Smoke 'em if you got 'em: Presidio Golf Course

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Presidio Golf Course

January 3, 2015

My son took me golfing at the Presidio as a Christmas present. I couldn't have asked for a better present.

Boer Goats -- Presidio Golf Course, San Francisco, CA

The Presidio has its own little herd of goats. They're used to clear out unwanted and invasive vegetation in those hard-to-reach places on the golf course. Isn't that cool? Using goats like this has actually become a common sight in the Bay Area. They're very good at clearing steep hillsides of grass, and there's even folks you can call who will bring their "fleet of 800+ environmentally friendly, self-propelled weed eaters" to your back yard to clear out all the undergrowth.

Presidio Golf Course, San Francisco, CA

The Presidio Golf Course is old, at least for the West Coast. The original nine hole were built in 1895, then expanded to eighteen holes in the 1920s. The layout is not too long but it's difficult, with 13 uphill holes and greens that aren't designed to catch a ball like most modern greens. It never feels unfair, though. There seems to be danger on both sides on most holes, but the fairways are wide enough to contain well struck shots and there are no water hazards.

Presidio Golf Course, San Francisco, CA

I wasn't very pleased with most of the action shots I took. Most of the tee boxes were in the shade and since carts were restricted to cart paths I wasn't able to move quite as freely as I'd have liked for good angles. I was using my wide angle lens and the sports setting on my camera, which with my other lens shoots from 1/1600s to 1/2000s. The fastest shutter speed I had yesterday was 1/500s, which isn't quite fast enough. I'm going to have to figure out what was going on.