Baylands Golf Links sits on the site of the former Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, which opened in 1956 as a design by William P. Bell and his son William F. Bell at the estuary of San Francisquito Creek. The original muni was a typical flat layout with parallel fairways, and over the decades the property suffered from salty soils that made growing quality turf difficult. In 2011 the City of Palo Alto approved a major rebuild tied to a San Francisquito Creek flood-management project, hiring architect Forrest Richardson to reimagine the course in concert with the adjacent Baylands Nature Preserve.

On the course

Construction began in 2016 and the new 18-hole, par-72 layout opened on May 26, 2018, built by Wadsworth Golf Construction at a cost of roughly $12 million. Richardson recontoured the once-flat site into a true links with dune-like landforms, undulating fairways, large bentgrass greens, and drought-resistant paspalum on the fairways to encourage bump-and-run play. The redesign cut managed turf by 40 percent and added 55 acres of native Baylands vegetation and wetlands, with ever-present wind off San Francisco Bay and even a few sod-faced pot bunkers.

Who it suits

The routing is unusual: five par 3s and five par 5s stretch to 6,680 yards from the back tees, with four sets of tees down to 4,821 yards. Distinctive features include a double green shared by two holes and the 14th, which has two alternate greens used on different days. Every hole is named for a bird found in the bay. Owned by the City of Palo Alto and managed by Troon (formerly OB Sports), Baylands suits public-access golfers who want a walkable links test close to Silicon Valley, with wide fairways that stay playable for higher handicaps but bold green contours that reward careful approach play.

Architect: Forrest Richardson · Opened: 2018