Matt Cohn's In My Opinion Piece on Lincoln Park

[Ran Morrissett]

Matt Cohn takes you on a tour of this sub 5,200 yard, par 68 course that surely occupies some of the best land in world golf. His timing is impeccable too as the San Francisco city golf championships are starting, with the championship stroke play qualifying beginning a couple of weekends from now.

The contrasting turf and Matt’s camera skills provide a real sense of the rambunctious land forms that define Lincoln Park. The views   out to the Golden Gate Bridge aren’t too shabby either. Though a huge fan of the potential of the place, Matt doesn’t mask the shortcomings regarding how the course is currently presented. Indeed, he even ponders if the place is being sabotaged by blatant neglect in order for the land to be utilized in other manners. The course is perpetually soft and squishy, thanks in part to too many trees. Starting at the first, Matt acknowledges that the crowned green doesn’t shed balls properly due to the soft playing conditions. So it goes throughout the round with the course failing to live up to its potential as the ball never bounces about properly.

Still, a round here is a one of a kind roller-coaster ride with every golfer needing to see its famous 17th hole. Plus you can then easily repair for a meal/grog at the famous Tee Off Bar & Grill one block away.

What a disgrace that municipalities in such an outdoor oriented state as California mishandle on a continual basis such prized assets like Lincoln Park and Sharp Park. Matt’s writing and photos hammer that point home while showing that muted fun can be still be had with a round at historic Lincoln Park.

Best,

[Bill_McBride]

Matt, thanks for the nostalgic tour around one of my favorite little courses.

Something has changed since I played a lot of rounds at Lincoln Park in the '60's and '70's.  #2 was a par 3 shorter than the current 257 yard hole but not by much, and #3 was a really cute short dogleg left par 4.  

I always had fun out there in spite of the prevailing shabby conditions.  Only one par 5 and it was short, downhill and reachable, if you could see it in the fog.  That stuff is part of the reason Lincoln is always pretty gummy.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Thanks, Matt for a fun reminder of a course I played often back in the late 70's and early 80's.  Conditions weren't great then, either, but they were surely better than what is there now.  I remember that the flagsticks back then were metal pipes that were shorter than normal flagsticks, which played tricks on your eye as you tried to estimate distances.  The current routing of 1, 2, and 3 was the same for me....though #3 didn't seem like such a dogleg.  My favorite holes on the course were 4 and 5...down the hill and then back up.  I remember that there was an access trail to the beach to the right of the 4th green.  Good memories.

[Adam Clayman]

Truth. Well done.

[David_Tepper]

"Something has changed since I played a lot of rounds at Lincoln Park in the '60's and '70's.  #2 was a par 3 shorter than the current 257 yard hole but not by much, and #3 was a really cute short dogleg left par 4."

Bill -

Yes, a couple of things at Lincoln have changed since the 60's & 70's. The 2nd hole (a long, uphill par-3) was swapped with the parallel #12th hole (a short, uphill par-4) several years ago, with the 2nd hole becoming a the 12th hole.   

The 3rd hole (across the road) used to be a par-4, but the teeing ground & the first 100 yards of that fairway were lost in a landslide roughly 30 years ago. That forced the hole to be converted to a 150-160yd. par-3.

DT

[JLahrman]

Well I've lived in the Bay Area for four years but haven't played Lincoln Park yet. Now I suppose I'm going to have to go try it.

[Bill_McBride]

"Something has changed since I played a lot of rounds at Lincoln Park in the '60's and '70's.  #2 was a par 3 shorter than the current 257 yard hole but not by much, and #3 was a really cute short dogleg left par 4."

Bill -

Yes, a couple of things at Lincoln have changed since the 60's & 70's. The 2nd hole (a long, uphill par-3) was swapped with the parallel #12th hole (a short, uphill par-4) several years ago, with the 2nd hole becoming a the 12th hole.   

