I
An archived photo of the sand-dune encompassed third hole at Spyglass Hill (opposite page).
The NCGA’s fi rst offi ce in Pebble Beach was located behind the ninth green at Spyglass Hill (below).
t’s one of the Top 100 courses in the world. Golf Magazine calls it one of the nine toughest courses in the country. In 2018, it will co-host the U.S.
Amateur.
You can start a lively debate over a pint about whether it is a better course than the other co-host in 2018: Pebble Beach. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed hundreds of courses in his lifetime, and it’s no surprise that many consider Spyglass Hill his fi nest. But a lesser-known story is how the NCGA played an instrumental role in bringing Jones’ masterpiece to life. Spyglass Hill begins with one of the most
memorable opening holes in golf, a 600-yard par 5 that plunges downhill while banking left, before hitting you with a stiff breeze and a knockout view of the Pacifi c Ocean. Of course, Spyglass is a vixen. That ocean
view is just the backdrop for an intimidating approach to a green seemingly propped up above an island of sand. As legendary L.A. Times Sports Colum-
nist Jim Murray wrote the fi rst time the pros played it in 1967: “You play through the seals to squirrels, sand
dunes to pine cones, pounding surf to mast high fi rs. It’s a 300-acre unplayable lie.” The fi rst fi ve holes bob up and down
through a sea of sand dunes, a remarkably beautiful, yet dangerous way to start a round. The fourth hole is particularly unforgettable, a 370-yard par 4 with a 55-yard anorexic green shoe-horned between two sand dunes less than 30 feet apart. But the defi ning characteristic of Spy-
glass Hill is how strikingly the fi rst fi ve holes juxtapose the rest of the course. Spyglass Hill turns inland and into the forest for the rest of the round, more than earning the “Hill” half of its name. (You can feel a bit like Sisyphus from Greek Mythology, eternally rolling your golf ball up the hill.) Take it away, Mr. Murray: “Spyglass! Run up the black fl ag with the skull and white bones on it! Ready, you 18 black legged scoundrels, here comes those swabbies in alpaca and alligator sailing along on a sea of birdies and eagles, Avast ye 18 sea dogs, prepare to board, delay the birdies and clobber them with bogeys, or else string every manjack of you lubbers from the highest yardam in the Dry Tortugas.” But there is also a peaceful and serene
beauty to the closing 13 holes, as Sports Illustrated wrote when it opened: What Architect Jones has created with these
fi ve holes is a Pine-Valley-by-the-Sea. At the 6th tee the course turns inland, propelling the golfer
SUMMER 2014 /
NCGA.ORG / 35
PHOTOS THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE PAGE: PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES
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