THE CLASSICS before 1960
60. California Golf Club 7.11(NR; p) South San Francisco, Calif.
1926, Vernon Macan; Alister MacKenzie, Kyle Philips (2007)
http://top100.golfweek.com/GolfweeksBest/article.asp?ID=1608Labels: California Golf Club
...The runaway winner of "Comeback of the Year" is California Golf Club in South San Francisco, Calif., which appears as No. 60 on the Classic after a yearlong shutdown and massive restoration/renovation project. Bay Area golf aficionados always had
respected the 1926 Vernon Macan design, especially after it was treated to highly-stylized bunkering by Alister MacKenzie. But the course suffered a clumsy partial rerouting in the mid-1960s.
California GC enjoyed the national rating limelight for one brief stint at No. 92 in 2003, and then fell off the Classic list as tree problems, a nematode infestation and poor drainage took their toll.
Starting in August 2007, architect Kyle Phillips, working closely with
course superintendent Thomas Bastis, undertook a gutsy project: five retro
holes created, the practice range moved, two clumsy ponds filled in, 450 yards added and the old fairway widths and bunkering restored. Along the way they also dealt with eucalyptus and pine trees that had overgrown the grounds.
The boldest move was utilizing a virtually abandoned l7-acre dump site on a hill overlooking the bulk of the course and using it for California GC's seventh hole, a
stunning, wrap-around 402-yard par 4 where the fairway clings to the edge.
Golfweek
Bradley S. Klein
www.golfweek.com
Labels: California Golf Club

As one of the Bay Area's oldest and most respected private clubs, California Golf Club of San Francisco reopened to its members this summer in grand fashion. The first event at the newly renovated course was highlighted with a 6-hole exhibition by PGA Tour player Arron Oberholser and former U.S. Open Champion Ken Venturi hitting the ceremonial first ball.
Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design renovated and restored the course using 1927 as a benchmark when Dr. Alister Mackenzie re-bunkered the course. The original course, designed by A. Vernon Macan, had been compromised in the 1960's when San Bruno Creek gave way to the existing Westborough Road, leaving only 13 of the original holes intact.
Labels: California Golf Club