Mike, unfortunately, Lincoln Park has been a neglected step-child (same as Sharp Park) in the SF muni golf rota for as long as I can remember.
Sentiments about LP couldn't be more true. Such a shame as it has some incredible terrain and some interesting holes.
Some locals I was playing with mentioned that there may be some restrictions at LP on everything from construction to normal care and feeding of the golf course due to the fact that it's built atop a Chinese immigrant cemetery. I'm not sure if that's the reality but it seems a consideration if so.
I can add some context to this. Lincoln Park GC was partly (mostly) built on a cemetery. The Chinese immigrant connection is the
Kong Chow ruins and there is still an annual ceremony of remembrance. This isn't the only limiting factor, however, as the site is shared with the
Legion of Honor (a fine arts museum), and is directly adjacent to the SF
VA Medical Center. These confluences mean that it would be extremely difficult to renovate. Add to that the fact that the cliffs that parts of the course are on occasionally fall into the ocean (the current
par 3, 3rd hole used to be a par 4 until the fairway collapsed). The existence of a scruffy muni with the best views of the bridge of any course is also a striking symbol for public golf. That said, some tree maintenance could be possible, and is needed (though i'll strongly defend the trees on the
14th hole, as one of the most strategically interesting uses of a dogleg I've ever seen -- the strategic play is short right, away from the hole, which leaves a wedge to the green;
any attempt to cut the corner will leave a player blocked out by the trees).
Sharp Park will probably never see any major renovation because the site basically exists as a wildlife refuge. The
California red-legged frog and the
San Francisco garter snake both use the site as a habitat, and they are protected species. So, Sharp Park now exists in a state of
actual nature (with no herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides being used) rather than the artificial (and often surreal) versions of nature we see on most "nice" courses. Sharp Park is a reminder that we can have golf courses that serve the environment, while also serving the public. If that means we need to play match-play instead of stroke-play to avoid frustrations on the occasional bumpy green, I think that's a fair compromise given the circumstances.
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I'll note that I was also invited to the updated GGPGC tour (
thanks to David and Jay for making that happen), and I'm still working on a proper write up, but I'll say this: the changes are pretty dramatic. The previously-added top soil was removed to reveal the underlying (native/pre-existing) dune sand, and that is use throughout the course. The sand was used to add wildly more interesting shapes to the course, and dramatic and beautifully framed waste areas. All but one (new) bunker are gone (a good decision in my opinion), and most of the trees have been removed opening up views of the ocean and cliffs. The attention to making the shortest holes more interesting was, at this point (in my opinion), the most impressive part of the project. Where two of the holes on the course were consider boring-at-best, now, fallaway sections of the greens and other mounding that can kick the ball away can make the simple sand wedge a bad decision, and force players to use the undulating terrain (which is a very exciting change). I still haven't got to editing my photos, but here's one of the ninth green, looking back from the parking lot toward the tees, so you can see one of these waste areas frames views of the course as players walk to the clubhouse:
