Should I play Harding Park

[Highdraw34]

So my wife and I are going to be in San Francisco next month and I am trying to decide if I want to play Harding Park. It is hosting the Presiden't Cup this year so I imagine it is a pretty nice course. I live about 30 minutes from RTJ which hosted the last Presidents Cup in the US. If Harding Park is anything like RTJ I should play it. Here is the dilemna. We won't be able to travel with our clubs so with greens fees and rentals we are looking at almost 200.00 a pop to play. My wife has played for about two years and is probably a 20-25 handicapp. Here's what I'm really affraid of though. The reviews I have read all say the course is great but the staff is a bunch of douches. I realize that shouldn't matter but it does to me. I hate paying that much money and being treated like garbage. I'm interested to hear how the posters on here would approach this choice. To play or not play?

[mddubya]

Personally, any time I'm near a really nice course, I make every effort to play it. Granted, $200 a piece is steep with the club rentals. I guess the question is, how mad at yourself will you be if you don't play it? Are you going to get home and regret not having played that course?

Any chance you'll get back there with your clubs in the future?

[Highdraw34]

Originally Posted by mddubya

Personally, any time I'm near a really nice course, I make every effort to play it. Granted, $200 a piece is steep with the club rentals. I guess the question is, how mad at yourself will you be if you don't play it? Are you going to get home and regret not having played that course?

Any chance you'll get back there with your clubs in the future?

That's a great point. Come September when I'm drinking a sixer of blue moon on my couch watching the President's Cup I'll be pissed at myself if I didn't take the chance to play Harding Park. I'll probably get back there in my life but unlikely it will be so close to when a course is about to host an event like this.

[74 thing]

My buddy played it the other week and he said the greens were slow as could be. He said you really had to muscle up to get it there. They must be in the early stages of gettting the greens ready. He also said the fairways are giving no run right now since typically the summer in SF is foggy and damp.

Hopefully it will be better when you are out. $200 seems like a lot-he played for like $60 or so and walked. I don't know if he got some resident discount or whatever. I will try to get in touch with him and ask for the details.

[Highdraw34]

Originally Posted by 74 thing

My buddy played it the other week and he said the greens were slow as could be. He said you really had to muscle up to get it there. They must be in the early stages of gettting the greens ready. He also said the fairways are giving no run right now since typically the summer in SF is foggy and damp.

Hopefully it will be better when you are out. $200 seems like a lot-he played for like $60 or so and walked. I don't know if he got some resident discount or whatever. I will try to get in touch with him and ask for the details.

It is much cheaper for residents and they have some good twighlight prices but my time is limited and I can't do an afternoon round or else I wouldn't think twice about it. The recent reviews that I've found on the net are not very good to say the least. I'm definitely leaning towards not playing now.

[74 thing]

Ok I emailed my friend and this is what he replied...

Unfortunately they hammer non SF residents at Harding. I forget offhand the rates, but will look them up and get back to you. I think for me it is about $70. No need for a cart there as it is an easy walk. They are getting ready for The Presidents Cup so the rough is deep. The greens are always a little slow there and last time out they were seriously aerating the fairways. Probably fixed by now.

[chemboy2]

Never a bad thing to get out on a track that has an upcoming pro event scheduled.

Play there is you want to be able to watch the President's Cup and say that you just played there. If you're looking to simply get in some golf when in the area then you can pay less for more.

Oh, and 74 thing, SF residents that have a residents card get a stupid discount. Well, they basically pay a std muni fee. Non-residents on the other hand pay like it is some up-scale public or semi-private course.

[74 thing]

Yeah, I just discovered that discount. Here is my friends last email....

Looks like it is $155 on the weekend plus cart for non-residents. For me it is $59 on the weekend. Unbelieveable difference for residents.

[chemboy2]

Originally Posted by 74 thing

Yeah, I just discovered that discount. Here is my friends last email....

Looks like it is $155 on the weekend plus cart for non-residents. For me it is $59 on the weekend. Unbelieveable difference for residents.

Yup, a hundred bones.

[Highdraw34]

Thanks for the input. I'll post back with a review later should I decide to play it.