Simply spectacular

The sixth green

The view from along the fourth hole. Keep an eye on the tree on the cliff in the distance. It'll serve as an orientation point for the next several shots (the same tree is in the photo above)

Ok, I admit it.  I was a bit cynical, a bit skeptical. I've played some very nice courses.  Beautiful resort courses in Florida and fine private clubs at home in Vero Beach.  I've played mountain courses in Georgia and North Carolina and a couple of courses in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona.  And, as you know, I've played Spyglass and Spanish Bay in the past few days.  My first visit to Ireland in '07 I got to play Lahinch and Royal County Down - both founded in the 1890s with the guiding hand of Old Tom Morris.  Both these courses are routinely ranked in the top twenty courses in the world, and when I knocked it around RCD, Golf Digest had just declared it the best course in the world outside of America.  So, how much better could Pebble really be?  It generally swaps around the honor of the number one course in the world with Pine Valley and Augusta National, but really, can there be a demonstrable, perceivable difference?  I guess you know where this is leading, Huh?

Every hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links is memorable and distinctive.  The first three holes play away from the clubhouse, allowing you to warm up - to test your game gently - and to just tease you with brief, limited views of the Pacific.  At number four, you play along a cove with full view of the ocean and an anticipatory glimpse of the holes to come.

Courses are chosen for high ranking for a number of reasons. Beauty, history, location all play a part.  Most important perhaps is the course's challenge to the golfer. Do you have to hit a variety of shots?  Do you have to hit every club in the bag?  Do you have to fade and draw the ball, shaping it around hazards and curving your shot to stay on the fairway?  Do some approach shots demand you hit a high, soft shot; do others have you chipping it in low?  Frankly, well beyond my ability to play.  But you certainly feel those challenges here.

Daniel spoke for us all when he spoke of being jittery - we've seen this course before, so many times before, as we've watched the Bob Hope, the AT & T, the US Open.  We were going to play the hole where Watson chipped in to beat Nicklaus, the hole where Phil carded an 11 and Daly a 14.  The par three seventeenth, where Ernie Els carded four bogeys in as many days to put himself out of contention for the Open title.  And eighteen, where the fairway curves right next to the Pacific.  Lord, just please let us make solid contact - may the drives fly straight and true, and can we please receive mercy on these devilish greens.  Our prayers were answered in fair, not complete measure.  We just plain had a great time, enjoying one another's company, celebrating the good shots and commiserating with the bad.

Happy birthday Larry!  Great to spend time with you Daniel.  Say hey to Bessie and Ellie.

And thanks so much Craig and Eryn - for an experience I'll never forget and will forever cherish.  I'm so proud of you both

 

Tee # one - ready to go!

Craig on #4 - first view of the Pacific from the cliffs - remember the small tree way in the distance

# 4, the cove and sailboat in the background

# 5 Tee box

Walking up the sixth fairway

Our caddie keeps sentinel as we hit up towards the 6th green

The seventh hole - a downhill par three (same tree frames the hole)

Looking at the eighth green from the cliff - the most famous second shot in golf

Behind us, the cliff from whence we came.

Saturday night - the view from our room in the Intercontinental Hotel on Nob Hill

Golden Gate Bridge in the background (taken from the Top of the Mark rooftop lounge)

An Extraordinary Day

Every golfer's dream.  To play the grand courses on the Monterey Peninsula south of San Francisco - the Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill, and Pebble Beach.  We played the first two today and will play Pebble tomorrow - and in the proper way - walking, with a caddie.  We had atmospheric weather today.  A bit overcast with periods of brightening.  At  times the mist was heavy, the wind blew, and you could hear the crash of the waves and the barking of the seals on the beach.  At other times the skies brightened, the winds calmed, and the only sounds were the petulant squawks of seagulls circling overhead.  In some ways it was a regular day of golf - good shots and bad shots.  But, on this day, we were overwhelmed by our surroundings.  Holes hard by the sea, holes gentling coursing over inland hills and deep crevasses.  Look forward, look backward, try not to miss a single breathtaking vista.  Burn this scenery and this experience into your memory. Cherish how blessed you are to be here, and how blessed you are to be here with these friends.  Just a wonderful day.

Hope

Despair

Career shot - from 170 yards out to three feet - birdie!

Whew!

