San Francisco, CA - GOLF!?

Hello Sand Trap!

I am new to the community and also new to golf in San Francisco - (normally I spend my time golfing in the east bay area) -

Wanted to see if anybody had any great recommendations for public courses in San Francisco.  Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Thanks

Although I don't live there anymore, I can recommend a couple of courses to play.  It's been awhile since I played any of the courses so I don't know the costs that they are currently charging.  The courses that come to mind are Harding Park, Lincoln, The Presidio and a 9 holer that Lee Trevino said was the hardest 9 holes he's played at Gleneagles.  If you want to travel down the peninsula a bit, there's Sharp Park in Pacifica, Poplar Creek in San Mateo, and Crystal Springs in Burlingame,

I'm no expert on SF golf, far from it, but I did play Lincoln Park with my bro and enjoyed it a lot.  It's an older track (around 1910 IIRC), a very laid back muni, friendly staff and an interesting, short course.  Some fabulous views, e.g. of the Golden Gate bridge.  It has its detractors, some of whom think it can be rather slow, not always perfectly maintained, and often difficult to get a tee time on.  But the price is right and it's a piece of SF history.  I'd look into it if I were you.

But I'm from Enron-by-the-Sea, what do I know?

I'm planning on playing lots more golf with my bro in and around SF so I'll be following this thread.  How about Half Moon Bay guys, a short drive down the coast from the city?  Which course there is worthy of my golfing $$$?  ($$, more like ....)

Half Moon Bay, both courses, are excellent but it's pricey to play there, $185.00 on the weekends.  I have a friend of mine that lives on the Old Course and he mentioned that the last time I spoke to him.  I was fortunate enough to be able to play there fairly often for $45.00 so I might be a bit biased in saying that I really don't think the $185.00 is worth it.

Grown up in the bay area and lived here my whole life.  Played all over the bay area and still looking for more new and fun courses to play.  If you live in SF, get your residents card, its well worth it even if you only play one round out at Harding.  Thats where you're going to get the biggest discount with it, but you also get discounts at other SF courses.

Lincoln, you have to play there at least once just for the experience.  Course is not in great shape by any means, but its a fun layout and tests you because it seems so easy, yet finds a way to get in your head.

Presidio is kind of a ripoff for what you get unless you can get a twilight time there in the summer.  Get one of the first twilight times and you SHOULD be able to finish as long as you dont get stuck behind too many slow golfers, and your round will come with 2 beers.

Those are pretty much the only public golf courses in the city worth playing, but if you want to play somewhere close and affordable, I would highly recommend San Geronimo.  Its in the north bay, out past Fairfax, and only about a 35-40 minute drive really.  It might seem far away, but I think you'll be happy you went north instead of the clusterf*** of the east bay.  San G is a great place for a summer afternoon/evening round, extremely peaceful out there, would never imagine you're that close to the city.

I could go on for days about lots of golf courses in the bay area with which ones I think are the best and worst and worth checking out depending on what you're looking for.  Some want a real challenge, some want an easy course, some want nice scenery, some want the full golf experience.  If you got questions on any specific course, I can probably answer most of em.

The course I play the most is Flemming, the 9 hole course at Harding Park.  Harding Park (the 18 hole course) is expensive and you usually have to book a tee time weeks in advance, but it's definitely worth it.  Also,  I play Lincoln and Sharp Park (in Pacifica), but Sharp is in pretty bad shape as of late and Lincoln is not my favorite course, other than the 17th hole.  Presidio Course is a nice course, but it's a little out of my price range to play regularly.  And if you don't mind the scary neighborhood, look at Gleneagles... definitely worth playing just for the ambiance and difficulty.  There's definitely no shortage of places in the area.

Thanks everyone - I definitely like all of the ideas within a 30-45 minute drive as well.  Had never heard of Sharp Park but will have to try them out.  This summer I tried Lincoln Park as well as this really funky 9 hole course in Golden Gate park (great place for a Friday afternoon post work  with lots of beer and cigars).

Looking for sweet courses on the Peninsula as well as North Bay as well.  Keep em coming!

like OC, I too was born, raised and lived here in the Bay Area my whole life.  The list of golf courses from San Jose up to Santa Rosa is a pretty long one.  Since I really don't feel like typing them all out, here's a link to the Courses page of the Hooked on Golf website- http://www.hookedongolf.com/courses/northern_california/index.html

It has all the the courses, public, private, resort and the 9 holers that you would want to play.  I was fortunate enough to be able to play the private course, Green Hills CC in Millbrae, as I was growing up.  If you ever get the opportunity to play it, do so.  The same holds true for Stanford, the California Club and Peninsula G&CC; not to forget the Olympic Club and San Francisco Country Club although I've never played the latter 2.  I had the chance on a few occasions but something always prevented me......I kick myself about it now.

Oh yea, when you come up to the North Bay, let me know and maybe we can hook up for a round.

Note:  Adobe Creek in Petaluma is closed until further notice while they figure out bankruptcy issues and then restructure.

Here are a few that haven't been mentioned:

Metropolitan near the Oakland Airport. http://www.playmetro.com/

Monarch Bay, also near the Oakland Airport http://www.americangolf.com/ca/san-leandro-monarch-bay-golf-club

A little further away in Livermore  is Wente Vineyards.

In the North Bay, San Geronimo http://www.golfsangeronimo.com/