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Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club
Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club
2900 Sand Hill Rd
Menlo Park, CA 94025-7006
United States
Overview
Sharon Heights in Menlo, less than a mile west of Stanford Golf Course, was part of the first major wave of golf courses in California designed in concert with real estate developments. Like most courses of its kind, the land plan didn’t allow for the space that’s needed for the modern game, and the narrow hole corridors became even skinnier as the surrounding trees matured. Creating more playing room was one of the tasks for California-based designer Todd Eckenrode when the club hired him to remodel the layout. He was able to expand the corridors by removing non-native trees and push wide the fairway lines. The other objective was to enhance the overall presentation, achieved through the reconstruction of new greens with short-grass surrounds, the installation of wild grasses, native California oaks and sycamores to replace 20 acres of turf and new bunkers with attractively collapsing edges that make the course seem like it was built in the 1920s, not the 1960s. The $23 million project reopened in 2023 and was a Golf Digest Best Transformation candidate.
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Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Sharon Heights is on a beautiful property that Todd Eckenrode in 2024 transformed into a more modern, enjoyable layout that appeals to every level of player. The conditions are excellent, the scenery spectacular, the shot options numerous and the routing creative. Each hole offers many risk/reward options. The lower handicap player is challenged with well-positioned fairway bunkers and penal, deep greenside bunkers. Higher handicap players usually have a bailout option to avoid the challenges, but the hole plays longer. Most green surrounds have a backboard slope that feeds approach shots onto the green, if played well. This offers a variety of options as to how to position one’s approach shot. The greens vary in undulation, with some having false fronts, which reduces the effective size of the greens. The routing starts out with a comfortable front nine that builds to a demanding finish. Eckenrode made great use of the undulating terrain, presenting speed slots for the longer hitters while providing the shorter hitter accessible landing areas along fairly narrow fairways. The best complement for Sharon Heights; Course is that the LPGA played the Fortinet Tournament there last year and the players raved about the experience. If the Course was located in a different state that California, which has so many great layouts, then it would be ranked higher in the state listings. Nonetheless, the Course is a gem and is worth playing many times."
Read More2026
Review
“This private course is located in Menlo Park, CA, 25 mins NW of San Jose Mineta International Airport. Designed my Jack Fleming, a protegé of Alister McKenzie in 1962. Renovation was completed in June, 2024 by Todd Eckenrode. Some holes were rerouted, previous holes #7 and #8, are now #2 and #3, and many trees were removed to open of the playing area. It features prime course conditioning, rolling hills, elevation changes and tree lined fairways and several banked fairways."
Read More2025
Review
“Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club-played 10-24-25 This private course is located in Menlo Park, CA, 25 mins NW of San Jose Mineta International Airport. Designed my Jack Fleming, a protegé of Alister McKenzie in 1962. Renovation was completed in June, 2024 by Todd Eckenrode. Some holes were rerouted, previous holes #7 and #8, are now #2 and #3, and many trees were removed to open of the playing area. It features prime course conditioning, rolling hills, elevation changes and tree lined fairways and several banked fairways. downhill, left to right par 4, tree lined fairways 2 left to right par 4, fairway banks left 3 straight par 4 over water 4 short par 3 Redan style hole 5 par 5 horseshoe shaped to the left , fairway banks left 6 uphill short par 4 7 downhill dogleg right par 5, boomerang shaped green 8 short par 3 9 uphill par 4, blind tee shot , false front 10 dogleg right par 5, downhill, bunker right 11 straight uphill par 4 12 sharp dogleg right par 4 13 long par , kicks right to left at the green 14 blind uphill right to left short par 4, green set at on a diagonal 15 downhill dogleg left par 4 into the wind 16 uphill par 4, uphill approach 17 short par 3, bunker left 18 uphill par 5, left to right Layout Variety 6.60 Shot Options 6.43 Conditioning 7.25 Challenge 6.51 Aesthetics 6.58 Character 6.65 Fun 6.48"
Read More2025
Review
“Sharon Heights Golf Course was first built in 1962 and designed by Jack Fleming. The recent remodel by Todd Eckenrode in 2024 was very substantial, with significant improvements throughout the course. The property is relatively hilly and certainly a challenging piece of land to build a course. But the current layout is a challenging track which is quite fun to play. The recent remodel "opened" the course a bit by thinning out trees but the up and down topography requires the golfer to closely assess every shot. The course plays at 6907 yards from the tips but seems longer because of some of the steep climbs on several holes. It is suited for all levels of play with five tees and the shortest playing at 5184 yards. The course is very well conditioned. Both fairways and greens were in excellent shape. While the fairways are relatively wide, the rough can be penal, particularly on approach shots to the greens which are often well protected by deep bunkers. The fairly large greens while often tiered, are very consistent and are not overly fast. There are various contours on the greens, some of which have bowl shaped back stops that insist that the approach shot is well thought out. The par 3s in particular are aesthetically pleasing and provide challenging and differentiated looks. The course does border the freeway on a couple of holes and houses do border several other holes, but the course has done a good job of minimizing these outside distractions. In all, Sharon Heights is a very nice club golf course which can remain fun and challenging to play on an everyday basis. Further, the remodel improved the playability and challenge of the course to make it one of the top tier club courses in Northern California."
