Any one from the Bay Area have some ideas?

I'm Relocating for a job in the Bay Area. Being close to an office really doesn't matter as most of my travel will be out of state. Easy access to an airport is a must. I'm in my early twenties so I'm looking to live some where with a younger crowd. City living seems appealing to me. Downtown San Fran or San Jose are high on my list. Several areas in the bay look interesting: South of Market Area (SOMA), Russian Hill, Cow Hollow, Mission Bay, South Beach...

But here is the catch... I know nothing about golf in the area. I am looking to join a Country Club mainly for golf but it would be nice to meet others that way as well.

Any Suggestions?

we have mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnny nice course out her bro. The whole bay area is nice. The key is to find out an area where you knida want to be close to and then it doesn't matter. The city is great but you don't have to live there to enjoy it. With the bart train you can pretty much go anywhere in the bay for a couple bucks, in a very quick manner. If you have any actual cities in mnd let me know and i'll try to help

Joshua

So I think I am looking for a course that isn't too far away... I will be traveling to Palo Alto, San Jose (Tasman area) and of course the airports... I have seen a lot of nice courses east of Livermore but that would be a trek from the city. I will most likely be in South of Beach or SOMA.

I wondered if there are any courses I should stray from and any I should definitely look at? I would like to join a private club but that may be cost prohibitive. I will probably play 8-15 times a month. It would be nice to join a club that has other young professionals as members.

The Bay Area has good golf but, you are going to have to drive usually. Gas is $4 a gallon here, Private clubs start around $125k to join, and maybe in the East Bay has a younger crowd clubs but, not on the SF Peninsula. You know the SOMA and City living, utility bills alone run a few hundred a month usually. The cost of living in the Bay Area is still going up.

Your best bet since you will be a SF resident, is to get a resident card and get the Resident rate at Harding. You could look at joining the downtown Olympic club, which gets you limited playing rights to Olympic during the week till you get approved for a full membership. Crystal Springs is Public, our own Zach H. (kascopro) teaches there and there is also Palo Alto Muni. Half Moon Bay is worth a look as well. You can go all the way North to Napa, Poppy Hills to the East, Pasa Tiempo to the South, etc. All are pretty good driving distances but, that's Bay Area golf. You will want to join NCGA for handicapping here as well as you will get really good deals at Poppy and affiliated courses.

You want the benefits of this membership:

http://www.ncga.org/

As mentioned, if you live in The City, you want a golf resident card:

http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_page.asp?id=1863

Just my opinion, but if you're young, single, and re-locating here, you wanna be in The City. Move to SF first. When you learn more about the Bay Area, you can then consider other places. Good luck.

Yup, that's my home course! Not the nicest, but it has character.

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but public golf on the peninsula and SF sucks (based on value)!!! On the other hand, the private courses are great. As far as living by an airport, San Jose is much more efficent than SFO. They have fewer weather delays.

If you live in the City, you can think about the Cal (California) Club in SSF, but you have to contend with the weather. I played there once it is a pretty nice course. This would be about 15 min drive or less.

California Golf Course,
844 West Orange Ave., South San Francisco (650) 589-0144

or

I have seen this course from the office view from where I work, it looks really nice, but I have never played there before. 10 min drive. Fog is an issue here as well.
Lake Merced Golf & Country Club,
2300 Junipero Serra Boulevard, Daly City

Good luck!

The East Bay has some nice private clubs. Oakland's airport is about as easy to get to and from as any, and you don't deal with the fog and weather delays that SFO has. IMO, if you're young, there is no better place to be than SF (Russian Hill/South Beach or Soma work). If you are looking elswhere, I would choose the East Bay/Oakland. Also, I would stay as far away from San Jose as possible.

PM me if you'd like. I just moved FROM San Francisco, am 31 and lived there through my 20's. If you are in your 20's, even early 30's, and don't mind city living, you must live in SF. Especially being new to the area. No other way to meet people. Check out www.craigslist.org for apartments/housing/ roommate stuff. SF has a neighborhood for everyone. I lived in Russian Hill and the Marina. SOMA and downtown are closer to the freeway, but really aren't that great at night and on weekends- unless it's baseball season. The Haight, Mission areas are nice too, they offer a more diverse crowd.

