Cal Club -- Pics

[Mike Golden]

this looks like a completely different golf course from the one I last played about 5 years ago.  Eliminating the water on the back 9 makes such an enormous difference-that pond looked completely out of place.

Cal Club always has wind so it can be pretty tough, the only negative remaining is that the SFO landing pattern often comes in directly over the golf course so you have to deal with some noise issues.  I don't know why Kyle couldn't fix that one

[Sean_A]

I just went through the pix again.  This place looks to be an absolute stunner.  Where the heck is it and why don't I hear more about this club?

Ciao

[Steve Lang]

  looks great, but where does the runoff go and what is the source of irrigation waters?

[Tom Huckaby]

I just went through the pix again.  This place looks to be an absolute stunner.  Where the heck is it and why don't I hear more about this club?

Ciao

It's a bit south of San Francisco - near Olympic Club and SFGC and Lake Merced and Harding... that alone is why you likely don't hear that much about it, but other reasons would be not many get to play it (pretty intensely private, and those visitors with no access issues tend to go to Olympic and SFGC before this one) and Redanman (former member) no longer posts here!

I've lived here 27 years now and have played it exactly once; years ago - and I wasn't enamored with it as it was back then. It was good but not great or anything.  And as it stood before, it just hasn't been a course that one seeks out, nor one that you end up playing tournaments on or the like... at least in my experience...

But I think that is changing with this re-do.  I think you WILL hear a lot more about this course going forward.

I promise you this:  in mid-October, I am on the team doing NCGA course rating for it.  I shall damn well report thereafter, as it looks pretty darn great to me too!

TH

[David_Tepper]

Sean -

To amplify Tom H.'s comments, the Cal Club is south of San Francisco, very close to San Francisco Airport. It is one of 3 quality courses on the Peninsula (between Highways 101 & 280, from South San Francisco to San Mateo), the other two being Green Hills (Mackenzie) and Peninsula GC (Ross).

Unless I am mistaken, the Cal Club has been used often as a qualifying site for a number of USGA & NCGA championships over the past 20-30 years.

I think the Cal Club, like Lake Merced, has often been in the shadow of the fame/notoriety of Olympic and SFGC.

DT

[Tom Huckaby]

David - I think you're right, it is used as a qualifier spot for NCGA and USGA events.  But mainly the stuff for the big boys - the Matt Cohns and Andrew Biggadikes of the world - that's why I never played it for such!

 

[Mike Benham]

Here is the Google Map link, and it shows the course mid-renovation ... which is nice ...




California Golf Club of San Francisco

[TX Golf]

Here is another aerial.

The Bird's Eye view is great and depending on what portion of the course you are looking at you will get pre-restoration views or during the restorations views.

http://maps.live.com/localsearch/details.aspx?lid=YN113x1994739&what=California%20Golf%20Club&where=South%20San%20Francisco%2c%20California%2c%20United%20States&q=California%20Golf%20Club%2c%20South%20San%20Francisco&FORM=LLMP&tab=default&SearchID=14827910

[Joel_Stewart]

bump

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

bump

Had the absolute pleasure of playing here this past Sunday, as the guest of fellow GCA.com’er John Handley. 

WOW!!!  While my early season game showed plenty of rust, not to mention a severe lack of length (which continues to wane as I age… any thoughts on this?), it was simply a great experience.  We teed off in a quintessential Bay Area weather pattern… three holes in the mist, three in the sun, three in the fog, and so on, which just added to the overall “atmosphere”. 

Unbelievable golf course.  Great mix of holes.  Great routing.  Excellent visuals in terms of bunkering, open spaces, vistas across the property, etc.  Greens were in fantastic condition and the course as a whole was in a very natural presentation.  I'm not able to add anything that hasn't been said in this or other Cal Club thread, except that I particularly loved the spaciousness of the area that around the 11th green, 12th hole, and 18th green… it's reminiscent of Amen Corner to me.  In my humble yet feeble opinion, The Cal Club absolutely deserves to be among the Golden State’s elite, not just No. California.

Well done indeed.

[Adam Clayman]

Echo the praises. Wide open non-dictation architecture with tons of vertical movement.

What a difference a chain saw makes. I saw the claustrophobic iteration back in '96, and this new course is just wonderful. It didn't take long to feel a lot like you were at CPC. From hitting out of a fairway bunkering to the transition and intimacy between the holes.

This is another course that exemplifies the flawed issues with the stroke rating formulas. Before the work the rating was higher yet the members all say that it is tougher (according to one). And, much tougher than the 126 slope it just received.

Another unexpected treat... The firmness. Delicious.