Welcome to the San Francisco Horseshoe Pitching Club website!

The San Francisco Horseshoe Pitching Club is a place for local horseshoe pitchers to find other horseshoe pitchers, where to play in the City, and how to participate in regional and national tournaments sponsored by the NCHPA and NHPA. If you are looking for other local players to play horseshoes with go to the SFHPC Members page and join this website or contact another player listed there. Visit the other pages of this website for information about organized horseshoe pitching throughout Northern California, instructional videos, places to find professional equipment, and other horseshoe related links.

BEST of the BAY 2010!!! - SF Weekly!
Listed as one of the Best Places to Recreate in GG Park!

CLUB NIGHT & DAYS: Golden Gate Park
Wednesdays: 1pm - 4pm Veteran horseshoe pitcher Lawrence Kelley will be available to give instruction on pitching the 1-1/4 turn shoe on Wednesday afternoons.
Fridays: 4:30 pm -6:30 pm There is a group of members that are regularly pitching on Friday afternoons
Saturdays: Noon - 3 pm Pick-up match, round robin tournament with whoever shows up. No experience necessary and we'll bring extra horseshoes.

The Guardsmen - 2nd Annual SF Horseshoe Pitching Tournament was another huge success!!!
Jeff Williams and Brian Robinson throw 4 dead in the semi final match at the 2nd Annual San Francisco Open Horseshoe Tournament presented by the San Francisco Horseshoe Pitching Club and the Guardsmen of SF. Jeff is one of California's top ranked pitchers, Brian was a non-ranked walk-on, but clearly no stranger to horseshoes. His partner Dave Morey picks up the shoes.

The RESULTS are in!
1st Place- Bill Terry & Terry Ferrel (Ringer King) - Team: Terry & the Pirate (Half Moon Bay Horseshoe Club)
2nd Place- Jeff Williams & Mac Watters - Team: The Ringers (#3 in State of CA according to mynhpa.com) & Guardsman)
3rd Place- Dave Morey & Brian Robinson - Team Zeel (Novato walk-ons)
4th Place - Peter Zepponi & Gino Rinaldi - Team Double 06 (SFHPC)

B Division
1st Place- Chris Mohler & ______ - Balboa League B Team



The 2nd Annual SF Horseshoe Tournament getting underway.
















The Tournament is on! August 21st. Pre-Registration website is OPEN and the spots are filling UP!!
Go to : www.sfhorseshoetournament.com to register online.
Register soon. It will sell out! Limited to 64 teams. Double Elimination. Horseshoes will be provided if needed. Prizes! (no cash)
Enjoy an all you can eat World Famous Guardsmen Smoker pulled pork BBQ and Sierra Nevada sponsored Beer Garden!
Scroll down for photos of last years event and for more, go to the SF Int'l photo album and Mark Rogers Photography albums!
It's a great time and supporst a terrific charitable organization, The Guardsmen! www.guardsmen.org
Since 1947 The Guardsmen has been helping at-risk youth with the resources they need to thrive. Each year The Guardsmen sends 2,500 youth to outdoor education programs and provides scholarship support more than 250 students at Bay Area private schools.
Play: Team Doubles; Games to 15 pts. Semi-Finals and Final games to 21 pt
Leaners count as 2 pts. Ringers 3, Points 1; Women and Seniors (70 yrs) can pitch from the 30' foul line. 'Follow your shoes': Open pit (no scoring) the other team pitches first. No slop allowed in A Division; Slop OK in B Division. Slop= hitting anywhere outside the sand pit.
Official Rulings: SFHPC member ruling to be final.

2009 GuardsmenTournament Results: Can they repeat?
“A” Experienced Bracket (double elimination)
1st Place: Ryan Heredia & Joey Rzeplinski; "Throw from the Hip"
2nd Place: Eric Frago & Steve Gibson; "Dead Ringers"
3rd Place: Bill Terry & Terry Ferrel; "Half Moon Bay"
4th Place: Peter Zepponi & John Bastian “Team SFHPC”

"B" Beginner Bracket (double elimination)
1st Place: Anthony Schwab & Peter Schwab; "Schwab & Son"
2nd Place: Matthew Wakefield & Tony Grasso; "Quit Your Pitchin' "
3rd Place: Jorge Calderon & Sarah Calderon; "Lucky 21"


Join this website! Click on the SIGN UP! button at the top right of the page and follow the instructions! It's FREE. Meet other players and support horseshoe pitching in San Francisco! If you don't want to sign up on a club website but still want to meet other player just send me (pznkz) an email at peter@sfhorseshoepitching.com and I'll let you know when and where we'll be playing.

