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A Quest to Play the Top 100 Public Golf Courses in the United States
A Quest to Play the Top 100 Public Golf Courses
2004 CONTINUED
(CONT'D) ... spending more than $3000 in the process. The entrée of choice was their famous Pot Roast, which according to our calculations, made it the most expensive meat in California. Most of the talk focused on walking the historic Pebble Beach course the next morning. Tee times were at 11:40 and 11:50 a.m. With breakfast and warm-ups, most of us had a chance to sleep in.
With a green fee of $21.11 per hole, Pebble Beach was by far, the most expensive course any of us had ever played. Oh lets not forget about the $60 for the caddy and the Ben Franklin tip. Maybe a second mortgage on the house wouldn’t be such a bad thing? Expectations were high and rightfully so.
If that wasn’t enough of a golf investment, by some strange PB conspiracy, it was cold – in California – in July. What are the odds of that? Considering that all of us traveled from areas where temperatures were nipping at the 100’s, not a single one of us was prepared for cold, overcast, and 58 degrees. We needed gear – coincidentally gear with the famous Pebble Beach logo. Now, some logos have more value than others and by the luck of the draw, Pebble Beach is at the high end and charged accordingly. (“Excuse me miss, what is the multiplier on this shirt?”) In little less than a half hour of pro shop action, our group dropped more than two grand on NO TOLERANCE wind gear and Nike mock necks. Chasing the TOP 100 courses was going to get expensive. Maybe we can start robbing the TOP 100 convenience stores on the weekends?
The other thing about Pebble that most novices should be forewarned about is the first tee box. The starter is some chap wearing knickers with an English accent who politely explains the nuisances of the course and tries to lower your anxiety levels. Then you’ve got your soon-to-be double-bagging caddies that try to ease your fears and figure out the personalities of the group. Things are pretty good at this point. Then … (JAWS MUSIC GOES HERE), while taking some warm up swings, you discover that there are about 100 tourist-types standing around the peripherals of the tee box -- waiting for you to top your drive about eight yards and laugh their asses off. Just great!!
The first group off was Adkins, Werner, Dee and Allen, followed by Berger, Suzda, Jones, and Baltzley. Most of us were nervous and gripped our drivers like a ladder rung on the side of a ten story building. Surprisingly, after some extreme peer pressure and bad jokes, everyone got it into play on the first ball, some better than others. I managed to dump it in the sand twice on the first hole; once at the slight dogleg in the fairway and again on the right side of the green. However, a 10 foot putt salvaged a double-sandy par. Man, I love this place! But getting cocky at Pebble is like slapping a Pit Bull in the face with a piece of meat. Most holes can be conquered, but a few will have you deep in a wintry wonderland (i.e. – see snowman). Our group’s scores ranged from a 76 to a winter-friendly 125.
It is strange to note that Pebble Beach isn’t in the greatest of shape when tournaments are not in the near future. Because of the high traffic on the course, it’s a little rough around the edges. But when you take into account that you are walking on the same course as many of the sports greatest linksters, you politely turn a blind eye. What you will remember the most about Pebble is the PAR 3’s, and the other three holes directly on the water – mainly number 18. If you don’t pause at the 18th tee box and duplicate the Jack Nicholas retirement pose and photograph
on the fence, you are going to have to empty your 401K to play here again.
Thursday was all about the Spanish Bay Golf Links, with back-to-back rounds, something that would become a staple at future Golfests. Get up, eat, warm up, play 18, eat, play 18 more, eat, drink and crash. Most people either really love Spanish Bay, or would rather take a knee to the groin. It’s a love-hate type of relationship. (As you can see, Todd Baltzley loved the joint) Our group was 50-50 on the love-hate scale, but entertained either way, with a variety of games and bad jokes. Things got tricky in the afternoon when the wind machine kicked up to the 25 mph range. There is nothing like hitting a three-wood on a 160-yard par three.
The ace of the Pebble Beach courses – unless you are a King and can get on Cypress Point – is Spyglass Golf Course. Playing this course on PlayStation really doesn’t do it any justice. Some of the opening holes are unique in their own right with doglegs being the norm, trees that are always in play and more ice-plant
than normally seen on a course. After dropping our $275 green fees, our groups were the first off and nailed this baby in four-hours. This course has a lot of personality with a lot of elevation changes, ocean views and uniquely shaped golf holes. It quickly became the favorite of the trip.
