Lake Merced Golf Club

Stephen Curry-Hosted PGA Tour Event Likely To Land At Lake Merced

Courtesy of Ron Kroichick
San Francisco Chronicle

Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City moved closer this week to landing a new PGA Tour event, which will be hosted by Warriors guard Stephen Curry and played for the first time in September.

Lake Merced members overwhelmingly approved a proposal to make more than $3.6 million in course upgrades, a prerequisite to holding the tournament. Octagon, the sports management company set to run the event, will cover $2.8 million of those costs, according to an email sent by club president Jeff Pero to Lake Merced members on Nov. 16.

More than 80 percent of the members subsequently voted in favor of the proposal. The club’s board of directors ratified the results at its meeting Thursday.

PGA Tour officials previously approved Lake Merced as the tournament venue, pending an agreement on course changes. That leaves a title sponsor as the only remaining obstacle, and Octagon and tour officials are close to finalizing a deal with an East Bay-based company.

Curry, in his role as tournament host, is expected to actively recruit tour pros to play in the event. He told The Chronicle he will not play in the tournament at Lake Merced; Curry, a scratch golfer, accepted a sponsor exemption in the Web.com Tour event in Hayward each of the past two years.

Curry’s charitable foundation also will be heavily involved in the operation of the Lake Merced tournament.

Among the notable course upgrades outlined by Pero, the club president, in his email to members:

• Lake Merced plans to expand its driving range and move it to the left, essentially trading places with the 10th hole. The club then will rebuild No. 10, making it a 411-yard par-4 with a slight dogleg left.
• The club will add several new “back tees,” at the PGA Tour’s request, to stretch the course to approximately 7,300 yards, comparable to most venues for tour events.
• Lake Merced will renovate four greens (Nos. 7, 12, 14 and 16), add several new fairway bunkers and expand the short-game practice area.

Rees Jones, noted golf-course architect, will design these changes. Lake Merced must complete the project on a tight timeline, with two marquee professional events scheduled in the next 91⁄2 months.

The LPGA announced its 2019 schedule Thursday, and it includes the LPGA Mediheal Championship on May 2-5 at Lake Merced. The Curry-hosted PGA Tour event is slotted for Sept. 19-22, one week before the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort in Napa.