August 3, 2018
Presidio Golf Course
Presidio Golf Course
300 Finley Rd. San Francisco, CA 94129
Located within a national park, San Francisco’s Presidio Golf Course is renowned for its spectacular forest setting, as well as its challenging play. Once restricted to military officers and private club members, today the 18-hole course is open to the public. Presidio G.C. offers a full service restaurant, a driving range and practice facility, and an award winning golf shop that offers the latest in golf equipment and apparel. Presidio Golf Course has hosted some of the world’s most famous golfers. Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Charles Schulz, and Joe DiMaggio played here, and you will often see current and former San Francisco sports legends on the course today.
Presidio Golf Course is a contributing feature of the Presidio’s National Historic Landmark status. It is also notable for its environmentally sensitive management practices.
Presidio Golf Course has been recognized as a leader in environmentally sensitive golf course management, winning the 2001 “Environmental Leader in Golf Award”. Since 2000, the course has reduced overall pesticide use by approximately 50%. The course also received certification from Audubon International as a partner in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program in 2003.
The course uses an innovative form of pest management and turf management called compost tea. “Compost tea” is a solution made by soaking compost in water to extract and increase the beneficial organisms present in the compost. It is then sprayed over the greens. The result is turf with longer root growth and less plant disease fungi.
Presidio GC History
The oldest golf course west of the Mississippi, the Presidio golf course was built in 1895 when Colonel William M. Graham, the Presidio’s commander at the time, allowed a group of businessmen known as the San Francisco Golf and Country Club to create a nine-hole course within the post. Greens fees were just 50 cents. The course was ultimately expanded to a full 18 holes in 1910. In 1920, the London golf architectural firm of Fowler & Simpson enlarged the course and installed a watering system. Thousands more trees were planted along the course in the 1930s when the Works Progress Administration built a tree nursery in the Presidio. When the Presidio became a national park site, the course was opened to the community, and a new public clubhouse was built in 1999. However, the private Presidio Golf Club still exists and operates its own clubhouse just outside the park. The building is so close that the awning over the front walkway hangs over the boundary and a final step out places one on Presidio grounds.
The Presidio Cafe showcases a fresh, seasonal menu and sweeping golf course views. Conveniently located just 10 minutes from downtown, the Cafe offers a delicious alternative to city dining. The Presidio Cafe offers American comfort food with California flair in a casual club environment. Enjoy Clam Chowder and our Crab & Avocado Salad with fresh Dungeness Crab or try the Signature Ribeye featuring Schmitz Ranch natural beef served with fondant porcini potatoes and topped with beer battered onion rings. The café also has a list of tempting desserts and coffee drinks, which are especially good after a round of golf on a cool San Francisco afternoon. The fully stocked bar offers an impressive array of the finest liquors, beers, and wine including sixty one different whiskeys, thirteen beers (with 6 on draft) and an international wine list with fourteen poured by the glass.