California Golf Club of San Francisco

Its classic parkland routing plays across broad, rolling slopes framed by mature cypress and eucalyptus, offering fast-and-firm fescue conditions that are rare in the region. Originally shaped by Irish-Canadian architect A. Vernon Macan in 1926 and later refined by Alister MacKenzie, the course was masterfully restored by Kyle Phillips in 2007-08 and now ranks among the top courses in the state and on several national lists.

Course History

The California Golf Club was founded in 1918, originally sited at Ingleside on land leased from the Spring Valley Water Company. In 1924 the club purchased roughly 425 acres down the Peninsula, and Scottish designer Willie Locke laid out an initial routing. The membership soon brought in Irish-Canadian architect A. Vernon Macan to direct construction, and the new course opened on May 26, 1926.

Shortly afterward, Alister MacKenzie reworked the bunkering and reshaped several greens, just prior to his celebrated work at Cypress Point. In 2007-08, architect Kyle Phillips led a multi-million-dollar restoration and partial redesign that returned the course to its Golden Age character, since earning Cal Club a place among Golf Digest's ranked courses and other national and California top-course lists.

The Design & Architecture

Cal Club is a classic parkland layout defined by broad, tumbling slopes, wide fescue fairways and deep, jagged, artfully constructed bunkers lined with wispy rough that reflect Alister MacKenzie's influence. Kyle Phillips's restoration added roughly six inches of sand across the entire property to improve drainage and enable the conversion to fescue, replacing the old rye and poa. Phillips built five new holes on the front nine and expanded the opening holes, yet the work blends so seamlessly it is hard to distinguish new from original. The green complexes are beautifully pitched and strategically bunkered, rewarding well-struck, thoughtful shots.

Signature Holes

The 3rd, a 437-yard par 4, is dubbed by many the signature hole at Cal Club: it bends to the right around tall pines and difficult bunkering before finishing at a tiny circular green of less than 5,000 square feet. The 7th - one of the new holes Kyle Phillips created during the restoration - is often called the most dramatic on the course, a cape-style par 4 of 411 yards from the Venturi tees that doglegs sharply right over a small canyon. Huge bunkers line the corner (a carry of roughly 255 yards to clear them), and the ridgeline fairway falls away steeply on both sides.

The closing stretch holds two more memorable holes. The 16th is a short downhill par 3 of about 133 yards where swirling winds create havoc with club selection; its kidney-shaped green is guarded by seven bunkers protecting every edge except the front left. And on the 567-yard par-5 17th, the famous "South San Francisco The Industrial City" sign painted on the hillside beyond serves as the ideal aiming point off the tee, before the fairway tilts right-to-left and descends some 50 feet down to the green.

Playing the Course

Stretching to more than 7,200 yards from the back "Venturi" tees (par 72, rating 74.6, slope 139), Cal Club offers a genuine championship test while remaining varied and inviting. The fescue turf plays fast and firm - unusual for Northern California - so the ground game and clever angles matter as much as raw length. The site's broad slopes and shifting winds mean the challenges change daily, and the strategic bunkering demands accuracy off the tee and precision into the tilted greens.

Know Before You Go

• Private club - access is generally limited to members and their accompanied guests.

• Located at 844 W Orange Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080; phone (650) 588-9021.

• A practice range is available on site.

• Firm, fescue-based playing surfaces favor a run-up ground game; bring versatility around the greens.