Golf in San Francisco and bay area Options

[captaincheat]

I am heading to SF to play hockey at the end of May (in San Jose, actually) and I am looking for some general help. I have rented a house in Pacifica for the week, so that's home base. Here is what I am looking for;
- best courses within, say, an hours drive
- best bargain courses
- a 'must play' (must be something that I can actually get on...so no Peeble Beach)

On another topic....
- what is the best way to get into downtown SF from Pacifica? (I hear driving is a bad idea, but public transit looks to be all along the east side of the peninsula. Any tips would be MUCH appreciated.)
- To go to a Giants game, what is the best way to get tickets? (Ebay, ticket office, other?)
- What's it like in Oakland (ball park I mean?)
- tell me something cool to do or see that I won't find in some tourist book ;-)
- where is the best place to get live music listings?

Again, thanks for the help guys.....

[ELVISsf]

harding park golf course and presidio golf course are ones you might want to play. sharp park golf course is in pacifica, but its pretty worn down. i'm a muni golfer so i could only recommend public. driving around the bay area isn't really a problem. just stay away from the bridges during rush hour(s). you can stop buy a giants dugout store to buy tickets to the game. they also sell tickets at the ballpark before the game too. a's games are fun if you tailgate in the parking lot. i haven't been there in years. while your in pacifica, stop buy camelot's. they have the best fish and chip. they taste even better after your round at sharp park. and check the pink section in the sunday chronicle for live music performances. south of market has a tremendous night scene. pretty much every night of the week you'll find something. wow. i stay in the bay area and this sounds like alot of fun. i think i'm going to do this myself. thanks.

[GehenHerzog]

We played a tournament at Poppy Ridge in Livermore and thoroughly enjoyed that golf course even though I played terrible.

[ScratchThis]

cordevalle foo

[robtomh]

Harding is good suggestion as is Poppy Ridge (sister course to Pebble's Poppy Hills).

Lately it seems like everyone is talking about Callippe Preserve. And then of course, there is Wente (Nationwide plays an annual even there). On day(s) when you're down in San Jose I would recommend Coyote Creek's Tournament Course or continuing for another five minutes beyond Coyote into the foothills to Cinnabar Hills.

[TucsonGolfer]

Alright IM from Pleasanton CA, right over the hills of Oakland. I cant recall where exactly Pacifica is but here is a list:

Above mentioned was Poppy Ridge, great course, however, Poppy Hills in monteray bay is the course, also Half Moon Bay is great,

One of my favorites down in that area that I only got to play 1 time, Pasatiempo** spell check. That course is amazing.

Alright, Harding park Was also mentioned and I totally agree. I played it before the remodel and it was nothing to care about but now its awesome.

Moving to the East bay:

The Bridges ... haha just pray the geens arent hard.. well they always are haha. Tiger did something there. Awesome Course,

Wente Vineyards, not an extremely difficult place, but gorgeous.

Well, sorry but if you are in the area the #1 course you HAVE TO PLAY

SPYGLASS!

DO NOT GO AND NOT PLAY THERE, you will regret passing that up.

[TucsonGolfer]

Harding is good suggestion as is Poppy Ridge (sister course to Pebble's Poppy Hills).

Lately it seems like everyone is talking about Callippe Preserve. And then of course, there is Wente (Nationwide plays an annual even there). On day(s) when you're down in San Jose I would recommend Coyote Creek's Tournament Course or continuing for another five minutes beyond Coyote into the foothills to Cinnabar Hills.

haha Calluppie , that was built pratically in my back yard from where i lived. I heard good things, but that it gets SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH PLAY

by the way, it will be hot as hell on the little foothills right there.

I never got to play it, I moved before it was finished.

