Sharp Park Golf Course, just south of San Francisco, has a unique claim to fame. It is the only oceanfront municipal golf course in the United States designed by Alister MacKenzie. It’s also something of a cause celebre. Golfers have been rallying behind it for a long time.
The layout has not had an easy life. Completed in 1932, the trail is divided by a highway and inundated by ocean floods. Time and deferred maintenance have taken their toll.
But while a handful of original holes have been lost, much of MacKenzie’s work remains. His mark is evident in the deceptive hazards and tricky doglegs, and the lumps and bumps of the greens and fairways. With Pacific waves in the background and wind-felled cypress trees framing the grounds, the property has a mystical aura. The rustic clubhouse complements the atmosphere and reflects the price. Weekend green fees cap at $86.
Just as it has weathered the indignities of old age, Sharp Park has also weathered its share of controversies. Over the years, environmental groups have pushed for the area to be closed, portraying it as a blight whose acreage could be better used for other purposes. Advocates of the course have been resolute in defending it, in legal battles with more moving parts than Jim Furyk’s swing.
Of Sharp Park’s many patrons, none has been more active than Richard Harris, a founding member of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance. Born in Utah and raised in the Bay Area, Harris grew up in a middle-class family but came of age around golf royalty. As a child, he caddied on the golf course at Stanford University, looking for Sandy Tatum and Grant Spaeth, both of whom went on to lead the USGA.
Harris also went on to play at Stanford, a Cardinal teammate of Tom Watson.
Harris is a Stanford graduate who enjoys playing privileges on the school’s George Thomas-designed course. But at heart he is a muni golfer. His work with the SF Public Golf Alliance (a nonprofit whose mission parallels its name) underlines that ethos. The San Francisco area has a robust municipal golf scene and a rich history. But the threats to muni golf — rising costs, political pressure — are persistent, making Harris a busy man.
Among his many duties, Harris helps organize an annual fundraising tournament at Sharp Park. This year’s edition took place last Friday. In the wake of that event, Harris appeared on the Destination Golf podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about his golfing life, the value of muni golf and why the survival of Sharp Park is about much more than the fate of a single course. You can listen to the episode here or below. An auction in support of Sharp Park will open to the public on November 30, including tee times at a number of GOLF Top 100 courses.
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