Est. 1904 · William Watson (1921 layout); bunkers by William P. Bell
Why we love this place
We love San Gabriel because it is living Southern California golf history, the region's oldest course still on its original ground, with Billy Bell's lacy bunkers lovingly restored. Walking these fairways feels like stepping into the game's Golden Age, and the enduring 1921 routing still asks all the right questions.
Via FORE Magazine (Southern California Golf Association)
About San Gabriel Country Club
San Gabriel Country Club traces to 1904, when members laid out a nine-hole course on land once part of the San Gabriel Mission, making it the oldest golf club in Los Angeles and Orange counties still on its original site. Norman Macbeth expanded the layout to eighteen holes in 1912, but the enduring routing arrived in 1921, when Scottish-born architect William Watson built a full grass-green course whose plan closely resembles today's. Through the late 1920s and 1930s, William P. "Billy" Bell rebuilt the greens and added his signature flashed, lacy-edged bunkers. In 2015, Todd Eckenrode's Origins Golf Design restored much of Bell's character. The club has hosted the SCGA Amateur seven times, with Patrick Cantlay winning in 2011, and is home to the historic Cravens Invitational.
Know this course?
Tell us more about its history.
Tell us more →