Three Public Golf Challenges In San Francisco And Berkeley

C hallenging and beautiful         designed by architect Willie       golf courses are open to        Watson in 1925. Among its kudos    everyone in Northern            are a Top 50 US Courses ranking    California. Here are three you        by Golf Digest and a place among   can play next week, including         “Top 100 You Can Play” by Golf     Harding Park home of the 2005         Magazine.                          World Golf Championships and                                             Berkeley’s Tilden Park with its       Harding Park played host to the    notorious 420-yard par 4 straight     2005 World Golf                    uphill to an elevated green,          Championships-American Express     first hole.                           Championship. The American                                               Express event in October of 2005,  Part of the fun of city golf is       which saw Tiger Woods defeating    having a San Francisco limo or        John Daly on the second playoff    car service pick you up at your       hole.                              hotel and deliver your party to                                          the course. Then when your game       Harding Park Golf Course is        is over, your driver awaits, just     located next to the private        as he does of Tiger.                  Olympic Club course which has                                            been host to many U. S. Open       It’s always smart to call several     tournaments and is less than one   weeks ahead for tee times,            mile from the Pacific Ocean and    deposit requirements and to           the San Francisco Zoo. Harding     reserve a Quicksilver Towncar or      Park’s layout follows the          Suburban to pick you up at the        original 1925 plan, using the      airport. (800) 486-9622 The           property’s existing topography,    Suburban easily holds four golf       contours and vegetation. Features  bags and all your luggage.            include the towering Monterey                                            Cypress trees and a view of Lake   Harding Park San Francisco was        Merced where high school crews     practice on a dogleg 2k course.       postcard views of the Pacific and                                        Golden Gate. If you play this      Tee-times for Harding Park Golf       course carry a camera in your      Course are available 8 - 30 days      bag. City of San Francisco golf    in advance. A non-refundable          info:                              deposit is required for advance       http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark  booking at the time of the                                               reservation. To make an advance       Tilden Park Golf Course is         reservation, call the Harding         located across the bay in          Park Pro Shop at 415-664-4690.        Berkeley at the intersection of    http://www.harding-park.com/view.     Grizzly Peak and Shasta Road,      asp?id=129&page=1727                  above the University of                                                  California campus. (510)848-7373.  If You Are Staying In SF Consider     This is a challenging hillside     Playing These                         course. Tilden Park’s signature    One-Of-A-Kind Bay Area Golf           first hole is a 420-yard par 4,    Courses.                              straight uphill to an elevated                                           green. My father-in-law compared   Lincoln Park Golf Course, 300         it to playing the Royal Course in  34th Ave, San Francisco,              Nepal. The 18 hole course was      (415)221-9911, is easily one of       built in 1937 and designed by      the two or three most beautiful       William P. Bell.                   courses in northern California.                                          Lincoln is the oldest course in       Tilden is notorious for its hills  this list; its 18 holes were          and natural setting. According to  built in 1908, designed by Tom        one report, the front nine is      Bendelow.                             fairly forgiving, but things                                             change on the back nine, which     Located west of the famous            starts with a vertigo-inducing     bridge, several fairways provide      tee that recalls Olympic ski       jumps, followed by narrower                                              fairways.                              Towncar driver.                       align="center">                                                           About the Author: SF Bay Area Transportation Expert As President of Quicksilver TownCar Service (http://www.qstc.net/), Phil Macafee knows all of the freeways and most of the byways from Carmel to Sacramento to the wine country. Published At: www.Isnare.com