Let’s not bury the lede. I want to see Lincoln Park Golf Course, in lovely San Francisco, redesigned into a premiere golfing destination that is accessible to all and provides preferential treatment to those in the community that are most in need of it. Lincoln Park sits on an unspeakably awesome piece of land and while I’m not here to shit on Lincoln, the course (and the experience of playing it) are objectively underwhelming. And that’s a damned shame.
San Francisco (I’m including Cal Club and Lake Merced even though they’re not technically in SF) is one of the best golfing cities in the world. The land is amazing, the climate is great, and the golf balls fly all year long (no winters!). There’s three top-100 courses in the world (SFGC, The Olympic Club - Lake Course, and Cal Club), three other world-class courses (TPC Harding Park, The Olympic Club - Ocean Course, and Lake Merced), and six other public-access courses (Presidio, Lincoln Park, Sharpe Park, Glen Eagles, Fleming, and Golden Gate GC). Unfortunately, outside of Harding Park, the truly inspirational and really fun courses are all private. While golf is a sport that I think can be fun in most any setting we’d be remiss to not state the obvious that the course heavily shapes your levels of enjoyment and views on the game.
In this post, I’m not going to preach to you about width and angles, design schools of thought, or any other niche topics that I’m most certainly under-qualified to have a valid opinion on. Rather I want to present a case based on logic and a point of view that has been shaped by playing quite a large number of rounds of golf at quite a broad array of courses.
So let’s begin with what makes golf fun and how golf courses play into that. Golf is fun when golfers are playing well and feeling confident to step up to shots and play their turn. That doesn’t mean you have to shoot the lights out to have a good time on the course. But what it does mean is that you want to feel like a good shot is going to be enough. Golf is also fun when you can see what’s going on. That statement probably sounds confusingly obvious but golf courses are 100% more enjoyable when you feel as though the course is right there in front of you and you see your ball the majority of the round. Blind shots can also be fun but too much of a good thing here is a bad thing. Imagine playing basketball with a solid platform at 9 feet high obscuring your view of the rim. That would get old really quickly. Golf is also more fun when you’re presented with variety. No one wants to play the same type of hole for the entire round. We want some spice! And lastly I would say golf is fun when you know that what you’re doing is challenging but fair. An example of challenging but fair is having to make a 12 foot putt that has a gradual 6 inches of break to it that is pretty evenly distributed throughout the putt. An example of challenging but unfair is having to make a 12 foot putt that 6 inches of break inside the last foot of the putt. Let’s leave that type of quirk for the putt-putt courses.
At this point, most of you are probably nodding your head in agreement. Not many people would argue with the points that I just made. But you might also be wondering how this relates to Lincoln Park. Well in my estimation, Lincoln Park is almost none of those things mentioned above that make golf great. And not only does that make me not want to play at Lincoln Park (and I live within LITERALLY walking distance of the first tee) but I would assume that it’s not providing a great experience for all of the regular joes and kids in San Francisco that play at Lincoln Park because they can’t afford something better. And that’s a bummer.
For all of the lip service that the talking heads and fat cats give to “grow the game”, they’re completely missing the point. Golf is not a game that should be grown for growth’s sake (or so that you can develop land around a course and sell condos). Golf is a game that should be grown so people can get goosebumps on their skin when they walk to a tee box that takes their breath away. Golf is a game that should be grown so people can experience the joy of seeing their ball hit the middle of the green, ride a massive hill to the left, and funnel to a tucked pin. Golf is a game that should be grown because when done right it leaves lasting memories for the right reasons.
The Current State of Affairs
Note: The next paragraph has some harsh critiques of Lincoln Park. These critiques are not directed at the staff who currently oversee course care and maintenance. This article is not a critique of the work they do as they are city funded and likely receive little to no resources.
