Looking for 36 near SFO

[mannimal]

Need to be in SF for work for a week at the end of August and will be flying in late Sunday night and staying at an SFO-adjacent hotel that night. The following Monday, I have all day to get 36 in, my work commitments aren’t until first thing Tuesday AM so have no specific time I’d need to be up to SF by. I’ll have a car and thinking about bringing clubs since I’ll be probably playing 36 on Monday and trying to get out to Harding Park one afternoon while I’m in the city.

 

Currently thinking about driving down to Half Moon Bay. Was thinking about trying to get 36 in a Pasa but they don’t have any Monday AM times so guessing there’s an event. No private club connections so would need to be accessible for riff-raff like me. Any other ideas? Would like to keep the drive under 1.5 hours and I’ll need to get back up to SF proper that night so probably shouldn’t go too far south. 

 

I’m looking for a “somewhat” special course/venue, which is why I’m looking at HMB. I know I’ll be paying the ocean side “tax” but it is what it is… Let me know what you think!

[James the Hogan Fan]

Do you intend to play the same course twice? 

 

Half Moon Bay ticks the boxes for memorable, beautiful, etc. It also has the convenience of being a 36 hole facility. If your wallet says yes, then HMB is they way.

 

The only public 36 hole facilities that immediately come to mind are HMB, Coyote Creek in South San Jose, Foxtail in Rohnert Park, Blue Rock Springs in Vallejo, aaaand that's it. Cinnabar Hills, Poppy Ridge, and Alameda offer 27 hole options. 

 

So you're otherwise probably looking at two facilities. In no particular order, here are some reasonable combos:

 

Harding/Presidio: well maintained, foggy, tall Cypress tree-lined courses in the City proper.

 

Eagle Vines/Chardonnay: Vineyard golf in American Canyon. 40-45 out from SF proper. Play amongst the grapes! Have the advantage of being right next to each other.

 

Bridges/Canyon Lakes: Another pair of neighbors, this combo in San Ramon is for the player who wants accuracy to be tested on every swing. Both courses feature dramatic and hard shots with ravines, long grass, lost balls, and frustration. But both are well maintained (Bridges especially so, almost to the private level).

 

Wente Vineyards/Callippe Preserve. Wente is another vineyard course and a very nice one to boot. Hosted a nationwide tour event awhile back. Firmly in the kind-of-special camp. Callippe is a solid public course that (along with Poppy Ridge above) is a fantastic example of rolling California hills golf. ie moderate elevation change and holes sneaking through hills of tall golden grass. 

 

Depending on drive times desired you could mix and match any of the above courses. The ones truly "special" in their own right I'd limit to Wente, Harding, possibly Alameda, and Presidio. 

 

Let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification! 

[homerrunjesus]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:02 AM, James the Hogan Fan said:

Do you intend to play the same course twice? 

 

Half Moon Bay ticks the boxes for memorable, beautiful, etc. It also has the convenience of being a 36 hole facility. If your wallet says yes, then HMB is they way.

 

The only public 36 hole facilities that immediately come to mind are HMB, Coyote Creek in South San Jose, Foxtail in Rohnert Park, Blue Rock Springs in Vallejo, aaaand that's it. Cinnabar Hills, Poppy Ridge, and Alameda offer 27 hole options. 

 

So you're otherwise probably looking at two facilities. In no particular order, here are some reasonable combos:

 

Harding/Presidio: well maintained, foggy, tall Cypress tree-lined courses in the City proper.

 

Eagle Vines/Chardonnay: Vineyard golf in American Canyon. 40-45 out from SF proper. Play amongst the grapes! Have the advantage of being right next to each other.

 

Bridges/Canyon Lakes: Another pair of neighbors, this combo in San Ramon is for the player who wants accuracy to be tested on every swing. Both courses feature dramatic and hard shots with ravines, long grass, lost balls, and frustration. But both are well maintained (Bridges especially so, almost to the private level).

 

Wente Vineyards/Callippe Preserve. Wente is another vineyard course and a very nice one to boot. Hosted a nationwide tour event awhile back. Firmly in the kind-of-special camp. Callippe is a solid public course that (along with Poppy Ridge above) is a fantastic example of rolling California hills golf. ie moderate elevation change and holes sneaking through hills of tall golden grass. 

 

Depending on drive times desired you could mix and match any of the above courses. The ones truly "special" in their own right I'd limit to Wente, Harding, possibly Alameda, and Presidio. 

 

Let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification! 

 

Harding and Presidio are not much cheaper than HMB if you are not an SF resident. For the convenience, HMB is the way to go with the old and ocean course.

[mannimal]

On 8/8/2022 at 4:02 AM, James the Hogan Fan said:

Do you intend to play the same course twice? 

 

Half Moon Bay ticks the boxes for memorable, beautiful, etc. It also has the convenience of being a 36 hole facility. If your wallet says yes, then HMB is they way.

 

The only public 36 hole facilities that immediately come to mind are HMB, Coyote Creek in South San Jose, Foxtail in Rohnert Park, Blue Rock Springs in Vallejo, aaaand that's it. Cinnabar Hills, Poppy Ridge, and Alameda offer 27 hole options. 

