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New Harding is a true gem
Layout should rank among best municipal courses in country
Brian Murphy
Saturday, August 23, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
A few years ago at Harding Park, in the growing shadows of a gorgeous and brisk summer's eve, a friend and I moved from the 17th green across the road to the 18th tee, that perfect little spot of grass above Lake Merced.
We had to stop, though. On the tee box, facing Lake Merced, was what looked like a family -- grown children, and an elderly woman who must have been their mother. They were dressed warmly, facing the lake. One of the daughters was hugging her mother. They were scattering the ashes of a loved one, right there,
on the tee box.
We figured it had to be the remains of an old muni golfer from San Francisco, having his final wish fulfilled, and we hung back, allowing them their moment as the sun dipped away.
Harding Park has that effect on San Franciscans.
It has a lifelong emotional tug, those graceful cypress trees and that walkable land, 18 holes of one of the city's best walks, progressing to that sensational climax. People who play it want to remember it forever.
For 77 years, from 1925 to 2002, Harding hosted generations and became a place near and dear to many hearts for its routing, its status as the jewel of San Francisco municipal golf courses and the way the light and shadows could play in the late afternoon, dancing among those cypress trees.
Now it reopens, after architects from the PGA Tour's headquarters in Florida came to renovate it, opening up fears from many longtime San Franciscans that their treasure was being plundered by outsiders.
On Golf is here to report, thankfully, that the Harding Park that reopened Friday is a sensation, true to its soul and worthy of the city's proud heritage. It just might be more than that, too.
In its current condition, it is one of the finest municipal golf courses in the West, and perhaps in all of America.
Most reassuring of all: What you will see when you play Harding Park is, well, Harding Park.
That's the genius of this whole renovation. Yes, Harding has larger greens. Yes, it has new grasses. Yes, the old clubhouse is gone, and Benny's is gone and so is that turkey sandwich.
But what's still there is Harding Park. The sequence of the holes, the sightlines, the feel, all of it still there, only better. The grass -- lush fairways where dirt and dandelions were the memory. The bunkers -- rebuilt and more robust, now a true feature of the golf course. The greens -- nearly twice the size and with more challenges, on bentgrass, where smaller, less imaginative poa annua greens used to lay. How it builds from a nice front nine into an experience on the back nine that borders on visceral? Pure Harding.
Careful tree removal has heightened the experience, allowing you to be anywhere on the course and have a 360-degree panorama of the course, sense of place always strong and vital.
Yardages are, essentially, unchanged. From the blue tees, yardage has grown slightly, from 6,740 to 6,845 yards, but from the white tees (6,410 yards) and red tees (5,885 yards) it's actually shorter than the old layout.
You'll notice the sameness right away, on the 1st tee. Stand on it and you get the same inviting look, a clear vista all the way to the 3rd green that welcomes you to Harding Park. Only what's different is what architect Chris Gray instituted -- subtle changes in gradation, moving dirt to the left side of the fairway to accommodate drainage and add shaping to a previously flat layout.
And so it goes for 18 holes, the course laying out to the eye as it always did, only with critically improved drainage -- overflow pipes in the sumps now assure that, and temporary greens are a thing of the past -- and more contour to the fairways.
The longtime Harding junkie will note major changes only in specific spots: The old 2nd hole is now the 7th, and vice versa. Gray made this move to shake up the routing and make sure two fairly easy holes -- Nos. 1 and 2 -- are broken up. Otherwise, the front nine, the prologue to the sensational back nine, remains itself. Take note of some features like the installation of grass bunkers on the 5th, the chute-like effect of the 6th tee, moved back some 40 yards, and how Gray elevated the green on the new 7th, to provide a slightly varied look.
The back nine, as always, is Harding's essence, and it involves probably the three most important changes. The par-5 12th hole's green, formerly tucked left behind a treeline, has now been brought out to the right and is more reachable for a long hitter. This is perhaps Gray's only questionable move, as the hole seems to have lost a smidge of flavor, but he says it was necessary to move back the 13th tee.
The 13th green was moved to the left, but that affords what is now the best second shot in the city -- the view to the green goes clear across Lake Merced to the Olympic Club, where you can see the red-tiled roof of the Spanish- styled clubhouse jutting through the trees.
Wow. From there, there is no question you're playing golf in San Francisco. It's a beautiful thing.
Then there's the 18th. Always vying with the 14th as Harding's signature hole, Gray's changes assure that 18 will now be the hole that defines Harding. He moved the green back to the old practice green, moved back the blue tees to 440 yards, and created quite the scene. Now, you can stand on the 18th tee box and eyeball the green, far, far away to your left. The drive is a demanding draw, and the second shot to a contoured green is all you can ask for.
Stand on the 18th tee and draw a deep breath. It's a magnificent finale to a golf course that takes you through your entire bag, challenges your short and long game and yet allows you scoring opportunities. Throw in the natural beauty of the land, the freshness of the air, and the entire experience is breathtaking. You can almost feel the old city ghosts from the '20s and the hovering presence of Harding legends such as Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller. It's a fair and classic test, pure golf, muni golf, Harding Park golf.
Harding almost surely will rocket into prominence as one of the nation's
finest public tracks, a top-100 course, with a reputation that will only
be enhanced when the PGA Tour comes and national TV broadcasts it in two
years. Yet, it doesn't have the feel of a sellout. It's still dear old Harding.
Tee times and greens fees
What: Harding Park and Fleming Golf Course's reopening
How to get tee times: Call (415) 750-4653 seven days in advance of the day desired, starting at 7 p.m.
Greens fees: S.F. residents with city ID cards, $33 Monday-Thursday, $45 Friday-Sunday; Nonresidents, $76 Monday-Thursday, $88 Friday-Sunday. Senior residents, $20 Monday-Thursday, $45 Friday-Sunday
Fleming Golf Course: S.F. residents with ID cards, $18 all days; Nonresidents $18 Monday-Thursday, $22 Friday-Sunday; Juniors $7 Monday- Thursday, $10 Friday-Sunday; Seniors, $10 Monday-Thursday; $15 Friday-Sunday. Seniors are 65 and over.
E-mail Brian Murphy at bmurphy@sfchronicle.com.