[SMGolfer]

live music, look up sfstation.com, also, yelp it and see what pple think of the local places to eat. Giants game gotta hit up Caltrain drops you off right in front of the ballpark. Oakland take BART, samething drops you off in front, the park itself not all that impressive.

tickets to the giants game, look online on there homepage, ticketmaster, etc....or Craigslist, I am sure you will find someone selling tickets.

depends what kind of night life you like, rock, club, dive bars, etc....if you want,drop me a PM and I can send you a handful of other links that you may find useful.

have fun when you come to the bay!!

i will let others talk about golf courses, there is one that does have a special, its called Coyote Creek (2 18 holes, Jack Nicklaus Design) in So. San Jose, off the 101 freeway, they have all day special, pay $90, play all you want, 2 meal tickets, m-thur or m-f only. I used to take a dayoffs on friday, tee off at 7 am and play almost 54 hours! with daylight savings you play all day!!!

peace
steve

edit: if you have access to the internet while u are hear....golfnow.com will be a nice useful tool to help you plan which golf courses to go and play, based on your "best bargain" criteria.

This post has been edited by SMGolfer: May 13 2009, 12:48 PM

[OnOff]

Go play Pasatiempo, a MacKenzie design in Santa Cruz. I worked there while doing my undergrad at UCSC. It is consistently ranked the third best public access course in the state, behind only Pebble and the Glass. It was Alister's favorite course, he retired on it and had his asses spread on it.

Also someone mentioned Sharp Park in Pacifica. It's a city owned course so the conditions are not the best but it is a MacKenzie course on the cheap.

[mchepp]

Since you are close to San Francisco Harding Park is an excellent choice. Your best bet is to head over there in the morning and hope to get out as a single. If you go over before 8 you will have a pretty good chance. Harding is a great course. Bring warm clothes, I suggest layers. When the fog is in and the wind blows even though it is summer it can be really chilly, or it can be hot, you need to be prepared for both.

You can drive down Hwy 1 to Half Moon Bay. If you are going to play there you want to join their e-club. You can do it from their website. With e-club, like 120 bucks, without 225. It is free to join and either Ocean or Old are great courses. I prefer Old but the Ocean was just played by the ladies last year and is also a great course. Small warning, there is no range there. They used the 1st hole of the Old course for the range while the ladies were there. May not be that big of a deal to you, but it surprised me the first time I played there.

Wente was also mentioned is a great course, but Livermore is going to be bit of a distance for you. Over an hour I think. I am not sure how dedicated you are.

As mentioned by others Coyote is a great choice. For you will be about 1 hour away from Pacifica. There are 36 holes there and both are pretty good place to play. Cinnabar which was also mentioned is a nice place also. They have 27 holes there. Both of these are very easy to get onto, just show up as a single and they will get you out.

Callippe is a newer course, but is a pretty good deal. I enjoyed my round there, but as stated by others it can be hard to get on.

There are a couple other nice places further south, Eagle Ridge, San Juan Oaks, that are GREAT deals but they are a bit far from you. Like 2+ hours. Eagle Ridge is a Johnny Miller design and San Juan Oaks was done by Freddie Couples. Both of these are very easy to get on.

Hope that helps. Good Luck, this is a great time of year for coming to the Bay Area.

[xodus82]

All mentioned above are great plus some others:

- Harding (Presidents Cup 09)
- Half Moon Bay (pricey)
- Crystal Springs
- Sharp Park / Pasatiempo (Augusta Designer McKenzie)
- Cinnabar / Coyote Creek / Eagle Ridge
- Callippe
- Metropolitan - Miller course by oakland airport
- Monarch Bay (tony lema course)
- Wente / Poppy Ridge
- if youre on the cheap tons of munis - Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Shoreline, Santa Theresa, Chuck Corica....

another resource besides golfnow.com is ncga.org (course directory)

you can take BART to A's game (oakland coliseum stop). not as pretty as AT&T Park but has that old school charm

[harold baines]

on the ballpark situation, I'd tend to tell folks to skip Oakland, it's not a great ballpark and in the middle of the ghetto

for getting into the city from pacifica, check out

www.caltrain.org (caltrain will drop you off right in front of pac bell park)

www.bart.gov (bart is better for getting to other locations in the city)

[woohoo4me]

+1 for Half Moon Bay.....lot of good course suggestions in the thread already.

DO go to a Giants game...great ball park.
DO NOT waste your time seeing a game in run down Oakland....unless your favorite AL team is in town.

I have never used Stubhub.com for tickets, but I understand it's a convenient way to get seats. Something about being able to see your view from the selected tickets?? I think that's in the ads I hear.

Do allow yourself some time to bump around the Marina district. Cool restaurants, shops, atmosphere......

