Meadow Club

I've played this Alister MacKenzie gem many times as a very grateful guest. Situated just north of San Francisco in a high meadow watched over by Marin County's Mt. Tamalpais, MacKenzie's first American course is a delight for the senses & a challenge for the skillful shot maker. MacKenzie's sprawling greens and his trademark bunkers have been restored to their original specifications. (A note about the greens: they're undulant & lightning fast; you had better bring your A putting game.)

The atmosphere is pure nature---Monterey pines, redwoods, oak trees, deer, water fowl, hawks overhead--and not a house to be seen. Among the beautiful variety of holes, #14, a long par 3 over a pond, is as picturesque as Augusta's #12, and possibly more treacherous.

The clubhouse is not too shabby either, an Arts-and-Crafts/Mission Revival beauty that overlooks the course and seems right at home with the natural surroundings.

So get your golf karma in order and get invited to one of the most enjoyable playing experiences of your life.

If you love original, natural golf courses this is a special one. I was lucky enough to get on this private course and joined a group playing as the pace was slow, but to be fair it was a Sunday and the club should be commended for being so family friending, as there was a range of families playing together, all having great fun. It is a classic Alistair McKenzie, it looks simple but there is nothing easy about it, a fabulous design and a very welcoming club!

Any golfer with a sense of history will fall in love with the Meadow Club, Alister MacKenzie's first design in North America. The private course - hidden high above the charming downtown of Fairfax by a winding, narrow road - has been restored by Mike DeVries, the Michigan architect who grew up playing MacKenzie's Crystal Downs Country Club in northern Michigan. It's too bad every golf course can't be this beautiful, this well cared for, this playable, this strategic. The game would never be in such dire straits. It's an easy walk, and there's a great variety of holes. The club bought acres of land surrounding the property and donated it to a land conservancy, so it will never be developed. My group played through nearly a dozen deer, some with large antler racks. The clubhouse, perched on a hill above the ninth and 18th greens, overlooks the entire course. As the sun dips below the surrounding hillsides, it's easy to find solitude in such a natural place.