So let’s shift our attention to the current state of Lincoln Park. The piece of property is world-class. Golfers are treated to beautiful views that range from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Legion Of Honor to distant views of San Francisco’s skyline. But outside of that it could use a lot of love and a lot of thought. The conditioning is poor. Some holes have so many little white flowers popping up in the fairway that finding your well-struck ball can feel like an Easter egg-hunt from hell. The greens range from bumpy and untrue to muddy and devoid of grass. The few bunkers that do exist are poorly shaped and filled with a drab brown dirt. The layout of the course constantly feels cramped (the truth is that the property isn’t big enough for 18 proper holes). The lack of variety is frustrating as you get beaten to death with short, quirky (in an unfair way) par fours and long penal par threes. The one par five on the course is boring at best as you blast your tee shot blindly over a hill only to be rewarded with a harshly downhill lie that your ball can never fully escape. And lastly, the greens are all basically the exact same size and shape. Most are domed circles (some with a ridge running through them) that are often hidden from clear sight on your approach and that make putts tricky in an unreadable way.
Does that sound like a course that you would want to play? Also, if you want to see a further deep dive into my hole-by-hole grievances scroll down to the bottom of the article.
So what can be done? Well it’s funny you ask because I just happen to have a proposal.
The Proposal
To begin, I would propose that Lincoln Park be scaled back to 16 holes to maximize each and every hole. The plot of land is a relatively small, chopped up parcel and in my estimation too small to have 18 interesting holes. Next, I would take that sentiment on Lincoln Park’s small footprint one step further and add another par three for a total of six par threes to make sure each hole felt like a proper full hole. This means that the course, in total, would be composed of six par threes, eight par fours, and two par fives. The most notable change of the par threes would be a significantly larger variety of shots you must hit as they would range from short (Hole 2 - 130 yards) to really long (Hole 15 - 245 yards) with well spaced intervals in between. This variety would allow you to play a more full range of clubs in your bag. When you go to Lincoln Park today, due to a combo of short par fours and long par threes, you end up banging hybrids to death and rarely touch mid-irons at all throughout the round. The other big aspect of proposed changes would be sweeping changes to the green sites. Each green would be built to provide a variety of different pin locations as well as interesting challenges and intrigue to golfers. The green sites would range from raised surfaces with closely mown surroundings (Hole 11 and 12) to a double-plateau (Hole 3), a redan (Hole 10), a Biarritz (Hole 7), and a double green (Holes 4 and 5). In my opinion, this variety coupled with better contouring, bunker shaping, and conditioning would provide the foundation of a golf course that would provide tremendous amounts of joy to the local community.
The Redesigned Course
Let’s dive a little deeper with a quick hole by hole overview.
Grass: Lightest Green - Greens | Light Green - Fairways | Dark Green - Native Grass
Sand: Off-white - Formally Maintained Bunkers | Yellow - Sandy Waste Areas
Hole 1
The course opens with a gentle handshake to players by taking advantage of unused land that sits between the current 16th green and 18th fairway. A slight dogleg left that slowly climbs a hill gives players plenty of room on their opening tee shot as the fairway connects to the 18th hole. The trees and nature area in the distance should provide an ideal driving line without ever coming into play. The green would be receptive to shots of all distances with a slight pitch running from back left to front right.
Hole 2
A short walk from the first green lies a gem of a hole. Some might call it a templated “Short” so if that strikes your fancy, go for it. Topping out at approximately 145 yards to a back pin location the green is a relatively generous size and is meant to catch and funnel shots to different quadrants of the green. The front pin location is one that could cue the hole-in-one fireworks. With a ridge behind the front pin location players could easily hit a wedge into the middle of the green and watch it track back towards the hole. Watch out for the bunker waiting to gobble up short shots in front of the green.
Hole 3
A short par four that plays longer than the card reads. The hole moves back up the natural hill that the property is set on and into a prevailing wind. The green complex is the star here as it is a classic double-plateau. There may not be a green on the property that gets more GIRs followed by three putts. Be sure to hit your approach shot onto the proper quadrant otherwise you'll pay the price.
Note: There is an existing historical landmark on the property denoted with a small grey blob in the proposed course diagram near the center-right portion of the green. It would provide an awesome aiming point and bit of charm to this hole.
