Why the survival of this Alister MacKenzie muni means so much to golf

Sharp Park Golf Course, just south of San Francisco, has a unique claim to fame. It’s the only seaside municipal course in the United States designed by Alister MacKenzie. It is also something of a cause célèbre. Golfers have long been rallying around it.

The layout has not had an easy life. Completed in 1932, the course has been spliced by a highway and inundated by ocean flooding. Time and deferred maintenance have taken their toll.

But while a handful of original holes have been lost, much of MacKenzie’s work remains. His imprint is clear in the deceptive hazards and artful doglegs, and the humps and bumps of the greens and fairways. With Pacific waves crashing in the backdrop and wind-coiffed cypress trees framing the grounds, the property has a mystic feel about it. The rustic clubhouse complements the atmosphere and reflects the price point. Weekend green fees max out at $86.

Just as it has weathered the indignities of age, Sharp Park has endured its share of controversy. Over the years, environmental groups have pushed to have it shuttered, casting it as a blight whose acreage would be better put to other uses. Advocates for the course have been resolute in its defense, in legal battles with more moving parts than Jim Furyk’s swing.

Of Sharp Park’s many protectors, none has been more active than Richard Harris, a founding member of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance. Utah born and Bay Area raised, Harris grew up in a middle-class family but came of age around golf royalty. As a kid, he caddied at the Stanford University golf course, looping for the likes of Sandy Tatum and Grant Spaeth, both of whom went on to lead the USGA.

Harris went on to play at Stanford, too, a Cardinal teammate of Tom Watson.

As a Stanford grad, Harris enjoys playing privileges at the school’s George Thomas-designed course. But he is a muni golfer at his core. His work with the SF Public Golf Alliance (a nonprofit whose mission parallels its name) underscores that ethos. The San Francisco area has a robust municipal golf scene, and a rich history behind it. But threats to muni golf — rising costs, political pressure — are persistent, which makes Harris a busy man.

Among his many duties, Harris helps organize an annual fundraising tournament at Sharp Park. This year’s edition was held last Friday. In the wake of that event, Harris appeared on the Destination Golf podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about his life in golf, the value of muni golf and why the survival of Sharp Park is about much more than the fate of a single course. You can listen to the episode here or below. An auction to support Sharp Park will open to the public on Nov. 30, with items including tee times at a number of GOLF Top 100 courses.