Concentrating on the putt

The founder of the feast

Free courtesy Ferraris for the guests (yeah right)

For more info on Pasatiempo, follow this link

http://robertfagan.com/golf/golf/courses-and-travel/3914/golfcoursereviewthepasatiempogolfclubsantacruzcalifornia
 

Pasatiempo

Pasatiempo has been ranked as one of the top courses in the U.S. by Golf Magazine's panel of experts.
Since invitations to play Augusta National or Cypress Point are about as common as ashtrays on motorcycles, course connoisseurs who want to experience the genius of Alister MacKenzie can sample the next best thing: Pasatiempo, the good doctor's finest public-access course. For this reason, it is often referred to as "The Poor Man's Pebble."
Opened in 1929, Bobby Jones scratched out a 1-over 75 to christen the course. While par has been chopped to 70 today, it seldom takes a beating. Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Tiger Woods have all failed to better 67 here.
Pasatiempo sports stellar par-4s. Byron Nelson said the 384-yard 11th is one of the toughest he ever faced. MacKenzie's advice: "Do not hook on the par-4 11th. We have allowed for a straight drive and a crisp iron across the arroyo to the green." MacKenzie also said that the 395-yard 16th hole was the best two-shotter he ever designed.
Architect Tom Doak recently re-worked portions of the course to their former glory. You'll so enjoy the challenges at Pasatiempo that you won't even notice that it ends on a par 3.
From Sports Illustrated Writer-Reporter Rick Lipsey: Marion Hollins, the creator of Pasatiempo, is probably the most famous woman in golf you've never heard of. Hollins, who died in 1944 at age 52, was a flamboyant trailblazer on and off the course. Outside of golf, she was a female activist and a shrewd and successful entrepreneur. The daughter of a partner at J.P. Morgan, Hollins invested in one California oil strike that netted her $2.5 million. Hollins was also an expert horse rider and the only woman in America who had a men's handicap in polo. But Hollins made perhaps her biggest mark in golf. She was a top player, winning the 1921 U.S. Amateur, and she created several golf clubs from scratch, including the Women's National Golf Club on Long Island, a women-only club, Cypress Point on California's Monterey Peninsula and Pasatiempo. To design Pasatiempo, Hollins collaborated with her longtime friend Alister Mackenzie, and the rolling hills perched on the northern edge of Monterey Bay provided them a stunning setting for their layout that is noted for its bold bunkering and small, curvaceous greens.
For more information, go to pasatiempo.com.

Design - Golf Course at Pasatiempo Golf Club

• Year Built: 1929
• Designer: Alister Mackenzie
• Greens Grass Type: Bent Grass
• Fairways Grass Type: Winter Rye
• Water Hazards: No
• Sand Bunkers: 41-50

Spyglass Hill

Spyglass Hill has been ranked as one of the top courses in the U.S. and the World by Golf Magazine's panel of experts.

Spyglass Hill suffers in the long shadows cast by its neighbors, Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, but many serious golfers will claim under oath that Spyglass is harder than its more celebrated neighbors -- and more than a few will whisper that it's better.
The first six holes may be the most dramatic in the world. The first is a long par 5 that plummets down a hill and doglegs left, giving golfers a magnificent view of the Pacific. The second hole is a short, narrow, uphill par 4. The fairway is surrounded by ice plant, an indigenous weed that thrives in the sandy soil of the Monterey Peninsula. The 3rd hole, a mid-length par 3, again goes downhill toward the water to a green that is guarded by sandy mounds.
The 4th hole is one of Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s favorite par 4s. Players must choose between playing it safe off the tee, which means attacking the pencil-thin green (in some areas it is less than six paces across) from farther out, or challenging the ice plant and sand on the left to set up a shorter approach. The 5th hole is a 197-yard par 3 that plays toward the ocean once again.
Critics complain that, after the sixth tee, you're done with the ocean and the ice plant. That's true, but the inland holes are gorgeous and tough. Two are among the most underrated in golf: the reverse-cambered par-4 8th that slopes to the right but doglegs left, and the brutal 16th, a par 4 where merely hitting the green in regulation is cause for celebration. Recent improvements in drainage have Spyglass in its best shape ever.
For more information, go to pebblebeach.com.

Design - Golf Course at Spyglass Hill Golf Course

• Year Built: 1966
• Designer: Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
• Greens Grass Type: Poa Annua Grass
• Fairways Grass Type: Poa Annua Grass
• Water Hazards: Yes
• Sand Bunkers: 71-80
• Yardage Markers: 200, 150, 100 Yard Markers

The Links at Spanish Bay

Ouch!  100+ sand bunkers!  This information courtesy of golf.com

The Links at Spanish Bay is consistently ranked as one of the Top 100 Courses You Can Play by Golf Magazine's panel of experts.

This gorgeous layout begins at the sea, eases through marshes and dunes, climbs into the forest and finally returns to the sea. A superb opening par 5 sets the pace; the green affords a panorama of Spanish Bay. Purists say there are too many woods, wetlands and forced carries to call it a true links, but with the breeze, the firm turf and a bagpiper sounding his tune along the first fairway at dusk, this could pass for Scotland -- except that the Scots never had it so cushy.

For more information, go to pebblebeach.com.

Design - Golf Course at Links at Spanish Bay, The

• Year Built: 1987
• Designer: Robert Trent Jones, Jr.
• Greens Grass Type: Poa Annua Grass
• Fairways Grass Type: Poa Annua Grass
• Water Hazards: Yes
• Sand Bunkers: 100+
• Yardage Markers: Electronic Range System

History of Pebble

Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world.  It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean, on the south side of the Monterey Peninsula. In 2001 it became the first public course (i.e., open to the general public for play) to be selected as the No.1 Golf Course in America by Golf Digest. Greens fees are among the highest in the world.

