IDream18 The Pebble Beach BY KEVIN MERFELD
was truly tempted to swing away at a Dream 18 for Northern California, but like the impulse to reach for a driver on the fourth hole at Spyglass Hill, I wisely reconsidered. It’s surely a list I would study like a double-breaker before compiling, but at the
age of 30, I’m hopefully still on the front nine of my golfi ng career, and concede there is too much of this wondrous region I have yet to experience. What good would a Dream 18 be without considering holes
from San Francisco GC, Mayacama, California GC, Martis Camp or the Meadow Club? Or Saddle Creek, TPC Harding Park, the Presidio, or Callippe Preserve? And how could I forgo holes such as the 16th at Pasatiempo, the 17th at Lincoln Park, or the 18th at Half Moon Bay’s Old Course, simply because I haven’t played them? So rather than off end by omitting out of sheer ignorance, or half-
heartedly regurgitate Google, I’ve decided to take aim at golf’s seven heavens inside the pearly gates of Pebble Beach. I grew up playing junior and high school golf in the forest. I was a caddie at Monterey Peninsula CC by the age of 12, and at Spyglass
and Pebble Beach by 14. Birthdays have included the Golden Ticket that is an invite to Cypress Point. I am lucky enough to call Poppy Hills home now. I’ve played the magnifi cent seven—Pebble Beach, Cypress Point,
MPCC’s Shore and Dunes Courses, Spyglass Hill, Poppy Hills and Spanish Bay—but never like this. What if we created a Dream 18 in Pebble Beach, one that gave us all
the Del Monte Forest can off er? One that took us from Carmel Beach to Stillwater Cove, around the Lone Cypress to Fanshell Overlook, through the dunes to Seal Rock and Point Joe, between craggy Cypress and moss-draped Monterey Pines, all the way to Spanish Bay? I’m not sure RTJ II Golf Course Architects will be creating a
position for me after reading this, but I’ve designed a course, from Nos. 1 to 18, that routes through golf’s greatest zip code. It stretches out to just 6,100 yards, and plays as a par 68. Merfeld Village has a nice ring to it. Play and debate away.
Nos. 15 through 17 at Cypress Point would make any dream 18 list.
PHOTO: JOANN DOST
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