Read More2025
Review
“Really good renovation with every hole different and interesting. Excellent bunkering throughout. Course looks like it has been there over 100 years although built in 1962. Could play it every day and be happy."
Read More2025
Review
“According to the head pro renovation included a lot of tree removal with widened corridors and a complete redo of the greens so that no two greens would be the same. The course looks like it was built in the 1920's and has that 100 year old feel (actually built in 1962). Just the right amount of bunkering to provide visual interest and challenge. More tree removal would have been better but there are many homes close by and the trees are needed to provide protective barriers. A couple of large rental buildings detract somewhat from the aesthetics. That being said, every hole is good and different and this is the kind of course you could play every day. I think they did an excellent job."
Read More2025
Review
“Quite a stunning improvement at Sharon Heights - previously a constrictive example of rudderless tree planting. I’m still reviewing my notes, but please make sure we have enough panelist visits as this is a worthy candidate. First off - not sure if you have been there - but SH is on an impossibly awkward piece of land - heaving and diving along steep topography. Because of adjacent private homes, there was no way to reroute more than one or two holes to any signifcant extent. That stated, the detail work and aesthetic arrangements are extremely well done. I had a chuckle, standing on the 1st fairway - there was instantly no doubt who did the remodeling work. Pure Todd . . . . Mackenzie bunker lines, ground-game approach options, hard flares at the perimeter of the putting surfaces and closely mowed fringes that accentuate the kick points. He was raised at Pasatiempo, so no shock. The segmentation of the contouring (greens) tied in with the drainage scheme seamlessly - some fairly severe, but they keep the putting surfaces at 10-10.5, so quite playable. Conditioning was outstanding, which never really matters to me, except we had heavy rain the day before. Sharon Heights used to be an impossible bog all winter. Quite a bit of strategic tree removal (especially redwoods) opened up the corridors - even combining two adjacent fairways in spots. In other words, the golf course can finally breathe a little bit, so the agronomy is wildly improved. As part of the 23 million dollar budget, Todd had 6 inches of sand spread over the fairways. Sharon Heights' soil is crap - that nasty, sticky clay endemic to the San Francisco Peninsula. One thing I really like was the green complex mow-outs on a few holes that extend all the way to the next tee. I thought the par-3s were an exceptional set - and the most visually appealing holes out there. I did notice - much of it due to the bunkering arrangements - the necessity of moving the ball both ways off the tee. In fact the green complexes were quite balanced in terms of suggesting a draw or fade approach, HOWEVER, most of the greens are contoured in such a way as to change the optimum strategy with every move of the pin. In other words, using the contours of the putting surface and mow-outs introduced many creative options, depending on where the hole was cut. Really impressive stuff. Also been in contact with Blasi and trying to get to Poppy Ridge as soon as I can. There is no place to go but up, the Rees Jones work did not appeal to me in the least - and Jay’s work (like Todd) is invariably worth a close gander."
Read More2025
Review
“Sharon Heights G&CC is one of the hidden gems in Northern California. It’s a beautiful golf course that is always immaculate. It’s not a very difficult course but it’s so fun to play, especially the par 3’s. It’s also one of my favorite walks in SF. Every tee box is close to the previous green. It feels like you’re golfing in Lake Tahoe even though it’s very close to San Francisco. It’s one of the top 10 courses/clubs in San Francisco."
Read More2025
Review
“Sharon Heights G&CC is a very unique fun golf course. It feels and looks like you’re golfing in Lake Tahoe and one of the most beautiful courses. Definitely one of the hidden gems of San Francisco."
Read More2025
Review
“Beautiful setting in the Palo Alto hills of California. Nice variety of shot options with elevated greens and false fronts along with a well conditioned, challenging golf course."
Read More2022
