Tuesday, June 23, 2026

GOLF: CALIFORNIA


From Reddit:

 Played poppy hills, black horse, bayonet & Carmel valley ranch

I have also played pacific grove and quail lodge in past years


ALAMEDA (East Bay)
Corica Park South, 1 Clubhouse Memorial Rd, Alameda, CA 94502
  • The South Course at city-owned Corica Park is one of the cooler stories in municipal golf over the past 10 years. Inspired by the Australian Sandbelt region, the course was completely rebuilt in 2018 using 120,000 truckloads of dirt to raise the property—that is why you will find unusually firm conditions that complement welcoming fairways and large green complexes (8,500 square feet on average). The greens run at about 11.5 on the Stimpmeter, fast for a muni. Corica Park is a great model for interesting, sustainable municipal golf. 
  • 2025 Walking rate: $64
  • Played in November 2025 and loved it
BODEGA BAY (22 miles west of Santa Rosa)
The Links at Bodega Harbour, 21301 Heron Dr, Bodega Bay, CA 94923
  • Maximum 2025 Green Fee: $112
  • Gold Tees: 4,887 yards
  • Recommended by a couple of people on my 2025 California Golf Trip
  • Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. in 1978
  • Scottish-style links course more like a residential course

BURLINGAME
Crystal Springs Golf Course, 6650 Golf Course Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010
  • Designed by William Herbert Fowler in 1924.
  • Top 2025 Green Fee: $65
  • Recommended by my Half Moon Bay playing partners
  • Recommended on The Fried Egg Podcast
  • Scouted in November 2025: Recommended to play
  • Basically no water on the course but long at 5,530 from Red Tees
  • I ate a huge Cobb Salad
CARMEL (120 miles south of SFO)
Carmel Valleu Ranch, One Old Rance Road, Carmel, California, 93923
  • Pete Dye course
  • $150 for non-resort guests
CORONADO  (Near San Diego)
  • Public golf course located right on the water
  • Recommended by Ronan Glavin at Sunday Golf

HALF MOON BAY (West Bay, 21 miles south east of SFO)
Half Moon Bay Golf,  Two Miramontes Point, Road Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
  • Two championship courses: 
    • Arnold Palmer designed Old Course 
    • Arthur Hill's Scottish Links style Ocean Course
      • Looks real nice
      • Played in November 2025 and loved it
  • 2025 Green Fee: $165
INDIO
The Golf Club at Terra Lago, 84-000 Terra Lago Pkwy, Indio, CA 92203
  • Great value recommended by Joe from Bandon Crossings
LIVERMORE (East Bay)
The Course at Wente Vineyards, 5040 Arroyo Rd, Livermore, CA 94550
  • Looks cool even though it was designed by Greg Norman

Poppy Ridge Golf Course, 4280 Greenville Rd, Livermore, CA 94550
  • 18-Hole
    • Redesigned in 2025 by Jay Blasi
    • $175 top 2025 Green Fee
    • The newly remade Poppy Ridge in Livermore, Calif., isn’t a full-blown sleeper, given its status as a sibling course to Poppy Hills in Monterey. But it’s in the quiet outer edges of the Bay Area, and it’s a really terrific course. Jay Blasi took the best land from three existing nines to create a walking-friendly 18 with all kinds of interesting variety. Aside from Pasatiempo. I don’t think there’s a better public-access course within an hour of San Francisco, and the price is right (if you keep your handicap with the Northern California Golf Association, you can play it for under $100). - Josh Sens
  • The Ridge 9-Hole
    • Par 34
    • $35 top 2025 Green Fee
LOS ANGELES
A Los Angeles Golf Getaway by Geoff Shackelford
Courses Recommended by Geoff:
  • Roosevelt Golf Course, 2650 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
    • 9-hole, Par 33, Maximum Green Fee: $26 
  • Santa Anita Golf Course, 405 S Santa Anita Ave, Arcadia, CA 91006
    • 18-hole, Par 71, Maximum Green Fee: $50
  • Harding Golf Courses, 5500 Griffith Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027 
    • 18-hole, Par 72, Maximum Green Fee: $51
  • Wilson Golf Courses, 5500 Griffith Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027 
    • 18-hole, Par 72, Maximum Green Fee: $51
MIDDLETOWN
Brambles, 18900 Grange Road, Middletown, CA, 954671
  • 120 miles north of SFO
  • A Coore-Crenshaw course with limited public play