Four of the courses in the coastal community of Pebble Beach, including Pebble Beach Golf Links belong to the Pebble Beach Company, which also operates three hotels and a spa at the resort. The other courses are The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.

The course is included in many golf video games, such as the Links series and the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series.

The course was designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant and opened on February 22, 1919. Neville also designed the back nine at Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course on the other side of the Monterey Peninsula. His objective was to place as many of the holes as possible along the rocky and beautiful Monterey coast line. This was accomplished using a "figure 8" layout.

The first professional tournament at Pebble Beach was the Monterey Peninsula Open in 1926, which had a $5,000 purse. Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper of Texas won with a 72-hole score of 293 (+5). In 1929, Pebble hosted its first major - the U.S. Amateur. Then a match-play event, it was won by Harrison R. Johnston of Minnesota but Bobby Jones tied for medalist honors in stroke play.

Beginning in 1947, Pebble Beach began to be one of the host courses for the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am tournament, sometimes known as the "Clam Bake", and now known as the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Pebble Beach Golf Links has hosted the U.S. Open five times, most recently in 2010. It has an exceptionally distinguished set of Open Champions including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, and Tiger Woods. It also was the venue of the 1977 PGA Championship, won by Lanny Wadkins in a sudden-death playoff, the first time the format was used in a major championship.

Many other high profile championships have been staged on the course including several U.S. Amateur Championships including the victory by Jack Nicklaus in 1961. Nicklaus also won the first U.S. Open tournament held on the course in 1972.

In laying out the course, Jack Neville attempted to bring as many holes to the rocky coastline as possible. The first two holes are inland, the third runs toward the ocean, and the fourth and fifth holes run along the coast. This arrangement allowed Neville to make use of a peninsula which juts straight out into the Pacific Ocean.

The lower "loop" of the figure 8 layout is formed by holes 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, which brings much of the inward nine inland. Unlike virtually all modern courses, Pebble's 9th and 10th holes do not therefore return to the clubhouse. Holes 14 and 15 are among the most inland on the course, but the 16th hole runs alongside the 3rd hole to complete the figure 8 and bring the dramatic closing holes along the Pacific Coast. These include the long par 3 17th, whose place in golf history was assured when Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tom Watson (1982) made key shots there to win U.S. Opens.

There is no agreed upon "signature hole" at Pebble Beach Golf Links, but the most obvious candidate would be 8. Notable holes include the short par 3 7th, which plays to just over 100 yards even during major championships, is one of the most photographed holes in the world. From an elevated tee, players hit straight out toward the Pacific Ocean, with nothing in the background but the often violent Pacific Ocean surf crashing against rocky outcroppings.

The long par 4 8th runs alongside the 6th hole leaving the peninsula and heading back toward the coastline. A dogleg right, the ocean is a constant companion along the entire right side of the hole. The landing area is extremely generous in width, but a long straight drive could leave the fairway and enter an inlet of the sea. Because the landing area is elevated on a cliff above the green, players have a good view of the small landing target a mid to long iron away. Jack Nicklaus has called this his favorite approach shot in all of golf.

The long par 3 17th is situated on a smaller peninsula to the west of the one that holds the 6-8th holes. Although there is an ocean view and the sea runs along the left side, the primary challenge of the 17th is its length (playing 180-210 yards during championships) and its unusual shaped green. The green is long and thin, tilted about 45 degrees from the angle of the golfer on the tee. Depending upon pin position and wind, a golfer may use a great variety of clubs for the tee shot and, although the green is large in area, the landing area for any approach is relatively small. A large sand trap guards the front and left.

The 18th hole is a medium length par 5 (over 550 yards) with Pacific Ocean all along the left. What may be the greatest closing hole in golf was originally an unremarkable par 4. In 1922, William Herbert Fowler added almost 200 yards to the hole. This unique hole also features a tree in the middle of the fairway and a long 100+ yard bunker running along the ocean from the green, guarding the left side.

In addition to the lengthening of the 18th, the other most significant change in the course's layout came in 1998. Early in the course's history, a parcel of land along the ocean was sold off, forcing the 5th to run inland to where the tee of 6 now stands. As early as a year after that parcel was sold, the course tried to buy back the land but was unsuccessful until 1995. Jack Nicklaus designed a new par 3 on that land. Although it forces a long walk from the 5th green to the 6th tee, the course finally uses as much ocean real estate as possible, which was Neville's original vision. Recent changes done in 2008 were to holes 3, 6, 9, 10, and 12, which changed the dynamics of play with new bunkers located on each fairway. These additions were integrated for the 2010 U.S. Open, which also modified the 2nd hole to a par 4, which reduced the course to a par 71 for the championship, which was lengthened to 7040 yards (6437 m).  (information courtesy of wikipedia)