In the early days of the pro circuit, the Club played host to four San Francisco Open Match Play Championships which featured full fields and countless great players including Walter Hagen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Horton Smith, Tommy Armour, Lawson Little, Paul Runyan, Jimmy Demaret and many others.
Starting in 1941 with the San Francisco Women’s Open Match Play Championship won by Babe Zaharias, the greatest women golfers have competed on the fairways at Lake Merced. Since 2016, the Club has hosted an LPGA event yearly and the winners have included LPGA Major Champions Lydia Ko (three times) and Sei Young Kim.