Now clear of a legal hurdle that nearly endangered its existence, municipally owned Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, California, is undergoing the first of a multi-phase renovation designed to bring it back to its glory days.
The Alister MacKenzie-designed course, opened in 1932, is owned and operated by the City of San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, though it technically occupies part of a 412-acre park in adjoining San Mateo County.
Sharp Park was at the center of long-running challenge by various environmental litigation groups claiming that the layout was degrading the habitat of the endangered California red-legged frog and the threatened San Francisco garter snake. A succession of claims made by a coalition comprising the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Wild Equity Institute have now been rebuffed, with the federal court in the Northern District of California ruling that the facilitys maintenance practices are consistent with standards established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, a citizens action committee that successfully undertook the legal defense, is now turning its attention to a long-term upgrade of the course. Initial stages of work, undertaken in-house with local contractors and funded by the city, included a new frog pond south of the course, an upgrade to the pump house, renovation of a culvert, rerouting two cart paths away from wetlands and the dredging of cattails in the channel between environmentally sensitive Laguna Salada and Horse Stable Pond.
That work follows a $12 million overhaul of a water-delivery system, funded by local and federal agencies, that brings recycled water to the golf course. Irrigation-pipe laterals servicing four holes have now been completed, with more work anticipated as part of the upgrade.
Richard Harris, who with fellow attorney Bo Links is co-founder of the S.F. Public Golf Alliance, reports that architecturally detailed restoration plans are now being developed by Tom Doak, in collaboration with Jay Blasi. Preliminary construction estimates for the work, involving greens, tees and bunkers, are in the $8 million range, plus soft costs for permitting, and likely would take 3-4 years to complete. Work on the project is being funded through a partnership of the S.F. Public Golf Alliance and the privately funded Alister MacKenzie Foundation.
At the same time, discussions are underway at the governmental level among officials from San Francisco and San Mateo County that could see the county take over daily management of the course, though not ownership of the property.
- by Bradley S. Klein, Golfweek