Hole 10

The Presidio Golf Club:

San Francisco's Historic Treasure.

Posted by: Rick Parnham

Very few North American golf courses can boast a lengthy history like that of The Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco. Built on a former military base located at the southern reaches of the Golden Gate Bridge, the fairways of the original Robert Wood Johnstone course have been trod since 1895. The vision of prominent members of the San Francisco community, and built with the permission of the base commander, the course opened as a nine hole routing atop spectacular hilltops in the western edges of the city. Expanded in 1910 and lengthened in 1920 this once private haven for members and commissioned officers of the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces is now a public play treasure.

The transfer of The Presidio to the National Park Service in 1994 brought public access to this historic gem and has been listed as a National Historic Landmark since 1962. Set atop a very rugged series of hillsides the routing is a strategic shot maker's test. Relatively short by modern standards playing to just over 6400 yards from the tips, the layout plays deceptively longer due to the considerable elevation changes. Fairway bunkers are few, but strategically placed amid the towering eucalyptus framing the holes. With nary a flat lie to be found and having to calculate for the ever present gusty bay breezes, The Presidio Golf Club presents a tremendous shot making experience in the most serene of settings. 

Hole 14

Editor's Shot Maker's Picks: The Presidio

Feature Holes Descriptions:

The second hole may not seem like an overly tough par 5 when you look at the card. At 450 yards from the tips most would salivate thinking of a sure birdie chance. A huge gulley is the landing spot for your tee shot, unless you have a Bubba moment with your drive. The second shot must account for the severe uphill rise on your way to the green. Trying to hit a hybrid or wood is a risky proposition for fear of catching the upslope and ballooning your ball errantly. The significantly sloped green is completely surrounded by bunkers making a lay-up and wedge the safer play. Hole 3 is a straight away par 4 playing uphill to a plateau green protected front and  right by a cavernous multi-fingered bunker draped in gnarly thick rough. A purely struck drive is required to avoid the OB stakes left and steep fall-away right. A mid to long iron shaped to avoid the fronting bunker awaits you on the approach.

Hole 3

The back side opens with an all-world par 5. Standing on the tee in the shadows of historic member's clubhouse, just steps from the park's Arguello Gate, this uphill brute is framed by the signature eucalyptus. A shared bunker with hole 9 protects anything pulled left off the tee, so favouring the right side of the fairway is a must. The steep climb to the green prevents all but the longest of hitters access to the well protected putting surface guarded front and back by deep white sand making par a considerable feat. The penultimate hole is not long by the card, but this dogleg par 4 plays as the number 3 handicap hole for good reason. Shaping a drive left to right around the corner leaves you with a tremendous test both in club selection and execution on your steep climb to the hilltop green protected on the right with a bunker and an ivy covered fence behind.

Visitors to San Francisco face a city filled with hills with plentiful climbs and descents as you move about the eclectic neighborhoods.  A round at the Presidio Golf Club provides a similar rollercoaster ride of elevation in a National Park setting.   Soaking up the decades of culture and military history of the Presidio combined with the challenge and strategy of the course is a golfing experience that  will test your abilities to shape shots and finesse your way around this traditional historic layout. This wonderful trek across San Francisco hillsides is an absolute must when in the Bay Area.

Course Stats: The Presidio Golf Club, San Francisco CA

Contact:

Presidio Golf Course | 300 Findley Road | San Francisco CA | 94129 | 415.561.4653 | [website]