Enjoy,

Woo

[harold baines]

oh, and also, as long as the dodgers aren't in town, you can most likely even just buy tickets to the giants on game day at the park
they're not nearly as popular as they were a few years ago

[gfogelgolf]

If you are a single digit Callippe stinks! Hands down the best course in the Bay Area (might be outside the Bay) it is in Turlock near Modesto is Stevinson Ranch! No arguement.... Best greens no matter what time of year great layout. If you want to make the trip you will LOVE it. About 1 and 15 from Dublin so add about 40 minutes from SF. WELL WORTH THE TRIP!!!!! Check out Golf Digest they rated it I think top 10 in country for all of the catagories....

[golfware]

Good Lord.

Some of you guys will be having this poor fella drive forever.

So, a must on your list should be the following, since you'll be in Pacifica:

1 - Harding Park (shouldn't be a problem walking on, granted there isn't a tournament. Call a day or so in advance to make sure that we don't have any tournaments goinng on. The course is in fantastic shape, although we did just punch the greens this week. By the end of this month, they should be nice.)

2 - Presidio. Fantastic views of the Golden Gate bridge and the surrounding area.

3 - Since you're in San Jose, check out Coyote Creek and Cinnabar Hills (sp?). Both are sweet golf courses and must plays.

4 - If you don't mind spending a few $$$, Half Moon Bay will be quite the experience. There's two golf courses there and both are exceptional.

5 - The Bridges in San Ramon. Holiness, one tough golf course, but a lot of fun too.

And last but not least, Crystal Springs is a nice muni golf course. Nice views of Crystal Springs resevoir and a fun golf course, but challenging as well.

Everything else to totally private (Olympic Club, SF Golf Club, Stanford, etc.), or not worth the long trek in my opinion.

[IANative]

It's been 20 years since I was stationed there, but I remember The Presidio Army Golf Club, and Lincoln Park Golf Course (just south of the Presidio).

[SMGolfer]

while u are in the city, got to "house of prime rib"!! its on van ness st., good place to eat and right after you can head into the So Market area for the night life, its close and a cheap cab ride.

don't go to lincoln the muni is not in good shape, presidio club is nice, but the greens suck, always hairy as hell and personally a little overpriced.

i agree with gfogelgolf - Stevinson Ranch, one awesome course, not one hole that i didn't like, but it is a far drive from SF.

[raidernut1234]

OK, while most of these posts have good info, very disorganized, so let me see if I can help out a little bit.
1. You are staying in Pacifica- not San Jose, Right? are you playing Hockey in san jose? if so, then plan drives accordingly. 45 no traffiic 1.5 hrs during rush hour. worth it to stay in Pacifica though. By the way, If you want to get custom Fit, Joe Kwok will be with in 20 minutes of your house, I STRONGLY recommend it if you are thinking of upgrading shafts in any of your clubs.

GOLF:
1. Harding is your best bet in Pacifica followed by Presidio (but it will still be swampy this time of year).
2. Must Plays: In order of closest to farthest from pacifica: Pasatiempo- Santa Cruz, Fort Ord Bayonet Course- SEaside/Monterey, Poppy Hills- Monterey,Poppy Ridge or Wente-LIvermore, and yes Stevinson is a great course 40 minutes south of me, but would be 2 hour drive for you-
MY PICK of all of them? FORT ORD BAYONET course- online tee time GOLFNOW specials for $ 55-60 weekdays after 12. and if you go, you have to play the back nine at Pacific grove Muni- $ 20 and a 6 pack, then goto Stillwaters at Pebble for Calimari appetizer and Cosmopolitans on the deck looking over 18th green.
If kids- GOTO Monterey aquarium. PM me and if my schedule allows me to join you during the week, I'd be happy to play with you.
3. Giants/ A's game info: SMgolfer has it right, Caltrain. Giants Park-One of the best ballparks in the league. If not an A's Fan, skip the hood.

TOURIST STUFF- Skip Pier 39, if you go plan only 15minutes their, biggest waste of time tourist trap on the planet. Should you do the alcatraz tour? yes at 4PM so you can see the sunset, then get the hell away from the pier, go see Coit tower, American legion hall, Museum, Exploratorium (If Kids a must)

FOOD: And you have access to some of the best restaurants in the world.. use yelp.com to do research (local ratings site).
My recommendations Tadich Grill- vintage san francisco service and seafood (its Scoma's without the Tourist Prices), Krustaceans for phenomenal Asian seafood fair.

