Number 25: San Francisco Golf Club

Ceiling: 86.5

Rating: 84.5

Trend over Time: 7

One of my favorite courses to play and a course that starts with being a wonderful return play. SFGC is simple. The first time through a lot of people “don’t get it” and struggle to understand what the hype is about. But, the more times you get the chance to play it, the better it gets. Strong ToT marks for this one. The course isn’t hard, but it is fun. It’s also not easy, but it is engaging. The greens are a focal point and when they get spicy, you better tread very lightly. Something that will come up more than once in these 25 courses is a place’s uniqueness and sense of place. SFGC gets high marks in both categories. The weather, scenery, and “step back in time” make the place an experience one will not soon forget. I think that’s the main point for SFGC (and many forthcoming courses in my top 25), there is nothing worse than going to an alleged “great course” and having the experience not stand out from others. SFGC is an experience any golfer will remember for years even if they only have it once, and the reason I think so highly of it is because as I mentioned before, it only gets better with time.

Culture:

Wow, there’s a lot here. Time capsule is the term that comes to mind. The locker room is exhibit A of the place being a step back into the 1960’s or 50’s or 40’s. More pairs of shoes than members, lockers that have not been touched since AW Tillinghast was laying the place out, and a beautifully restored wet area that is simple, elegant, and complimentary to the rest of the locker room make it a true top 10 locker room out there, for my money.

Fast pace of play, a motley crew of caddies, and an appreciation for camaraderie are some of the things that come to mind with SFGC. It is a staple of the club for the members to go out in large groups late in the afternoon to play a large handful of holes and then match that number of holes with beverages. The playing culture is cool, the post round scene is robust, and the place screams “true golf club.” The culture is tangible.

Competition:

This is not a bucket that I really think of as synonymous with SFGC. While the club maintains a healthy competitive spirit particularly among its younger members, no outside competitions take place at SFGC to my knowledge. So speaking on those that do, I reckon they put on a mean club championship, member-member, or member-guest. The marginal increase in difficulty with each extra 6 inches to a foot on the stimp-meter is massive, and when they want to get the place sporty, I can only imagine what it would look like. Competition isn’t the course’s calling card, but don’t think it doesn’t have some competitive spirit in it’s DNA.

Architecture:

I think we all know who AW Tillinghast is, but I don’t think a lot of us think of him in context of California Golf. Well, SFGC is a wonderful anomaly in this regard and what Tilly left on the city of San Francisco makes for another beautiful feather in the city’s already bountiful architectural cap. The bunkers and greens certainly define the course’s aesthetic and 2/4 par 3’s are high A sort of material.

Cheers,

HS