The 3rd hole (across the road) used to be a par-4, but the teeing ground & the first 100 yards of that fairway were lost in a landslide roughly 30 years ago. That forced the hole to be converted to a 150-160yd. par-3.

DT

Bummer about losing #3, it was a neat little par 4. 

[David_Tepper]

"Bummer about losing #3, it was a neat little par 4." 

Bill M. -

I suspect the reason #3 now plays as a semi-dogleg par-3 (as noted by Matt C.) is that the intended landing area from the tee, back when it was a par-4, was somewhere short and right of the green, leaving a clearer shot into the green.

DT 

[Bill_McBride]

"Bummer about losing #3, it was a neat little par 4."  

Bill M. -

I suspect the reason #3 now plays as a semi-dogleg par-3 (as noted by Matt C.) is that the intended landing area from the tee, back when it was a par-4, was somewhere short and right of the green, leaving a clearer shot into the green.

DT  

Yes.  The play was a long iron right center of the mini fairway.  Wide right and wide left were dead.   You would lay up over there and then nip some kind of wedge into that tiny green.  Neat little hole.  

[David_Tepper]

Matt Cohn -

Thanks for the tour of Lincoln Park. Well done. I agree that #11 is the most interesting hole on the course.

DT

[Jason Topp]

First round match in the Venturi flight of thev sf city at Lincoln Park - Tom Huckaby v Josen Ralph.  Josen is the 14 year old son of one of my best friends, Tony Ralph, who is the number 1 seed in the same flight.  The match is on Saturday. Stay tuned.

[Jim Nugent]

What kind of scores do good golfers turn in at Lincoln?  I heard the course used to give Tom Watson fits, when he was at Stanford. 

[David_Tepper]

"What kind of scores do good golfers turn in at Lincoln?"

Jim N. -

They will be playing the qualifying rounds for the Championship flight of the SF City at Harding & Lincoln in a couple of weekends. I will try to post a link to the scores.

There are usually a couple of rounds in the high 60's, but many of the guys shoot roughly the same score at par-68 Lincoln that they shoot at par-72 Harding.

DT  

P.S. For those interested, there is a 10-paragraph history of the Lincoln Park course here:

http://www.sfgolfchampionship.com/history/harding_park_and_lincoln_park.php

[Bill_McBride]

Matt Cohn -

Thanks for the tour of Lincoln Park. Well done. I agree that #11 is the most interesting hole on the course.

DT

One of the highlights of my non memorable career was knocking a driver over the mound on just the perfect line to bounce onto and hold the green.   Usually I was on safari after that tee shot, as there was little point to laying up. 

[Patrick Kiser]

Well I've lived in the Bay Area for four years but haven't played Lincoln Park yet. Now I suppose I'm going to have to go try it.

... 

I sense a Bay Area get together for this and soon...

Lincoln is my daily bread and has been for some time.  It allows one to get in a round under 4 hours AND the price is right (around $30).  Conditions aside, I think one's game will carry well with a regular dosage of Lincoln.

Favorite holes for me are the 2nd (good green ... if out of character with the other greens), 4th, 6th approach, 11th (fun to drive), and the 18th (for it's approach).

Good to see some love to LP.  Thanks Matt!

[Mike Benham]

"What kind of scores do good golfers turn in at Lincoln?"


There are usually a couple of rounds in the high 60's, but many of the guys shoot roughly the same score at par-68 Lincoln that they shoot at par-72 Harding.

Par 68, 5,100 yards, 65.9 CR, 106 Slope.  On paper, a course that a plus handicap should eat up but rarely do.   Very few top amateurs score their index at Lincoln. 

Part of the reason is the conditions, part of it is the quirk and part of it is because the CR / Slope rating system can't properly rate a unique course like Lincoln.




 

[Rich Goodale]

Great stuff, Matt.  I hang my head in shame at never having played Lincoln Park in the 20 or so years I lived in and around The City.  The closest I got was a few hours at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1967 trying to find some Baroque art to write up a paper on the subject whilst "studying" at Stanford....

