Sharp Park Golf Course

You may not mind never really seeing the ocean.

Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica is so close to the coast you can smell the sea, and you can certainly feel the breeze. A large embankment prevents you from actually catching a view of the Pacific from the course, but after 18 peaceful holes on a fun track with more character than you can shake a 9-iron at, you won't care a bit.

The 1929 Allister MacKenzie design has lots of history, and the same man who had a hand in making Augusta National did some fine work just south of San Francisco.

Sharp Park is actually two courses in one, with the front nine winding through cypress and oak trees in a true park-like setting, and the back side more of an ocean links-style mix of holes with more water hazards and bunkers.

The result is a course where trees can bite you in one place and wind destroy your score in another. But it also gives you the opportunity to have two really great rounds if you can stay in the fairway.

The combination of the two distinct nines measures 6,239 yards from the white tees, but has just a 116 rating to go with a 70.0 slope. Even medium hitters may want to play from the blue tees, which measure just 6,476 yards with a 71.2 rating and a docile 119 slope.

Red-tee yards is a stout 5,793, but the course is par-74 from the reds.

Accuracy, not length, is the key here. That is especially true at the start, a short, straightaway par-4 with trees left off the tee and a big bunker left at the green.

Most of Sharp Park's greens are small and relatively flat. They are also 77 years old (aim right at the pin) and very close to the ocean (don't expect speedy putts, even later in the day).

The ocean air also may force you to club up on approaches, but longer hitters still will hit shorter irons ... at least those who stay in the fairways.

No. 2 is an even shorter par-4, back down a slight hill toward the clubhouse with trees left and right off the tee. No. 3 continues the short par-4 theme.

The fourth hole is a beauty, a short, dogleg-right par-5 where birdie or double-bogey are equally likely. Club down and stay away from the trees.

Enjoy your (hopefully) fast start, because No. 5 is a long, uphill par-3 with a green that has a false front, and Nos. 6-7 are long par-4s with trees left and right.

End the front side with a very short par-3 and another short par-5.

The back nine is more than 200 yards longer than the front side, but is wide open. The two longest par-4s on the course are at Nos. 10-11, but birdies are possible on both holes.

Another very long par-3 (usually into the wind) follows, and then a long par-5 around a hazard. Holes alternate going with and against the wind, which can add (or subtract) two or even three clubs to your distance.

End your day with a solid par-5 that takes you back toward the clubhouse (and the trees).

Sharp Park is a fun course that combines the beauty of the ocean and the woods in a solid, no-frills package.

Most of the course is right in front of you. Most of the doglegs are gentle, and there are no split fairways, two-tiered greens or huge elevation changes.

Sharp Park also has a no-frills price, just $32 to walk during the week and $36 on weekends. Carts cost an extra $15, but this course is a fun, easy walk.

Walking may also allow you to enjoy the scenery as you wait. This course is busy, even though most of the regulars move right along.

You also should pack an extra windbreaker. A hot day in Solano County often is a cold one by the Bay.

Sharp Park may not blow you away, except when the wind is howling, but it's tough to find more peace and beauty in the Bay Area.

Directions - Take Interstate 80 west to San Francisco. Cross the Bay Bridge and stay on Highway 101 south. Take I-280 south toward Daly City, and Highway 1 south to Pacifica. Take the Sharp Park Boulevard exit right, and turn right on Sharp Park Road.