Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club Stuns at the LPGA Fortinet Founders Cup
- TE_OGD
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
The LPGA has found a true hidden gem
March 20, 2026 - Beth Ann Nichols Golfweek
The LPGA has found a true hidden gem. This week's Fortinet Founders Cup is being played at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, an exclusive club in Menlo Park, California, near Stanford's campus that’s unknown even to many Californians.
It’s a course with a lot of character and elevation changes. Blind shots lead to several “oh wow” moments when you turn a corner. The rough is tough this week. Players note that the greens, which are still settling in after a recent renovation, are on the softer side.
It looks especially great on TV, where it's being shown live on Golf Channel in primetime with dramatic drone shots.
The 15th edition of the Founders Cup ended up at Sharon Heights in part due to LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler's friendship with Aaron Grant, the club's general manager.
Grant began his stint at Sharon Heights – which tips at around 7,000 yards – on the last day of demolition in 2023 and told Golfweek last year that a total of 330 redwoods were pulled out, opening up the tree-lined course, and replaced with native species. There wasn’t a single redwood on property when the course was originally designed in 1962 by Jack Fleming, a protégé of Alister MacKenzie. Over the years, Grant noted, the membership had planted around 2,000 of them. The Menlo Park staple features MacKenzie bunkers, flowing fairways and 18 unique greens. Grant calls the openness of the place now “stunningly beautiful.” Renovations were carried out by architect Todd Eckenrode - Origins Golf Design, with the course reopening in 2024.
