts on it versus the Old Course?

 

Old>>>Cinnabar.

 

Here are a few pics of the Old that I dug up

 

[OLD_BONES]

I used to live in HMB back in the day and there were probably 20 or so houses on the course and there was only one course, which then was called "The Links at Half Moon Bay." IMO it's a fun course and the 18th hole has a fantastic view of the Pacific. Go Play!

[North Texas]

Is the Old Course at Half Moon Bay worth playing?

 

Yes, 100% - way better than the Ocean Course at HMB. Good old style layout.

 

IMO yes but I also have a long history on that course going back before the hotel was even a thought. Front 9 favors the draw, back nine favors the fade off the tee. Some decent holes routed through a housing community at times followed by a pretty good finish on the cliff above the Pacific. Good green complexes and mix of approach shots and a little risk vs reward too.

 

Also depends on your options, Would I play HMB over Pasatiempo or any of the high end private clubs like Olympic, SF GC Cal Club Stanford etc prob not.

 

We'll be out there in mid October. We're playing Pebble on Monday and Pasatiempo on Tuesday.

 

Driving to San Fran on Thursday from Monterey and looking for somewhere to play on the way. We've played the Ocean Course and trying for something different. Checked with Cal Club and they had their 3 day Invitational starting on that Thursday (19th) or we could have played there.

 

Haven't thought about Olympic. Thinks that's an option.

 

One other course we've thought about is Cinnabar Hills. Any thoughts on it versus the Old Course?

 

Cinnabar is average - hilly with some interesting holes but nothing great. Old Course is much better IMO

 

Agreed. If you wanted a change of pace and didn't care whether you drove up Hwy 1 back to the city, IMHO San Juan Oaks is the 'best' public access course driving back up, that isn't Pasatiempo.

 

duffer,

 

How far out of the way is San Juan Oaks?

HMB Old Course or San Juan Oaks?

[EvanScottKing]

Absolutely. Do a super early tee time on the Old and another 18 on the Ocean Course.

 

Played a couple of weeks ago and Jerry Rice was playing in the group behind us.

 

Did just this a while back and had Jerry two groups behind us as we played Ocean.

 

Ocean can be beautiful on a nice weather day, but the old course is more fun in my opinion. You get a bit more variety around the Old course.

[duffer987]

North Texas - If you were driving from SFO to Monterey, San Juan Oaks would be just off Hwy 101 on the inland route down. Since you'd be taking the coastal route from Monterey to Santa Cruz back up, you could do with the faster/less scenic trip down and not miss anything.

 

I never played HMB Old in my 5 years there, played HMB Ocean 6 or 7 times, so I cannot directly compare the two.

I would just always pick San Juan Oaks over Cinnabar, when given the choice.

[timmy8151]

Any idea how hard it be to get on Lake Merced?

 

Hard but not impossible. Like any private course you can get on through an invite from a member or if you belong to a private club yourself you might have your Pro call Lake Merced and see if they can get you on.