The California Alliance for Golf has scheduled its 2012 General Assembly Meeting for Thursday May 31, 2012 at the Ayres Hotel and Suites-Ontario Convention Center, 1945 E. Holt Blvd., Ontario, CA, 91761.

The General Assembly Meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a projected adjournment at 3:00 p.m. It will be preceded by a CAG Board of Directors Meeting set for 10:00 a.m.

Lunch will be served at noon and all Board Members and General Assembly Members are invited to attend.

Click here for meeting location information.

For those flying into the Ontario Airport, feel free to call the Ayres Hotel at (909) 390-7778 and request the shuttle service. Those catching a flight after the meeting, shuttle service will also be available.

RSVP is required for the CAG Board Meeting and/or the General Assembly Meeting. Please RSVP to CAG President Tom Addis at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Court Halts Case against Historic Sharp Park Golf
Course

Federal district court judge Susan Illston, in a ruling issued today, stayed all proceedings in a suit brought by environmental activists seeking to close the historic Sharp Park Golf Course, owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco but located in neighboring Pacifica. The order, which also denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, follows the court's decision late last year to deny the plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction that would have shut down 10 of the course's 18 holes. The case had been scheduled for trial in October 2012.

Sharp Park Golf Course, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary next month, was designed by legendary architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie, who created many of the world’s most hallowed courses, including Augusta National and Cypress Point. The course is a rarity – a seaside links, created by a master and open to the public at modest greens fees.

“The court did the prudent thing in staying the litigation,” said Bo Links, co-founder of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, which intervened in the case in an effort to save the course. “This is the second time that the Judge has ruled against the plaintiffs on key motions. With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considering the City's Biological Assessment for the golf course, it made no sense for the plaintiffs to insist that the court continue to expend its limited resources on their suit. This winter the frogs once again laid a huge number of eggs at Sharp Park, showing that the city’s efforts to improve frog habitat, while at the same time providing affordable recreation to a diverse and vibrant group of local golfers, are working.”

The plaintiffs in Wild Equity Institute v. City & County of San Francisco had filed a motion asking the court to rule that golf course operations and maintenance "take" red legged frogs in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. SFPGA and the City challenged plaintiffs' standing to sue, opposed their motion, and asked the court to stay the litigation while the Fish and Wildlife Service considers the City’s measures to address impacts to frogs and snakes and their habitat.

In its 19-page order, the court found that plaintiffs had standing, but denied the plaintiffs’ own motion for summary judgment, and granted San Francisco’s request to stay the litigation. The court explained: “As the FWS may issue a Biological Opinion within months that can at least inform, if not entirely moot, this case, and because the breeding season for the Frog will not occur again until next winter, the Court finds this to be an appropriate case in which to exercise its inherent authority for a stay. The stay will allow for the expert agency to review the City’s plan and evaluate the golf course’s activities on the Frog and Snake.”

SFPGA's lead attorney in the case, Chris Carr of Morrison & Foerster, said: “This is good news for supporters of public golf courses in the Bay Area and beyond. It’s also good news for responsible supporters of the Endangered Species Act, rightly concerned that the Sharp Park case could lead any parade of ESA abuse horribles. Because of the city’s responsible stewardship of Sharp Park, golf fans everywhere, including the many thousands who will be attending the U.S. Open Golf Championship in June here in San Francisco, have reason to be optimistic that extremists will not succeed in misusing the ESA to shut down one of golf’s great historic courses.”

CONTACT: BO LINKS, 415-393-8099, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Save Sharp Park GC Advocates Harris and Links Receive Prestigious Presidents Award from GCSAA of Nor Cal

January 3, 2012

San Francisco, CA-The Golf Course Superintendents Association of Northern California (GCSANC) will recognize Mr. Richard H. Harris and Mr. Robert D. “Bo” Links for their exceptional contributions to the game of golf, evidenced through
their grassroots efforts to help save Sharp Park Golf Course, a much-loved seaside municipal facility in Pacifica, CA, designed by legendary architect Alister MacKenzie. The prestigious GCSANC Presidents Award will be presented at the association’s annual meeting and awards ceremony on Monday January 9, at The Course at Wente Vineyards (Livermore, CA). More than 100 golf course superintendents and allied golf industry leaders are anticipated to attend the ceremony.

“We are very pleased to recognize these fine gentlemen,” stated GCSANC President & Host Superintendent Glenn Matthews. “They have worked tirelessly in support of public golf as they fully demonstrate the kind of effort it takes to preserve public golf especially in challenging economic and political times.”

Both men have deep roots in Northern California golf. Harris is a member at Gleneagles GC, Sharp Park GC and Stanford GC. He was introduced to the game at a young age by his father in Redwood City, CA, and later played Varsity Golf at Stanford where he was captain of the golf team in 1968. After graduation, Harris served in the U.S. Army, 82^nd Airbone Division and 25^th Infantry Division, South Vietnam (1969-1971). He graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley in 1977, and has been practicing law in San Francisco ever since. He is with the firm of Erskine and Tulley, where his legal practice has focus in the areas of business, insurance, and real estate litigation.