MILL VALLEY
Mill Valley Golf Course, 280 Buena Vista Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941
  • 2025 Green Fee: $29
  • 9-hole, Par 33
  • 30 miles north of SFO

MONTE RIO (North of San Francisco, 91 miles north of SFO)
Northland Golf Club, 19400 Highway 116 P.O. Box 930, Monte Rio, CA 95462
  • Hard to beat Northwood, an Alister Mackenzie nine-holer north of San Francisco. Cut through the redwoods, with such an easy-going atmosphere that visibility is sometimes clouded by a cannabis haze. 
  • Not necessarily one of the nine most challenging 9-holers in the U.S., Northwood nonetheless ranks near the top on any must-play list. For starters, it’s the rare Alister MacKenzie design that anyone can play and to complement that aspect, it’s likely the only golf course you’ll ever play that’s routed through giant redwood trees. MacKenzie crafted this 9-holer one hour north of San Francisco in 1928 for members of the exclusive Bohemian Club, when development rules were nowhere near as strict. Many MacKenzie features have been lost over the years at the 2,893-yard par-36 layout, but it still oozes a MacKenzie aura, such as at the 2nd green, which sports a ridge that comes down from the side of a hill and at the area between the 1st and the 6th holes where a slew of grassy bunkers are just waiting to be restored with sand.
  • Looks like a Must Play course!
  • Weekday walking rates starting at $46
    • Uses dynamic pricing
  • Hickory Golf at Alister MacKenzie's Northwood Golf Club
  • Played in November 2025 and loved it
MONTEREY

Del Monte Golf Course, 1300 Sylvan Rd, Monterey, CA 93940
The Monterey Pines Golf Club, 1250 Garden Rd, Monterey, CA 93940
  • Known to locals as the “Navy Course,” Monterey Pines is less than 10 miles from Pebble Beach and 17-Mile Drive. Originally built as a 9-hole course by Robert Muir Graves in 1963, it expanded to 18 holes in 1972 and checks in at just over 5,500 yards. The par-69 course, which is adjacent to the Monterey Regional Airport and Monterey County Fairgrounds, was redesigned in 2009 and is managed by the Navy Golf Program.

MOOREPARK (Near Los Angeles)
Rustic Canyon Golf Course, 15100 Happy Camp Canyon Rd, Moorpark, CA 93021

  • 18-hole, Par 72, 2025 Maximum Green Fee: $104
OAKLAND

Metropolitan Golf Links, 10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA 94603

  • Links style course designed by Johnny Miller

  • 2025 Weekend Non-Resident Walking Green Fee: $73

OCEANSIDE (Near San Diego)

Goat Hill Park, 2323 Goat Hill Drive, Oceanside, CA 92054

  • Goat Hill Park is loved for its ocean views, fresh breeze, authentic atmosphere, and raw golf feel. Quite simply, you will have a hard time finding a more challenging short course with as many unique holes anywhere in the country.
OJAI (North of LA)
Soule Park Golf Course, 1033 E Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023
  • Municipal golf course
  • Originally designed in 1962 by William F. Bell—renowned for courses like Torrey Pines—Soule Park underwent a significant renovation in 2005 led by Gil Hanse.
  • The 18th hole at Soule Park: a mirror-image rendition of No. 13 at Augusta National?

