Baylands Golf Links

Baylands Golf Links opened in 2018 on the site of the former Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course — a flat, featureless layout that William F. Bell designed in 1956 alongside his father William P. Bell. Getting to that opening took seven years and $12 million, a process that began in 2011 when the Palo Alto City Council approved a major redesign to coincide with a flood-management project on the San Francisquito Creek running alongside the property. Forrest Richardson, who served as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects not long after completing his work here, rebuilt the site from the ground up: the once-flat terrain now sports dune-like landforms, undulating fairways, and large green complexes with bold contours that make putting a recurring decision. Richardson also reintroduced indigenous trees and expanded the wetland and native areas in harmony with the adjacent Baylands Nature Preserve.

The routing is built around five par 3s, eight par 4s, and five par 5s, playing to par 71 at 6,680 yards with a rating of 72.4 and slope of 129. Two green-design details are worth noting: one hole has a double green shared between two different holes, and a separate hole offers two distinct greens — the one in use changes by day. There is also a blind par 3 on the back nine in the spirit of the Dell at Lahinch in Ireland. GolfWeek magazine has repeatedly placed Baylands on its Best Public Courses You Can Play in California list since opening, and it has been consistently praised for the most significant transformation of a Bay Area municipal in recent memory. Each hole on the course is named after a bird found in the Baylands.

The course enforces a pace-of-play policy of 4:20 per round, with the first hour of each day reserved for groups that can complete the round in under four hours. Baylands participates in the Youth on Course program. Practice facilities include a driving range, chipping area, and putting green. Managed by Troon, the clubhouse café is open from 8am to 6pm. The course is located directly adjacent to the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, one of the largest remaining tidal marshlands on the West Coast.