Some of these guys are exagerating quite a bit (my utility bill in SF never got above $50- you don't have to pay for heat, most of the buildings are steam, and nobody in SF has A/C because of the weather- so you just pay electric).

The golf courses within the SF bay area are fantastic. Especially if you get your resident card. Harding Park has an 18 and a 9. Last time I played I think it was $49 with my resident card? Not bad for a PGA course. Presidio Golf course, again, very nice. Just north of San Francisco you have San Geronimo and the Napa/ Sonoma courses. East Bay offers a lot of variety too. Don't know much about joining any clubs. I think one poster mentioned the NCGA, do that for sure. Look up www.golfnow.com, it'll show you the SF Bay Area courses.

I miss SF, NY definetely isn't the same- less golf for me for one thing... Good luck, and enjoy!

I lived in SF for 18 months and San Jose for 2 years. My condolences. I really think the value for your golf in the Bay Area (like home prices) stinks.

If I were you I'd live in Livermore and join the NCGA then play Poppy Ridge.

You can join the NCGA if you live in the SF area.

No offense, if you're single and in your 20's and early 30's, you DO NOT want to live in Livermore, Dublin, or Pleasanton. I grew up in Livermore... The only place outside of SF I'd recommend living would be Walnut Creek. It is central, and has a good night life.

San Jose is the pitts too. I guess I'm just partial to SF and the East Bay.

Too bad you didn't get out more, there are a lot of great courses, especially for what you'd pay to play Poppy Ridge.

so far I agree with most of the above comments, but NYGOLF is speaking your language. early 20's you want to be in Russian hill or better yet, marina district, (north beach, if your Italian). Once you get home, everything will be in walking distance. SOMA you'll be cab'in it everywhere to be at a decent hip bar. if your clean cut, forget haight, just go there to hang out. Plus, being young, you can live in marina, scope things out then move from there once your comfortable with the area.
If considering EAST bay, I agree with Walnut creek area (although its 1 hour from San Jose/Palo ALto. Best mix of talent for your age in the east bay.
also, the comments about Oakland airport are correct. almost better to drive there than SFO, less weather delays, easier parking.
let us know when you land we'll all hook up and go play.
oh yeah, golf. 1. Harding on the card. 2. Olympic downtown memebership, at harding, just be ready for 4.5-5 hour rounds. alot of SF players "roadtrip" for rounds to napa, half moon, etc.
good luckwith the move

i'll echo many of the statements here. I grew up in the east bay, went to school out of state and came back to SF to live/work. great city. I have lived here for 8 years (I am 30), and lived in Nob Hill, Russian Hill and currently in Hayes Valley and my wife has lived in South Beach and the Richmond district. expensive golf is a way of life here, as others have said. I will caution you that many of the country clubs (including the o downtown club) have 1-2 year waiting lists after you have your required number of sponsors and recommendations, which take some meet all of the people you need and fill out. it is not like you can just join and start playing tomorrow (at least my friends and co-workers who are members have told me this).

is golf or your daily life more important? if all you want to do is golf, then you may not want to live in SF, but closer to an affordable course with some sort of "mini membership". where you pay a monthly rate and get golf, or practice, etc, but it is a public course. if your daily life and nightlife is more important, then I would recommend living in the city. I am not sure where you are coming from, but only you know if city living is right for you. I had a roommate that grew up in the sticks and lived here for a year and hated it, had to move out across the bridge and tunnel to get more space. Places you mentioned are all great, cow hollow, marina, north beach, Russian hill, nob hill (closer to polk), south beach are where many affluent young people live. You also have more eclectic areas like Hayes valley, the Haight, the Mission that offer more diversity. SOMA is tricky….I would say anywhere east of 4th street is ok (towards south beach)…..once you get to 5th-10th streets, it gets a little more interesting. I have had friends live there and be fine, but you will see it is 180* from places like the marina. The nightlife is everywhere, you just may have to look harder in certain places than the other. If I were you, I would try to get a short lease (might be tough, rental market is hot from what I understand) and live in a can’t miss place like the marina or cow hollow (the people might annoy you, you will know what I mean when you get here) but you have everything you need right out your door, restaurants, nightlife, exercise, young attractive women (assuming you are single) and easy access to the GG bridge for golf in the north bay. You can learn about the city and see what you like/don’t like and then move to the area that is right for you.

Harding is the best deal for residents, no doubt. But I have found that it is almost impossible to get a reasonable tee-time (ie-morning weekend) in advance and when I play it is usually a walk on scenario. PM rounds on the weekends is 5 hours. Presidio is ok (they do have a membership going on right now, 39/month and $19 PM rounds or early morning 9 (http://www.presidiogolf.com/ - click on players club membership)). Lincoln (I played 9 yesterday there) is still a dog but cheap. Harding is really the jewel of the SF city courses…the others are cheap, but you pay for what you get (which is fine, just know). The thing I like about living in the city is that you can drive 15-45min and you can play so many courses. You can go to Livermore and play those courses, or down on the peninsula, east bay, marin and north bay. I spend a lot of time at Stonetree in Marin (www.stonetreegolf.com) but try to play as much all over as I can. SFO is not a bad airport…..albeit when I travel for business it is usually only 6-9 times per year and I go international, so someone who travels every week domestically might have a different opinion, but as long as you are smart about when you commute to the airport, it is a $40 cab or a 40 min and $8 BART (train) ride and takes about 20min. The weather can be an issue, but I will take the 2-3 weather delays each year and get to live in SF the rest of the year, then to live near a better airport, but not get to experience SF.

When you get here shoot me a PM and I can try to show you around golf wise as much as I can. We can definitely hit up stonetree. Good luck.

Dude, you wanna live close enough to shop for groceries at the Marina Safeway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Distri...tant_structures


Check out these Marina/Cow Hollow listings

http://www.sf4rent.com/sanfrancisco.php?cl...%20Cow%20Hollow

(i.e. search for roommates on craigslist.org)


I wanted to add - from certain parts of The City (downtown, North Beach, parts of SOMA, etc.), getting to the Oakland airport is WAY easier than going to SFO. And for crossing bridges, a FasTrak transponsder is a MUST:

http://www.bayareafastrak.org/

I just moved here from Houston a couple 3 months ago and here's my take...If you're in your 20's and 30's live in the city for the experience...The public courses in the city are OK, but you'll definitely need the residence card...Harding is probably the best public course in the city ($59 w/card) with Presidio a distant second...Harding will host the President's cup next year, along with various amateur and senior events in the future, so $59 is really a steal...There are numberous courses in the North Bay, East Bay and South Bay which are reasonable to play, but require a little traveling to get too...Like someone mentioned, gas is around $4 a gallon here, but for golf, you just deal with it...Getting to the airport from the city won't be a problem, about 15 to 20 minutes, but there are always delays out of SFO for numerous reasons...But again, you can just deal with that also...Anway, feel free to PM if you have any questions...

I grew up in a town called pleasanton, which is just over the Oakland hills. Its kind of a rich neighborhood city. Its great, and you got 50 golf courses in a 20 minute radious. give it a look, i loved it there.

Guys just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. This information is great.

A few notes; a lot of you have brought up several great points.

The BART train to SFO is what I am really after. The cost doesn't so much bother me as for driving but it looks like i can make it very convenient for me to get from my place to SFO and dodge traffic.

Work comes before golf (I'm still young ) which is why a private course is more what I am after... Travel is last minute for me so having the freedom to walk up and get a tee time is very appealing. Making an appointment in advance is a difficult thing to swing for me with so many unknowns.

From a club I am essentially looking for a place that I can grab tee times easily at the last minute and has room for me to hit range balls if I want. Also for the sake of meeting people, clubs that offer just golf I tend to shy away from. I play a bit of tennis and wouldn't mind a pool.

The Livermore / Pleasanton area look fantastic but I have family in Palo Alto and would like to stay on the west side of things so I can visit. City living is for me. I think it is a great place for me to keep my self busy.

Again thank you for all the responses.

they are finishing up rebuilding this course! i played it for over 7 years enjoying and hating( because of the difficulty) it everytime i stepped on the course. i cant wait to go back!