By the way, you bay area guys, shoot me a PM when you come play Stevinson, will always travel there to play with a WRX'r!! They have a $ 50 monday skins game at 11 or 12 depending on the time of year.

This post has been edited by raidernut1234: May 13 2009, 05:40 PM

[scotchblade]

Closest to you in Pacifica are Harding, Crystal, Sharp and Half Moon Bay, all less than a 1/2 hour. There are others close by, but all private. Pasa and Spyglass are great if you don't mind spending that kind of money and they are farther than an hour. Come to think of it, Half Moon Bay ain't cheap either and neither is Harding. Good suggestion on getting on Half Moon's mailing list to play for (a little less). Weather there can be very iffy, rare that it gets above 65. Anybody mention Cinnebar Hills in San Jose? In Marin, you may want to consider Stonetree, especially on a Golf Now discount. On the way you can check out the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands (killer views), then cruise through picturesque Sausalito on the way to the course. Unless you know your way around, the easiest way to get to downtown from Pacifica / Daly City is BART.

Come to think of it, if you've never been to the Monterey Peninsula (Pebble Beach / Spyglass), it's only a couple of hours away and it would be a shame to be so close and miss it. One of the most gorgeous settings in the world. Hit Pasa in Santa Cruz on the way down, spend the night and hit the Monterey Peninsula next. Fort Ord is great! It's so much fun spending your money! Seriously, depending on how much time you have, you just won't be able to get it all in. San Francisco is a fantastic city with much to offer, so you'll have to just decide.

If pressed for time, do Harding and Half Moon Bay.

This post has been edited by scotchblade: May 13 2009, 05:24 PM

[youraway2]

OK, while most of these posts have good info, very disorganized, so let me see if I can help out a little bit.
1. You are staying in Pacifica- not San Jose, Right? are you playing Hockey in san jose? if so, then plan drives accordingly. 45 no traffiic 1.5 hrs during rush hour. worth it to stay in Pacifica though. By the way, If you want to get custom Fit, Joe Kwok will be with in 20 minutes of your house, I STRONGLY recommend it if you are thinking of upgrading shafts in any of your clubs.

GOLF:
1. Harding is your best bet in Pacifica followed by Presidio (but it will still be swampy this time of year).
2. Must Plays: In order of closest to farthest from pacifica: Pasatiempo- Santa Cruz, Fort Ord Bayonet Course- SEaside/Monterey, Poppy Ridge- Monterey, Wente-LIvermore, and yes Stevinson is a great course 40 minutes south of me, but would be 2 hour drive for you-
MY PICK of all of them? FORT ORD BAYONET course- online tee time GOLFNOW specials for $ 55-60 weekdays after 12. and if you go, you have to play the back nine at Pacific grove Muni- $ 20 and a 6 pack, then goto Stillwaters at Pebble for Calimari appetizer and Cosmopolitans on the deck looking over 18th green.
If kids- GOTO Monterey aquarium. PM me and if my schedule allows me to join you during the week, I'd be happy to play with you.
3. Giants/ A's game info: SMgolfer has it right, Caltrain. Giants Park-One of the best ballparks in the league. If not an A's Fan, skip the hood.

TOURIST STUFF- Skip Pier 39, if you go plan only 15minutes their, biggest waste of time tourist trap on the planet. Should you do the alcatraz tour? yes at 4PM so you can see the sunset, then get the hell away from the pier, go see Coit tower, American legion hall, Museum, Exploratorium (If Kids a must)

FOOD: And you have access to some of the best restaurants in the world.. use yelp.com to do research (local ratings site).
My recommendations Tadich Grill- vintage san francisco service and seafood (its Scoma's without the Tourist Prices), Krustaceans for phenomenal Asian seafood fair.

By the way, you bay area guys, shoot me a PM when you come play Stevinson, will always travel there to play with a WRX'r!! They have a $ 50 monday skins game at 11 or 12 depending on the time of year.

