you reach the green and look back at the giant cliff you just played from.
at Pebble Beach, 481 yards, par 4 If No. 8 possesses the best second shot in golf, No. 9 owns the toughest. Some holes have teeth. No. 9 smiles like a Great White. Even after busting a perfect drive over the cresting fairway, you are left with a hanging downhill lie in the neigh- borhood of 200 yards, to a shallow green draped perilously over the cliffs that frame the unforgettable coastline. Your target is a single-fi le fairway that exposes the right edge of the green. Miss left and a bottomless bunker swallows up your approach. Miss right and the cliffs kick your ball down to Carmel Beach. Hit it perfect? Check long.
No.9
at Pebble Beach, 349 yards, par 4 My Dream 18 needs a drivable par 4, and with a twist on fi nal hole in the Cliffs of Doom trilogy at Pebble Beach, No. 10 can offer just that. The bunkering and sloping fairway traditionally funnel you toward the stunning Carmel Beach for 446 yards, but we would play from the recently unearthed and restored tee box that sits to the right of the ninth green. The alternate 349-yard hole lets you bite off as much of the dog-loving
No.10
Carmel Beach as you can chew. As Jordan Spieth said when he saw the new tee box during last year’s AT&T, “If I’m under 30 years old, I’ll go for it. If I grow up and I’m smart, I’ll probably lay up.” He’ll be all of 25 for the 2019 U.S. Open, when that tee could very well be in play.
at MPCC’s Shore Course, 181 yards, par 3 I have struggled to fi nd a more beau- tifully crafted design than MPCC’s Shore Course, which Phil Mickelson declared one of his favorites on Tour. The pinnacle of an 11-hole links stretch in the middle of your round that artfully weaves through dunes, Cypress and rock outcroppings is No. 11, as a tee was stacked on a pile of boulders to create a downhill shot to a curvy green, before giving way to a vista of Fanshell Overlook and an unobstructed peek into Cypress Point.
No.11
at Poppy Hills, 421 yards, par 4 Enjoying an upgrade akin to the Denver Broncos replacing Tim Tebow with Peyton Manning, the renovation at Poppy Hills turned No. 12 from eyesore to eye catching. Without fog, you can stand on the elevated tee and gaze across the Monterey Bay all the way to Santa Cruz, a view no other course in the forest fi nds. But the view
No.12
at ground level is classic Poppy Hills, as it demands a tee shot that threads Mon- terey Pines on either side of a fairway dotted with bunkering. The green feels like it’s the epicenter of the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot, as putts somehow wander toward the back, even though it appears to be pitched back-to-front.
at Cypress Point, 366 yards, par 4 The only green at Cypress Point that 17-Mile Drive swoops by is No. 13, and I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised there aren’t more rubberneck-induced skid marks near that turn. No. 13 is Alister MacKenzie’s artistry at his fi nest. Six signature bunkers dance on the surrounding hill that cradles the green, and dissolve into the dunes fl ank- ing each side. And if you’re fortunate enough to be playing the hole, the elevated tee shot at the Pacifi c Ocean is a blast.
No.13
at MPCC’s Dunes Course, 176 yards, par 3 No matter what tees you play for the rest of your round, you must head back to the Golds for No. 14 at MPCC’s Dunes Course. A hidden tee box emerges from the sea atop giant rocks, with tides pooling and crashing all around you, and 17-Mile Drive tourists looking on from above. And from the angle that the back tees create, you hit straight over the ocean to a green jutting
No.14
The Pebble Beach Dream 18 Breakdown:
Pebble Beach: 6 Cypress Point: 4 Spyglass Hill: 3 Poppy Hills: 2 MPCC (Dunes): 1 MPCC (Shore): 1 Spanish Bay: 1
The 11th hole at Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course looks right at Cypress Point.
42 /
NCGA.ORG / WINTER 2015
Yardage: 6,100 Par: 68
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