A standing-room-only crowd of more than 300 supporters
of San Francisco's endangered public golf courses at Sharp
Park and Lincoln Park jam-packed the Sharp Park Golf Course banquet
room in Pacifica Thursday night, October 22, as San
Francisco golf icons, labor unions, public- and private-course
golfers, high school students, San Francisco and San Mateo
County politicians, and the golf course's Pacifica neighbors called for
preservation of the 77-year-old Alister MacKenzie municipal golf
course. Calling destruction
of the golf course "unthinkable," San Francisco favorite son Ken
Venturi, the 1964 United States Open winner and retired TV sports
broadcaster, extolled the links as an "unpretentious place," whose
seaside location and historic MacKenzie design pedigree "connects golfers
to the Scottish public course roots of the game." Venturi,
Honorary Chairman of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, appeared in
the form of his personal letter, read to the crowd by Bob Dellas Captain of the
Honorary Society of San Francisco Golfers. "Without the public
courses, golf becomes inaccessible. The game shrivels and
dies," Venturi continued. "So I ... urge my friends and
fellow San Francisco Bay Area golfers to preserve Dr. MacKenzie's legacy,
and defend San Francisco's golf heritage and public courses... with your time,
your money, and your passion. Do not let anybody destroy Sharp
or Lincoln." Co-hosted by the
Public Golf Alliance, State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, San Francisco
Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, and Pacifica Mayor Julie Lancelle,
the meeting was addressed by speakers including San Francisco City
Attorney Dennis Herrerra, Lancelle, Elsbernd, with an appearance
by San Mateo County Supervisor Carole Groom. The diverse crowd
included Sharp Park golfers, Pacifica homeowners and business leaders, two
high school girls golf teams, representatives of San Francisco and North
Peninsula private golf clubs, a cameo appearance by former U.S. Golf
Association President Sandy Tatum, and a surprise supporting appearance by
a large contingent of orange-shirt-wearing golf course gardeners, members of
Laborers Union Local 261. Next on
the agenda for the Sharp Park Golf Course will be the
long-delayed report of the San Francisco Park and Recreation
Department on potential alternative uses of the golf
course, which is part of the 400-plus-acre San Francisco-owned Sharp Park. Recreation and Park Department spokespersons have announced
that the report, still in preparation, will be publicly released in the first
or second week of November. No details have been announced by the
Department or the Board of Supervisors about the decision-making
timeframe thereafter.
Source: 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94104, 415-392-5431,
ext. 203, SF PUBLIC GOLF
It's much closer to a movement than the CBD has shown so far. Building quickly as well.
I saw my first "Save the golf course" bumper sticker today.
Posted by: Lionel Emde | October 24, 2009 at 04:06 PM
It's a lot of screaming for public money to be used to subsidize a golf course for less than one half of one percent of the San Francisco taxpayers, who are after all, on the hook for all costs.
Posted by: kathy jana | October 23, 2009 at 11:52 PM