+ 1 for Pacific Grove back nine - stunning - also Rosine's in Old Monterrey has great food and well priced. We lucked out and played Stonebrae (TPC SF). This David Kidd course is phenomenal.

[881430]

I played Half Moon Bay 2 weeks before the LPGA played their event there......very fun, but grinder conditions.

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

Go play Pasatiempo......It was Alister's favorite course, he retired on it and had his asses spread on it.

....and despite that, it's a great track!

[OnOff]

Go play Pasatiempo......It was Alister's favorite course, he retired on it and had his asses spread on it.

....and despite that, it's a great track!

Haha, you got me.

[SJWDR]

+1 for Half Moon Bay. Play the Old Course later in the afternoon and arrive at 18 tee around 1 hour before sunset. Amazing views and galary at the Ritz Carlton awating your approach shot. The Ritz Carlton is always nice too.

For steaks in SFO MORTONS on Post Street (say hello to Tom at the bar from the Germany guy in Beijing) and later some drinks (Silver Oak) at MATRIX Bar.

For private club try to get on SHARON HEIGHT, Palo Alto, perfect Country Club. A business friend of mine who is member there always takes me for a round there. I look forward to mey next round there already.

All the others have been already mentioned.

Have fun out there.

Best regards
SJWDR

[Adidas_23]

For steaks in SFO MORTONS on Post Street (say hello to Tom at the bar from the Germany guy in Beijing) and later some drinks (Silver Oak) at MATRIX Bar.

Best regards
SJWDR

Morton's is always solid, but I am actually partial to Bobo's on lombard. Morton's is good, but since it is a chain, you can find it in major cities so it might be good to try a SF favorite. I try to go as often as my heart will allow. SJWDR, you been there?

as for golf, I actually would recommend not going to the presidio unless you get a great deal. I wouldn't pay more than $40 to play that course. long rounds, greens are really slow, not worth the $100 or whatever they are charging now.

[Bigheadgolf]

Try the Ranch golf club a couple miles south of San Jose. A tough track with some great views. Also Presido and Harding Park are nice affordable courses in the Bay area. I suggest using golf now hot deals for best rates. Cheers

[Johnny]

Try the Ranch golf club a couple miles south of San Jose. A tough track with some great views. Also Presido and Harding Park are nice affordable courses in the Bay area. I suggest using golf now hot deals for best rates. Cheers

Dont waste your time and $$$ @ The Ranch...

[ikarcuaso]

Go to Oakland if you want to see what World Series banners and trophies look like.

[progk1]

FYI harding repunched and sanded their greens recently-little sandy and slow as of this past weekend but it is the public course to play in the area.
Pasatiempo is great but might be a little far for for you.

Alot of the other courses mentioned are great but you have to drive while to get out there..........I think pretty much everything has been mentioned
o/w I agree with getting email specials for Half Moon Bay.
You can also get email specials for the Presidio-I personally don't like playing there but the course is alright if the conditions are good. It feels like a SF course-tall trees, uneven lies plus it's in the city-just don't expect something fantastic but it's above average.

Giants tickets are easy to come by, depends on where you wanna sit but nowdays right before the game good seats get released right before game time.
A's tickets are even easier to get but in all seriousness-don't bother unless you are on a mission to see all of the baseball stadiums or if your team is playing the A's. Not a fan of either teams but A's fans may be a bit more vocal than Giant fans but the hoodlum factor is pretty high in Oakland.

[progk1]

BTW-SF weekly for music listings
Free paper in stands along the city/coffee shops etc

It's not a bad drive from pacifica to the city--parking is the bad part of driving. To downtown 280 N then either 101 or 280 depending on where you need to go. 280 ends at the ballpark.

[SJWDR]

For steaks in SFO MORTONS on Post Street (say hello to Tom at the bar from the Germany guy in Beijing) and later some drinks (Silver Oak) at MATRIX Bar.

Best regards
SJWDR

Morton's is always solid, but I am actually partial to Bobo's on lombard. Morton's is good, but since it is a chain, you can find it in major cities so it might be good to try a SF favorite. I try to go as often as my heart will allow. SJWDR, you been there?

as for golf, I actually would recommend not going to the presidio unless you get a great deal. I wouldn't pay more than $40 to play that course. long rounds, greens are really slow, not worth the $100 or whatever they are charging now.