Hole 4
This is a birdie hole. This is a birdie hole that has a shared green with the next hole so the group in front of you can watch you drain your birdie! A short par four that plays downhill and downwind the contouring of the green should be the element of defense on this par three and a half.
Note: There is an existing historical landmark from a cemetery that was originally on the property denoted with a small grey blob in the proposed course diagram near the left side of the fairway. Just like the last hole, this would provide an awesome bit of charm to this hole.
Hole 5
A short walk to a shared tee box with the third hole, the fifth is all about the green complex. A relatively short hole with a pretty sizable chunk of green. This hole could be a low-key star with some gently rippling waves to the putting surface.
Hole 6
After a brief walk across the street to an area where the existing ninth tee is located, golfers are treated to their first par five of the day that culminates in a green site where the current eleventh tee and tenth green sit. At 530 yards from the tips this hole would likely play as a three-shotter for most players as it would play uphill and into a prevailing wind. The hole would benefit from some creative shaping and grading of the hills that run up the property to give a little nuance to the otherwise boring fairway. The green site would sit in a beautiful spot of the property that is framed by a statue on the grounds of the Legion of Honor.
Hole 7
A classic Biarritz template hole would tee off from a slightly elevated tee and play somewhere in the range of 180-190 yards. This would have the chance to be one of the beautiful inland green sites on the property as it would be nestled between nine green and ten tee. You might also be able to catch a glimpse of the city skyline in the distance with a little tree removal.
Hole 8
Tipping out at 400 yards, the eighth would likely play a little shorter than the card reads as it would drift down a hill and benefit from a prevailing tail wind. The star of this would be a beautifully simple green site with a sunken bunker in the nape of the left portion of the green.
Hole 9
The second par five should be a fun one. We’re talking risk and reward from tee to green. To get home in two, golfers would need to push tee shots up a sizable hill towards a sandy nature area. Getting the ball as close to the edge of the sandy area is preferred but hitting into the waste area would make a long second shot very hard. If you successfully place your tee shot you can hoist a long second over a hill towards a well protected green. Plagued by a trio of center-line bunkers that would snatch weak second shots, the green would be accessible so long as players carry the fairway bunkers. Now for those players who are not long-knockers, this hole should still be very doable in three shots. Pop your tee shot up the first hill. Knock your second over the waste area and benefit from a nice down hill helping roll, leaving shots just short of the center line bunkers to attack the green with a wedge in hand.
Hole 10
The second (or maybe third if you count Hole 2 as a Short) par three template hole features a beautiful redan. The hole itself will be great but the backdrop will make it otherworldly. Set right up against the Legion of Honor, this hole has the chance to be one of the most photographed par threes around.
Hole 11
Reclaiming lost land from the original design of the golf course, the eleventh hole would attempt to create a tee box that originally existed for the third hole (which was originally designed as a par four). This would by far be the longest par four on the course and provide some otherwise lacking diversity that would necessitate most golfers to hit a solid drive and then approach the green with a mid- to long-iron. The hole would play down a prevailing hill that would ideally funnel most well struck shots at least 270 yards leaving players at most 200 yards into the green. The green site would be bunker-free, domed, and surrounded by tightly mown grass. This wouldn’t be the toughest hole ever but it would be one of the tougher holes on Lincoln Park.
Hole 12
The short par four twelfth tries to make the most out of its diminutive stature. Most players would probably hit a hybrid or long-iron to leave themselves a wedge into a tricky green. For the long hitters, a driver could be pulled but the further up you press the ball the more risk you incur. Additionally, the elevated green is meant to be attacked from the fairway meaning short chips would be not a guaranteed up and down with tightly mown areas making for tricky work.
Hole 13
Sometimes to make lemonade out of lemons you just need to flip the orientation of a hole. This hole in its current form factor plays uphill, into the wind, and into an elevated green. Flipping the hole would allow it to be reoriented to give golfers a much more enjoyable experience of seeing their ball all the way through the green. Toss in a couple of beautiful bunkers to frame the green and you have yourself a brand new, very enjoyable par three.
