A new top 100 USA candidate in near future

[Al Jamieson]

I have had the pleasure to make two tours of the ongoing work at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, CA.
On Weds. we even got to visit with Gil Hanse as he was on a dozer rough shaping a green.
Another golden age gem(1922) within sight of Olympic, SFGC and Harding Park that was impacted by freeway construction in the early/mid 1960's.  Thanks to club historian and board member, Mitch Lieber, photography from the early years of the original Willie Locke course have guided Hanse Design in duplicating many original holes and the routing.  In a 1933 essay, Mackenzie says he "reconstructed" Lake Merced (and Cal Club) but he did not elaborate as to exactly what he did.
Nonetheless, I have played LMGC as a guest for almost 50 years and it was always good and in great condition.  IMHO, Gil's work will move the needle from good to great.  Construction and seeding scheduled to be complete around Nov.  A relocated and beautiful range will be ready for member use before course is ready for play.
Visiting golfers from all over will now have to think about 5 courses they want to play before they head to Pebble Beach.
Congratulations to the leadership at LMGC for this achievement.

[Jeff Schley]

Thanks for the early heads up Al. If it is half as good as the job you guys did at the Cal Club it will be special, as that was fantastic work. Look forward to seeing it in the next couple years.

[David Wuthrich]

Can't wait Al!

[Mike Hendren]

Color me stupefied that visiting golfers from all over can easily access five prestigious clubs in the area.  Benevolence at its finest.  Well done.


Mike

[David_Tepper]

Michael H. -

Thinking about visiting those 5 courses is not quite the same as gaining easy access to them.

DT

[Mike Hendren]

Aha David, that would explain why my calls are not being returned.  Nothing says 9 like Gil on a tractor.  Hope you are North to the Links of Dornoch.

I remember our day there fondly. Thank you.

Mike

[Tim Leahy]

SFCC is almost impossible to get on without a member. Been trying for 40 years. All the others you have a chance through NCGA or friendly members..

[DFarron]

Lake Merced was awesome before the work, can’t wait to see it after.


SF is a golfer’s paradise!

[Matt_Cohn]

Here is the renovation plan overlaid on the current course. Notably, only 9 of the new holes will even be in the same location as the previous holes. It will be a completely different golf course; it's not just a renovation or redesign of what's there. It's a restoration of what was a completely different golf course on that site (minus 4 holes that can't be restored due to space and the new clubhouse location).

[Joe Perches]

Here is the renovation plan overlaid on the current course.

[via the lmgc.org website]

This document detailing the proposed changes for every hole is very interesting as well.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7yayerbzn6fj5kq/LMGC.HolePlans1-18.Range.pdf?dl=0

[J_ Crisham]

I have had the pleasure to make two tours of the ongoing work at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, CA.
On Weds. we even got to visit with Gil Hanse as he was on a dozer rough shaping a green.
Another golden age gem(1922) within sight of Olympic, SFGC and Harding Park that was impacted by freeway construction in the early/mid 1960's.  Thanks to club historian and board member, Mitch Lieber, photography from the early years of the original Willie Locke course have guided Hanse Design in duplicating many original holes and the routing.  In a 1933 essay, Mackenzie says he "reconstructed" Lake Merced (and Cal Club) but he did not elaborate as to exactly what he did.
Nonetheless, I have played LMGC as a guest for almost 50 years and it was always good and in great condition.  IMHO, Gil's work will move the needle from good to great.  Construction and seeding scheduled to be complete around Nov.  A relocated and beautiful range will be ready for member use before course is ready for play.
Visiting golfers from all over will now have to think about 5 courses they want to play before they head to Pebble Beach.
Congratulations to the leadership at LMGC for this achievement.

Al,
  This is great news indeed for the members at LMGC. It wasn't too many years ago that their membership was in decline. It takes a lot of courage to create and implement a master plan of this magnitude. The last time I played LMGC was 2 winters ago and we found it to be in terrific shape and a great examination of one's game. My hope is that they are able to create a firm layout via sand capping similar to what you accomplished at Cal Club.
   As an aside, the bench strength in SF continues to grow: Cal Club, SFGC, Olympic, Meadow Club, Claremont, Harding Park, Pasa , and LMGC are all bucket list courses.  IMO it's now an equal and separate trip from Monterey- the 2 best year round areas for golf in the USA when depth of roster is considered. 
                                         Cheers ,  Jack 

[David_Tepper]

This afternoon I had a chance to see 4-5 of the holes on the back 9 that are now grassed in. Very impressive. There is still a fair amount of work to be done elsewhere on the course. I am looking forward to seeing how the whole project turns out.

[David_Tepper]

Video with Gil Hanse re: "Building Mackenzie Bunkers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1tkyXZAZks

[David_Tepper]

Looks like the newly restored Lake Merced course will open for play in October:

https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/lake-merced-to-reopen-restored-course-in-october

[Matt_Cohn]

The California state amateur championship will be there next June!