Now that I am in my dotage, par 68, 5100 yard courses appeal to me more and more as the years pass by.  Let me ask you a question following on from Mike B.'s post below:  as a + handicap golfer, how often do you play to that handicap at LP (i.e. shooting 65 or below from the back tees playing by USGA rules?  I ask because in my experience, I think that very good players are very unlikely to be able to play to their handicap at courses such as LP.  Have I been misinformed?

Cheers

Rich

[Bill_McBride]

Great stuff, Matt.  I hang my head in shame at never having played Lincoln Park in the 20 or so years I lived in and around The City.  The closest I got was a few hours at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1967 trying to find some Baroque art to write up a paper on the subject whilst "studying" at Stanford....

Now that I am in my dotage, par 68, 5100 yard courses appeal to me more and more as the years pass by.  Let me ask you a question following on from Mike B.'s post below:  as a + handicap golfer, how often do you play to that handicap at LP (i.e. shooting 65 or below from the back tees playing by USGA rules?  I ask because in my experience, I think that very good players are very unlikely to be able to play to their handicap at courses such as LP.  Have I been misinformed?

Cheers

Rich

Rich, a 280 yard par 4 looks pretty simple on the card, but if it's uphill and blind to a green the size of a dinner plate and you're playing your pitch out of a fairway that's more mud than grass, par looks good.  That happens time after time at Lincoln.  And then there are three or four par 3s in excess of 220 yards that are no pushovers.

Am I the only one who has played both Lincoln Park and Painswick?  While similar in many regards, Painswick is easier.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Based on recent tournament results, it appears that LP often favors older (and shorter), and experienced players over younger (longer), less-experienced players. 

Maybe the combination of quirky course and the often quirky self-taught swings from the older guys?

[Bill Shotzbarger]

Dogleg par 3s? Walnut Lane West! I love it! Great write-up.

[John Mayhugh]

Thanks for the well-written profile, Matt.  I played Lincoln park once, back before I had much of an interest in golf course architecture.  I thought the views would be worth a round there, and they were.  While the course would have a tough time equaling the setting, it would be great to see it improved.

[Jason Topp]

What kind of scores do good golfers turn in at Lincoln?  I heard the course used to give Tom Watson fits, when he was at Stanford. 

Watch for the scores in the San Francisco City Championship flight qualifying February 23-24.  They play Harding and Lincoln Park so a comparison of scores from the two courses should be a pretty good indicator of the difference between scores on a standard type of course for such an event and Lincoln Park.  http://www.sfgolfchampionship.com/2010_tournament/results.php

[Kevin_Reilly]

The Venturi Flight is the one to watch this year.

[Eric_Terhorst]

Matt,

Add my thanks for the trip down memory lane.  Living in San Francisco during the 80s and 90s I played Lincoln Park 12 or 15 times I think, including I'm pleased to brag one memorable round of 69 with 3 birdies.  Probably several other scores closer to 90 than 70. With what looks like additional in-growth of trees the course looks near impossible in your pictures.

I recall the conditioning being tolerable on the fairways but generally bumpy and slow on the greens. Number 7 and 13 stand out as favorites.  Fun place to spend a few hours without ever needing to get serious...

Kevin R's quote from Tom Watson above is particularly apt for this course.

[AndrewB]

For what it's worth, I played Lincoln Park this past weekend and it was in the best shape I've ever seen it.  The greens rolled smoother and had more pace than usual.  The fairways were relatively dry too so my ball rarely picked up mud and I even got a non-trivial amount of roll on a hole or two.  When I missed greens I was hitting typical chips and pitches rather than chopping it out of a footprint in mud.  For those of you who have been out there before, you know these are quite rare characteristics for a round at Lincoln Park.

If you're in the area and Matt's writeup got you interested in playing it some time, I think now is probably a great time to do so.