Hole 14
This is another birdie hole. This is also another birdie hole that is nestled right up to the edge of another hole so you can shine in front of other golfers as you snag that beautiful bird! The hole itself is rather short and would reward a left-to-right ball flight off of the tee but would also allow for the flexibility to lay back with a fairway wood to long iron. The bunker behind the green would provide a nice backdrop as well as a mechanism to catch worm-burners before they smoked players on the second tee box.
Hole 15
This hole could be one of the best long par threes in golf. It’s not going to unseat the sixteenth at Cypress but the piece of land here is unreal. The sweeping views span from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands and with a little tree removal you could provide golfers with one of the most breathtaking holes they’ll ever play. I love the basic form factor of the hole. Leave the back tee box where it is and regrade the surface to level it out. Add some waste areas to break the current monotony of uninterrupted fairway/rough into the green. Additionally, adding a couple of tee boxes would be helpful for golfers who don’t have the distance requisite to play this hole from 220+ yards. In addition to some waste areas I would propose adding an artistic set of bunkers short that hopefully don’t come into play all that often. The inspiration for these bunkers is drawn from the 16th hole at Ojai Valley Inn which was originally designed by George C. Thomas (who also designed LACC North and Riviera). Expanding the green size would also be a plus to be more receptive to a hole that stretches out to 240 yards. As a last element of quirk I would nest a tiny bunker in the middle of the green and wrap the edges of the green around the bunker for an added element of fun.
Hole 16
The finishing hole at Lincoln Park is already pretty good. The only real change I would make is removing some trees that currently line the right side of the hole and leveling out some hills that lead into the green. Throw in a bunker on the right side of the green for good measure and you’ve got yourself a great finishing hole framed by a welcoming clubhouse.
Ancillary details
One thing that most golfers know to be true is that to have a truly great experience from start to finish you need multiple elements of your day to tie seamlessly together.
The Clubhouse
A great golf experience usually starts with a great clubhouse. A great clubhouse doesn’t have to be a sprawling McMansion that has nine banquet rooms. No, a great clubhouse just needs to be purpose built and thoughtful. Additionally, if it can somewhat blend into its natural or broader surroundings I suppose that’s a plus. For the clubhouse I would love to see Lincoln Park’s be rebuilt to mirror the buildings located in the nearby Presidio. The architecture is classically timeless and period-relevant to a time when a lot of development happened in San Francisco.
The Scorecard
This is probably more of a pet peeve than anything else but I really like simple, understated scorecards. If you want to provide an accompanying guidebook, that’s great! Go for it. But let’s leave the scorecard to what it’s intended to be used for, which is a place you can record your scores.
The Course Conditions
This is actually a pretty meaty topic and I know that I’m not going to do it justice. But with that, I would love to see this course play firmer than it does now, use less water as this is already a pretty damp property with all of the fog that it gets, and accentuate the course with natural sandy waste areas and native grass which are ever-present if you take a quick walk on the nearby Land’s End trail. Additionally, I would love to see almost no rough on the course. Maximize the fairways to keep more players in play as the course will still offer plenty of challenge to better players as proper angles must be taken to properly score. Cut down any tree that are not Cypress or Pines to let a little air flow through the place. And lastly, the teeing grounds do not need to be overly formalized. Let them blend into the fairway and level out big portions of ground to ensure players have a level stance.
Food and Beverage Program
This is the last aspect of a truly memorable experience. For anyone who’s played at The Olympic Club, they’ll likely mention the famous Hot Dog Bill’s Burgerdog within the first 60 seconds of talking about their experience at the course. If I had my way, I would serve two things from the kitchen at Lincoln Park: breakfast burritos in the morning and fish and chips in the afternoon and evening. Keep it simple and make it delicious and you’ll win lifelong fans in the process.
Community involvement and tangential benefits
I started the article with a few points about golf being classist and underserved communities that may have felt like lip-service considering I haven’t revisited them yet. But I want to revisit those topics now. My hope is that Lincoln Park would become a beacon of community golf and gathering. Ideally, blocks of tee times in the afternoon would be set aside for kids ages 18 and younger to play the course at a discounted rate. Additionally, I would love to see locals benefit from a significantly discounted rate and have higher costs passed through to out of town tourists looking to play the course. And trust me, with these renovations the course would be saturated with demand from golfers all over the nation.
