An Outsider's Thoughts Inside the Sunset

nother year is winding down, both on the calendar of the real world and the SF State academic calendar. Once December rolls around, not only do Christmas decorations begin to grow out of front yards like annual plants and shopping malls turn into crazed war zones of bargain hunters but we also begin to see a cornucopia of Year in Review lists and ‘Best Of The Year’ collections. So it is my pleasure to bring to you the Sunset Recreation Year in Review.

I have not always lived here in the Sunset, in fact, I have only been in San Francisco for 16 months and this neighborhood for 5. I have lived in many other areas that were much, much more conducive to recreation– so much so, in fact, that it is difficult to compare. Growing up in upstate New York, I was privy to the nearby bounty that is the Adirondacks, as well as plentiful state lands and forests. When I moved to California, I first went to Mammoth Lakes, which could probably throw itself into the running for Recreation Capitol of California…were there such a distinction. The open space there allows any and all types of outdoor fun to take place.

So it’s fair to say that I had some high expectations coming here, and at first glance I was a little disappointed. But then I realized that this is a city of 815,358 people, according to the latest census, and that many people in a 7 mile by 7 mile space does not leave a lot of room to play. So with all things considered, the Sunset is a great place for recreation in an urban landscape. Not only can you participate in the myriad of things that this blog has covered over the past fews months, but there are endless amounts of opportunities that are just waiting for you to go out and discover them.

Read more of Eric Meyers’ work here.

The First Tee at TPC Harding Park

he Sunset district is home to several golf courses, including the Harding Park Golf Course. These links are a championship-caliber course that hosts professional events often, and is open to the public during the rest of their year-round calendar. Located on the shores of Lake Merced, the course features the eighteen hole TPC Harding Park Course, as well as an adjacent nine hole offering called Fleming Park. TPC is the designation given to courses that are part of the Tournament Player’s Club network, which are some of the greatest courses in the country, including the legendary TPC Sawgrass.

The Clubhouse offers lessons and a pro shop, as well as club and cart rentals

Last year, TPC Harding Park hosted the international battle that is the PGA Presidents Cup. Behind the leadership of Tiger Woods, the United States team took home the win on their home bentgrass. Just last month, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship of the PGA Champions Tour rolled through and took over the fairways. John Cook won for a second year in a row, while Bernhard Langer took home the overall points lead for the Cup, and earned himself a million dollars.

The 18th Green at TPC Harding Park

The course opened in 1925, and is named after President Warren G. Harding. Anyone can schedule a tee time by calling the clubhouse any time between a month and a week in advance. Weekend greens fees are $170, but they are discounted to $61 for San Francisco Resident Golf Card holders, which can be obtained at the City Hall offices downtown. Rates at the Fleming Park course are $31 on weekends, with discounts for twilight and weekday rounds. Visit their site for the full rate card, as well as scorecards and hole-by-hole descriptions.

Rings Station

arcourse is an outdoor sport that combines several different exercises and calisthenics along a running or walking path. There is a par set for each obstacle that allows people to track their progress as they advance from the beginner par on towards the advanced. The sport originated as a fun and excited way to exercise during the 1960s in Europe, and also gained popularity here in the states soon after. Swiss architect Erwin Weckemann was the inventor of the first course in Zurich, Switzerland and there are now hundreds of unique courses all over Europe.

Inclined Sit Up Station

Here in America there are many courses as well, as the Bay Area is home to more courses than many other metropolitan areas. The Sunset District’s local parcourse is located around Lake Merced. Starting the the entrance to the golf course there is an introductory sign that relates the benefits to first-time users. From here you can stretch alongside the trail and then simply start a jog or run north along the trail and you will quickly begin to discover many different fitness stations along the way. Most of the stations are very simply made creations to test your balance, endurance and overall fitness. The stations closer to the start have a very low level of difficulty, to allow you to warm up. The middle of the course gets more difficult, and the end provides less strenuous exercises to allow for a cool down.

Pull Up Bar Station

The main benefit of parcourse is that you can get into better shape by yourself, because the par acts as your goal and your coach, pushing you towards your own fitness goals, while providing yet another great way to get outside and enjoy San Francisco’s Sunset District.

f the various recreational opportunities in Golden Gate Park, there may be none as hidden and secluded as the archery range. Archery is one of the world’s oldest sports, and while its popularity has waned over the decades, there are still many people devoted to the sport. As with many of the early sports, archery evolved as a way for warriors to show off their marksmanship in times of peace. Now, even in a city as large as San Francisco, there are still opportunities for people to go out and practice their aim.

The Golden Gate Park Archery Range offers nine targets at various distances. It is open during all daylight hours and people young and old come out often. It is located on 47th Ave in the west end of the park. It is maintained by Cupid’s Gate Archery, which is an organization devoted to the sport in both Marin and San Francisco.

Archery is the only sport allowed at the range, and shooting at anything besides the targets is strictly prohibited. Crossbows and broadhead-type arrows are prohibited, due to their increased damage caused to targets. There is no fee to use the area, and Cupid’s Gate often holds tournaments, lessons, and various other events at the range.

Dennis Anderson airs out a new trick during some late-season filming at Mammoth last spring

Dearest New Trick,

Ever since I first laid eyes on you in this season’s newest video, I knew that you and I were destined for one another. Countless nights I spent pining for you, dreaming my way through the fall until those first flakes of white gold began to sail downward upon our local slopes.

