The best private courses in Fairfax, California
Course Vaults is a golf course logging app where members have logged 16,956 rounds in California and rate what they played. These are the 10 highest-rated private clubs within about 25 miles of Fairfax, California, ranked by those community scores.
California of San Francisco
California Golf Club of San Francisco
South San Francisco, CA, USAPrivateAlister Mackenzie & Robert Hunter
- 4.9Conditions
- 4.9Layout
- 4.4Scenery
- 4.4Facilities
- Must play
- Pristine
- Challenging
San Francisco Golf Club
San Francisco, CA, USAPrivateA .W. Tillinghast & Jack Neville
- 4.8Conditions
- 4.6Layout
- 4.0Scenery
- 4.2Facilities
Loved the use of short grass throughout the course while still keeping it fairly tight off the tee. Tons of elevation change, and even though there aren't many trees and you can see groups playing on other holes, the trees around the perimeter make you feel surprisingly secluded.
Written by
@jensencastle
- Must play
- Pristine
- Walkable
Meadow Club
Fairfax, CA, USAPrivateAlister Mackenzie & Mike DeVries
- 4.5Conditions
- 4.6Layout
- 4.4Scenery
- 4.1Facilities
Played during a horrific drought so they couldn’t water the fairways just greens tees and aprons so it wasn’t t as good as it could have been but I hear it’s much improved. Great layout like all MacKenzie’s and beautiful setting. Thought the 18th hole was kinda funky.
Written by
@GRaleigh 77
- Views
- Walkable
- Driving range
Lake
The Olympic Club
San Francisco, CA, USAPrivateWilfrid Reid & Sam Whiting
- 4.6Conditions
- 4.6Layout
- 4.4Scenery
- 4.0Facilities
The Lake Course at Olympic Club is one of the best and most challenging layouts I’ve played. The course is known for its narrow, sloping fairways lined with towering cypress trees and small, fast greens that demand precision on every shot.
Written by
@Flopfather
- Challenging
- Pristine
- Must play
Lake Merced Golf Club
Daly City, CA, USAPrivateAlister Mackenzie & Rees Jones
- 4.3Conditions
- 4.4Layout
- 4.1Scenery
- NRFacilities
Incredible routing framed nicely by great bunkering and very clever green complexes. Loved the Instagram holes on the NW corner of the property. Such an awesome reveal as you crest the hill on 12. Not a hard course by any means, but incredibly fun.
Written by
@shahbaz-hashmi
- Pristine
- Views
- Must play
Claremont Country Club
Oakland, CA, USAPrivateJim Smith
- Challenging
- Driving range
- Must play
Ocean
The Olympic Club
San Francisco, CA, USAPrivateSam Whiting & Willie Watson
- 4.7Conditions
- 4.0Layout
- 4.6Scenery
- 4.5Facilities
Olympic Club… respectfully, this one just isn’t my favorite. I think it’s a pretty overrated golf course, and the rough always seems to be incredibly thick, which makes an already difficult course even more challenging. The setting is undeniably cool.
Written by
@jensencastle
- Driving range
- Putting area
- Challenging
Orinda Country Club
Orinda, CA, USAPrivateWillie Watson
- 4.0Conditions
- 5.0Layout
- 5.0Scenery
- 4.3Facilities
Feels like high end backyard golf; serene setting, tight holes sculpted into severe land. Some flaws - noticably short and protected only by tight treelines in spots - but a few interesting short par 3 or 3.5 holes will really stick with me, notably 3,8,13,14.
Written by
@hammerinhank
- Driving range
- Must play
- Fast greens
Cliffs
The Olympic Club
San Francisco, CA, USAPrivateJay Morrish & Tom Weiskopf
- 4.0Conditions
- 3.5Layout
- 5.0Scenery
- NRFacilities
- Driving range
- Must play
- Restaurant
Stone Tree Golf Club
Novato, CA, USAPrivateSandy Tatum & Jim Summers
- 4.0Conditions
- 3.0Layout
- 3.0Scenery
- 3.6Facilities
- Driving range
- Restaurant
- Parkland
How we rank
Course Vaults ranks private golf courses by Course Vaults Score (CV score), a community rating from golfers who have played and rated each course. Only open courses with at least 5 explicit ratings qualify, and this list is limited to private courses (not guest-friendly). City pages include private golf courses within about 25 miles of Fairfax, so nearby suburbs can appear on the same list. Rankings refresh about hourly as new ratings come in; each page shows when it was last generated.
FAQ
Common questions about private course rankings in Fairfax, California.
The top private golf courses in Fairfax, California on Course Vaults are led by California Golf Club of San Francisco with a Course Vaults score of 9.1. This page ranks 10 courses, including California Golf Club of San Francisco, San Francisco Golf Club, Meadow Club.
Course Vaults ranks private golf courses by Course Vaults Score (CV score), a community rating from golfers who have played and rated each course. Only open courses with at least 5 explicit ratings qualify, and this list is limited to private courses (not guest-friendly). City pages include private golf courses within about 25 miles of Fairfax, so nearby suburbs can appear on the same list. Rankings refresh about hourly as new ratings come in; each page shows when it was last generated.
Yes. The Fairfax, California list includes private golf courses within about 25 miles of Fairfax, not only courses whose city field is an exact match. Nearby suburbs can appear when they fall inside that metro radius.
California Golf Club of San Francisco is currently #1 among private courses in and around Fairfax, California on Course Vaults at 9.1 out of 10.
This ranking was last refreshed Nov 12, 2026, 3:51 AM EST. The page revalidates about every hour as golfers add new explicit ratings that meet the 5-rating minimum.
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