San Francisco · Published November 9, 2026
UC Investments has bought the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay for a reported $193 million. The hotel sits between the Old Course and Ocean Course, but the sale should not be read as a change of ownership for Half Moon Bay Golf Links. The courses have a separate ownership history, and the golf operator is still advertising tee times directly.
What was sold?
The San Francisco Chronicle’s November 6 report identifies the buyer as Regency Half Moon Bay, an entity with an address at the University of California’s Oakland headquarters. KTVU reported the purchase on November 9, citing the Chronicle and other outlets. The reported price is $193 million for the 261-room hotel property. UC has not publicly explained its plans for the resort.
The buyer is UC Investments, the office that manages the university system’s retirement, endowment and cash investments. This is a real estate investment by that office; the sale announcement does not turn the resort into a campus facility or say anything about student access to golf.
Did UC buy the two golf courses?
The available ownership records point to a separate business. Strategic Hotel Capital’s 2004 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission says the hotel was between the Old and Ocean courses, which were under separate ownership. In a 2022 letter filed with the Coastside County Water District, Ocean Colony Partners said it owned both 18-hole courses and their related facilities. A 2025 Half Moon Bay planning report still identified Ocean Colony Partners as a property owner for the Old Course.
Those documents predate the hotel sale, so they are not a substitute for a current title search. The reports of UC’s purchase describe the hotel transaction, and we found no announcement that UC bought the golf courses. Calling the Ritz-Carlton a “golf resort” describes the guest experience; it does not by itself establish who owns the fairways.
Can golfers still book the Old and Ocean courses?
As of November 9, Half Moon Bay Golf Links continued to offer public tee-time booking through its own site. Its Old Course and Ocean Course pages say reservations can be made up to 120 days ahead; tee times more than 30 days out must be booked by calling the golf shop at (650) 726-1800. The operator lists a separate advance-booking fee for those longer-range reservations. Check the live booking page for current availability, rates and terms before making plans.
The Old Course, designed by Arnold Palmer and Francis Duane, runs through parkland-style holes before its coastal finish. Arthur Hills’s Ocean Course puts the wind and Pacific views in play much earlier. Our Old Course versus Ocean Course guide compares the two rounds in more detail.
What remains open
UC has not announced how it will manage the hotel or whether its relationship with the neighboring golf operator will change. Neither the hotel sale report nor the golf operator’s current pages announce a change to public access or tee-time rules because of this transaction. A future change in golf-course ownership would be a separate development to verify with the operator and property records.
The hotel sale followed a dispute over roughly $2.16 million in occupancy taxes and interest that the previous owner paid, according to the Chronicle. That dispute involved the hotel, not a reported change in golf-course ownership.
About the image
Cover illustration: San Francisco Golf. It is a conceptual coastal scene, not a photograph or architectural rendering of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay or Half Moon Bay Golf Links.