Months I spent perusing the local park, preparing for our first encounter and flirting with a hope of calling you mine. Then, one fateful day, coursing through my veins, the feeling when I finally got ahold of you, made me cognizant of the reason that I fight the suffocating cold and the unrelenting winds. Weeks of PDA in full view of the chairlift followed, and brought me respect from my peers while simultaneously jading my rivals with jealousy.

Our time in the snow-covered Elysian Fields was not wasted, and I want you to know that I will always care about you because you have an eternally special place in my bag of tricks. However, I have noticed that many of my friends have also began to place your notch in their belts, so it is with this letter that I insist we see other people.

I cannot sincerely go on like this, and it would not be fair to you anyways because I have began to play the field myself, and have been pursuing a new trick.

I wish you the best of luck, aged trick once so fresh, but our love that once seemed to have a twinkie’s shelf life has now gone the way of MySpace, and I must bid you Adieu.

SFSU Bike Barn

The Bike Barn offers safe storage for many of the students who ride bicycles to campus.

Cox Field

The Stadium serves as the home of the men’s and women’s soccer teams, with plenty of seating for spectators. People will often show up during practices and throughout the day to run laps around the track.

Cesar Chavez Center

The nearby student center is full of coeds during the day, but late in the afternoon this dance troupe takes advantage of the space and the stage to learn some new moves.

Basketball Courts

Near the corner of Font Blvd. and Lake Merced Dr. are several basketball courts. Pickup games happen all the time, and there are also handball courts nearby. Anyone showing up later in the afternoons is sure to catch some students looking to shoot some hoops after class.

Tennis Courts

The SF State tennis complex features six well-maintained courts in a shaded grove between campus and the annex.

The Quadrangle

Around midday the quad in the center of campus fills with sunbathing and studying, but later in the day the grass becomes a field for playing catch with a football or frisbee. Here, a man teaches his dogs some new tricks with a boomerang.

Skateboarding at SF State

Hidden around the campus are a few skate spots, hitting up the ledges on campus will you you busted by campus police, but this one is in an abandoned tennis court along Font Blvd. and sophomore Taylor Weitz says that no one bothers the skaters here.

Bike Trail

A mountain bike trail offers up one more way for people to get home as they leave campus.

An avid disc golfer reacts to an errant shot on the 12th

isc golf has been, for years, the forgotten and rebellious younger sibling of traditional golf. Rather than hitting a ball at a hole, a frisbee-like disc is hurled at a metal bucket with chains above it. Hitting the chains drops the disc right into the bucket to round out each hole.

San Francisco’s Sunset District offers a full 18-hole course on its fringes, in Golden Gate Park. The course officially opened in 2007, and is the result of a a decade of hard work from the San Francisco Disc Golf Club. The club raised funds to get the course built, and they still maintain the course. They hold work parties every few months to help with the upkeep of the course, as well as hosting weekly tournaments.

The pin on hole 13

Membership fees are $40 annually, but you do not need to be a member or even a tee time to play a round. Just show up at the course, located next to Marx Meadow along John F. Kennedy Drive. The course is often busiest on Sundays and Friday afternoons, and any time the sun is out golfers should be prepared for a short wait at the first teebox.

The lines will soon be getting shorter though, as the SFDGC recently received approval from the San Francisco City Council to build another 18-hole course in Excelsior District’s McLaren Park. Some users of the park are worried about safety issues, but as of right now the course is progressing toward reality. A look at the proposed layout shows that it will be another tightly-wooded course like the original.

Disc Golf is a great form of recreation in our neighborhood. It includes the leisure of golf with some friendly competition along a walk through the forest in the city’s largest park. Discs run about $15 each, or $40 can get you a nice starter set consisting of a driver, mid-range, and putter.

The fields at South Sunset double as baseball diamonds

ast week I told you about the pick-up games soccer games located at the South Sunset Athletic Field. This week we talked to one of the founding members of the games, Ryan Sherman, a sophomore at San Francisco State University.

Ocean Beach at Vicente

ut along San Francisco’s Great Highway lies Ocean Beach, where on the rare sunny days people come out for some recreation on the sand. The wide beaches allow for many different types of activities, and the dunes and cliffs that separate it from the streets of the Sunset are a great place to sit and relax.

If it’s not too breezy out, frisbee is a popular choice along the shore. People will come out just to toss around with friends, or sometimes groups will show up for some team action in ultimate frisbee. Spend enough time out here practicing and you might even get hooked and want to look into some of the leagues that San Francisco has to offer.

If the wind is picking up, then put down the disc and pick up your kite. Flying kites is a time-tested tradition for beaches around the world. Sunset beaches offer space for fathers and sons to learn the basics or head out to the water and do some kiteboarding. On weekends the skyline can be dotted with kiteboarders launching off the waves.

The most popular form of recreation at the beach is surfing. Those who are willing to brave the cold San Francisco waters (which are about 55-60 degrees this time of year) get to ride the fast-breaking waves as they charge towards the city. The Sunset also has a few surf shops scattered about. If you’re riding the breaks on the south end of the beach, near Sloat, then Aqua Surf Shop is right near the beach, and up in the north end Mollusk is located on Irving, and has a load of cool t-shirts to help rep the neighborhood.

Here’s a helpful guide to the different areas that Ocean Beach has to offer.

A Google Map I Created of Ocean Beach