PACIFICA (West of San Francisco Airport)
Sharp Park Golf Course, 1 Sharp Park Rd, Pacifica, CA 94044
  • 12 miles west of SFO
  • Designed by Alister MacKenzie
  • Opened in 1932
  • 2025 Weekend Green Fee: $86
  • Can book 1 week in advance

PACIFIC GROVE (Monterey, 110 miles south of SFO)
Pacific Grove Golf Links, 77 Asilomar Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
  • $86 Green fee in 2025
  • Real close to Cypress Point
  • Three years after his flamboyant renovation of Pebble Beach Golf Links, Oregon-based architect Chandler Egan built a far more modest course just up the coast. This municipal nine, commissioned by the small city of Pacific Grove, started on the town’s edge, climbed to the top of a hill near the Point Pinos Lighthouse, and returned. In 1960, Jack Neville, a member of Pebble Beach’s original design team, expanded Pacific Grove, carving nine holes out of the spectacular seaside dunes on the opposite side of the lighthouse. The combination of these two contrasting halves—parkland and linksland—forms today’s Pacific Grove Golf Links, one of America’s most distinctive and beautiful municipal courses.
  • Locals call it the “Poor man’s Pebble Beach”—an apt description, given its oceanside back nine, its proximity to Pebble and its price tag under $100, even if you decide to ride on this easily walkable layout. Pacific Grove’s parkland front nine isn’t especially memorable, but it gives way to a stirring seaside back nine that includes ocean views, sand dunes, and a lighthouse. The oceanside, 513-yard par-five 12th is a risk/reward treat: With the Pacific Ocean on the left, the fairway boomerangs around dunes to the right. Amid typical crosswinds, how much corner do you dare to cut?
  • MUST PLAY IN 2027
PALM SPRINGS
Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort, 1885 Golf Club Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264
  • Great value recommended by Joe from Bandon Crossings
PEBBLE BEACH

Cypress Point Club, 3150 17 Mile Dr, Pebble Beach, CA 93953

How Pebble Beach Is Changing Ahead of the 2027 U.S. Open by Golf Channel, September 16, 2026

MacKenzie's Careful Embrace Of Cypress Point's Legendary 16th by Geoff Shackelford,  August 26, 2025
Cypress Point | Site of the 2025 Walker Cup Match, Fried Egg Golf, August 26, 2025
The Soul of Cypress Point | Inside Golf's Most Mystical Club by Michael Bamberger, GOLF.com, August 6, 2025

Underrated Sibling Courses at Pebble Beach Resorts by Joe Passov, LINKS Magazine
The Hay Course

  • 9-hole, Par-3 course
  • Adam Shipnuck plays it
Poppy Hills Golf Course, 3200 Lopez Rd, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
  • 2025 Green Fees: $350
  • Owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association, Poppy Hills is a 1986 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design located in the middle of the Del Monte Forest in Pebble Beach. Praised upon opening, it earned a slot as a co-host to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am from 1991­–2009. Over time, however, it was evident tweaks were in order.
  • In 2013­–14, the Jones team returned and performed a makeover. They sand-capped the entire course, providing bouncy fairways, and eliminated traditional rough utilizing just one fairway-height cut of grass. Native sandy areas now linked fairway to forest; 1980s-style mounds were eliminated; and the old roller coaster greens were softened and regrassed. Among the design changes were the creation of a new par-five 9th hole, a par-three 11th that now heads in the opposite direction, and a transformation of the dogleg par-five 12th to a straightaway par four that yields a stunning ocean view. In 2016, they flipped the nines, so the superb risk/reward 9th now plays as the 18th. Once a “should-play,” Poppy Hills is now a must-play. (Top 10 Former PGA Tour Courses You Can Play by Joe Passov, LINKS Magazine)
The Links at Spanish Bay, 2700 17 Mile Dr, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
  • Pebble Beach Company is proud to partner with Gil Hanse and his team on a comprehensive renovation of The Links at Spanish Bay. The final day of play will be March 17, 2026, and the course will remain closed for the duration of the construction process which is scheduled to conclude in 13 months.
  • 2025 Green Fee: $365
  • 2025 Single Bag Caddie Fee: $155
  • Robert Trent Jones, Jr., Tom Watson and Sandy Tatum design, opened in 1987
  • Recommended by my Half Moon Bay playing partners
Spyglass Hill Golf Course, 3206 Stevenson Dr, Pebble Beach, CA 93953
  • 2025 Non-Resort Guest Green Fee: $525 + Cart Fee
  • Recommended over all else in Pebble Beach
  • Playable with hickory clubs

