@greebs out of respect to the Dads who didn’t want to walk we took carts. I prefer the walk though, it’s a good one.
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For sure if they had the $$ and ability to close the green for a re-build they would do it. It has definitely settled a ton over the years. It wasn’t that severe the first time I played there in the early 80s. It is almost unplayable now, but who cares…it is a fun course where things like that don’t matter.
Got out and played Lincoln this morning for Father’s Day. First time playing there for me. I thought it was a treat. If it was in the east bay closer to me i think I’d play there a ton. Conditions aren’t great but plenty of interesting shots.
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Pace at Redwood Canyon was sluggish this evening and had a weird end-of-the-wedding vibe of people just getting absolutely wasted out there 
That said, the twilight looks are always good and I birdied 18 for a new back-9 low, 37 !! 440 downwind par 5 closing hole is a confidence booster, I felt like thicc Bryson finishing driver-9 iron
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Corica S was so fun. Such a perfect spot to get back into after not playing for a while.
Shot 84 with 37 putts and didn’t want to break my putter, which is a sign of a good time IMO.
Would love to get out there again soon!
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Howdy,
First post in the Refuge…I think I have those first tee jitters. Anyway, I’ve know of this place for a long time but never felt inspired to join/comment. Then I found this thread and I knew it was time. In fact after reading through the entire thread I realized how many great public courses we have in the Bay Area and how many I had yet to play. Therefore I made it a goal to hit a new one each week. So far I’ve checked off Monarch Bay and Tilden Park. A few thoughts:
Monarch Bay - From some reason I’ve avoided this course over the years. Just never heard anything interesting about it. I was pleasantly surprised. It was in good shape, if a little soggy for this time of year, but I will definitely be back.
Tilden - A delight. Though I can’t go into much detail on the first 7 holes because we were blanketed in fog. Literally couldn’t see more than 50 yards. Luckily my buddy knew the course well and served as a wonderful Sherpa. After the fog lifted it was a beautiful day and course. It was in good shape. While a very short track at <6300 the elevated greens and tight fairways proved challenging. And the Par 3s, wow. #7 played about 240 that day. The greens seemed to be fairly simple but they rolled well. Will definitely be back, if only so I can see holes 1-7!
Up next is Presidio this Saturday. If anyone has and inside info on it I’m all ears.
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Welcome in!
Ha the last time I played Tilden was exactly the same fog. I had played once before but 2-4 are not the kind of holes you want to be blind on. Lol. Super tough.
My one knock on Tilden is that it has always been soggy when I’ve been there. For all the hills it doesn’t seem to have proper drainage / run off. I imagine right now that’s not a prob. I should take another look in the dry months.
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Somehow I pared 1 & 2 at Tilden in complete fog. I bunted two 4 irons up to the green on each and made a putt. The thing that had kept me away from Tilden for some long was stories of 5+ hour rounds. Apparently the place stays packed. We tee’ed off at 6:45 am so the pace was fine, but that damn fog!
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Others will have different takes on Presidio. My take: least favorite place to play in the entire Bay Area.
Played Lincoln yesterday afternoon for the first time too. Plucky little course. We actually had the last tee time before they had to shut the place down because supposedly a protest was coming through. Never saw them but the course cleared out and we played in 3 hours.
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I’m glad you got to experience it. It’s pretty great. The greens are definitely tough, especially the first time out there.
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Now I’m intrigued. Please elaborate. I like playing in SF, especially when it’s 100+ degrees in the East Bay. So even if the course turns out to be a bust it’ll still be a win in my book. BTW - tee time is 9:15, am I in for a long day?
I have a similar perspective on Presido - I played it once many years ago and felt the price didn’t justify the overall course and conditions - it was soggy and slow. I have played Harding a couple of times and have loved it every time and like to go back.
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The pace at Tilden sucks The only time in over 15 years of golf, that I have walked off after 9, because of the pace, was at Tilden 
If I remember it was slightly over 3 hours for 9 that day.
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Strong takes. I like Presidio. They’ve done renovations within the last decade to improve drainage and some green complexes. It used to get really soggy. Maybe give it another shot sometime. What are green fees? $120 or so?
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I like Presidio. Many fun holes. Speaking of Tilden, #11 was my second (and last) ace. 3-wood from way back tee. Might have hit a sprinkler head on its way to the cup.
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$120 for that place, even with the improvements, is a joke when I can go play Corica for 65.
Yeah so I have a lot of reasons for the dislike.
–Cost: The cost to play there is way out of whack. As a bay area resident under normal times it was 100+ for a morning tee time any day of the week. Ridiculous for a public course with the other public options near me that take me the same amount of time to drive to. Corica is way better, I like Metro a lot better, I could go play Rooster Run in Petaluma and it’s better (I live in Marin). And none of those comes anywhere close to Presidio in price.
–There’s way too many holes with nowhere to miss. Hole 1; go left and you’re ob go right and you’re in the range. Hole 2 go left and you’re OB go right and the ball is like 12 inches above your feet. Hole 3 go left and go ob go right and the ball is 12 inches below your feet. Etc
–It doesn’t reward the proper shot. Hole two is a par 5 where you have to lay up of the tee because if you hit a drive 260 you’re on a huge upslope. Hole 6 no matter what you do with your drive it tends to funnel into the rough off the right side of the fairway because the entire fairway is crazy slope. Hole 8 has a very similar dynamic.
–You’re on the NLU board, so this will make sense but there is zero width and angles to Presidio. You gotta know the right spot to put your shot and then hit it only to that spot (and even then you’ll often get screwed). There’s no options on pretty much every hole, just one option, and there’s no bail out.
–Did I mention the ridiculous pricing?
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These are all fairly accurate. The one caveat is for those of us in the city, the res rate is ok ($80 ish). The fact that Harding is roughly the same price makes it tough to choose Presidio though.
I think the strong takes here highlight how I feel about the course.
Some really fun holes and some maddeningly terrible holes all set in a pretty cool looking venue. The ‘good’ / ‘bad’ holes are almost every other which makes getting in any sort of groove tough. 6 & 8 with the side hill fairways are my least favorite. The back nine is a bit stronger imo. 10 seems like just a long uphill straight par 5, but pin position often dictates paying attention on the second. 11 looks cool but you are ‘rewarded’ with a long drive with a downhill lie into a downhill green that can run away. 12 is a tough par 4 that is pretty good. 15 is a cool par 3.
But yeah. It’s a mix of cool looking place with stinky holes.
I think 10-12 is a good stretch, though if you play in the afternoon most days 12 is the longest par 4 imaginable. 15 is an ok little downhill hole, but 16-18 is a pretty blah finish. Only good thing to say about 18 is with the prevailing wind and downhill you can BOMB drives if you hit it straight.
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