Alister MacKenzie

Santa Cruz, CA

Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California, opened in 1929 and is one of the few Alister MacKenzie courses in the country where non-members can get a tee time. It was founded by Marion Hollins, the 1921 U.S. Women's Amateur champion, who also brought MacKenzie to Cypress Point. MacKenzie liked the course enough to build a house alongside the sixth fairway and lived there until his death in 1934, and he called it his finest design. A barranca cuts through the property and shapes much of the strategy, crossing several holes and forcing decisions from the tee. The greens are large and steeply contoured, and the back nine is generally considered the stronger half. The par-3 16th, playing across a deep ravine to a narrow green, is the most talked-about hole on the course. Jim Urbina led a long restoration effort returning bunkers and green edges to MacKenzie's drawings, with the greens rebuilt and the work completed in 2024. Pasatiempo hosts the Western Intercollegiate, one of the oldest college tournaments in the country. Pasatiempo is a semi-private club. Members have priority, but public tee times are released in advance and outside golfers can book online.

Ann Arbor, MI

Alister MacKenzie's university course: a hidden gem in Ann Arbor

Columbus, OH

The Scarlet Course is an 18-hole course at The Ohio State University Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio, designed by Alister MacKenzie and opened for play in 1938. Jack Nicklaus led a bunker restoration in 2005 and 2006 aimed at returning the layout closer to MacKenzie's original design. The course plays to a par of 71 and runs through rolling parkland cut by a creek and a large pond known as Turkey Run, with water and elevation change concentrated on several holes. The club operates as semi-private and is open only to those with an Ohio State University affiliation, including students, faculty, alumni, and staff.

Pacifica, CA

Sharp Park Golf Course is a public seaside course in Pacifica, California, about ten miles south of San Francisco, operated by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department. It opened in the early 1930s and was designed largely by architect Alister MacKenzie, with four inland holes later added by Jack Fleming after coastal erosion claimed part of the original routing. The course plays to a par of 72 and measures roughly 6,300 to 6,500 yards depending on the tee set, running along the coastline and around Laguna Salada, a lake in play on several holes. Its Spanish hacienda-style clubhouse, designed by Willis Polk's office, still stands from the original construction. Sharp Park is walkable and open to the public year round, with standard and resident green-fee tiers, and remains one of the few MacKenzie-designed municipal courses open to public golfers in the country.

Arden Arcade, CA

Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in the Arden-Arcade area features two different championship golf courses, Alister Mackenzie and Arcade Creek. The Arcade Creek Course is more welcoming for beginners - the flat layout is open to be played as a nine-hole track or a full 18-hole regulation round.

Monte Rio, CA

Northwood Golf Club is a 9-hole, par-36 public golf course in Monte Rio, California, along the Russian River. It was designed by Alister MacKenzie with Robert Hunter and opened in 1928, commissioned so members of the nearby Bohemian Grove would have a place to play during summer gatherings. The Monte Rio course plays through towering redwoods on roughly 70 wooded acres, with narrow, tree-lined fairways and small, naturally contoured greens typical of MacKenzie's work. It is considered MacKenzie's only nine-hole design built in the United States, completed the same year as Cypress Point and five years before Augusta National.

Sacramento, CA

The Alister MacKenzie Golf Course at Haggin Oaks is an 18-hole, par-72 public golf course in Sacramento, California. Designed by Alister MacKenzie, it opened in 1932 as the Sacramento Municipal Golf Course and was renamed for MacKenzie in 1997, playing to 7,030 yards from the back tees. The Sacramento course has no fairway bunkers, relying instead on small, heavily guarded greens for its defense, and Arcade Creek comes into play on five holes. It has hosted two USGA championships, the 1963 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1992 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, and underwent a $6.5 million renovation in 2001 that rebuilt the 9th and 18th greens to MacKenzie's original design.