TPC Harding Park - My Playing Experience
Set against the cypress tree-lined Lake Merced, TPC Harding Park, host of the 2020 PGA Championship, is the third major championship venue I have had the privilege of playing. I always find playing courses that host PGA Tour events, nevertheless major championships, are particularly exciting to play because A) you can truly put into perspective how hard the courses the Pros play are B) these courses are often some of the best in the world so it is always a treat!
TPC Harding Park - Course Stats & Rankings
Designer: Willie Watson and Sam Whiting
Built in: 1925
Rank:
#13 Municipal Golf Course in the US (Golfweek Magazine)
#24 Best Course in California (Golfweek Magazine)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Green Fees: $65-$250 depending on residence
Website: https://tpc.com/hardingpark/
Championship Slope: 129, Rating: 74.2
First Time Playing: January 2022
Since being renovated back in 2005 to better suit the PGA Tour’s needs, TPC Harding Park has hosted golf tournaments such as the San Francisco Open and the Lucky International Professional Golf Championship. Additionally, the Tour has since returned to TPC Harding Park for the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship in 2005, the Presidents Cup in October 2009, Charles Schwab Cup Championship in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and was Host of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play in 2015.
Despite being a frequented Tour stop, TPC Harding is also a local municipal golf course for SF and Bay area residents and is quite the treat at just $65 on a weekday. In my opinion, it is an absolute must play if you are a local resident and a spot to definitely check out if you love playing courses with PGA Tour lineage. Keep reading if you are interested in my detailed review!
Practice Facilities: The practice facilities at TPC Harding Park are top notch. Equipped with two full size putting greens (one by the range and one by the first tee), a full size chipping green, and a Top Tracer enabled driving range. There is nothing this course doesn’t have to get you warmed up for your round. The one thing I would call out as a slight bummer is that range balls are not included with your round and if you are a non-resident paying $250 for greens fees one might expect this to be included.
Golf Cart: I usually prefer to walk my rounds at nice golf courses, but given the three days prior I was snowboarding in Tahoe, I decided to splurge on a cart and reduce the physical burden. That being said, TPC Harding Park is a cart path only golf course so I did end up doing my fair share of walking. The actual physical cart, however, was quite nice with extra plush seats, an on-course GPS system, and decent horsepower to keep you moving around quickly.
Overall Impression of the Course: I really enjoyed my round at TPC Harding Park. I loved how the Cypress trees framed the holes and found the course to be a fair test of golf. The course conditions outside of the greens were in perfect shape and we had a fantastic SF weather day to add to the fun. If you are able to, I would definitely walk this course. It isn’t super undulated and given it is cart path only for carts it is honestly easier at times to just walk it. Would I come back, is a bit of a nuanced answer. If I was a local Bay area resident, my answer would be a resounding yes! But because I no longer live in the area, so I probably will be opting to check out the other courses on my bucket list before replaying.
Tee Boxes: Having played my fair share of municipal golf courses with dead or lumpy tee boxes it is always refreshing to stand tall on a pristinely kept tee box. The par three boxes were probably the worst of the bunch, but even then it was pretty easy to find a good spot of grass to tee off from!
Fairways/Rough: The fairways were immaculately kept and I didn’t find myself in one bad lie while I sat on the short stuff. I found the rough to be a fair length during non- championship times and allowed for well struck shots to be rewarded and poor shots to be penalized.
Bunkers: Thankfully I didn’t find myself in many bunkers during my round, but when I did the sand was soft and for the most part raked. It was windy so there was some natural debris in the bunker, but frankly there is nothing you can do about that.
Greens: In all honesty the greens were the most disappointing part of the round. From a layout standpoint they were great. They had slight undulations that require precise shot making, but were not so contoured that you felt like you had no chance at knocking one in. My issue comes with the conditions of the greens. Unfortunately, it was a little gusty while we played which resulted in a lot of natural debris to pile up on the greens. This coupled with what felt like naturally bumpy/grainy greens wasn’t exactly what I expected at a venue like this. Now given it was January, this could just be a result of the time of year we played, but definitely something worth calling out. In my opinion, this was a bit of a minus for the day, but not nearly enough to wipe the smile off my face as I made my way through the course.
Memorable Golf Holes:
Best Par 3 - 3rd hole, knocked it to about 10 feet but just missed out on the put :(
Toughest Par 4 - 14th, doubled this one as I knocked my drive OB left. Make sure to keep it right and you’ll be in good shape.
Signature Hole - 18th, leading you back to the club house, 18 requires a good drive to carry a little drop off and if struck well will put you in good position for your approach. The green is a little tucked and has a bit of a two tier look to it so depending on where the flag is you will need a good approach in.
The Pro Shop: Overall, a pretty standard pro shop. As you enter they have a few pretty cool walls decorated from the 2020 PGA Championship, but outside of that had your typical golf apparel, hats, clubs, etc. I ended up just getting my signature new course souvenir of a ball marker.
My Score: 89/+17 - This was my first round on a real course in nearly 3 months so I was pretty content with this. I felt like my driving and iron game was pretty on point, but unfortunately, my short game did not hold up. Short game is one of the few areas simulator golf really doesn’t help with. I think I ended up with at least 4 three-putts and a few double chips as well. Overall, a very promising start to the season.
Highlight For The Day: Making my first birdie of the year on hole #9! Hit a great drive, solid second shot, and then stuck the approach to about 4 feet for a pretty simple birdie putt.
