Baylands Golf Links
Palo Alto, CA • Public
Courtesy of the club
Overview
One of the best values in the area, Baylands Golf Links underwent a complete renovation by Forrest Richardson in 2018 to transform an old Billy Bell design. The old muny now has the feel of a true links, with rolling, wrinkled fairways, dunes, ever-present wind whipping off San Francisco Bay and even a few sod-faced pot bunkers. You'll find interesting ground movement and undulation on these large fairways and greens, plus some impressive elevation change for a municipal course.
About
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
Reviews
Review
“Baylands is substantially improved from the old Palo Alto muni course, which has been almost completely revamped. The only detraction from the linksiness potential is conditioning - it is overwatered and under-mowed, and the fairways were disappointingly soft (despite it being the middle of summer), reducing options to play along the ground options on several holes. There is great variety in the 5 par 3s, each with its own character and unique challenge: #4 is a medium downhill shot to a wide, shallow green mostly obscured by a fronting dune, sloping from right to left with a deep bunker guarding the front left; #8 is long and downwind, which requires a creative shot with good distance control to a multi-lobed green with many pin placement options; #12 is short and downhill with a water hazard guarding the front left and a deep pot bunker guarding the front right; #15 is short to a multi-tiered double green (shared with #3) with a hazard left and a devious chipping area right; and #17 is a blind, long uphill shot into the wind to a small green surrounded by dunes. On the other hand, the 5 par 5s are more of a mixed bag - #1 is featureless, boring, and too easy; #9 is comparable save for some well-placed fairway bunkers; #3, 13, and 18 are a bit more interesting and variable, with a shared green (with #15) on 3 and a heaving fairway; huge sod-faced-bunker guarding attempts to go for 13 in 2; and some of the only trees on the course on the approach to #18. There are several holes with an interesting design feature of a lowered green surrounded by dunes, present on several holes on the back 9. Also, the back-to-back short par 4 and long par 3 of #7 and #8 present something more like two par 3.5 holes. If not for the wind, this course would be pretty 'gettable' for a good player, which would not necessarily be the case if the greens were less receptive. Overall, a tremendous value in a public course (less than $50 most of the time), and a good links counterpart to the similar (albeit much better) new layout across the Bay at Corica Park."
Read More2023
Review
“Great value for the money. Recently renovated to play like a wide-open links course. Usually quite windy, especially in the afternoons in spring and summer."
Read More2021
Review
“Great renovation of the old Palo Alto Muni course by Forest Richardson. Green complexes in particular make the course a fun and enjoyable round. Biggest drawbacks of the course are the lack of precision asked for off of the tees, the conditioning of the course aside from the greens, and the dead flat uninteresting land the course is set on. Also, what is up with the riveted bunkers on #12 and #13? Totally out of character from the rest of the course design and presentation. Just odd."
Read More2019
Readers
Collection of reviews from our readers
There are no readers reviews yet. Be the first to write a review.