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While the kids play Pebble, make a trek to Half Moon Bay
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The final hole on Half Moon Bay's Old Course
Suddenly, it's beginning to look a lot like fall, at least for golfers. It always happens as the calendar turns beyond Labor Day and the footballs start flying. As the PGA Tour's newest mega-hyped event, the season-long FedEx Cup, grinds through its month-long playoff schedule to end in Atlanta on the cusp of true autumn, the West Coast gets busy with a rousing six-week-long fall run among all four tours — PGA (Presidents Cup in San Francisco Oct. 6-11, a couple of Nationwide Tour events, some tasty LPGA competition and, last but not least, a solid showing of Champions Tour fun, which continues this weekend at the home of West Coast golf, Pebble Beach, for the Wal-Mart First Tee Open. It's become one of the most compelling competitive settings in golf over its brief three-year history: Future Tigers trained in the Tour's popular golf-meets-lifeskills curriculum, teeing it up on Stillwater Cove with the greats of yesterday (and, still, today). And the weather is always stellar this time of year for spectators, so what are you waiting for?
In fact, why not make a week of it and play some great Bay Area golf on your own before, between and after the Pebble showcase's rounds? After all, we're talking mecca here, and there's plenty of options within a 90-minute drive of the Monterey Peninsula. We'll cover several of them this week.
First up is Half Moon Bay Golf Links, just a half hour south of San Francisco and a scenic hour and a half up Highway 1 from Pebble. The setting is pure NorCal coast drama: Two courses, one a links hugging Pacific cliffs, the other a country club-like parkland marvel that ends on a windblown seaside high note. One laid out by Arthur Hills in 1997, the other by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay in 1973. Both are worth the trip down the peninsula from the city, though if you've got to choose one, go with Arnie's Old Course if only for the recently reworked 18th, which finishes a few feet from the terrace of a five-star hotel. San Fran icons Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays used to tee it up there, for good reason. It's hard to believe the bustling city is only a few miles away, and that professional play is so close at hand, at least for a few days in September (and October, when the Presidents Cup comes to Harding Park).
What's more, you can enjoy special rates this week. Play today through Thursday, Sept. 3 before 2 p.m. for $85. After 2 p.m. play for $65, $40 after 4 p.m.??On Friday, September 4, tee it up for $99 per player to celebrate Patriot Golf Day. The $99 rate includes a $2 donation to benefit The Folds of Honor Foundation, a foundation that provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while serving our Great Nation. The special rate dips to $75 after 2 p.m. and $55 after 4 p.m.
For more information on where to play during the Fall Swing on every tour and get the latest on golf travel in the West, visit www.fgmagazine.com
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