Half Moon Bay Golf Links

Golf Course: Spectacular, tough, fast + firm greens, soft sand
Views: Absolutely stunning views… some of the best finishing holes I have ever seen
Pace of play: moderate
Wind: gusty in the afternoons
Ocean course is tougher than Old course… try to play an early morning round if you can because the wind picks up in the afternoon and it can be gusty. Holes 16, 17 and 18 are extremely tough.

I planned to go to this course about a month before coming because I am visiting from NJ. The pictures of the course online, along with the numerous golf mags saying you must play there made this course the number one choice.
The price was extremely low for what you received. Monday at 1:00pm I paid $ 65 for a round and cart. Sice I traveled I also rented clubs for $ 65. The clubs were top of the line Taylor made and it also came with 6 Taylor made balls.
The course was wet because it was a very rainy week the week before, so the condition of the course was okay, but I could tell that if it weren’t so wet it would be perfect
They lose a star because the scorecard did not have a map and neither did each hole, so you have no idea what you are hitting into when on the tee. Also, the snack bar at the halfway house was closed and the water coolers were too sparse.
Overall, the course was in great condition and the views were absolutely breathtaking.

Both courses are well kept and give an exciting challenge. The Parkland style Old Course is a bit more challenging than the Links style Ocean Course. The views are unbeatable and the staff is extremely friendly.

I have played the Half Moon Bay Ocean Course on numerous occasions and absolutely love the course and the surroundings.
This Tuesday March 1^st was unfortunately a great disappointment.
I brought a visitor who had travelled from Europe to play some of the best courses in The Bay Area, but we got an unpleasant surprise. All greens had been aerified — not your standard aerification, but holes the size of quarters with rough grained sand all over it.
No one informed us on booking and moreover, we were charged full price. Whilst the course was in great conditions, the greens was not worthy even of a half-​priced green fee.
We had a corporate event in front of us and by 8am it was clear that they were hitting more Bloody Marys than golf strokes — this may be expected, but when their hired caddies started running around and playing tag on the greens, the course reputation and value for 115 – 135 $ around suffered severely…
I would come back for the sake of the course and the scenery, but I think the course management should have a good hard look at how they treat their customers and how their staff is trained to behave around the course.

The bacon bloody Mary was incredible! The food was reasonably priced and 5 star!
The course (old course) was in great shape, with friendly marshals and cart staff. The 18^th hole is one of the most beautiful I have ever played! Great design Mr. Palmer

HALF MOON BAY GOLF LINKS
Half Moon Bay, Ca.
Ocean Course
Terrain: Links /​Oceanside
Price: $$$$
Resort
Driving Range: No
Opened: 1997
Architect: Arthur Hills
Lodging: Yes
Par 72
Black 6914 Yards, Slope 131, Rating 72.9
Blue 6513 Yards, Slope 125, Rating 71.2
White 6052 Yards, Slope 123, Rating 69.6
Gold 5461 Yards, Slope 118, Rating 66.5
Red 4872 Yards, Slope 115, Rating 68.5
SNAPSHOTS
If you get a nice day to play, one of the most scenic courses in America
Greens and fairways play hard and fast
To gain the green at the par 3 17^th, you need to conquer a series of mini-​canyons
Drive on No. 8 from the championship tees is of black diamond difficulty
Large swale fronting the first green will leave you feeling hollow inside if you don’t account for the wind off the ocean on your approach
You might rightfully ask, «Is the wind ever going to be an asset?»
Collection area for short tee shots on the par 3 12^th, puts you in the line of fire of shots going out from the hidden 8^th tee
The two finishers will take your breath away — and quite possibly your score
Is this the Bandon Dunes of northern California? Or is Bandon Dunes the Ocean Course of Oregon?
Frequency of yardage markers couldn’t be better
All of your favorite love /​hate /​elements /​villains of links golf are here –wind, heather, tight lies, gnarly bushes, inopportune bunkers. But the views are all love /​love.
Blessed are the drop areas
The fescue bunkers on the front nine immediately introduce you to links golf and the wind will batter you all day
BEYOND THE WHITE STAKES
Brewskies: Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., Brewpub (7.6 miles)
Sundae Golfer: Baskin-​Robbins (3.7 miles)
Post-​round Meal: Bangkok House Thai (3.8 miles)
Worth a Detour: Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero (19.7 miles)
Make a Day of It: Filoli, Woodside (14.4 miles)
Stay for the Sunset: Half Moon Bay State Beach (3.1 miles)
Splash! Pacific Ocean — Francis Beach (3.7 miles)
Native: Katherine Sigismund, Actress (The Taking of Pelham 1−2−3 — Remake)

