Best golf courses near San Francisco, CA

It seems fitting that, in a town where every house is a cliffhanger, every U.S. Open played at Olympic has been one, too. For decades, the Lake was a severe test of golf. Once it was a heavily forested course with canted fairways hampered by just a single fairway bunker. By 2009, the forest had been considerably cleared away, leaving only the occasional bowlegged cypress with knobby knees, the seventh and 18th greens were redesigned and a new par-3 eighth added. Despite those changes, the 2012 U.S. Open stuck to the usual script: a ball got stuck in a tree, slow-play warnings were given, a leader snap-hooked a drive on 16 in the final round, and a guy name Simpson won. If the past was predictable, the future of the Lake Course might be more mysterious after Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner completed a remodeling in 2023 in preparation for the 2028 PGA Championship. The holes are even more breathable than before with additional tree decluttering, the greens have been expanded for more hole locations and the bunkers don't seem so deep and disconnected with the greens as they did. That old seventh hole was also scrapped in favor of a new drivable par 4 playing to a new greensite closer to the eighth tee. What hasn't changed is the Lake Course's secret ingredient, the mysterious hillside atmosphere that makes balls fall out of the air and the holes play much longer than their yardage.

San Francisco Golf Club’s original routing was done mostly by a trio of club members, who first staked out the course in 1918. A.W. Tillinghast remodeled the course in 1923, establishing its signature greens and bunkering. He also added the par-3 seventh, called the “Duel Hole” because its location marks the spot of the last legal duel in America. Three holes were replaced in 1950 in anticipation of a street widening project that never happened. In 2006, the original holes were re-established by Tom Doak and his then-associate, Jim Urbina.

The Ocean Course at The Olympic Club has a tumultuous history. Originally Lakeside Golf Club, it was bought by Olympic in 1918 after Lakeside fell into some financial trouble following World War I. The course became the Ocean course in 1924 but winter storm damage just months after it opened forced the need for the course to be remodeled before finally reopening in 1927. Set on the western (ocean) side of the Olympic Club property, the land is more naturally invigorating than that of the more famous Lake Course with wonderful variety in the holes and incredibly undulating greens along with San Francisco's beautiful Cypress trees. Designer Jim Urbina will begin a major overhaul of the course in 2026 that will pay homage to architect William Watson while also infusing the course with new strategic blood.

Across the street from the Olympic Club is San Francisco's most famous muny, designed by the same architect, Willie Watson. Framed by eucalyptus, cypress and monterey pines, TPC Harding Park hosted a PGA Tour event in the 1950s and 1960s. And it hosted the 2020 PGA Championship, won by Collin Morikawa, after a significant renovation a couple years prior. The course also hosted the 2009 Presidents Cup, as well as the 1937 and 1956 U.S. Amateur Public Links.

It seems fitting that, in a town where every house is a cliffhanger, every U.S. Open played at Olympic has been one, too. For decades, the Lake was a severe test of golf. Once it was a heavily forested course with canted fairways hampered by just a single fairway bunker. By 2009, the forest had been considerably cleared away, leaving only the occasional bowlegged cypress with knobby knees, the seventh and 18th greens were redesigned and a new par-3 eighth added. Despite those changes, the 2012 U.S. Open stuck to the usual script: a ball got stuck in a tree, slow-play warnings were given, a leader snap-hooked a drive on 16 in the final round, and a guy name Simpson won. If the past was predictable, the future of the Lake Course might be more mysterious after Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner completed a remodeling in 2023 in preparation for the 2028 PGA Championship. The holes are even more breathable than before with additional tree decluttering, the greens have been expanded for more hole locations and the bunkers don't seem so deep and disconnected with the greens as they did. That old seventh hole was also scrapped in favor of a new drivable par 4 playing to a new greensite closer to the eighth tee. What hasn't changed is the Lake Course's secret ingredient, the mysterious hillside atmosphere that makes balls fall out of the air and the holes play much longer than their yardage.

San Francisco Golf Club’s original routing was done mostly by a trio of club members, who first staked out the course in 1918. A.W. Tillinghast remodeled the course in 1923, establishing its signature greens and bunkering. He also added the par-3 seventh, called the “Duel Hole” because its location marks the spot of the last legal duel in America. Three holes were replaced in 1950 in anticipation of a street widening project that never happened. In 2006, the original holes were re-established by Tom Doak and his then-associate, Jim Urbina.

The Ocean Course at The Olympic Club has a tumultuous history. Originally Lakeside Golf Club, it was bought by Olympic in 1918 after Lakeside fell into some financial trouble following World War I. The course became the Ocean course in 1924 but winter storm damage just months after it opened forced the need for the course to be remodeled before finally reopening in 1927. Set on the western (ocean) side of the Olympic Club property, the land is more naturally invigorating than that of the more famous Lake Course with wonderful variety in the holes and incredibly undulating greens along with San Francisco's beautiful Cypress trees. Designer Jim Urbina will begin a major overhaul of the course in 2026 that will pay homage to architect William Watson while also infusing the course with new strategic blood.

Across the street from the Olympic Club is San Francisco's most famous muny, designed by the same architect, Willie Watson. Framed by eucalyptus, cypress and monterey pines, TPC Harding Park hosted a PGA Tour event in the 1950s and 1960s. And it hosted the 2020 PGA Championship, won by Collin Morikawa, after a significant renovation a couple years prior. The course also hosted the 2009 Presidents Cup, as well as the 1937 and 1956 U.S. Amateur Public Links.