I live in pleasanton. My training center has one of the best facilities in the bay. Callipe Preserve (golf digest #9 best new public courses 2007), The Bridges, Wente winery (hardest course on the nationwide tour 2 yrs running, and greg norman's 1st north american course), Ruby Hill gc which I think is designed by Jack, Poppy ridge, kinda unorthodox but very challenging with greens that routinly roll 12+, Canyon Lakes which actually touches the bridges but is much friendlier to play. There is also Las positas, Sunol (which has 2 courses), and a couple other compliment courses spread throughout. We do have a couple bart stations here. I checked and to get from our station to sfo is $7.65 B.A.R.T. is awesome you can go anywhere in the bay in like 30 min for 5 bucks.......Great for octoberfest!!!

Courses are all pretty much within a 10 mile radius

Joshua

You probably won't take BART to play golf though... Last time I checked there really weren't any BART stops next to golf courses. If you live in SF, the commute to Livermore can be made in 45 minutes, but also up to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. Pleasanton isn't as far as Livermore.

Since city living is what you want, stick to San Francisco... especially since you have family in Palo Alto. If you live in SF, you can take public transportation (actually decent) to BART, then take BART to SFO or Oakland. If being close to BART is high on your list, SOMA or the Financial district will be key. Remember that no matter where you live in SF, you can reach BART with a cheap cab or muni.

Good luck.

move to hunters point or castro st

Along the lines of Joshua's comments, I live in Livermore and work in Pleasanton, but grew up in S.F. Suggest looking into the current rent rates for areas like SOMA and compare them to new condos and townhomes within walking distance to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. With the current real estate market, my guess is they're pretty close. I think you know where I'm going with this.

hahahahaha

If you haven't already, I would plan a mini trip and stay somewhere downtown off of 3rd St or market. There are a few high end hotels there and you can get a flavor and feel for the area. You can also judge what feels comfortable for you in terms of transportation and travel radius. SF is actually a very small city and the drive to places can wear on you if you do it frequently. Plus parking a car in the city isn't cheap either.

Love Wente Vineyards. Great place to see a concert and sample some grape.

I'm guessing your 'hood is "better"?

The East Bay is nice. I live in Alamo, and San Ramon and Danville and Blackhawk are very nice, especially if you have kids.

Plus, the golf is awesome. I'm a member at Bridges.

I think you more or less have it. SF is the place to be. Man Jose has a lot of talent, but it didn't get its nickname for nothing. There are some great spots in the South Bay though, but SF has a lot more action in a smaller spot. That is likely where you want to be.

As for golf & private clubs. The cost of memberships here and dues really restricts membership to Executives and the wealthy. Great for business, but not good for 'average' golfers. Clubs here are not like the midwest and east, and vast majority of golf is played on public courses. Which are not all that bad. Tee times are not easy to get, but private club membership is cost prohibative, especially for a 20 something. There are a TON of great public courses, and the do out number private clubs.

Check out www.golfguide.org for a regional listing of Bay Area Golf COurses. GREAT site to have handy for any Bay Area golfer.

Go to the Marina District......find a bar called Windows......see if Michelle is still tending bar there......chat her up about golf (seriously).........she'll probably buy you a drink or two (and a couple for herself)..........ah, the Marina District.......

Lived in San Ramon for a couple of years, kept my card at The Bridges. Lots of courses in the area and year round play.......have a blast!!!!

Woo

Geez, when's the last time you were in the Marina? Windows has been out of business for 3 years! LOL. It's now a place called Monaghans Bar... Maybe Michelle still works there...

Windows was great "A place for adults..." Great cop bar.

Monaghans is like Bar None (you might know it as Union Street Ale House) on Union street now. Not the same crowd as Windows was...

Been about 4 years since I was in the Bay Area. Though your news surprises me.....Windows just seemed like a bar that had been there forever and would be one of those places to survive all odds.

Cheers,

Woo

Excellent suggestions so far. If you're looking for city living, SF is definitely the place to be. I hate driving in the city however, so public transportation is the way to go over there. As far as golf courses go, private courses around here cost an arm and a leg, but there's a ton of quality public tracks within easy driving distance from the city. We should all do a Bay Area golf outing once you get here, I think we have enough people around here!

When the President's Cup rolls by next year, I bet you will find some guys at the Irish Bank.