Get an insider’s look at Harding Park Golf Course, one of the greatest municipal courses in the United States with one of golf’s greatest comeback stories to tell, in this free, 40-page book.
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Return to Glory: Professional Golf Comes Back to Harding Park.
Photos by Clarence Towers, courtesy of the
San Fancisco Recreation & Parks Department |
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What Bethpage Black is to Long Island and what Torrey Pines South is to San Diego, Harding Park Golf Course is to the city of San Francisco.
In this, his third book, author and Harding Park Golf Course historian Bo Links tells the thrilling tale of a golf course’s rollercoaster ride through history, from its celebrated origins in 1925 to its decades of neglect to its recent rebirth marked by hosting the 2005 World Golf Championships.
In it, he reveals:
 | The intriguing story of how the golf course came about, it’s original name, and why it was changed shortly after it opened |
| The identity of the original course architects (who also created a four-time U.S. Open site nearby) and the preserved design elements for which it has become famous |
| Why Tiger Woods said, “We don’t play golf courses like this very often…it’s a treat,” and the dramatic holes and course characteristics to which he was referring |
| The numerous amateur and professional tournaments held there since 1937 (including the one won by the same person twice in the same year) |
| Which annual Harding Park event is the longest, consecutively played amateur tournament in the world and why a famous PGA Tour player once compared the British Open to it |
While this story ultimately has a happy ending, Harding Park Golf Course once suffered from rampant neglect. The author explains:
| Why the course fell into disrepair for 25 years and the ultimate indignity that it suffered |
| What former golf champion had to fight for the course’s revival and the famous quote for which he is now known across the golf world |
| How the course’s rebirth helped restructure the way all of San Francisco’s golf courses are funded and cared for |
Don’t worry if you didn’t attend the 2005 American Express Championship (now the CA Championship) or watch it on television. Bo Links recounts the event — which was filled with high drama and bizarre events alike — in stunning detail, highlighting the most noteworthy happenings including:
| What Tiger Woods said on the eve of the tournament that shocked and scared its organizers (and why he purposely hit a tee shot directly into the lake next to the 14th tee) |
| Who set the course record with a 64 in the first round only to see it matched by another player the very next day |
| Who hit a tee shot on the 18th hole that traveled into a corporate hospitality tent and wound up in fan’s martini |
| Who had a chance to break the course record with a 63 if he birdied the final hole but wound up making a quadruple bogey instead |
| Who was spotted nonchalantly changing into his golf shoes in the parking lot (as opposed to the players’ locker room) as the leader of Sunday’s final round |
| Who ate an energy bar and who lit up a cigarette on the first hole of the sudden death playoff |
| Who missed a very make-able three-foot putt to lose the tournament and the $1.3 million first place check |
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