The grand opening for
Bayland Golf Links was officially on Saturday, May 26th, capping off a week of festivities. Baylands is the newly renovated Palo Alto Muni, which went under reconstruction in 2016. The First Tee of Silicon Valley’s President & CEO, George Maxe, was on hand for the ribbon cutting by City of Palo Alto Mayor Kniss, who was joined by Council Members, Deputy City Manager, Rob de Geus, and architect, Forest Richardson.
The First Tee of Silicon Valley began holding its life skills classes at Palo Alto Muni in 2010. When construction began in 2016, classes moved to The Golf Club at Moffett Field, which had recently been leased by Google and operated by
OB Sports. Now OB Sports is also the operator at Baylands, which will be especially good for The First Tee of Silicon Valley as we return with classes there this summer.
On Friday, May 25th, The First Tee of Silicon Valley’s Program Manager, Matt Sheppard, and George Maxe played Baylands for the first time as part of a special outing. There is a dramatic and positive difference between the playing experience of Baylands now versus Palo Alto Muni in the past. Matt Sheppard said, “The course has a whole new, fresh look with a few holes that are kindly reminiscent of the old Palo Alto Muni. The Pure Select bentgrass and Platinum TE Paspalum presented great lies and fun challenges throughout the undulating greens. I appreciate Forest Richardson’s attention to detail throughout the course. Well done, Forest!”
A very special guest, good friend, and former Board Member of The First Tee of Silicon Valley, Grant Spaeth, showed up for Baylands’ grand opening. Grant is a former USGA President, player on the Stanford Men’s Golf Team, and Attorney for Cooley-Goddard. He has been a huge fan of Palo Alto Muni, not to mention advocate for all public golf, for decades. He played and practiced at Palo Alto Muni regularly throughout his career. George Maxe said, “It was terrific to see Grant at Baylands’ grand opening. I admire him enormously for what he has done for public golf, but more importantly, for his exemplary character. What a wonderful man he is!”
Matt Sheppard, Grant Spaeth, George Maxe, Ralph Kho
