San Francisco Golf Club is like a glass of aged Scotch: smooth, rich, and quietly complex.  

The routing takes full advantage of the undulating terrain, curling through eucalyptus groves and cresting natural ridges with a kind of old-world elegance. It’s a club steeped in history and the course reflects that, subtle where others are loud, clever where others are forceful. 

What makes it sing is its cadence. The opening hole is gorgeous runway towards the lake with a green flanked by towering trees, and then the 2nd plays into a valley providing the first taste of the playful ridges that will continue throughout the front-9. The way Tillinghast continues to bring you in and out of the valley corridors is thrilling, encapsulated by the stretch of 6-8.  The curving par-4 6th wraps around the steep ridgline, and then the famous par-3 7th drops you into the valley corrdior. My favorite hole may be the uphill 8th which plays out of the valley with a grove of trees guarding the steep left side. Although the back-9 loses some of the bold terrain of the front-9,  the bunkering jetting out into fairways, angled greens, and just enough movement in the land continue to inspire and demand creativity.  

Walkability is a joy here: compact routing, short green-to-tee transitions, and plenty of charm between the lines. The greens are subtle but quick, and the playing surfaces were impeccable. There’s nothing showy about SFGC, and that’s precisely what makes it so captivating. It rewards the thoughtful player and lingers in your memory long after you’ve left the gates.