Conclusion
So how do I wrap this up? Well, I seriously hope that my case has already been made by this point and all you’re doing is dreaming of the day that this becomes a reality. But a well structured argument isn’t going to do any good in isolation. I need some help. I have no formal background in golf course architecture and no formal background in lobbying local politicians or bigwigs to round up funding for an endeavor such as this. If you liked the points I’ve made, want to get involved, or just want to drop me a note I would love for you email me at beau.scroggins@gmail.com. In the meantime, I’ll try to get on Chuck Schwab’s calendar to see if he’ll foot the bill and grease the skids to make this thing happen.
Cheers!
Addendum
I didn’t want to wreck the flow of the proposed changes by pissing and moaning and airing all of my grievances. With that, I also didn’t want you to think that the course is better than I briefly allude to. If you want a full rundown of the frustrations of each and every hole, take a look below.
Hole 1
This is an annoying hole for many reasons. The tee shot seems straightforward but unless you hit the left third of the fairway or the left rough (which to land your ball there you barely bring a tree for yards off the tee box into play) you will likely be blocked out by a towering tree on the right side of the fairway making your approach shot nearly impossible. Let’s also talk about the approach shot. The green is elevated 15-20 feet above the fairway making it impossible to see exactly where you’re hitting (this is a sad, ever-present trend at Lincoln).
Hole 2
The second hole is generally fine. A short par four that is easily drivable by players that can hit a tee ball 275 yards. The green complex has ridges that I assume have grown more dramatically over time and have shelves that are almost impossible to stop a ball. Hopefully the flag is located on a flat portion of the green otherwise a three- or four-putt is definitely in play.
Hole 3
Apparently the third hole was originally designed as a par four with the tee box located back near the green on hole five. Today though, it’s a dog-legish par three that has an elevated green that is obscured by a hill and an overhanging tree that is only 20 yards short of the green happily waiting to swat down balls that would otherwise be totally acceptable shots.
Hole 4
Perhaps I don’t understand how to play Lincoln Park “properly” but the fourth hole (and the fifth) are odd and frustrating. Playing down hill into a set of odd micro-valleys with a clump of dense trees just left of your landing area, this hole necessitates a nice long drive to ensure you can take dead aim at the pin. I suppose there’s a different school of thought that would say lay back off of the tee with a hybrid or long iron leaving a middle iron into the green. That doesn’t make sense to me though as the green is relatively small and aggressively segmented in three distinct shelves.
Hole 5
Surprisingly, my scoring average and level of enjoyment of this hole are indirectly correlated. I generally play this hole really well but find it annoying and confusing. The hole starts with a benign tee shot. At this point, I’ve relegated to just hitting my ball as hard as possible because nowhere in the fairway offers a good spot for an approach shot. The fairway is aggressively canted from right to left leaving many well struck drives with 120-150 yards in with a hanging lie where the ball is easily six inches above your feet. If you can put a tee ball out there 280+ you can catch a relatively flat lie on the left side of the fairway leaving you no more than 60-70 yards in. Unfortunately, the green is lofted so high above the fairway that there is the very real chance you won’t even be able to see the flag when hitting your approach. This level of quirk is just no fun to me. One of the last times I played this hole I hit a great lob wedge approach that ended up six inches from the hole. That is an awesome shot! That is a shot that I would love to see. Unfortunately I have no idea how the ball got there. Did it hit and spin back? Did it land short and bounce up? These are the types of shots that when you get the chance to see them, you get hooked on the greatness of golf.
Hole 6
Ugh. What a dumb tee shot. This short par four doglegs so hard to the right that to hit the fairway you have to hit a slice, not a fade, a slice. My normal shot on this hole is a 3-iron that hugs the right side of the most aggressive line you can take from the tee and 8 times out of 10 I still am left of the fairway. The other tragic aspect of this hole is that it plays away the single prettiest man made view that the course “could” have. If the hole were played backwards, you would read about this hole as one of the great holes on the west coast.