SAN DIEGO
  • Par-3 golf course
  • Recommended by Ronan Glavin at Sunday Golf

SAN FRANCISCO
Pioneering the Bay Area's Public Golf Frontier

Gleneagles GC at McLaren Park, 2100 Sunnydale Ave, San Francisco, CA 94134

  • Great throwback. Bay views. Compelling test. (Lee Trevino called it one of the toughest nine-holers the ever encountered.) 
  • 2025 Green Fee: $35
  • Ask Matthew Schoolfield at ClubTFE about playing here
  • 10 miles north of SFO
  • 9-hole golf course
  • Play A Hole With Me (Andy Johnson)
  • Great cluhhouse bar
  • Played in November 2025 and hated it!
Golden Gate Park Golf Course, 970 47th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121
  • 18-miles north of SFO, 2 miles from Lincoln Park Golf Course
  • Opened in 1951
  • Renovated 9-Hole Par-3 course
  • Golden Gate Park Golf Course Hole-by-Hole Tour – In The Dirt by Matt Ginella and Jay Blasi, Fire Pit Collective, December 5, 2023
  • 2025 Green Fee: $55
  • https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revitalizing-golden-gate-park-golf-course-episode-22/id1574520342
  • Played in November 2025 and loved it
TPC Harding Park, 99 Harding Rd, San Francisco, CA 94132
  • Scouted in November 2025: Too long for me
  • 2025 Green Fee: $210
  • Although you can trace the course’s roots back to 1925, TPC Harding Park looks and plays nothing like that original Willie Watson and Sam Whiting design. That’s because the municipal layout benefited from a $16 million renovation that took place between 2002 and 2003 and included the complete redesign of the course. With the conclusion of that work, TPC Harding Park was positioned to host a sequence of major golf events, beginning with the WGC-American Express Championship in 2005, the Presidents Cup in 2009, the WGC Match Play event in 2015, and—most recently—the 2020 PGA Championship won by Collin Morikawa.
  • At $200 per round, TPC Harding Park certainly stands as one of the most expensive municipal golf courses in the country, but it’s a reasonable price to pay for a chance to tee it up at the site of a major championship. It’s also a picturesque spot set along the edge of Lake Merced, with large Monterey Cypress trees framing many of the fairways. (Those trees can help players to see and shape shots, but they can also penalize shots that are hit too far offline.) “As soon as I played the course, I liked it,” Rory McIlroy said back in 2015 after winning the WGC Match Play. “It’s a fair test of golf—you get rewarded for good shots.”
  • For extra golf, visitors can also play the Fleming 9—a par-30 course situated inside the routing of the 18-hole championship course. With six par threes and three par fours, TPC Harding Park’s 9-holer is a steal with a year-round rate of just $18
  • This venerable 1925 muni sports fairways hemmed in by frequent fog along with cypress trees, lush rough, and a wild closer—a 475-yard par-four that opens with a bite-off-as-much-as-you-can-chew drive over a lake, followed by an uphill smash to a rollicking three-tier green. At the hotly contested 2020 PGA Championship, eventual winner Collin Morikawa hit the shot of the year, driving the green at the 336-yard par-four 16th, when bunkers, trees, and Lake Merced lurking to the left could have wrecked his chances. There’s a bit of sameness to the holes at this William Watson/Sam Whiting design—the same duo that created the Olympic Club’s courses next door—but it’s all challenging and it’s all beautiful. Besides the 2020 PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park also served as a well-received Presidents Cup venue in 2009, when the U.S. topped the Internationals 19.5–14.5. Tiger Woods led the Yanks with a 5–0–0 record, while Phil Mickelson was nearly his equal, with a 4–0-– mark. Less remembered, but unforgettable, was the October 2005 duel between Woods and John Daly in the WGC-American Express Championship, that Woods captured in a playoff in front a raucous crowd on an NFL Sunday. Even more obscure are the eight editions of the PGA Tour’s Lucky International, contested between 1961 and 1969. Perhaps they deserve more limelight, considering five of the winners—Gary Player, Gene Littler, Jack Burke Jr., Ken Venturi, and Billy Casper—were major champions, and the 1965 winner, George Archer, would go on to snag the Masters green jacket in 1969. (Top 10 Former PGA Tour Courses You Can Play by Joe Passov, LINKS Magazine)
  • The aptly named host to the 2009 Presidents Cup, this venerable 1925 muni sports fairways hemmed in by frequent fog and cypress trees, lush rough, and a wild closer (the 15th during the Presidents Cup), a 475-yard par four that opens with a bite-off-as-much-as-you-can-chew drive over a lake, followed by an uphill smash to a rollicking three-tier green. At the hotly contested 2020 PGA Championship, eventual winner Collin Morikawa hit the shot of the year, driving the green at the 336-yard par-four 16th, when bunkers, trees, and Lake Merced lurking to the left could have wrecked his chances. There’s a bit of sameness to the holes at this William Watson/Sam Whiting design—the same duo that created the Olympic Club’s courses next door—but it’s all challenging and it’s all beautiful. (https://linksmagazine.com/americas-top-10-munis/)
Lincoln Park Golf Course, 300 34th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121
  • 18 miles north of SFO, 2 miles from Golden Gate Park Golf Course
  • Par 68
  • Opened in 1902 and expanded to 18 holes in 1917
  • 2025 Weekend Green Fee: $69
  • Recommended by my Half Moon Bay playing partners

