Good Courses around San Francisco Bay area?

rkangrah · December 9, 2011

I plan to visit San Francisco next week. What are some good courses in San Francisco bay area?

sabram · December 9, 2011

I'm not an expert on the Bay area, but have played a bunch of courses there. First, it depends how far you are willing to drive and how much you want to spend. My first recomenadtion is to drive down to Pasatiempo. It's an hour drive south of SFO, and worth the drive. It's a top 100 course in the U.S , and Alistair Mackenzie design and has recently been refurbished by Tom Doak. Closer to the city is Harding Park. I often play near airports before I depart a city. Crystal Springs is very close to SFO and decent. If you are near Oakland airport Metropolitan and Monarch Bay are good choices and inexpensive. East of Oakland are Wente Vineyards and Poppy Ridge in Livermore (about an hour east of SFO.

ryancjordan · December 11, 2011

SF Resident here who plays a ton of different courses. Question totally depends on where you're staying. If you're staying on the penninsula, go play Half Moon Bay Old Course, Pasatiempo or some of the Monterey courses. If you're in San Francisco, I much prefer Harding Park to the Presidio, but I usually drive up to Peacock Gap in San Rafael or if I want to stay on this side of the bridge I go to Half Moon Bay or Harding.

wolfpack · December 11, 2011

Like others have said, Harding, Lincoln, Sharp Park in pacifica (crappy but fun) is an old Mackenzie design. If you can get across the bridge, Metro in oakland, Monarch (my favorite) in San Leandro, or in the north bay Indian Valley. Olympic and San Francisco are legendary but very private.. you would need someone to get you on.

geesecougar2 · December 11, 2011

Metropolitan is probably my favorite course all things considered, but it's not a particularly pretty track and you may have your concentration broken by the 757s flying overhead. Inland I would say Wente Vineyards or Roddy Ranch.

scotchblade · December 12, 2011

If you are visiting and only have a day to play, you may as well play Harding. But it will cost you and it's possible you'll find it disappointing for what they charge out of towners - $150, I think. But it's a classic. Pasatiempo is fantastic but quite a drive and it's close to $250.

ryancjordan · December 13, 2011

Scotchblade no love for your hometown course of Peacock?

scotchblade · December 13, 2011

[quote name='ryancjordan' timestamp='1323814886' post='3934813']
Scotchblade no love for your hometown course of Peacock?
[/quote]
LOL! Well, I have a soft spot for the place but can't recommend it to an out of towner looking for a memorable golf experience while visiting the city by the bay.

There is actually some nice history to "the c**k" - it was quite the swinging place in the 60's and attracted celebs and touring pros. Marin golf legend Ray Leach, one of the most promising young players back in his day, teaches out there. Rookie PGA tour pro Zack Miller would show up every now and then to work with him.

Hopefully the new owners will turn the place around - it was struggling for awhile.

rjkrutsch · December 14, 2011

Travel North and Play Sonoma terrific course that one can walk and enjoy. The course is awesome and holds us open qualifiers and is quite playable. Play Linocln Park for the views take a camera for the 17th hole

ryancjordan · December 14, 2011

[quote name='scotchblade' timestamp='1323825903' post='3935655']
[quote name='ryancjordan' timestamp='1323814886' post='3934813']
Scotchblade no love for your hometown course of Peacock?
[/quote]
LOL! Well, I have a soft spot for the place but can't recommend it to an out of towner looking for a memorable golf experience while visiting the city by the bay.

There is actually some nice history to "the c**k" - it was quite the swinging place in the 60's and attracted celebs and touring pros. Marin golf legend Ray Leach, one of the most promising young players back in his day, teaches out there. Rookie PGA tour pro Zack Miller would show up every now and then to work with him.

Hopefully the new owners will turn the place around - it was struggling for awhile.
[/quote]

The new greens are a massive improvement. 6, 7, 11 and 15 are all hugely improved. Probably my favorite course in the area at the moment. I considered joining, but a weekday only membership is 6k/yr. No thanks...