Pat,
Being the case, I like how one of a kind the sixteenth hole at Cypress is. Though perhaps an ideal spot for the ultimate biarritz, the hole would lose it's originailty if it was a template hole.
I consider the hole perfect. Have you ever played a better par-3? Have you ever played a better hole?
Besides the fact the site would allow for the ultimate biarritz, do you really believe it would make the hole better than it is now?
I don't believe having the sixteenth at Cypress as a template would improve the hole, even if it was the best biarritz in the world.
While I mostly disagree with Jordan's estimation of the hole, I too would not change a thing. It is way too long and exposed to the environment to have a small canal perpendicular to the line of flight splitting the green (though it would make it more dicey for the "strategy" types who lay up to the left). For many, getting the ball on dry land is a major achievement. Having a 60'+ putt over a sizable swale would deflate the glorious experience of hitting the green with a good chance to two-putt for par.
I think that #16 is actually not a very good par 3 and hardly a "template" hole. For most visitors it is a high risk all-or-nothing one shot hole- you either stay on the course somewhere on or near the green or you keep reteeing until you do so, or give up and take an illegal drop. I don't know the membership, but I suspect that a good number can't make or don't even attempt the carry. In effect, for them it plays more like a par 4 with still a not-so-easy forced carry.
In my opinion, four things make #16 famous: 1) the outstanding natural beauty of the setting, 2) its juxtapostion with the very "ideal" short #15, 3) the wonderful walk from #15 green to #16 tee with the anticipation of what awaits at the end, 4) how CPC chooses to characterize the edges of the course- i.e. no boundaries. Line the cliffs in red or yellow, and the complexion of the hole changes considerably.
I think I agree (though I've only played Cypress in my dreams). Many call this the finest golf hole in the world, but isn't it just an all or nothing manhood measuring contest? #10 at Riveria or #18 at Pebble surely offer more strategic elements, and in my mind are much better candidates as the finest hole in golf (never played them either).
Jed,
Having played all the holes you mention, the sixteenth at Cypress is in equal terms with regards to strategic merit as the tenth at Riviera and the eighteenth at Pebble.
The difference between those holes is the length and par of each, which in this case does make a difference. As a par-3, the sixteenth at Cypress has one primary shot, the tee shot, with which shines the strategic merit.
In this shot, one can choose to be a hero by going for the green, and being that one is playing Cypress and is probably not likely to get that chance many times, that is the shot that most will try. However, one can also choose to lay up. The closer one lays up the cliff, the better the angle to green, and usually the shorter the second shot.
The only shot that provides the same excitement from the other holes you mention is the tee shot at the tenth at Riviera, where many options abound. The only difference is, there is not the same heroic nature in going for the green at Riviera as there is at Cypress, because the penalty if you do not make it far less severe. Remember, if you miss at Cypress, it's three from the tee.
Pebble's eighteenth is a wonderful hole as well and provides its own strategic merit. Included in this is a cape like tee shot over the ocean, and a second shot that requires decisive thinking for where to lay up or perhaps go for the green. The closer to the ocean on the second shot, the better the angle to the green, and naturally, the closer the tee shot to the ocean, the better angle to go for the green in two. The tee shot also provides more of a heroic nature than that of Riviera because again, if you duck it into the ocean, it's three from the tee.
Riviera's gets it's strength from it's abundance of options off the tee, and the wonderfully unique green that alters plays from the tee and the approach.
The main difference I see between these three holes, however, is the fact that the sixteenth at Cypress plays mind games with the players. When someone plays Cypress for the first time, the shot they think about the entire round is that tee shot on sixteen. This is not the case with the tenth at Riviera or the eighteenth at Pebble, or at least not as much so at the sixteenth at Cypress.
In any case, all three are great holes and are surely among the best in the world.
To get back to Pat's question, even if the sexteenth at Cypress was a biarritz, it would just be too hard at 230+ yards.
And in thinking, if the hole was a biarritz and ultimately the green had been moved left and not on the bluff to which it currently plays, how might that have adversey affected the seventeenth hole?
I don't believe there to be a better way to design the sixteenth and seventeenth holes. How can you argue with the games strongest par-3?