NEED HORSESHOES?? Visit Kimmy's NHPA Horseshoe Shop for all your horseshoe equipment needs. Tell them SFHPC sent you.
Contact us if your organization would like to have a tournament. We have enough horseshoes and equipement to facilitate a large group or event.

News from the World Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (8-8-2010)
Friend of SFHPC, Brian Simmons beat Alan Francis, 18-15 at the NHPA World Championships. Brian had 87.5%, Alan had 85% ringers.
This was Mens A-1 class, not the Open Championships. Alan Francis went on to win his 16th World Title!
More than any other athlete in any other sport. Click here for the latest 2010 World Horseshoe Tournament coverage.
North Bay local (Vallejo) Kimmy Stockli won the Women's C division going 15-0 with a 64.33% average!! Wow!
Kimmy went on to place 15th in the World overall in the Women's Open!


The RESULTS!!Sat. June 26th -Lord of the Ringer 2010!!! See LOTR-2 Photo Album for more pics.

1st Place!!! Gino R & Peter Z: Double 06	2nd Place: Marc B (Rico) Ken B: EBSS	3rd Place: Rico C & Justin V: Rainbow

Are you ready for the coolest horseshoe tournament / skate jam in the country???
The event organizers from Blood Wizard Skateboard have planned another great tournament!!! Check out the YouTube video and photo links of last years tounament at the bottom of this page! If you were there, you know how fun it was.
Win Prizes and Swag!!
On site tournament registration between 11:00am - Noon. $10/person.
Two person teams. Registration closes at 32 teams.
Double Elimination Tournament. Leaners count as 2 pts.
We'll supply horseshoes if you don't have your own.


NEXT TOURNAMENT:
Aug. 21st (Sat): 2nd Annual SF International Horseshoe Pitching Tournament & BBQ sponsored by the Guardsmen of San Francisco. We're continuing on the success of last years landmark tournament that featured Mayor Newsom pitching with World Champion Brian Simmons! This will be a celebration of the tremendous restoration work we are continuing this year in the Horseshoe Arena and surrounding Oak Woodlands. This is a not to be missed event! Stay tuned for upcoming event poster and additional details!!! Some photos of last year below. Go to the SF Int'l photo album or Mark Rogers Photography for more!

2x World Champ Brian Simmons & Mayor Newsom	The crowd enjoying the action.	No More Excuses! A shoe to fit everyone. Kimmy's Horseshoe Shop.
Mayor Newsom's wife enjoying the Guardsmen BBQ.	The National Anthem! Let's Pitch.	3x State Champ Kimmy Stockli
All 16 Courts in action.	The Sponsor Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Garden!!	Sizing up the competition

October 2nd(Sat): Round #3 and the Finals of Ken Baker's Summer Series in LIVERMORE. SFHPC will be representing the 415. Contact us if you want to go. peter@sfhorseshoepitching.com
Contact: Ken Baker, (925) 980-0083,
email: kenbaker@budweiser.com
www.eastbaysummerseries.com



SF Rotary Club Horseshoe Tournament & BBQ date to be determined.

San Francisco has had a horseshoe pitching club since the 1920's with the last Northern California Horseshoe Pitching Association affiliated club closing in 1992. The new San Francisco Horseshoe Pitching Club is currently for social networking of local players and community involvement in restoring and maintaining the public courts. As membership and interest increases, we will apply for affiliated club status with the NCHPA and currently have their support in reaching this goal. Go to About SFHPC and SF Horseshoe History for more info.

