Few public courses match Harding Park's history

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Tiger Woods won what is now the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2005.

Editor's note: This article is reprinted courtesy of Boston Hannah, which produces The Presidents Cup program.

Oliver Storti is a retired San Francisco firefighter who has been playing golf at Harding Park Golf Course since 1946. He's 84, the same age as the course, with a rugged and weathered face. On a chilly, foggy July day, Storti sat on the back bumper of his car and changed his shoes after playing one of his regular rounds on the venerable layout alongside Lake Merced.

If you're looking for a defining image of the Harding experience, this works nicely.

The course hosting this year's Presidents Cup brings a distinctive flavor, shaped by the coastal climate, scenic setting and wide range of everyday citizens who play there. Storti offers a tidy illustration, from his blue-collar background and passion for golf ? he occasionally shoots his age and bemoaned his summertime slump -- to his unwavering loyalty to San Francisco's municipal jewel.

"I've played courses all over the world, and this holds up with any of them," Storti says. "It's just so picturesque."

Rows of stately cypress trees are part of the charm, but Harding's unique ambience stretches deeper. Few public courses can match its history, dating to 1925 and including two U.S. Public Links Championships, two victories by Byron Nelson in 1944, several big winners in the Lucky International (an annual PGA TOUR stop in the '60s) and Tiger Woods' memorable playoff victory over John Daly in the 2005 World Golf Championships-American Express Championship, when Harding returned to the national stage.

The history is evident in the clubhouse entrance, where a trophy case features native son Ken Venturi's prize for winning the 1956 San Francisco City Championship, one of the nation's oldest amateur tournaments (still held at Harding every winter). Next to Venturi's trophy sits a plaque for the 1927 club championship, a photo of Nelson with Jack Burke and a program from the Lucky.

Outside the clubhouse, Harding's eclectic nature is on full display ? people of various ages and ethnicities traipsing around the course, most pulling carts or carrying their clubs. Bill Belcher and James State, who live in San Francisco and play Harding once or twice a week, marvel at the variety of folks they meet. They've played with students, retirees and professional baseball players; once, last year, they even spotted World Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Watson in the group ahead.

More often, Belcher and State come across less heralded golfers ? as was the case earlier this year, when they joined a recent college graduate in his early 20s who had lost his job, walked to the course and was just learning the game.

"It's a course where anybody can come to play," State says. "It's not up the hill or exclusive."

Assistant pro Jon Norris speaks matter-of-factly about the course's working-class flavor ? musicians and policemen mingling with doctors and financial-district workers. That's always been the case at Harding, where rates for San Francisco residents remain eminently reasonable ($46 on weekdays, $31 for seniors and $15 for juniors). On weekends (Fri-Sun) the fees are understandably higher at $59; $44 (seniors) and $20 (juniors). Non-resident rates vary -- there's a rate for Northern California residents ($89 during the week, $99 on weekends) and another for people from out of the area ($135 during the week, $155 on weekends). Barry Williams, an African-American insurance underwriter who lives in San Francisco, plays Harding about five times a month. He appreciates the course's set-up ? walking-friendly and challenging for players of all skill levels ? while savoring the ethnic diversity.

"On weekends, especially, you get quite a cross-section of people," Williams says. "African-Americans, Asians, Indian-Americans -- it's a good mix. And a lot of them are pretty good players.

Or, as Belcher says. "They're all regular golfers. You don't get the camaradarie at other courses that you get here."

It's also a true municipal-course experience in other ways -- crowded tee sheets and perpetual jostling for position. The course is booked solid every weekend, from 6.30 a.m. until nearly 4.30 p.m. It's similarly jammed on weekday mornings, with occasional wiggle room in the afternoons.

Norris opens the pro shop on Sunday mornings, arriving at 5.20 a.m. in the summer. He usually finds five or six cars in the parking lot, dawn-patrol players trying to snag a tee time much as they do at Torrey Pines in San Diego or Bethpage Black in New York. The wait list is first-come first-serve and can stretch beyond two hours on weekends.

Players who reach the No. 1 tee find a classic old-school course -- tight fairways framed by ball-blocking trees and leading to small greens. San Francisco's cool, heavy air makes Harding seem longer than the listed yardage (6,845 from the blue tees, down to 5,375 from the gold tees).

"You feel like you're playing a piece of history," Norris says, "And all the trees are hungry."

Golf often comes with friendly wagering, and Harding is no exception. Gambling games range from regular Skins bets to typical games of "Hawk," though Williams and his friends routinely raise the stakes -- tripling the bet when a player chooses to go solo, or maybe adding a $10 wager when a shaky putter steps over a 5-footer. Not surprisingly, given Harding's democratic nature, Norris has learned to be wary of players who do not appear capable of splitting the fairway with a 300-yard drive. "Guys who look like they walked off a homeless camp are the ones who will clean your clock," he says.

The weather, too, is part of the Harding Park experience. On the same 57-degree July day when Storti changed his shoes in the parking lot, Bill and Joanne Madden played the course for the first time. They were visiting from England and enjoyed the round, though Bill did say with a thin smile, "We were expecting it to be slightly warmer."

They found warmth and refuge in the clubhouse restaurant, the Cypress Grill, which offers a scenic view of the No. 18 fairway and nearby Lake Merced. Harding offers some distinctive culinary options, whether it's the salmon wrap or cranberry turkey croissant sandwich. The $5 Bloody Marys are popular, as is a cool brass tap featuring several regionally brewed beers (including Racer 5 IPA and Prohibition Amber Ale).