Peninsula Golf & Country Club

Set on a hillside above San Mateo with long views toward the South Bay, Peninsula Golf & Country Club is a private, 18-hole course that today plays as a par-71 in the mid-6,500-yard range from the back tees. The club—known as Beresford Country Club until the 1940s—maintains a full complement of amenities around its Spanish-style clubhouse, including practice range, short-game area, tennis and aquatics, but the centerpiece remains its sole-remaining West Coast layout associated with Donald Ross. The modern presentation reflects a comprehensive, historically minded restoration completed in 2001–03: fairways were rebuilt and sand-capped to promote the firm conditions the club believes Ross sought on this heavy-soils site; bunkers and green surrounds were re-established using period drawings and imagery; and persistent drainage problems on the slopes were addressed. The routing moves counter-clockwise over tumbling terrain, producing a rhythm of uphill/downhill approaches and frequent cross-slopes that complicate stance and lie. Several greens sit slightly perched with pronounced false fronts, and the wind off the Bay is a regular architecture-shaping factor. While strictly private, the club’s website includes a hole-by-hole overview and scorecard that convey the course’s current yardages, par, and playing notes.