We have a volunteer to restore the 1937 HORSE AND HORSESHOE PITCHER sculptures in Golden Gate Park!!!! On the morning of Aug. 28, 2009 we met with Thomas Sperow of Greco Granite www.grecogranite.com and several Park Officials as well as Rick Seabolt, the grandson in-law of the orignial artist and a phone call from the artists daughter!! Greco Granite is donating their professional restoration services to restore both sculptures! This will be a long process but it has already begun. The support we are receiving is truly amazing! See History Page on Vet Anderson. We are continuing with extensive renovations to the Horseshoe Courts in Golden Gate Park with the intention of starting an active league and supporting charity tournaments. Scroll down this page to see some of the amazing work that has already begun.
(left to rt: Seabolt, Zepponi, Sperow)

LATEST NEWS:

July 20th 20101: Perfection in the Horseshoe Pit, a New York Times interview with Alan Francis and
friend of SFHPC Brian Simmons, who pitched with us at our Inaugural Guardsmen tournament last year.

The deciding game of the 2009 Men's Championship between
Alan Francis and Brian Simmons can be viewed here

June 19th (Sat): Round #1 kicked off Ken Baker's Summer Series in LIVERMORE.
Contact: Ken Baker, (925) 980-0083, email: kenbaker@budweiser.com, www.eastbaysummerseries.com

SFHPC's Team Green: Jon & Carolyn take 2nd Place at the first round of the East Bay Summer Series!!! Great job!

SFHPC's Gino takes home the coveted Ringer King title for most ringers on the day!!!

Team SFHPC: Gino R, Peter Z., Carolyn & Jon B. at the EBSS#1 2010

June 18th (Fri): SFHPC & the Guardsmen hosted a pulled pork BBQ and Horseshoe Pitch in GG Park along with SF Rec & Park for City Department Heads and Managers. It was a great time and a great way to celebrate our recent Best of the Bay 2010 Award for Best Place to Recreate in Golden Gate Park! Wow! those were some great bbq pulled pork sandwiches and ribs prepared by the Guardsmen's Couchon Volant (flying pig)!!!

Guardsmen hosted Couchon Volant smoker BBQ for the SFRPD City Dept Head & Managers BBQ & Horseshoe Pitch

SF Rec & Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg

Guardsmen Ted Bartlett tossing another ringer

June 12, 2010: Over 45 volunteers showed up from the Guardmen, SFHPC, Rec & Park and Oak Woodlands Saturday morning for a tremendous work party effort! Great job to all the volunteers!!!The work party was followed by a BBQ and horseshoe pitching in the afternoon! More truck loads of tree branches, limbs, brush, debris and old fencing were removed than could be kept track of.

June 4, 2010: A good crowd SFHPC members and others turned out on Saturday to pitch some shoes and see the handy work of RPD Urban Forestry Crews! They have begun removing some of the overhanging trees to allow restoration of the horse to begin shortly. Unfortunately it looks like one of the limbs took out one of our new iron railings! Don't worry, it will be restored. The SF Horseshoe Pitching Club is in the process of getting the rest of the railings constructed for all 16 courts along with new concrete curbs and pitching platforms!!! All new work will be constructed to official NHPA specifications.
Come out next Saturday June 12 for a HUGE guardmen/SFHPC/RPD volunteer work party in the morning to help clean up the courts and surrounding areas. This will be followed by horseshoes, and bbq!

May 25, 2010: The date of Aug. 21st, 2010 has been set for the Guardsmen's 2nd Annual Horseshoe Pitching Tournament!

May 12, 2010 NEWS FLASH: Rec & Park has moved the volunteer work party day from May 22nd to June 12th.

May 11, 2010: We're going to try and keep the Latest News current!!! Go to the OLD NEWS page for previous posts.

SFHPC, the Guardsmen, Natural Areas Program, Oakwoodlands and the SF Rec & Park and the Department of Urban Forestry are continuing our partnership and making way for the restoration of the Horse sculpture and horseshoe courts. Over the next few weeks Natural Areas Program and Urban Forestry will be working around and above the cliff to stabilize the cliff in order to allow Greco Granite to begin the sculpture restoration! We're working on the fabrication and installation of the remainder of the iron railings and to replace the broken concrete pitching platforms. We are also working to get the closed bathrooms open as a Clubhouse for maintenance equipment with it eventually being restored as a bathroom for event usage.