Harris was instrumental in the “Save Stanford Golf Course” campaign in 2000. He is co-founder of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance (SFPGA), an organization committed to preserving affordable eco-friendly golf, with focus on San Francisco’s historic Sharp Park and Lincoln Park courses.

According to Harris, the alliance is dedicated to educating and galvanizing public support for the benefits of municipal golf. “These are challenging times, and golf is not the only public resource that is threatenend,” said Harris. The fight to preserve Sharp Park and our other historic courses is an ongoing one, and golfers and the golf industry must continue to be vigorously
engaged within the public arena, to help preserve golf’s role as a valued place where the broad public can meet, recreate and relax, and enjoy nature together.”

Co-honoree, Robert D. “Bo” Links is a lifelong resident of the City & County of San Francisco. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UCLA Law School. He has practiced law in San Francisco since 1974, and is currently with Slote & Links where he maintains an active general litigation and legal counseling practice.

Links is an avid golfer and a dedicated golf historian. He has written two golf books, Follow the Wind and Riverbank Tweed & Roadmap, and Jenkins: Tales From the Caddie Yard. He has served on the USGA Green Section Committee for nearly two decades and is a pro bono speaker for the association on legal issues affecting the game of golf. He serves as the volunteer historian for the City’s golf courses, and was active in the project to renovate and restore Harding Park GC.

A past president of Lake Merced Golf Club (2003-04), Links was successful in leading the effort to rebuild the club’s infrastructure (new clubhouse, recycled water facilities, maintenance building). In 2007 and 2008, Links was honored by the Alister MacKenzie Society, which awarded him first prize in the international Lido Design Contest. He is the only two-time winner of that award.

Links’s greatest golf endeavor is his leadership role in co-founding the SFPGA, and always with immense energy and focus on saving Sharp Park, which has been under attack by anti-golf activists. Links and Harris continue to help secure funding for an environmentally-sensitive restoration of the cherished MacKenzie-designed course. Both gentlemen continue to keep others informed about the issues surrounding SPGC, evidenced through their compelling presentations to the California Alliance for Golf (CAG) and the California Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association (CGCSA).

“Through our travels and work in golf, both Richard and I have come to know and admire many course superintendents all across the country,” stated Links. “Now, receiving this special award from our local superintendents, right here in our own backyard, means so much to us. It is by far the best evidence that our focus on preserving affordable, high quality, memorable public golf is striking a responsive chord. As you can imagine, we are both humbled yet extremely grateful for such an honor.”

In addition to award winners Harris and Links, the GCSANC will recognize five of its association members. The Golf Course Superintendent of the Year Award will be presented to Patrick “Pat” Finlen, CGCS, Olympic Club (San Francisco, CA), the George Santana Distinguished Service Award is extended to Jason Green, San Jose Country Club (San Jose, CA), Turfgrass Excellence Award in the Public Category is earned by Abelardo “Lalo” Pacheco, Rancho Solano Golf Club (Fairfield, CA), Turfgrass Excellence Award in the Private Category will be presented to Dale Engman, Mayacama Golf Club (Santa
Rosa, CA), and the Bert Graves Affiliate Merit Award Winner is Jim Sherman with Turf & Industrial Equipment Company (Santa Clara, CA).

The GCSANC Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony is made possible through the support of Diamond Sponsors: Mid Cal Tractor (John Deere Golf), Turf Star Inc., and John Deere Landscape. For information about the meeting contact: GCSANC Association Manager Barbara Mikel at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (877) 942-7262.

Doctor’s Orders: Play Golf. To learn more about the organization visit http://www.gcsanc.com/.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Vetoes Anti-Golf Sharp Park Ordinance

December 20, 2011

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, on December 19, vetoed the Board of Supervisors' close- Sharp Park Golf Course Ordinance.

Click here to download a Word File of the full SFPGA Press Release.

Click here to download a PDF of the Mayor's Veto Statement.

Articles of Interest:

*SF Chronicle, "Mayor Ed Lee Vetoes Sharp Park Legislation," Dec. 19,
2011:http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2011/12/19/mayor-ed-lee-vetoes-sharp-park-legislation/

* SF Chronicle Editorial, "Don't Give Up Sharp Park," Dec. 16, 2011:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/16/EDU61MCEPI.DTL

*Golf Digest, Bill Fields, "Historic Sharp Park's Fate Hangs in the
Balance," Dec. 14, 2011: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2011/12/historic-sharp-parks-fate-hangs-in-the-balance.html

*Geoff Shackelford, "To USGA Critics, I Have a Message: Give the USGA a
Break," Dec. 15, 2011: http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2011/12/15/to-usga-critics-i-have-a-message-give-the-usga-a-break.html

*GolfWeek, Bradley Klein, "SF Public Golf Under Fire, As Sharp Park
Loses Vote," Dec. 14, 2011: http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/dec/14/sf-public-golf-under-fire-sharp-park-loses-vote/

*Beyond Chron, Rochelle Metcalfe, "I heard that! Sharp Park, Frogs,
Snakes, and Golfers,"Dec. 8, 2011: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=9748#more