Fort Baker · Sausalito · 1900–1947

Golf at the
Golden Gate

Three courses on an Army post: their history, their people and their photographs

Fort Baker from the air, November 9, 1928. U.S. Army Air Corps; Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Park Archives and Records Center

Three times between 1900 and 1941 golfers laid out a course on the little valley floor of Fort Baker, the Army post in Horseshoe Cove below the Golden Gate. Sausalito’s golfers played there by General Shafter’s leave until the barracks took their holes; Captain Manly Gibson built his own nine in 1924 and named its holes for the battles of the A.E.F.; and he rebuilt it with W.P.A. money in 1939, two years before a wartime hospital covered the ground. This site gathers what survives of the story: the newspaper accounts, the photographs, and the people. Start with the history, or wander.

The HistoryGolf at the Golden Gate

The full illustrated history, 1900–1947, in five chapters, with footnotes to every source. About 13,000 words.

The Short StoryHalf the length, every photograph

The same story told in half the words, for a single sitting. All the photographs, footnotes and pop-up bios are kept.

The Timeline91 dates

From General Shafter’s permission of 1900 to the wartime hospital on the old fairways, with the course records, photographs and sources.

The People31 profiles

Commanders, founders, professionals and champions, their lives footnoted from the papers of the day.