NEXT VOLUNTEER WORKDAY:
Sat. August 14th, 2010, 9am until 1pm with the Guardsmen and Oakwoodlands Natural Areas Program volunteers and SF Rec & Park. Come out and help continue the clean up of the horseshoe arena and surrounding Oak Woodland areas. This will be a major push to prepare for the summer horseshoe pitching season and to prepare for continued additions and repairs to the court infrastructure and preparing for the restoration of the horse and pitcher sculptures. Stick around to pitch some shoes after the work party!


The Oakwoodlands Volunteers meet the 2nd Saturday of each month in front of the Conservatory of Flowers at 10 am.

See the Event & Calendar page for more info.
Stern Grove : The most accessible and well maintained horseshoe pits are in Stern Grove on Sloat Blvd between 22nd and 23rd Avenue to the left of the tennis courts. This facility has 8 pits, two clay and the rest sand, and all of them have carpet covers to protect them when not in use. There is ample street parking, benches for sitting and a drinking fountain at the entrance which comes in handy for washing your hands afterwards. On Wednesday mornings Sloat Blvd has street sweeping between 8AM to 10AM and no parking. See the "Where to Play" page for more information and photos.






Golden Gate Park: Another good location is in Golden Gate Park
near the Pan Handle. These pits are hidden in the North East corner of the park near the intersection of Fulton and Stanyan Streets. The pits are accessible off of Conservatory Drive E., where you can see a street lamp and some stone steps which lead to the pits which are built into a beautiful grotto. This facility has 16 sand pits, some of which are missing the pins. These pits are a bit run down and it's a shame because it is a beautiful location. There has even been recent proposals to tear out the pits and make them into a skateboard park! Thankfully, this proposal has been abandoned and the SFSA has identified another location within the park for skateboarders. SFHPC is now working with them on the restoration of the horseshoe pits. So please support their efforts to get a dedicated skate park built in GGPark. The restroom facilities next to these pits appear to be locked up and also in disrepair. I wish I'd seen these pits in their heyday. The court was built in 1926 as one of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Projects and was tended to by the Golden Gate Horseshoe Club. On the stone hillsides there are large (approx. 8ft x 10ft) concrete bas-reliefs of a horse and another of a horseshoe pitcher. "The Horseshoe Pitcher" is by "Vet" Anderson, a member of the Horseshoe Club. Both are now decaying and getting overgrown by bushes. We hope this website generates enough interest and awareness to get this site cleaned up and restored. It's a great place to spend a few hours pitching horseshoes and a big part of San Francisco's history.



SF Mayor Gavin Newsom getting some last minute tips from 2x World Champion Brian Simmons, of Vermont before throwing the ceremonial first pitch of the inaugural Sept. 12, 2009:

Senior Guardsman James Sutton discussing project with San Francisco Rec & Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg

July 11, 2009 End of Workday

WHAT A DIFFERENCE FIVE MONTHS MAKES!!!

APRIL 4, 2009 SFHPC'S First Clean up - 2 pits dug out

SEPT. 9, 2009 All 16 pits functional, cleaned, stakes at proper angle and new asphalt!...

August 8, 2009, Volunteer Workday

WE'VE COME A LONG WAY BUT STILL A LONG WAY TO GO!!! Still to come: - Asphalt repair - done! - Restriping of 30' foul lines done! - Art sculpture restorations (Horse & Pitcher)-In progress! - Water for club access for courts - done! - Club maintenance lock box - New Galvanized metal railings and scoreboards - New Pit backstops and concrete repair - Oak Woodland restoration and New Rim Trail - New Signage identifying site and within the Park.done! - Stone wall repairs - Restore Restroom facilities - Repair broken pitching platforms - and more....If you want to support Horseshoe Pitching in San Francisco and the restoration of the Golden Gate Park Horseshoe Pits please consider a donation to the club.

click link below for:
LORD OF THE RINGER TOURNAMENT RESULTS & PHOTOS!!!
Presented by Blood Wizard Skateboard Co.
MAY 16, 2009 at the Golden Gate Park Horseshoe Pits!


If you weren't there YOU MISSED IT!....What an awesome day! Don't miss the next one on June 26th 2010!

Note:
This is a growing website. Check back often for more information! Until then I hope to see you in the pits! Special thanks to Casey Sluys of the NCHPC for his valuable support and willingness to support the SFHPC.
Peter
peter@sfhorseshoepitching.com

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