the green, or dart into a cliffside photo shoot for a wedding party. (Don’t laugh. Happened to me.) When you’re finished, enjoy the fact


that you are in the middle of the outer Richmond, and celebrate with a 19th hole beverage at tiki-bar classic Trad’r Sam on Geary, where you can catch the World Series Champion Giants on TV. Day Three: Time for the knockout


punch: 18 at San Francisco Golf Club. Or, as I like to call it, “Augusta National West.” It gets no classier than A.W. Tillinghast’s only California design, with subtle, gorgeous greens to test, perplex, mystify, challenge and crush any golfer looking to solve them. You leave wanting more. And more. And more. After a heady brew of uber-private


golf like SFGC, it’s time to re-connect to our blue-collar roots, so we’ll end our three-day tour at the nine-holer in Golden Gate Park. All ages, skill levels and attitudes welcome. The cheap can of beer in the pro shop is welcome, too. It’s democracy in action at Golden Gate Park, reminding you that your three-day golf tour has brought you the heights of world-class layouts, the intoxicating buzz of urban bustle, and the always-accessible welcome of a muni course in The City. Now, hole out quickly. The Giants


game starts soon. They’re the World Series champs, you know. Brian Murphy hosts the KNBR


morning show “Murph and Mack” and was the San Francisco Chronicle’s golf writer from 2001-2004.


Monterey Peninsula •••


Francisco for a dream 72 hours of golf is no decision at all. The really hard part is figuring out how to allot those three days in Monterey, which has long been the world’s premier golf destination and only continues to get better. Already this century two of the area’s top tracks— Bayonet and the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club— have undergone the full Ivana, resulting in a couple of reborn classics. Both courses figure in the ultimate Peninsula itinerary.


H


aving to decide between the Monterey Peninsula or San


Cypress Point In fact, I would begin this jag on the


Shore Course, which is a perfect intro- duction to the glories of Pebble Beach golf: endless ocean views, evocative Cypress trees, freshening seaside gales, herds of deer and, not least, world-class shot values. The Shore’s redesigner, the late Mike Strantz, repositioned holes to maximize views of the ocean and better take advantage of the dramatic terrain. Ron Whitten, the dean of golf course ar- chitecture critics, has written of Strantz’s work, “As close to pure artistry as he ever achieved on a golf course.” After a hearty lunch in MPCC’s


elegant Spanish-style clubhouse the after- noon 18 is on the club’s other world-class track. The Dunes is actually the longer, more demanding of the two courses. It lacks some of the Shore’s aesthetics but the Dunes’ ocean holes are a thrill ride, including one of the world’s great par 3s, the 14th hole that measures 177 yards, all of it a full-blooded carry over the churn- ing Pacific. There are some nice little courses around San Francisco but their hazards come with distilled water. It is the omnipresent ocean that elevates Pebble’s courses into an entirely different category. With 36 holes of warmup, now it is


time for some smashmouth golf. Day two begins at big, bad Bayonet, the tough- est course in the area. With its twisty fairways cut through towering forest and greens that vary from challenging to wicked, Bayonet is a relentless test that demands both creativity and precision. The course is defined by its par 4.5s: brutal two-shotters like the second, ninth, 12th and 13th, on which a bogey feels like a par. Depleted by the demands of Bayonet, it is, thankfully, a quick drive to Spyglass Hill, where one of golf ’s best burgers awaits, at the charmingly low- key grill. A short list of the game’s most memorable opening holes would include


Machrihanish, Doonbeg, Portstewart, Castle Pines, Sand Hills. . .and Spyglass. The 595-yard par 5 first plunges toward the dunes and jumpstarts a round full of invigorating challenges. The approach into the fourth green—as long and slender as a runway model, with even more dangerous curves—is about as fun as golf gets. For a crescendo we offer a final day at


Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Each of these iconic courses is on everybody’s short list of the world’s best; their proxim- ity throws into sharp relief the distinctive character of both places. Pebble Beach is gloriously public, its first tee a nerve- wracking nexus of shoppers and gawkers, the fairways lined by joggers, tourists and ostentatious houses. The feeling of being on display is an essential part of the expe- rience. Cypress Point is as quiet as church; for the lucky few who get invited to play it inspires a contemplative awe and reverence. Cypress is a course of glorious subtleties, forever requiring the proper angle be taken to survive the sloping, unforgiving greens. Pebble is wide- open and forgiving in spots but what it demands, more than anything else, is heroism, as its golfers are repeatedly asked to take on some of sport’s most visually intimidating shots. You can’t go wrong either way, but I’d


prefer to begin at Cypress Point, walking its hallowed fairways in the stillness of morning. The course’s first 10 holes are surprisingly scoreable, with a quartet of par 5s and nary a drop of water in play. Walking to the elevated 11th tee brings to mind the agonizing ascent of a roller- coaster before the first, harrowing drop. The 11th through 17th may be the best stretch of holes anywhere in the world. But Cypress’s 18th is famously screwy, so it wouldn’t feel right to end the trip like that. Instead we make the five-minute drive to Pebble Beach. The sun will be sinking as we play the famous finishing holes, hard by the water. Here Nicklaus, Watson and Woods have trod the boards, and so have countless giddy Average Joes. Pebble’s 18th is a bittersweet end to three magical days. You hate for the fun to stop, but there can be no better finale. Alan Shipnuck is senior writer for Sports


Illustrated and writes two weekly columns for cnnsi.com.


WINTER 2011 / NCGA.ORG / 29


PHOTO: JOANN DOST


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