San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks - Thursday 10 April

Some members made their way to AT & T park for a San Francisco Giants baseball game. 

AT & T Park is a magnificent stadium, right on the edge of the bay.

This is the view heading up the stairs into the ground.

Pretty good seats too!  Thanks to Al Jamieson from the Cal Club, we were able to secure the equivalent of Medallion Club seats, right behind home plate.  A great place to perhaps snag a foul ball.

The pesky SF fog rolling in.

The game was pretty foreing to most of us, but Alan Pritchard knew what was going on.  A baseballer in his teenage years, Alan was able to advise the uninitiated as to the progress and the strategy.

The crowd remains quite involved, and the atmosphere is great when a pivotal play is made.  In between innings, there is always something to keep the crowd occupied.

Being the Giants first set of home matches, the game was a sell out.  Approximately 41500 people.

Quite a few foul balls were caught in the stands, but only one in our section though.  About five seats away from me, and only a row ahead of Michael Merrett.  These proud Giants fans get to take the ball home.

Perhaps if Michael was a little more ready when the foul ball came he may have reached across and plucked it away.  Nice scarf by the way!!!

After 10 innings and nearly 5 hours, the home side succumbed to the Arizona Diamondbacks, leaving the crowd (who had nearly all gone) feeling flat.

A big thank you to all of our tour participants for the great time we had over the past two weeks.  We hope that you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did, and that the experiences were what you expected.

I would also like to thank all of the members, professionals, and club managers at the various private clubs that helped us with access along the way.

The California Golf Club of San Francisco - Thursday 10 April

The final day of the tour was held at The California Golf Club of San Francisco.  As you drive into the club all you see on the horizon is a White House style clubhouse.  It is very impressive.

The group joined members of the "Cal Club" for today's activities.  Firstly we were met by former Club President Al Jamieson who gave us a tour and run down on all things Cal Club.  From this we went into breakfast, meeting our hosts, and then onto the course.

Another starting hole that is a Par 5.

Without saying anything, you should be able to determine who shaped the bunkers.  Yes, Alister MacKenzie.  Cal Club is very similar to Kingston Heath in the fact that the course was designed and built, then had MacKenzie consult on some improvements, including the bunkering.

For the first time in the USA the bunkers were firm on the face, and in the base like they are at home.

The magnificent views across the sixth green, the course, clubhouse and mountains in the distance.

The course undertook a major restoration back in 2007 / 2008.  This hole, the 7th, was created at that time.  The first nine was restructured, moving the driving range, and removing the claustrophobic nature that was present.

The architect, Kyle Phillips, had a 1930's aerial photograph as a reference for the bunkering, and he and the club did a marvellous job in it's restoration.  The course was closed for 15 months, re opening in 2008.

Some more evidence of the beautiful bunkering.

The club was very welcoming, flying the Australian flag on their flagpole for their Australian guests.

The course condition was immaculate.  The greens had been aerified approximately 3 weeks ago, and there was minimal sign of this process.  The recovery was brilliant.

The difficult, short Par three 16th.

The view from the 18th fairway looking up to the clubhouse.

Members of both clubs underneath the national flags of both countries, and the Cal Club flag.  A great day was had by all, not only only the golf course, but at breakfast and lunch also.

The Olympic Club - Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 April

Both days at Olympic were also met with the fog.  It was 85 degrees and full sunshine in downtown San Francisco, but quite cold, and dark at Olympic.

This is the view from just outside the rear door of the locker room, looking down the 18th hole to the tee.  In the foreground you can see the hedge that is shaped as the Olympic Club logo.

The view down the first hole, a sweeping dogleg right Par 5.

Quite a good message to all golfers on the bench adjacent the first tee.

Like it's neighbour Harding Park, (you can see Harding across the lake on the right of the picture) there are plenty of lovely Cypress trees.  Amazingly, when the courses were built in the early 1900's, there were no trees.

The recrafted Par 3 8th hole.  Originally the tee was up to the left of the Cypress' and the green further up the hill.  It was only around 150 yards.  The USGA asked if there was anything that could be done to strengthen the hole, and the results was this.  closer to 200 yards, it is a very strong test.