 

So you're otherwise probably looking at two facilities. In no particular order, here are some reasonable combos:

 

Harding/Presidio: well maintained, foggy, tall Cypress tree-lined courses in the City proper.

 

Eagle Vines/Chardonnay: Vineyard golf in American Canyon. 40-45 out from SF proper. Play amongst the grapes! Have the advantage of being right next to each other.

 

Bridges/Canyon Lakes: Another pair of neighbors, this combo in San Ramon is for the player who wants accuracy to be tested on every swing. Both courses feature dramatic and hard shots with ravines, long grass, lost balls, and frustration. But both are well maintained (Bridges especially so, almost to the private level).

 

Wente Vineyards/Callippe Preserve. Wente is another vineyard course and a very nice one to boot. Hosted a nationwide tour event awhile back. Firmly in the kind-of-special camp. Callippe is a solid public course that (along with Poppy Ridge above) is a fantastic example of rolling California hills golf. ie moderate elevation change and holes sneaking through hills of tall golden grass. 

 

Depending on drive times desired you could mix and match any of the above courses. The ones truly "special" in their own right I'd limit to Wente, Harding, possibly Alameda, and Presidio. 

 

Let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification! 

 

Wow, some great info here, thank you so much for the feedback! To answer your first question, if the course is great, I don't mind playing it twice for 36 in a day, which was my intention at Pasatiempo but I don't think that's going to work out. All of this feedback is very helpful though as I think I'll be in the area a lot over the next couple of years. I am going to try to sneak out to Harding/Presidio one afternoon after work wraps up while I'm in the city so will save those for later in the week.

 

2 hours ago, homerrunjesus said:

 

Harding and Presidio are not much cheaper than HMB if you are not an SF resident. For the convenience, HMB is the way to go with the old and ocean course.

 

Yep, great point and what's got me pretty much settled on HMB. Going to book the AM tee time today! Thanks for the feedback, guys!

[doc52]

Pasa doesn't allow guests to book tee times before 10 a.m. 

 

+1 for HMB. Will be playing 36 there next month after a Monterey golf trip the same day I'm on a redeye out of SJC.

Edited August 18, 2022 by doc52

[mannimal]

On 8/18/2022 at 1:05 PM, doc52 said:

Pasa doesn't allow guests to book tee times before 10 a.m. 

 

+1 for HMB. Will be playing 36 there next month after a Monterey golf trip the same day I'm on a redeye out of SJC.

Ahh, that makes sense, thanks for the info.

 

I’ve actually decided to come out a night early and try to sneak on to Pebble Sunday. Been calling every AM to check on the single availability and Sunday is looking pretty good. Will be on the horn at 8AM tomorrow to try to secure a spot. They punched April 15-16 but I feel pretty decent about 12 days out…?

 

So plan is Pebble Sunday, with Pasa as a backup if I can get one of the available single spots and 36 at HMB Monday. LFG!

[doc52]

On 8/26/2022 at 6:49 PM, mannimal said:

Ahh, that makes sense, thanks for the info.

 

I’ve actually decided to come out a night early and try to sneak on to Pebble Sunday. Been calling every AM to check on the single availability and Sunday is looking pretty good. Will be on the horn at 8AM tomorrow to try to secure a spot. They punched April 15-16 but I feel pretty decent about 12 days out…?

 

So plan is Pebble Sunday, with Pasa as a backup if I can get one of the available single spots and 36 at HMB Monday. LFG!

Did you get a spot? You could have called closer to 6 a.m. for Pebble.

[tim_harris]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:05 PM, doc52 said:

Pasa doesn't allow guests to book tee times before 10 a.m. 

 

+1 for HMB. Will be playing 36 there next month after a Monterey golf trip the same day I'm on a redeye out of SJC.

 

I’m going out in December and was able to book a 7:30 AM tee time online.  Maybe time of the year is why they allowed it…

[doc52]

6 minutes ago, tim_harris said:

 

I’m going out in December and was able to book a 7:30 AM tee time online.  Maybe time of the year is why they allowed it…

 

They might be doing something different because they will have 9 holes shutdown in December.

 

You might want to contact the pro shop and double check. I have heard of folks booking early times and being denied when they get to the course.

[tim_harris]

I called just now as you had me a little scared talking of hole closures.

 

Person I talked to said no maintenance at that time or holes closed.

 

Other thing they shared was the reserved member tee times for members are Friday - Sunday but other than that guest can book anything that is open.  Obviously events would change that

Edited August 31, 2022 by tim_harris

[doc52]

14 hours ago, tim_harris said:

I called just now as you had me a little scared talking of hole closures.

 

Person I talked to said no maintenance at that time or holes closed.

 

Other thing they shared was the reserved member tee times for members are Friday - Sunday but other than that guest can book anything that is open.  Obviously events would change that

 

That's awesome, looks like they pushed out the restoration to April 2023.

 

In two weeks I'll be playing two rounds at Pasa back to back days. We originally planned 36 at HMB (Ocean and Old Course), but The Ocean Course is reserved for a corporate event on the Monday we'd play.

 

Our group ended up booking a night at the Inn at Pasa and which reduced the greens fees for our Monday round.

Edited September 1, 2022 by doc52