Hole 7
Hole seven is fine. Good golfers blast drivers over a hill and can often run their tee shots up to within 10-20 yards of the green. Less skilled golfers though face a tee shot that usually results in their second shot being from the top of a massive hill into a green that slopes from front to back or if they poke it out there a little further they’re left with a downhill lie into a green that is not that receptive.
Hole 8
This hole is great. I think the bunkering nicely frames that green and the city skyline is a cool backdrop to your shot.
See, I’m not a grouch. I’ll sing praises when they’re deserved!
Hole 9
Short lived was my praise for the course. This trudge up a never ending hill is just not any fun. Most tee shots get funneled into a flat landing spot between 100-150 yards out. Let’s see if this story is sounding familiar yet… The green is set way up a hill elevated to a point of a completely blind approach shot. Hopefully you have a strong ticker because the walk up this hill is only second to climbing Mount Everest.
Hole 10
Similar to hole six, this hole is quirky in an annoying way. Daredevils might try to drive the green. Distance is not the limiting factor rather you have to hit a pretty hard fade to start far enough left to miss overhanging trees from the tee and work the ball back to the green. Most people lay up with a mid-iron off the tee leaving themselves a (you guessed it) blind uphill approach.
Hole 11
The eleventh is kind of a mickey mouse hole. I think it can be fun but I think I might be in the minority. A hard dogleg left that can be driven with a hybrid to fairway wood, the hole is accentuated by a massive mound in the fairway that obscures approach shots into the green if you have to lay up. And to be clear, most people have to lay up as going for the green from the tee requires a pretty skilled shot that hooks 20-30 yards.
Hole 12
The first of three very long par threes on the back nine, this hole plays like a 220 yard shot into a shallow green that is bisected by a ridge that I assume has grown in severity over time. If the pin is located anywhere near the ridge three- or four-putts are definitely in play.
Hole 13
The lone par five on the course is boring at best as you blast your tee shot blindly over a hill only to be rewarded with a harshly downhill lie that your ball can never fully escape. Also the bunker on this hole which is about 30 yards short of the green adds absolutely nothing other than harsh penalties for golfers who probably don’t need to be harshly penalized. As a scratch golfer, I’ve never even sniffed the bunker. My approach shots are easily 50+ feet in the air as they go flying by this bunker. On the other hand, golfers that are less skilled run the real chance of running errant shots into this bunker only to be left with the most difficult shot in golf, the 40 yard bunker shot.
Hole 14
I don’t have a single nice thing to say about this hole. It sucks. The fairway banks aggressively from right to left funneling most shots hard to the left only to be blocked out by overgrown trees. To have a decent chance on this hole you have to do one of two things. 1) Aim a mid-iron at the cart path running down the right side of the hole and hope you don’t hit the cart path. 2) Blast a hybrid through the fairway into the side of a hill knowing that you’ll have less than 100 yards in off of a massive hanging lie. Sounds like a fun hole, right?
Hole 15
Fifteen is fine. The tee shot crests over a hill leaving most players a wedge into this short par four. It could be much more interesting I suppose but at least I don’t want to pull my hair out when I play it.
Hole 16
Ugh. The sixteenth hole is a 235 yard par three that forces you start your tee shot over a clump of trees on the right to ensure you can have a chance to hit and hold this green. The good news is that once you get onto the green a two putt is never a given as there is a pesky ridge that runs down the center of the green. This hole is fine but there’s just too many trees on it and not enough ways for most golfers to get to the green in one shot.
Hole 17
This hole has the chance to be one of the top 5 long par threes in the USA. The hole offers a dramatic sweeping vista of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands, and I believe you can almost see Alcatraz if you try. Unfortunately the trees are overgrown and takeaway from the hole that could be. The hole in its current state is a 240 yard par three with a relatively small green with a few throw away bunkers that flank the green site.
Hole 18
A totally fine finishing hole with the exception of a blind approach shot into a green that is obscured by a hill 50 yards out. I guess it’s fitting that the course hit you one more time with a green that you can’t see from any part of the fairway. Sigh...
