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Stanford Golf Course
Rating Details »
198 Junipero Serra Blvd
Stanford, CA 94305
(650) 323-0944
Stanford, CA 94305
(650) 323-0944
- Good for Kids:
- No
12 reviews for Stanford Golf Course
Pros:
Awesome course, prestine shape
Great views
Exclusive - only students, alumni + guests can play here
Cons:
Pricey - $55 for an alumni guest after 5pm - any day of the week
Sprinklers come on around 7:30pm - sucks when you're trying to get in 18
great bargain if you're a stanford affiliate. kind of expensive otherwise. for example, my husband has to pay over 100 bucks
the first hole is cool because you hit your drive over junipero serra
if you do the full 18, get a cart because the back 9 is very hilly. but if you do twilight and looking to get in 9 or so, walking is fine.
the driving range is nearby and is decent and convenient if you're on campus. there's also a nice free putting/chipping practice area next to the first hole behind the tennis courts.
Good, not great, course, some interesting holes though the hole variation was not quite what I thought it would be. Some boring holes for sure. Conditions were decent but not truly private club quality, greens seemed somewhat chewed up and bumpy. Been driving by it for over a year, read the 5 star Yelp reviews and it has driving me crazy to get out on it. Maybe my expectations were too high, but it didn't inspire me. Holes towards the end of the back nine were the most interesting with some cool vistas and the flow of the back nine unveils itself more naturally than the front. The rough is deceptively wiry, play it back in the stance and don't expect to get full distance. Would it be great to able to play often for not much money as a student? Absolutely Not sure it is a course I would pay $100 or more if it were a public or resort course though.
Such a great gorgeous course and I feel sooo lucky to have had it as my course to play in college. The price for 18 holes for a student was $25 the last time I checked.
After becoming an alumni you have to fork over $100 to get on and if you don't know an alumni, faculty, or student I'm not even sure if you can get on.
The course and views are magnificent. I just feel that they really let way to many people on to play the course and it gets really torn up, especially the greens. Every time I have played here the greens have been relatively slow and bumpy.
A lot of unique holes - takes a decent shot maker.
The driving range here sucks as you can never hit of the grass and it usually full of a lot of hacks.
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My friend had Stanford students staying at his house and this is when they had no picture ID's so we used to go here all of the time. What a great, great golf course. The best one on the Pennisula. But if you ain't a student or a member forget it. You can't get on.
It is also a very long, hard course with hills, valleys, creeks and trees. You will love it if you are lucky enough to play but don't expect to score a low round.
But you can just drive up and park your car to get something to eat. The food here is great. Really cheap prices with big portions. I love coming up here and watch the people putt or watch golf on TV while I eat. The coldest cans of soda in the world.
They also have a driving range across the street but it's terrible. Crowded, expensive and loud. I never come here to hit balls anymore, too negative for me.
Having played this golf course more than 50 times in the past 20 years, I feel convicted in offering my highest rating for this golf course. This isn't about the amenities, or the food or anything but the golf course itself.
The reason this course is so great is the layout of the holes. Truly, not another course I'm familiar with requires a player to have a complete all-around game, from tee to green. There are some great driving holes, while other holes require placement and good course management. The greens are fair yet challenging. The course has elevation change, but nothing extreme. Several of the holes require a carry over the creek that winds it's way though the course, which creates risk/reward decisions.
It's a fun, fair, and very beautiful course. Challenging too. Michelle Wie won't be disappointed.
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Note: PRIVATE CLUB
Why not 5 stars? Purely because I'm bitter. I've played this course more times than I can count over the years. Anyone who has played this course long enough will already know why I'm upset. The Sand Hill Road travesty.
This is an unbelievable course. It requires BOTH great shot-shaping abilities and a long game. The 12th for example, requires you to bomb your tee shot (473 yard, Par 4) to carry a creek. Once you've managed that, there's the minor detail of a huge tree smack in the middle of the fairway. Plenty of holes have their own interesting details. The 1st requires you to hit across a busy road. (Don't worry, I've never seen anyone hit a car.) My favorite is the 13th. Best adivce on that hole: put it on the green, hit it long, skull it so far past the green it embeds in the hill behind, but whatever you do, DON'T end up short!
Plenty of beautiful views. My favorite by far is the 18th where, on a clear day, you can see the entire Bay area.
So, what is the Sand Hill travesty? Holes 3 and 4 were completely changed a couple of years ago. They are now back-to-back Par 3s. This was done in order to allow the city to widen Sand Hill Road. For those who never played here before, you'll never know the difference and probably would give it 5 stars. I'm just bitter...
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The Stanford University Golf Course was designed in 1929 by George Thomas and William Bell. Bell and Thomas built some of California's best tracks in the 1920's and 30's including PGA stops Torrey Pines and Riviera Country Club, the ultra-exclusive Los Angeles and Bel-Air Country Clubs and the delightful layout at the Ojai Valley Inn.
