Golden Gate Park Disc Golf Course — Attraction in San Francisco

I've been playing very casually for years between Colorado and the Bay Area, and this is one of, if not my favorite disc golf course to play, and it's free to park at and free to play!

The club who maintains it does an excellent job. Almost every other course I play in the Bay has issues with maintenance or Poison Oak, and this one is very well maintained and the people are generally very nice. You'll occasionally get stuck behind some big groups moving slow, but typically they'll either let you play through or you can jump 1-2 holes no problem.

With that said, be aware that there are tournaments on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings. I once went to play with a friend and my girlfriend at 11:30 am on a Sunday, and saw a huge backlog of groups waiting to play on hole 5, where each group looked like they were taking their time throwing. It looked to us that they weren't letting people play through, so we jumped ahead 2 holes to skip the hour + wait, only for someone ( 20 minutes later) to walk over, demand we go wait in the hour line because he had to and we clearly only jumped because we are malicious and think we are better than them... We were then made aware that an event was going on, and when we explained that we weren't aware as there was no obviously visible signage at hole 1 when we started, we were treated like idiots because there was apparently a sign when he started (at this point 2 hours prior). We walked back to hole 1 to verify that we didn't just miss it, and still couldn't find a sign, but we did find a guy sitting at hole 1 who nicely explained to us that Sunday mornings are when they do weekly paid tournaments with entry fees, so when we jumped, we essentially inserted ourselves into their tournament line-up. We accepted responsibility for our mistake and left, but it was an unpleasant experience as this was also the first time I took my girlfriend out for disc golf at my favorite course. We definitely would not have jumped groups if we knew that a tournament was ongoing, especially one with entry fees where people are playing to win money.

Tl;dr: The course is amazing and well kept, but unless you're actively participating in tournaments, I would avoid the course on Tuesday nights and Sundays before 12:30 or 1pm (The last tournament group was scheduled to tee off at 10am, and we caught up to a huge backlog of groups at only hole 5 around ~ 11:45-12.) Also be sure to check the website as they do occasionally close the course for big events like Outside lands. This is my most played course, by far, and my only recommendation would be to leave any signage up for longer, or potentially make it more visible while tournaments are still ongoing so other people can avoid...

Beautiful, busy 18-hole course with a great variety of "technical" (precise, curvy) shots and a few long throws as well. Top-notch installation with great tees and signage. SFDGC club members keep the course in great shape despite the heavy use. Great course for beginners, pros, and everyone in between.

When you arrive at Marx Meadow, you'll be in the middle of the course. Front nine starts close to the course kiosk, going generally counter-clockwise to the west. Back nine starts fairly close to the kiosk as well, going generally clockwise to the east. Flow note: After basket 16, tee 17 is up the hill and up the path -- almost back to tee 14. It's not intuitive, so first-timers often get confused here.

Course regulars are super-friendly. If you need any help figuring out the course, getting some new discs, or just finding someone to toss with...

Incredible 18 hole public disc golf course. Free to the public. Extremely well maintained for a open, free, public course. There's probably nothing like this anywhere else in the country! A great many technical challenges (long straightaways, elevation changes, interesting hazards, and even a few hedgerows to lose one's discs in...) make this a course that holds up after many, many games.

This course is always busy on the weekends, but fairly chill on weekdays. There's usually someone out there selling "found" discs and someone else selling... other stuff... as well.

It's a fairly secluded area of Golden Gate Park, but there are great picnicking areas all around the course, so pack in some...