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SAN FRANCISCO - When I first proposed the idea to play two short courses on the same day of a golf-buddies-trip staycation, it was met with skepticism and questions.
The group of eight local guys who rely on my "expertise" to set up golf adventures just couldn't wrap their collective heads around sacrificing the opportunity to play a full 18-hole course, where they could whale away with the driver, for a bunch of par 3s at two separate sites.
But by the end of the day, I had won them over. They couldn't stop smiling. That's why I'm tempted to call the tandem of the Fleming Course at TPC Harding Park and the Golden Gate Park Golf Course "America's best 18-hole short course."
For those of you who aren't familiar with Bay Area geography, TPC Harding Park and Golden Gate Park are two fantastic munis just five miles apart. It was an easy transition between the two despite busy city traffic on a shockingly sunny Saturday in January. The coolest part of the whole experience was how different the two nine-hole courses play. They're such polar opposites that they complement one another perfectly.
City residents can play both of them on the cheap. For out-of-towners, paying $45-$60 for a round at Fleming and $45-$55 more for the very short Golden Gate Park can feel a little pricey, but that's life in California, especially in the big city. For golf groups adventurous enough to try both like we did, it's a unique golf experience in two iconic locations well worth every penny.
Why the Fleming Course at TPC Harding Park is so underrated
Golfers from around the world come to TPC Harding Park to play the Harding Course that's hosted the 2020 PGA Championship, President's Cup and several other high-profile men's and women's professional events.
But not everyone wants to pony up a big green fee that can cost as much as $330 to get pummeled by a punishing layout. The Fleming is the perfect alternative. Scorecard watchers will see its 2,165 yards, and six par 3s, and think it's a pushover. Hardly. Yard for yard, it might be the hardest "short" course in America.
The Fleming's rough and doglegs are just as penal as on the championship course that wraps around Lake Merced. Two of its three par 4s stretch past 400 yards and feel much longer in the heavy air often socked in by a marine layer. Three of the par 3s require tee shots longer than 195 yards. Every green appears small and difficult to hit it close.
New sand has enhanced the look of the Fleming, so it gives off a "mini-me" vibe of its major-championship sister. After a morning loop where all of us shot scores akin to a regulation nine - between 42 and 45 - we dined in the clubhouse for lunch. The food was really good and the view of the famous 18th hole along the lake is nice.
TPC Harding Park celebrated its 100th birthday in 2025. A display in the clubhouse commemorates that history. Every golfer should get the chance to see one of America's best munis, even if it's just for an affordable round at the Fleming followed by lunch.
How a redesign unlocked Golden Gate Park's potential
We then drove to Golden Gate Park, a beautiful city park managed by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks. We didn't have time to walk its trails, but I have in the past at halftime of my daughter's lacrosse games there. Towering windmills decorate a gorgeous landscape smack in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city.
The 1,117-yard course sits just across the Great Highway from the Pacific Ocean. Golfers get glimpses of the water and can feel the breeze and smell the salty air.
A 2023 redesign by local architect Jay Blasi has quadrupled Golden Gate Park's fun factor by bringing in bouncy, fescue turf and clearing out tree cover to let the grass grow. I first played Golden Gate Park's new routing at a grand opening media day and proclaimed it America's first destination municipal short course. Check out my photo gallery.
Blasi maximized space by building a double green for the first and fourth holes, plus a tee complex on the property's highest point, where golfers congregate to play holes 2, 5 and 7 in three different directions. After getting kicked in the teeth at TPC Harding Park, my guys couldn't believe how exciting every Golden Gate Park hole played. There is no high rough, so the ball rides ridges and elevation changes onto or near the greens. Blown-out waste areas and small sand traps provide enough defenses to keep golfers guessing.
There are some wild greens out there and some cool kick points that funnel balls toward potential aces and birdies. This style of links-like golf converted a group of short course skeptics into believers. I'm sure next time I suggest a short course, my buddies will jump at the chance.
Golden Gate Park's new clubhouse, rebuilt after the old one burned down years ago, has become a sort-of-secret local hang for golfers.
There are other places in golf where you can play two short courses in the same day. Teeing up Mountaint Top (13 holes) and Top of the Rock (nine holes that have hosted the PGA Tour Champions) at Missouri's Big Cedar Lodge would be a hoot. So would 32 holes at Bandon Preserve and Shorty's at Bandon Dunes along the Oregon Coast. Golfers could also pair SoCal's Goat Hill Park with another 18-hole short course in Oceanside, the 2,446-yard Emerald Isle Golf Course, which GolfPass Senior Staff Writer Tim Gavrich gave five stars in a 2022 review. That would be an entertaining 36 holes to soak up SoCal's chill surfer vibe that translates to the courses.
For my money, though, nothing beats two of golf's greatest walks in the park: TPC Harding Park and Golden Gate Park. They add up to 3,282 yards of fun.
Would you play two short courses in the same day for a unique golf adventure? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments (1)
we used to drive by here on way to the VA Hospital. Never played it but now I'm "ferklempt" looking at these pictures!
we used to drive by here on way to the VA Hospital. Never played it but now I'm "ferklempt" looking at these pictures!