[Jon Spaulding]

Had the opportunity to play there last week(finally). I see some prior discussion on the course via the search function but no photos....Enjoyed the place; very tough; weather was beautiful, albeit cold and "breezy". Conditioning good; with the exception of the greens which are under nematode attack. Drainage is excellent as we received a fair bit of rain the day prior; yet very playable. Topography similar to their neighbor; trees are in play but allow for reasonable recovery. Also like their neighbor, there are spots where one can stand and take in a number of other holes.

The lineage of the course appears to have been covered before (Lock-Mac-RMG-RJ). Like some places, they drink the Mac-Koolaid while there's little or none to savor. A framed Pacific Golfer cover graces the pro shop, showing #3 (per the shop) with post-MacKenzie bunkering; yet in a short while you're looking at Jones' ovals on the same hole.....

approach to #2


tee shot on #3


#4 green looking back


approach to #5


green at #7 (one of the hardest holes ever...)


#8


walking up #9


approach to #10


#11 from behind green


#12


#13 from top of hill


#15 tee shot


#15 from behind green


approach to #16


#16 green from 17 tee (ovals, baby)


walking up #17


tee shot on #18

[Jon Spaulding]

I haven't played it post Rees.

Being a member of the Cal Club, I was always
enough of a homer to put Merced at least 4th
on hte list in SF.

I think all those shadows in the photos speak
for themselves .........

Nematodes you say?

The "worms" are having a field day...they're fighting it, so the greens are quite coarse with newer sod. I would agree at this in the 4th position, right behind SF/Lake/Cal.

[James Edwards]

Can someone please show me the original bunkering just for comparison - many thanks.

[ed_getka]

James,
   I haven't seen old pix of Lake Merced posted here, but in the clubhouse they have a number of them in the hallway. Typical Mackenzie bunkering and of course there were very few trees in any of the pictures.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Jon,

Thanks for posting.  Can you tell us more about 9? How is it supposed to play? Are the trees as in play from the left as they appear?

Mark

[David_Tepper]

Mark Bourgeois -

#9 at Lake Merced is a shortish par-5. The trees down the left side are very much in play, although perhaps not quite as severely as they look in this photo. I think you can see the 150 yd. marker in the rough in front of the trees.

The average club member will have to play their 2nd shot down the right side of the fairway to avoid having the trees interfere with their 3rd shot into the green. A big hitter going for the green in two will have to either draw their 2nd shot around the trees or hit over the trees.

The trees down the left side of #9 do serve a very useful purpose as a barrier between this hole and the 8 lanes of traffic on Highway 280, which is directly on the other side of the trees.

DT    

[Mike Benham]

I have always found the Lake Merced enjoyable and challenging.  Without going hole by hole, you pretty much have the opportunity to hit every club in the bag, including uphill, downhill and sidehill lies.

And David, I think it is 10 lanes of traffic on I280.  

[Kevin_Reilly]

#9 at Lake Merced brings back memories.  Memories of following young Tiger Woods as he attempted to qualify for the US Open at Pebble.  Yours truly was standing in the rough on the right side of #9 where Tiger's drive came to rest.  

He was taking some practice swings and then said to me:

"Excuse me, sir.  Would you please move to the side?"

Yours truly got out of Tiger's way and he proceeded to muscle a long iron out of the rough in the direction of the green.  The first and last time he spoke to me.

[Mike Benham]

He was taking some practice swings and then said to me:

"Excuse me, sir.  Would you please move to the side?"

Yours truly got out of Tiger's way and he proceeded to muscle a long iron out of the rough in the direction of the green.

And so the truth is now told, Kevin Reilly was standing in the way of Tiger and greatness ...

[Jon Spaulding]

Jon,

Thanks for posting.  Can you tell us more about 9? How is it supposed to play? Are the trees as in play from the left as they appear?