The bottom line? We nailed three courses from the list: Number one ranked Pebble Beach, the ninth rated Spyglass and the 62nd best course in the country – Spanish Bay. Not a bad start! The place is worth every penny, or in this case, stacks of bills with Ben Franklins on them. We would do it again in a heartbeat!
With a green fee of $21.11 per hole, Pebble Beach was by far, the most expensive course any of us had ever played. Oh lets not forget about the $60 for the caddy and the Ben Franklin tip. Maybe a second mortgage on the house wouldn’t be such a bad thing? Expectations were high and rightfully so. If that wasn’t enough of a golf investment, by some strange PB conspiracy, it was cold – in California – in July. What are the odds of that? Considering that all of us traveled from areas where temperatures were nipping at the 100’s, not a single one of us was prepared for cold, overcast, and 58 degrees. We needed gear – coincidentally gear with the famous Pebble Beach logo. Now, some logos have more value than others and by the luck of the draw, Pebble Beach is at the high end and charged accordingly. (“Excuse me miss, what is the multiplier on this shirt?”) In little less than a half hour of pro shop action, our group dropped more than two grand on NO TOLERANCE wind gear and Nike mock necks. Chasing the TOP 100 courses was going to get expensive. Maybe we can start robbing the TOP 100 convenience stores on the weekends?
The other thing about Pebble that most novices should be forewarned about is the first tee box. The starter is some chap wearing knickers with an English accent who politely explains the nuisances of the course and tries to lower your anxiety levels. Then you’ve got your soon-to-be double-bagging caddies that try to ease your fears and figure out the personalities of the group. Things are pretty good at this point. Then … (JAWS MUSIC GOES HERE), while taking some warm up swings, you discover that there are about 100 tourist-types standing around the peripherals of the tee box -- waiting for you to top your drive about eight yards and laugh their asses off. Just great!!
The first group off was Adkins, Werner, Dee and Allen, followed by Berger, Suzda, Jones, and Baltzley. Most of us were nervous and gripped our drivers like a ladder rung on the side of a ten story building. Surprisingly, after some extreme peer pressure and bad jokes, everyone got it into play on the first ball, some better than others. I managed to dump it in the sand twice on the first hole; once at the slight dogleg in the fairway and again on the right side of the green. However, a 10 foot putt salvaged a double-sandy par. Man, I love this place! But getting cocky at Pebble is like slapping a Pit Bull in the face with a piece of meat. Most holes can be conquered, but a few will have you deep in a wintry wonderland (i.e. – see snowman). Our group’s scores ranged from a 76 to a winter-friendly 125. It is strange to note that Pebble Beach isn’t in the greatest of shape when tournaments are not in the near future. Because of the high traffic on the course, it’s a little rough around the edges. But when you take into account that you are walking on the same course as many of the sports greatest linksters, you politely turn a blind eye. What you will remember the most about Pebble is the PAR 3’s, and the other three holes directly on the water – mainly number 18. If you don’t pause at the 18th tee box and duplicate the Jack Nicholas retirement pose and photograph
on the fence, you are going to have to empty your 401K to play here again.Thursday was all about the Spanish Bay Golf Links, with back-to-back rounds, something that would become a staple at future Golfests. Get up, eat, warm up, play 18, eat, play 18 more, eat, drink and crash. Most people either really love Spanish Bay, or would rather take a knee to the groin. It’s a love-hate type of relationship. (As you can see, Todd Baltzley loved the joint) Our group was 50-50 on the love-hate scale, but entertained either way, with a variety of games and bad jokes. Things got tricky in the afternoon when the wind machine kicked up to the 25 mph range. There is nothing like hitting a three-wood on a 160-yard par three.
The ace of the Pebble Beach courses – unless you are a King and can get on Cypress Point – is Spyglass Golf Course. Playing this course on PlayStation really doesn’t do it any justice. Some of the opening holes are unique in their own right with doglegs being the norm, trees that are always in play and more ice-plant
than normally seen on a course. After dropping our $275 green fees, our groups were the first off and nailed this baby in four-hours. This course has a lot of personality with a lot of elevation changes, ocean views and uniquely shaped golf holes. It quickly became the favorite of the trip. The bottom line? We nailed three courses from the list: Number one ranked Pebble Beach, the ninth rated Spyglass and the 62nd best course in the country – Spanish Bay. Not a bad start! The place is worth every penny, or in this case, stacks of bills with Ben Franklins on them. We would do it again in a heartbeat!
This site was created on June 15, 2007.
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