Metropolitan Golf Links opened in April 2003 on the site of the former Lew F. Galbraith Golf Course, a 1966 municipal layout that had been used as a dredge-spoils dumping ground in the late 1990s. The reimagined course was designed by U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller in collaboration with ASGCA architect Fredrick C. Bliss, who covered the original landscape with roughly two feet of sand and seeded modern turf hybrids to create one of the best-draining playing surfaces in the East Bay.

On the course

The 18-hole, par-72 layout stretches to 6,959 yards from the back tees and sits directly east of Oakland International Airport along the shoreline, with sightlines to the San Francisco skyline, the Bay, and the Oakland Hills. True to its links-style billing, the course plays wide and open with firm fairways, large undulating greens, native grasses and heather, four wetlands areas, and relatively modest bunkering. Two balanced nine-hole loops start and finish at the clubhouse, and the routing mixes straight holes, doglegs, and a pair of double doglegs so that the prevailing wind off the Bay affects every hole differently.

Who it suits

Because the course is built on a sand cap, it drains quickly and stays cart-path-free when nearby Bay Area courses are soggy, which is part of why it carries a Golf Digest "Best Place to Play" nod and a 2019 GCSAA President's Award for Environmental Stewardship. The wide fairways and receptive greens make it forgiving for high-handicappers and seniors, while wind, green contours, and risk/reward decisions on the back nine give better players plenty to think about. Practice amenities include an all-grass driving range, two large putting greens, and a short-game area, and the facility is managed by CourseCo.

Architect: Johnny Miller and Fred Bliss · Opened: 2003