Half Moon Bay Golf Links – Old Course (Half Moon Bay, CA)

The Old Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links has several nice looking holes, like the par-4 eighth.  But smallish greens, big trees, and sharp doglegs make the course a bad fit for its coastal location.

There’s a saying my mom likes to use:  two rights sometimes make a wrong.  She is usually making some silly food reference, e.g. chocolate ice cream tastes good and salmon tastes good, but they don’t taste good together.  Having played the Old Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, I can report to my mom that her saying applies to golf courses, as well.

Here’s what I am getting at:  The Old Course is located on one of the prettiest stretches of land in the country–the Northern California coast.  And the layout is pretty good, as well.  The problem is that the location and the layout don’t mix.  Instead of making the most of it’s ocean-front real estate, the Old Course is, for the most part, a parkland style course that meanders through some upscale housing.  It’s the kind of design you’d expect to see in Scottsdale or Palm Springs, but it’s poorly suited for the Old Course’s coastal location.  For one thing, there are no ocean views until the final two holes.  More significantly, the course does not accommodate the strong winds that come with being next to the Pacific Ocean.  Small greens, massive trees, tight doglegs, and multiple forced-carries can make a course a fun challenge, but when you add in 25 mph winds, it starts to get unreasonable.

Here’s a little bit more about my experience.

Half Moon Bay Golf Links – Ocean Course (Half Moon Bay, CA)

Great views and classic links golf…why did it take me so long to play here??

I like to think that I have my pulse on the San Francisco golf scene.  I live in San Francisco, after all, and I spend many waking moments thinking about the game.  But surprisingly, I knew next to nothing about the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links before I played there in April.  None of my golfing buddies had played the Ocean Course, and Half Moon Bay’s website lacked any info about the course except an online version of the scorecard and a few photos of the course that, while stunning, didn’t even identify what hole I was looking at.  My mind was as open as it could possibly be before I teed off.

By the time I finished my round, I had no doubt that I had played one of the best public courses in the San Francisco area.  The Ocean Course is about the truest links course you’ll find stateside, with several interesting and fun holes that would make the ancient courses of Britain and Ireland proud.  The course is also right next to the Pacific Ocean and provides golfers with unobstructed ocean views on almost every hole.

This post will probably be the most in-depth discussion about the Ocean Course that you can find online (I haven’t found anything with more detail).  It should give you a good idea about what to expect if you ever visit Half Moon Bay.