Presidio Golf Course, 300 Finley Road @ Arguello Gate, San Francisco, CA 94129

  • Public course inside a national park
  • Recommended by Tom Abbott and Sean Zak and my Half Moon Bay playing partners
  • 2025 Weekend Green Fee with Cart: $132
SAN JOSE
Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, 23600 McKean Rd, San Jose, CA 95141
  • 3 9-hole courses: Canyon, Lake, Mountain
  • 2025 Green Fees: $150
  • Recommended by my Half Moon Bay playing partners

SAN MARTIN (South of San Jose)
CordeValle, 1 Cordevalle Club Drive, San Martin, CA 95046
  • Playing through golden foothills, meandering creeks, and an oak-studded valley, CordeValle has hosted numerous PGA Tour events as well as the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open. Tranquility, wellness, and adventure are the central elements to this northern California lifestyle resort nestled into the Santa Cruz Mountains. The 1,700-acre sanctuary stretches along the inland coast between San Jose and the Monterey Peninsula, and features a golf course accomplished architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. has called his finest creation.
  • Not sure if you can play without staying
  • Recommended by firepit friends at Half Moon Bay, worth staying there for to play
SANTA CRUZ
Pasatiempo Golf Club, 20 Clubhouse Rd, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

SEASIDE (Monterey, 100 miles south of SFO)
Bayonet Black Horse Golf Course, 1 McClure Way, Seaside, CA 93955
  • Dynamic pricing for tee times, $159
  • 36-Hole Special allows playing on both: $275Bayonet opened in 1954
  • Black Horse opened in 1964
  • Recommended by friends at Half Moon Bay
TEMECULA
Journey at Pechanga, 45000 Pechanga Pkwy, Temecula, CA 92592
  • Recommended by Kathleen
  • 2026 Green Fee: $215


Best Courses You Can Play by Jason Lusk, USA Today Sports, June 5, 2023

Courses in the Bay Area recommended by Geoff:
  • Sharp Park: Yes Yes
  • Gleneagles: Yes
  • Mill Valley: No
  • Golden Gate: Yes
  • Corica: Yes
  • Lincoln Park: Yes 



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