Tucked away in the foothills of Marin County, California, Meadow Club is Alister MacKenzie’s first American effort. The course occupies an idyllic piece of land, high above the town of Fairfx in a tranquil valley of Mount Tamalpais. There are no houses, no noise, and a lot of nature. Meadow Club also boasts a wonderful design, making it one of golf’s most underrated great places.

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Take Note…

Shaping inspiration. If you’ve seen other MacKenzie courses in Northern California, you’ll note that Meadow Club’s bunkers shapes are different. That’s because, according to Geoff Shackelford, MacKenzie’s team at Meadow Club derived inspiration for those shapes from the oak trees on the mountainsides around the course. On other MacKenzie projects, cloud formations usually served as the main reference point.

Odd one out. Meadow Club features 17 of the 18 original greens built by MacKenzie and his West Coast associate Robert Hunter. The non-original one, the third, was reworked after World War II and, more recently, expertly renovated by Mike DeVries. DeVries’s version features a fantastic central contour and three distinct tiers.

Sunny and warm. “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco,” the saying goes. Not so in Marin County, just north of SF. So make sure to pack shorts for your trip to Meadow Club.

Music and golf. The vibrant town of Fairfax is the place to stay in the area. Every night, Peri’s Tavern has live music, and there are a number of quality restaurants nearby. So don’t run back to SF—spend a while in Marin County’s last remaining hippie outpost.