Almost like a second home. The staff is always helpful. The course is a little slow on the weekends but locals like myself learned quick to play Monday-Wednesday’s. Keep it up!

There are two courses here: the Ocean Course and the Old Course. We played the Old Course – it was fun to play, had plenty of challenge, and was in good shape. One of the pros at the course said that they preferred it to the Ocean Course, because of the challenge, variety of the holes, and because it’s shielded from the wind. But if you’re looking for traditional links play, the Ocean Course is for you.
I can say the finishing hole in the back of the resort, and it’s pretty spectacular. Lots of people come to take in the breathtaking view, so it’s like you have a gallery watching you. We played on a gorgeous day – free of the heavy fog and howling winds that can show up around here.
The clubhouse is nice, the bar is comfortable, and the pro shop looks great. While there is a good practice area, there’s no driving range. I know the coast is too expensive for a range, but couldn’t they put in some hitting nets?

I just played the «old» course at Half Moon Bay. Calling it a championship course is a bit of a stretch. Though the course is in immaculate condition, the course plays shorter than the listed yardage and lacks charm and creativeness in design. There are 4 or 5 holes that are wonderful, while the rest are ordinary.
I paid $ 160 + $ 72 for club rental. Expensive for what you get. I expected to have a real club house to shower and change in but I was dissapointed to find only meager accommodations.
The on course people were very friendly and effecient, from the starter the player assistant and the beverage cart attendant. The bar and grill called Mullins features great views, clean surroundings and friendly service. In fact, it was the people at the course that made this a good experience.
Bottom line, the course didn’t thrill and it is expensive.
There has got to be a better deal out there.

I’m only reviewing Half Moon Bay Golf Links (HMBGL) as a wedding ceremony and reception venue. I don’t know much about golf. Neither have I ever played it at HMBGL. So if you’re looking for a review on the quality of golfing, look to another review.
Now on to the wedding talk! This place is outstanding! My husband and I tied the knot here on November 13, 2010. Our ceremony was on the Practice Green which is the middle of the three venue sites. The ocean was in the background. The weather was perfect — a little windy but the sun was out the clouds were doing amazing things in the sky. (I know HMBGL can’t control their weather, but it seemed like they could!)
After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed cocktail hour while my husband, Karen (the HMBGL’s on-​the-​day coordinator), and my photographer drove out in golf carts to take photographs. Karen was perfect — she had a little plate of appetizers for us to munch on, some cocktails for us to sip, and a warm blanket for myself. I was worried that I would need to hire my own on-​the-​day coordinator so I wouldn’t have to do it all — but Karen was the perfect coordinator. Our guests later on said the cocktail hour at Mullin’s Bar and Grill was lovely. The appetizers were good. We had fried artichoke hearts, fried coconut shrimp, and bruschetta. My husband and I had some as well while we were four-​wheeling around the golf course in our golf carts — very tasty!
My 117 guests and us then enjoyed dinner at Mullin’s Bar and Grill. At this point, Michelle took over wedding reception duties. Dinner was good although I was too excited and nervous really to eat much. But I do remember the food was good from our food tasting experience earlier in the year.
Here are some drawbacks to the place. They were all relatively minor, i.e. not enough to subtract a star from the rating.
— if you want to bring in your own alcohol, the corkage fee is $ 20 per 750 ml bottle. If you have them special order some alcohol (thus, avoiding corkage fee), the markup is quite exorbitant. For example, we wanted them to special order some of our favorite wine from a winery in Livermore, CA. The markup was about 100%. We understood why — the Bar wants to make money, but it was almost a better deal to buy it ourselves and eat the corkage fee.
–We signed the contract for the place in March 2010. I started emailing them about alcohol and food requests at around July ’10 and nobody really got back to me. I re-​sent the same email a month later and finally someone got back to me. Their reply wasn’t very helpful in that they basically said thanks for your email, we still have time, talk to you later. We then re-​sent the email again much later and Michelle replied saying she’ll update the contract. In hindsight, I was emailing/​pestering them a little too early because we really did have lots of time. I guess my minor issue would be they’re not the most responsive people, but eventually they did respond and they got the job done. Also, I was emailing them during the regular wedding season so they were probably quite busy.
And, yes, this review is quite tardy as we were married there almost five years ago, but better late than never.

My husband and I had our wedding here at Golf Links which was such a perfect venue with the most perfect view of the ocean! The staff (Yunus, Karen) were so easy to work with and might I add very punctual, caring, great planners and just the best people! They made our day literally perfect and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to have my dream wedding. I truly thank every single one of the staff that was involved with our wedding and highly suggest everyone having their wedding at Golf Links!

Good course … Go for the old course is nicer, no one was pushing us we took our time, everyone was very friendly and helpful, some rather difficult holes, and not enough service for drinks and snacks perhaps along the way. I enjoyed the course, a bit chilly too so dress warm it can be windy

We played the Old course on Tuesday and we play at HMB quite often. The greens were in really poor shape. Lots of bumps and sands. We will probably wait a few more months before we would play here again.

I am writing this review on behalf of my husband’s and my experience at Half Moon Bay Golf Links (HMBGL) in February 2015. I am from Northern California and my husband is from Australia. We met in Vegas while we were both on vacation in October 2011 and after 100’s of emails, phone calls, and international trips back and forth, I decided to take the ultimate leap and move down under to be with him. We had a very small (12 person) ceremony in September 2013 in Australia, but I wanted to have another ceremony so that my family and friends in America could attend.
It was very scary and challenging to plan a vow renewal and reception in California while living on the other side of the globe. I knew I wanted our event to be near San Francisco, so after reading hundreds of online reviews of venues I finally found HMBGL. They were rated so high on Unilocal and I had always loved the idea of getting married on the beach and my husband was more than thrilled that our event could be on a golf course! It truly was the perfect setting for us! I asked my best friend who lived locally to visit the venue and she had nothing but positive things to say so we booked a date nearly 18 months before the big day. In the months prior to our big day, my best friend also helped arrange the cake, flowers, DJ — all based on Unilocal reviews. Although I trusted Unilocal and my best friend, I was still a bit anxious to see how everything would pan out.
Then came Yunus Yilmaz, Food & Beverage Director, at HMBGL. A few months before we flew back to the U.S. for our vow renewal, Yunus connected me and started assisting in planning our big day. We corresponded through email because internationally calling would have gotten extremely pricey overtime. He sent me menu options, floorplans, photos (so I could see what to expect), and spend a TON of time responding to probably over 100 emails from me full of questions, comments, and concerns. He was always so patient, kind, thorough, and quick to respond. I appreciate him more than he’ll ever know. He also dealt with my mother when she got her hands on his email address.
Before we knew it, we were on a plane flying back to the U.S. When I walked into the venue for the first time, the setup literally took my breath away! My husband and I were so pleasantly pleased that we were speechless. The Main Dining Room looked stunning — much better than any photo I had seen in the past. I was so thrilled to meet Yunus in person too! He was just as wonderful as in his emails. He has such excellent taste and it was like he actually knew MY taste by the way the room was set up and how the tables were decorated. The night before the ceremony he explained how everything would go the next day and I felt very comfortable leaving it in his hands.
The morning of our vow renewal and reception, my husband and his buddies enjoyed a game of golf on the Ocean Course at HMBGL. They had a fantastic time and loved the view!
Our ceremony went smooth as (wedding) cake and fortunately for us we had perfect weather even for Winter! Yunus arranged for us to be transported by golf cart to some of HMBGL’s most scenic spots to take photos with our photographer (including the 18^th hole with the Ritz Carlton in the background)!!! Dinner was fantastic. We chose to have a plated dinner and the food came out quickly and tasted delicious! I heard nothing but positive feedback from our guests. During the entire event Yunus was running around, helping us stay on schedule. Yunus knows what he is doing. He is a wedding planner mastermind! I gave him a big hug before we left. We could have never done it without him.
I can honestly say that I would not change a single thing that day. It was beyond perfect! I didn’t know what to expect, but I would have never expected things to run as smoothly as they did. Our guests were blown away by the venue, the view, and the food! The event was completely stress-​free and my husband and I really got to enjoy every minute of our special day.
HMBGL R-​O-​C-​K-​S!!! I would highly recommend having ANY event here!

