Golden Gate Park’s John McLaren commissioned the Scottish architect Alister MacKenzie in 1930 to design the course, which MacKenzie laid out between Cypress Point and Augusta National. It opened in 1932 and is the only public oceanside course he designed in the United States. Its Spanish Revival clubhouse has WPA murals.
The course is owned and run by the city of San Francisco. Its wetlands shelter two endangered species, the San Francisco garter snake and the California red-legged frog, which led to lawsuits and the Save Sharp Park movement. In 2017 it was designated a Historic Resource under the California Environmental Quality Act.