Summer Golf in San Francisco

I brought my golf clubs back down from Seattle and purchased a San Francisco Resident Golf card and have been out golfing this summer.  The course nearest to my house is a 9-holer called Gleneagles.

Being on the southeastern side of the city, it has views of the Bay at times.

But most of the time you are looking south towards San Bruno Mountain. 

The course is built on a slope, and because there is so little glass, balls end up far away from where you expect.

When I played there, I got to play with a Mom and her daughter, who was playing her first round ever.

Gleneagles also has an 18-hole foot golf course set up.  On all the flat holes, there were all these random flags and plastic holes.  It took me a while to figure out what was going on.

Next stop, Harding Park.  This course is the crown jewel of the San Francisco public golf system.  It's fantastically maintained, with lush grass and decent greens.

Harding Park is about a mile from the famed Olympic Club and has the same feel, but it's public. In fact, Harding Park will host the 2020 PGA Championship.

Harding Park is mostly flat and it's best holes are on the back side that are right along the bluff of Lake Merced.

In the far northwest corner of the city is Lincoln Park Golf Course, which has great ocean views.  The condition of the fairways are spotty, but the greens are in fantastic shape.  This picture shows holes 3,4 and 5 which are located in a small valley.

The Lincoln Park course plays around the Palace of Legion of Honor.

There are great views of the Richmond District.  It's a short course, par 68 with most par 4's between 260 and 380 yards.

The glamour hole is #17 which plays with a view of The Golden Gate Bridge.  Too bad the fog hadn't lifted when I played.

The 17th hole.....with the Baker Beach to the left and the Presidio in the far distance.

Sharp Park Golf Course is a SF Municipal Golf Course located along the ocean in Pacifica.  In the fog belt, I played on a glorious afternoon.  This is the 12th hole, which plays right at Point Mori on the left.

Sharp Park's claim to fame is that it was designed by Alistair MacKenzie, the same architect as Augusta National and Cypress Point.  The 13th hole plays right at the single tree on Milagra Ridge.

Just over the right berm is Sharp Park beach.  Sharp Park, I thought was a 9 hole course, but it's a full 6,100 yard 18 hole course.  Flat, but in decent condition.

Just like all the SF courses, it has those great Cypress trees.  The trees here are strategically placed.  They get in the way more often that you would think.

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Now that Onions is working, he doesn't often get two days off in a row. Thanks to 4th of July, we were able to leave after he got off work on the 2nd and headed up to Lassen National Park, to continue our tour of parks and beautiful places. Our first stop was the Cinder Cone, in the far Northeast Corner of the park.

It's a mile or so hike from the trailhead to the base of the cone and then there is a path up to the top.

From the rim of the cone, you can see the park's namesake, Lassen Peak.

But there is ALSO a crater, we didn't descend down into it, though.

From the top of Cinder Cone, the base is surrounded by dunes, which have these amazing colored spots.

From rim, you can also see the extent of the lava fields.

The hike to and from Cinder Cone is right along the edge of the lava fields.

So, this Costco Chicken had been sitting in our refrigerator for almost a week and we finally ate it post hike.  It's probably the most well traveled Costco Chicken ever.

After Cinder Cone, we drove back through the main part of the park.  Here's a reflection of Lassen Peak on Manzanita Lake.

Of course, Onions reads all the signs.....

.....and this is the reason I can't get him to consider camping.  AARGH!!

The south side of Lassen Peak, less snow on the mountain, but at the base, a melting lake.  It was a perfect time to see the lake and snow/ice as it was breaking and melting.

The bummer of the visit to Lassen Peak is that the famed hydrothermal/volcanic area called Bumpass Hell was closed.  This is looking down at what we could have hiked to.  Next time....but I have a feeling we aren't going to make a special trip.  Lassen, after places like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon just didn't compare.