Mark

I'd echo David's response. The trees on the left are not in your face, but "strongly encourage" a drive to the far RH side which creates some angle for the 2nd shot. So we're playing away from the OB to create a better angle......hmmmm. I was on the far rh side of the fairway and still would have needed to bust a slight draw to get home. At Stamm will attest this is not possible given my undeniable l-r move.....

The bailout to the right is fairly benign; here's a little better look; the bunkering on the right is fairly shallow so one could still recover for a 4.

[Mike Benham]

Is that an office building or the new clubhouse?  

[Jon Spaulding]

A little of both....perhaps they'll open the place up for the bronco bench tournament once again....

[David_Tepper]

Mike & Kevin -

The first time I ever laid eyes on Tiger was on #9 at Lake Merced. It was in the quarterfinals of the USGA Juniors (can't quite remember the exact year). As I recall, Tiger was 15 then and got to the semis. He won the event the next year and the rest, as they say, is a history that is still being written.

DT    

[Kevin_Reilly]

My lasting impression of him in '92 was blasting a persimmon 3 wood over the green on #18 for his second shot.  One of the guys in his group, who would be a short hitter even in a short hitter's group, was consistently 75+ yds behind Tiger after every tee shot.

Tiger's bag that day:  Daiwa blades and persimmon woods.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Is that an office building or the new clubhouse?  

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

[Eric_Terhorst]

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

It may, but inside the clubhouse is a vast improvement over the one it replaced.

Jon, thanks for posting the pics.  Between this and the Presidio and the SFGC threads, I'm getting homesick for my former golf stomping grounds.  Not to mention the opportunity to take money from David Tepper  

[Jon Spaulding]

Is that an office building or the new clubhouse?  

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

At least a slightly better course than the one on Sand Hill.....

[Jon Spaulding]

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

It may, but inside the clubhouse is a vast improvement over the one it replaced.

Jon, thanks for posting the pics.  Between this and the Presidio and the SFGC threads, I'm getting homesick for my former golf stomping grounds.  Not to mention the opportunity to take money from David Tepper  

Hopefully you're somewhere that's warmer....the day we played had quite the chill factor!

[Eric_Terhorst]

Hopefully you're somewhere that's warmer....the day we played had quite the chill factor!

Jon, the sunshine and flag standing out on #12 says "perfect day for golf in SF" to me.

I'm in Chicago, where one of today's accomplishments was to slip on the ice on the way out of the house.

[Mike Benham]

Is that an office building or the new clubhouse?  

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

At least a slightly better course than the one on Sand Hill.....

And rumored that the cost of the new clubhouse might equal the cost of those buildings on Sand Hill ...

[Jon Spaulding]

Is that an office building or the new clubhouse?  

Does look a tad bit Sand Hill Road-ish.

At least a slightly better course than the one on Sand Hill.....

And rumored that the cost of the new clubhouse might equal the cost of those buildings on Sand Hill ...

Of course some of the vc money from Sand Hill helps to fund these opulent clubhouses.....builders budget x 2 = actual cost!

[Tim Leahy]

Thanks for the memories your pictures brought back. I played in the WCC championship for Pepperdine on Lake Merced and California CC in 1983 and hadn't seen either since until now. Your pictures actually brought back some memories of shots I hit and missed in that tourney. If you play Calif.CC please post pictures from there also, I can't remember a thing from that course.

[Sébastien Dhaussy]

Can someone please show me the original bunkering just for comparison - many thanks.

James,

Here is a link to an old GCA thread on Lake Merced with aerials of the course and photos showing original bunkering :

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=25094

Hope it helps.  

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I liked the old clubhouse:



How about this hole?



Here's Dr. Cary Middlecoff in the 1954 SF Open:

[James Edwards]

Sebastien,

Excellent, Yes it helps greatly - Im currently in the process of building a piece on course bastardisation   (if thats a word) and im keen to see the transformation from historical to modern on every example i can find.

many thanks

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