2015 San Francisco Hickory Open
Historic Lincoln and Sharp Park Golf Courses
Historic Lincoln and Sharp Park Golf Courses
"The good guys" - 2015 SFHO 17th Lincoln Park
Saturday Oct 3, 2015
San Francisco and October are a perfect match. Graced with blue skies and Indian summer conditions, our annual fall tournament got underway at the Historic 1902 Lincoln Park Golf course. San Francisco's first municipal golf course, Lincoln park has an abundance of interesting ground and design features that keep you coming back for more. As an example, the demanding back nine Par 3's play (and probably should be approached) as short par 4's, while 3 of the back nine par 4's are under 300 yards! The grand daddy of these perilous par 3's, the signature 17th, at 220+ yards with O.B a few steps from the green both left and right, can be a scorecard wrecker or a fantastic photo op. New-to-hickory and scratch golfer Bill Houghton's quadruple bogey 7 on the hole was unfortunate. Despite the temporary derailment, Bill would finish with a respectable gross score of 77 and wow the group with his introduction.
The first round's scores were tallied up over a few beers on the deck overlooking the 18th green. When the dust settled, the only sub-70 round at Lincoln Park would be held by John Sweeney, shooting even par 68 and a 2 stroke lead over Dana and Steve (70) heading into Sunday's final at Sharp Park.
Saturday concluded in Oktoberfest style at Der Steins, a German pub with brats, Wienerschnitzel and all the customary cuisine and spirits.
Indian Summer - SFHO - Lincoln Park
Sunday Oct 4th, Sharp Park
The 2015 SFHO concluded at Sharp Park just down the road in Pacifica. The scenic parkland is a 1930's MacKenzie gem that continues to inspire the modern generation hickory golfer. At 6400 yards and wide sweeping fairways, Sharp Park is a nice compliment to Lincoln Park's more nontraditional layout. The course has appeared to have won its legal battles and a 10 million dollar restoration project is scheduled to begin early next year.
Four players managed to break par this day with Dana Niehaus crowned our tournament champion with a stellar 68, 13 gross pars and two-day score of 137. Steve Henneuse was runner-up as well as our low gross winner. John Sweeney took home the 3rd place hardware handcrafted by master craftsman Tim England who rallied to finish up his awards the night before. Thanks Tim!
Look forward to seeing all next year!
Tim England - Last minute preparations - Sharp Park
Wife Sharron surprises Jim Norris w/ a surprise Birthday pastry!
Jerrod flag hunting - 17th Lincoln Park
Pictures added to our Instagram account
Paul Tran created a facebook photo gallery here.