Hi,
I think so a local friend in SFO took me to an old boys network traditional style steakhouse but I do not remember the name in detail but I assume it was the one you stated.
best regards and bon appetit
SJWDR

[captaincheat]

Thanks for all the info guys. Our hockey schedule is in constant flux, so booking a t-time or buying ball tickets is going to be last minute. It looks like golfnow.com is the best way to book t-times. One question though. I had to put in a zip code, so I used the Pacifica one. Now, I see that the locals pay WAY less than us tourists so if I book through golfnow with the Pacifica zip, will they ding me when they hear me say 'eh' or 'aboot' and I blow my 'non local' cover or will I get to pay what I booked at?
On that topic...is there ANY way to snag a local rate being at these courses?

I think we are leaning toward Harding park, Sharp Park and either Cinnibar Hills(if it works out on a hockey day) or Precidio...maybe Crystal Springs.

As for music...Tragically Hip ....two weeks after we leave. Kings of Leon....tonight. Fleetwood Mac....tonight. Jane's Addiction...tomorrow.
Bad timing!

As for food....too hard to pick. There are soooo many awesome eats, it's a play it by ear deal. I don't think you can go too wrong.


**edit....I see the big fat 'R' on the golfnow links.....so much for the deals....


This post has been edited by captaincheat: May 22 2009, 12:46 AM

[tobermory]

Sharp Park in Pacifica is a really nice old track, a little run down but it is fun and the price is right; about $20-25, I think. Pristine it ain't but it plays fast during the week unless there is some kind of event going on. In San Francisco, you gotta play Harding, but save some money and play it in the afternoon. Half Moon Bay is expensive, so make sure you get the email specials unless you want to pay more than $100. The email I got today offers $40 rounds if I play after 4, and it should stay light enough to get through all 18.

Nobody has mentioned a little secret course in San Francisco called Gleneagles. Its a 9 hole course with front tees and back tees so it plays as an 18 hole course. It goes for about $16 for 9, less than $30 for 18. Not crowded because it is really tough and in a dicey neighborhood. If you are driving and you don't stop while passing through the housing projects, no problem. Narrow slanted fairways, tricky and well kept greens, and populated by a great bunch of mostly serious golfers who you will enjoy meeting afterwards in the classic old time bar on site with dozens of single malts. Kind of a working mans club, just the fellas.

Have fun!

[scotchblade]

tobermory is right on Gleneagles, a little diamond in a rough neighborhood.

http://www.gleneaglesgolfsf.com/

[snagy2000]

tobermory is right on Gleneagles, a little diamond in a rough neighborhood.

http://www.gleneaglesgolfsf.com/

A little diamond? C'mon, that place is a cow pasture, where all the greens break towards the Cow Palace. Coincidence? I think not! Oh yeah, and its only 9 holes. I'd much rather see them close Gleneagles over Sharp Park.

Play Presidio as its currently in better shape then Harding and a bit cheaper for out of towners. Harding likes to punch their greens every other week it seems like and they never heal in time. Plus, Harding is a guaranteed 5 1/2 hour round. Presidio is about a 5 hour round and has more character to it. NoCal golfers apparently think 5 hours to play golf is acceptable. I had to get use to it when I moved here. Enjoy!

This post has been edited by snagy2000: May 22 2009, 10:07 AM

[raidernut1234]

Captain... + 1 for harding and cinnebar hills. if you can get to cinnebar it is a must play... just get there early to practice putting, greens can be quick.
enjoy your stay in our great state (before it goes broke... LOL)

[tobermory]

I played Harding today, teed off at 2, finished at 6:30, 4.5 not 5.5. I think once out of the 40-50 times I've played there in the last 5 years has it taken 5 hours or more. Harding is a little rough right now. The fairways have been punched recently and they are doing a lot of work to get it ready for the October tournament. Still worth playing, but not up to its usual standards.

If you need plush country club manicured fairways, then Gleneagles is not for you. If you need a serious test of your skills, and can enjoy the absence of lux, Gleneagles might be for you. The greens are better than Harding, more challenging too. Its pretty amazing what they can do out there with only 3 groundskeepers.