The staff was friendly, and the rantal clubs were brand new taylor mades, so no complaints there.
Played the Old Course on a Thursday afternoon, and played in less than four hours, which is impressive considering the Ocean Course was rented out, so the Old Course was pretty full.
But the course was a disaster. Greens were spotty and rough. They had been aerated a couple weeks ago, so I was expecting a little bumpiness, but aeration was the least of their problems.
Aside from 17 and 18, the Old Course is just your typical muni course lined with million dollar homes. Save your money. Play somewhere else.
I don’t think I’ve ever been as let down by a course as much as I was at Half Moon.
Birdied 18 though, with a crowd of people watching.
The guy I was playing with said he couldn’t believe the Ritz Carlton would put their name on a course like the Old Course.
Truly Disappointing.

Played Old Course and Ocean back to back in 2 days, tho a bit of over cast but the amazing views are just priceless!

All you need to know is the 17^th tee of the Ocean Course will get your ball lost and never to be found again.
Beautiful and fun.

Just played the old course and the greens are some of the best I have played on — really in fantastic shape so get on down there and enjoy the experience. After a little dip in quality late last year the course condition has returned to excellent. Bunkers are excellent and have plenty of sand and were even and maintained to the highest standard, greens are rolling true and as fast as probably anywhere else in the Bay Area. Service is always top notch here and the people seem genuinely nice.
The only knock on this course is the lack of a driving range but the smart golfers visit the one on Kelley Ave back in HMB — its only a 10 minute drive and for most people is on the way so there really are no excuses.

Review for the Ocean Course and overall experience:
My brother and I had such a wonderful time playing golf here. Everything was perfect, minus my scorecard. We showed up about an hour and a half early on a Friday because we were planning on walking around the Ritz, grabbing a drink or two, etc… But the Marshall (who was extremely nice and helpful), told us that if we were ready to go now, we could start; so we did!
The Ocean Course is in immaculate condition. The views are stunning and the whole course was such a joy to play. We literally had no complaints about the entire day and would easily recommend this course to friends coming to the Bay Area to golf.

One of my favorite golf courses! They have 2 different ones the Ocean and the Old course. First of all the views are magnificent. I also love the service and of course the fairways are wide and open.
The only thing for me is that I wish the golf carts had a navigation system so you can tell how far away you are from the green. Also sometimes people tend to play from your fairway because they are connected especially on the Ocean course.
After golf, you can head over to the restaurant in the clubhouse or stop by the Ritz for a drink. What could be better than that? Can’t wait to come and play here again!