The California Golf Club of San Francisco, aka Cal Club, should be looked at as the archetype for clubs who have a historical course that has slowly slipped into a state that was unintended. By all measures, Cal Club never dipped into the territory of being a bad course. But that didn't stop the membership from asking the critical questions of: Who do we want to be? And how can we do that while paying respect to our past, but not being tied down by it?
A few years back, Cal Club brought in all-start architect Kyle Phillips to rethink the routing of the course and re-establish some world class turf conditioning. From the rye fairways to the pure bent grass greens, this place is unbelievable.
If I had to describe the course in a word or two, the one that comes to mind is "corridors". The club has created these amazing corridors with their towering trees that frame holes and do an amazing job of guiding, without demanding, how golfers should play the hole. The member I played with said that you could play the course 100 days in a row and never get tired of the routing and variability of how you approach holes and I 100% believe it!
Recent golf publications seem to echo this but in my opinion, Cal Club is one of the best non-ocean facing courses that I've ever played. Saying something is in the top 10, 20 or 100 of the world is pretty arbitrary. At that level, its all about your personal preference. So with that, there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the 100 best courses in the world.
Given I've only played the course once, I'm not going to break down each hole rather I'm just going to drop a few mouth-watering pics and let your imagination run wild. Hope you enjoy!
Grades (where 1 is significantly below average and 5 is significantly above)
Scenery: 4 stars
Design: 5 stars
Condition: 5 stars
Practice Facilities: 5 stars
Experience: 5 stars
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how I think about course ratings.
If you're still reading this and have not died from visual ecstasy caused by the above photos, congrats! If you also are lucky enough to receive an invite to play a round at Cal Club, you better ask if you can bring your dear friend Beau. Seriously, call me! I'll meet you there. I promise!