The course layout is fantastic.  It requires the ability to work the ball both ways, hit shots from sidehill, up and down hill lies.  It also requires the ability to think strategically.

The view back up to the majestic clubhouse from the 18th tee.

The clubhouse is huge, and this grand dining room overlooks the 18th green.  The tables closest to the window are hot property come US Open time.

The very impressive plunge pool in the men's locker room.  Quite a few clubs have these types of facilities, but this was the most impressive.

The view looking back over toward the city from the club's carpark.  Olympic lake is a fantastic course, but they also have another fine course in the Ocean course, plus a Par three 9 hole course on the other side of Highway One, right next to the Pacific Ocean.  The Par three course looks magnificent, and difficult.  Scott, the member with whom I played, explained that it is very seldom used due to it's difficulty.

Karen Pritchard was the winner at Olympic over the two days.

Harding Park - Tuesday 8 & Wednesday 9 April

Due to the guest restrictions at The Olympic Club, the group separated on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Half played Harding Park on Tuesday, while the remainder played at Olympic.  The groups swapped courses on Wednesday.  Harding Park is a public access course, and was the host of the 2009 President's Cup.

The course, in an attempt to regain a PGA Tour event, has just undertaken a greens replacement program.  All of the greens, previously poa, have now been replaced with bent grass.  The surface was good, although slow, and will improve quickly.  They had only been open for a few weeks.

The San Francisco fog was quite prominent, and created quite an eerie feeling in the middle of the afternoon.

It is quite a good layout, and really in good condition considering the number of players using it.

Geoff Vincent is seen above bisecting yet another fairway, this time the 18th, with the fog creeping up on his left side.

The approach into the 18th green.

The Cypress trees are magnificent, and the bunkers (reworked at the same time as the greens were replaced) are also very well presented.

A very nice, but strange day with the fog.  Over the two days it was Alan Pritchard who took the honours.

Pasatiempo - Sunday 6 April

Today we played Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz.  This course was special as it was Alister MacKenzie's favourite work.  He regarded the design to be greater than his work at Cypress Point, Augusta National and Royal Melbourne.  It was also the location of his US residence, until the time of his death in 1934.
The club has some great memorabilia in the clubhouse.  The club is also home to Juli Inkster, US LPGA player and Hall of Famer.  There is a memorabilia display for Juli, equal in size to MacKenzie's.

Myself, Alan Pritchard, Karen Pritchard and Suzanne Jackson prior to teeing off the first.

The view of the par 3 third from the tee.  Plenty of MacKenzie bunkering to trap your ball on this 180 metre hole.

The stunning view from the tee of the par 5 sixth hole.

This is Alister Mackenzie's former residence.  It sits adjacent to the sixth fairway approximately 100 metres from the green.  It has been extended over time, and I am sure the new owners would get sick of people taking photos of them having breakfast.

The par 3 eighth hole, leading into the par 5 ninth.

Karen Pritchard tees off on the ninth.

The back nine certainly steps up in challenge from the front nine.  Both are very enjoyable, but the inward nine extends the shotmaking repertoire with long carries from the tee, and also on many approach shots.
This is the view from the 10th tee.

The eleventh hole is split by a creek, thus requiring a precise long iron to reach the green.  The green is also extremely long front to back meaning many putts are quite long.

Looking at the magnificent bunkering as we approach the green on the par 5 thirteenth.

The hole on the course that achieved a wow from all players, was the sixteenth.  This long par 4 requires a drive to a blind fairway.  Once that has been negotiated, the the approach needs to carry the creek, and then meets a huge three level sloping green.  Par here is a great score. 

A closer view of the sloping sixteenth green.

The course finishes on a par 3, with a big carry over the creek.  A superb way to finish.  Another superb way to finish was by Robyn Hanson.  Robyn parred the last six holes to claim the victory today.
We now make our way to San Francisco, where everyone gets a well earned rest on Monday before the final stretch.