Stanford's layout is natural and beautiful. The holes wander past majestic oaks and back around San Francisquito Creek. Elevated tee boxes provide an intimidating view on the first hole and amazing vistas of the Bay Area throughout much of the hilly back 9. On a clear day, you can see San Francisco and Oakland from 18 tee.
Stanford is not long by modern standards (6727 from the tips), but it is challenging (70 par, 73.0 rating, 137 slope). The 3's and 5's are manageable in length, and there are several short par 4s (9, 11 and 15). However, the remaining 4's demand long tee shots at 483, 447, 429, 444, 473, 424 and 457 yards each, and the course is kept soft to defend against modern technology.
The course in not open to the public but students, staff, Alumni Association members all have access and can invite guests. I've played it a few hundred times and it is my favorite course in the Bay Area. It doesn't have the ammenities associated with resort course, and pace of play can exceed 4:30 on weekend afternoons, but the test of golf is pure.
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I can't afford to play the course at Stanford, but I think I can handle the $6 for 50 balls at the driving range on the other side of Junipero Serra. I've hit at a couple ranges in the south bay - shoreline, pali muni, pinhigh - and stanford has by far the best feel, tho it isn't anything super swanky.
But come on - I hope you don't play golf just for the elitism and plaid. You play to be outdoors. To hang out with friends. To squeeze in 15 holes during the twilight special, just to get the extra bonus of seeing the sunset over rolling hills of emerald green.
The stanford driving range is open until 9pm at night during the summer. And for $6 - $9 if you're popeye and have arms of steel - you can simulate the calm of twilight golf. Sure, you can't really see where your ball went as it gets darker (tho there are great stadium style lights at the range), but come on, leave that type A banker personality behind for an hour, and just feel the ball! Soak in the twilight sun, stop and listen to the crickets chirp, feel the summer air on your skin. It's good for you.
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For me, this was one of the biggest perks aboot moving here. In my opinion, the course is phenomenal! If you're a student or post-doc, than it's by far the best golf deal around...I don't even think the local farmer would let you hit balls in their cow-pasture for $25. On the downside, the marshalls nag more than my 80 year-old sicilian grandmother.
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Ok, if you're not a Stanford student then take this review with a grain of salt. I've been paying $20/round for the past two years ($25 if you do not buy a 10 round script card) and each time i walk off the course, I feel as if they were paying ME! The course tends to be in great shape, especially around May when they host some major NCAA tournaments. The bunkers could use a bit of work, especially the one in the front of the 17th hole which must be suffering from leprosy.
Quick review by hole:
1st hole: divine dog leg left. play conservative and have an easy third shot into the green
2nd: one of the toughest driving holes. make par and be happy.
3rd: brutal par 3. the green might as well be the hood of a car.
4th: my bobby mcferrin hole. after the 3rd, i need a "don't worry, be happy"
5th: fair par 4. prevailing winds behind you. play for the center of the green since there's a false front.
6th: #1 handicap hole for the men. not a difficult hole though for long hitters since it's dead straight and generous on misses right.
7th: Do you like to live dangerously? then cut some distance off this hole by taking the drive over the trees. Tiger did. then attack the green with a mid-iron and tap in for eagle. Or heck get an albatross.
8th: seems so easy, but why do i not make par here?
9th: don't overthink. pound your drive up the hill and hit a 3/4ths up to the green. If you try to play course management, you might get into more trouble.
10th: longish par 4 with blind shot to green. two tier so make sure to take extra club when hitting to a back pin.
11th: short par 4. better make par before the next hole eats you up.
12th: Signature hole. LONG DRIVE! I always aim straight and then hope my inconsistency will take my drive left or right of the ginormous oak tree in the middle. I've only seen one drive get passed the tree down the middle... and he chunked his sand wedge. Why? Because the ginormous oak tree doesn't duffers that scoff at its looming branches. Beware of the oak tree curse!!!
13th: i'm convinced that the groundscrew likes to aim golfers 15 degrees right of the fairway by placing the tee box markers at the wrong angle.
14th: take an extra club for this par 3. no fun to be short and have to punch a wedge straight up the side of a hill.
15th: my birdie hole. short par 4. almost driveable.
16th: par 5. on the approach shot, aim right. better to be in the trap than the gully with US Open style rough.
17th: It's as easy as 1... 2... 3... 4... The last time we played, "The Humble One" aced the hole. If you have a white stick, then hit the ball onto the ridge and let it roll up... then down... rolling... it has a chance... and watch it drop! We made eagle, birdie, par, and bogey for the 3rd ever recorded graduated scoring on a hole (google "golf digest hole in one")
18th: Great finishing hole. Beautiful vista with views up to the SF skyline on a clear day. Generous fairway but still tough as nails shot into the green. Birdies are hard to come by... especially when you three jack from 15 feet like i did.
Hit 'em straight!
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Great course, second only to Williams' Taconic Golf Club as the best college golf course in the country. The holes have a TON of variety and the course is well-maintained. Haven't played it since they've re-designed it, since it's only open to Stanford affiliates & my buddy has graduated. But if you get the chance to play, it's well worth the $100.
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