Cypress Point Club (Pics)

[Link Walsh]

Does #12 play similar to #8?  They both look to be dogleg rights around a dune where the better angle is to the inside off the tee?  I guess #12 is longer and #8 looked more uphill for the approach, but I'm just curious.  They both look awesome.  Do they play in similar wind directions? 

[Bill_McBride]

The blind tee shot on #8 is across the dune and pretty much to the east.  The drive on #12 is more to the SE.  The approach shots are pretty similar.

[Jim Colton]

Does #12 play similar to #8?  They both look to be dogleg rights around a dune where the better angle is to the inside off the tee?  I guess #12 is longer and #8 looked more uphill for the approach, but I'm just curious.  They both look awesome.  Do they play in similar wind directions? 

Link, you can find an aerial here: http://www.golfblog100.com/2010/04/cypress-point-club.html

[Sean Leary]

The blind tee shot on #8 is across the dune and pretty much to the east.  The drive on #12 is more to the SE.  The approach shots are pretty similar.

Bill,

Did you play the Reverse Cypress Point? Cool!!!!

[Link Walsh]

Does #12 play similar to #8?  They both look to be dogleg rights around a dune where the better angle is to the inside off the tee?  I guess #12 is longer and #8 looked more uphill for the approach, but I'm just curious.  They both look awesome.  Do they play in similar wind directions? 

Link, you can find an aerial here: http://www.golfblog100.com/2010/04/cypress-point-club.html

Thanks.  I was just looking for it on Google Maps.

[Jim Colton]

14th Hole - Par 4, 393 Yards
An uphill, dogleg right par 4 to a narrow green.  It's fairly obvious from the pics below that you need to be down the left side of the fairway, as it narrows down to a chute right about 280 yards and any miss right will be blocked by the large clump of trees.  I could do without the small cypress trees directly behind the green, providing a skyline or oceanline view if they weren't there, but I doubt they'll be bringing out the chainsaw anytime soon.

[Jordan Wall]

I miss the view on fourteen tee.  I remember the first time I stepped onto that tee, thinking wow, this is real!  A lot of credit goes, deservingly, to fifteen through seventeen, but that view on fourteen just blew me away, probably because I wasn't expecting it.

Awesome photos Jim, thank you!

[Scott Szabo]

I know that holes 15-17 are what most people think about when they think about CP, but Jim's 3rd picture of hole #13 with the fantastic bunkering may be my favorite. 

[Matthew Petersen]

I don't have Google Earth on this computer (and can't download it since I'm at work), so can anyone who does have it measure the distance on a direct line from 8 tee to the front of the green?

I have a feeling it's not the distance of the shot that Tiger supposedly hit there that's impressive so much as being able to get it up and over the dune and have the right line, but I'm still curious how far one needs to hit it.

[Alex Miller]

302 on the fly. 

[Matthew Petersen]

302 on the fly. 

Thank you, Alex.

Wow. That's a long way to fly it blind over a dune such as the one in those photos.

[Jim Colton]

15th Hole - Par 3, 135 Yards
After the 14th hole, you walk about 100 yards down a paved, Oceanside path, around a slight bend and then...BAM! a broad view of the 15th and 16th holes. A birdie hole if your name is Tim Bert, a well-protected short par 3 for the rest of us, the 15th is more beautiful then it is deadly.  A good contrast to the much tougher 16th.

[Michael Taylor]

I love how the front left bunker just 'bleeds' into the rocks. Sexy stuff.

[Ron Csigo]

Love the boomerang shaped green.

Jim - Just curious, what did you hit into this green?

[Jim Colton]

Ron,

  I hit a gap wedge into the 15th.  I thought I needed to step on it a little to get it there and ended up in the back left bunker.

As I recall, the 16th hole at CPC was pretty non-descript, so let's move to the 17th.

17th Hole - Par 4, 386 Yards
Another beautiful hole right along the ocean.  The fairway between the cypress and the ocean is impossibly narrow and doesn't seem to be a viable route of the tee.  Do people actually aim down the right side?  Has the width of that side narrowed over the years due to erosion?  That said, finding the right side successfully (or luckily) does provide a clear view of the green, where only the very long or very left tee shots to the left fairway don't have cypress to deal with.  The good news is it will likely be wedge or less into the green, providing the chance to get above the trees quickly if necessary.

[Alex Miller]

As I recall, the 16th hole at CPC was pretty non-descript, so let's move to the 17th.

That is not funny...


Great thread, can't get enough of CPC!

[Jim Colton]

Alright, Alex...if you insist.

16th Hole - Par 3, 233 Yards
What can you say that hasn't already been said?  Is there a more beautiful golf hole in the world?  And it's as terrifying as it is glorious.  Coming in, I underestimated just how 'all or nothing' the tee shot really is.  There's plenty of room to bail out left, but you have to lay way back if you're going to go that route (and as a once-in-a-lifer, are you really going to lay up?)  What a golf hole!

[George Freeman]

Jim, well....?

Hit the green in one?  Make a par?  Lets here some details!

Great pics by the way and thanks for sharing.

- George

[Gareth Williams]

On that day what club/s did you take on 16?

[Jim Colton]

18th Hole - Par 4, 346 Yards
Kyle H. aptly called this the most bittersweet walk in golf, although you might want to insert the word 'tightrope' in there somewhere.  It's hard to even tell there's fairway in those first two pictures, but the optimal drive will carry the large left tree but not travel more than 230-240 yards to have an opening to this small green.  Oh, how you wish you could just march straight back to the first tee and start all over again.

[Jed Rammell]

Thank you for taking the time to share, Jim. The combination of the bunkering and the trees is like nothing I have ever seen before. Looks like heaven.

[Ron Csigo]

On that day what club/s did you take on 16?

Gareth/George,

I've attached the link to Jim's blog below relative to his experience on the 16th at CPC.

I'm sure you'll both enjoy the read.

http://www.wegoblogger31.com/2010/04/three-days-in-california.html

[Jim Colton]

Ron,

  The emotional scars have yet to heal.

[Ron Csigo]

I know how you feel Jim.  I had a similar type of disappointment at TPC Sawgrass. The first time I played the 17th @ the TPC Sawgrass, I had the honors and was hitting first.  Like the 16th at CPC, carrying the water and hitting the green basically defines your round and your trip because it's the first question that most people ask about.  Anyway, halfway through my downswing, one of the groundskeeping staff members, situated approximately 20 feet away from us, felt that it was the perfect moment for him to fire up his lawnmower.  Needless to say I caught it just a little fat and unfortuately needed an additional 125 yards of carry to reach the green.  

So, you're in good company Jim.  I'm sure each one of us has emotional scars.  

[Bill_McBride]

The blind tee shot on #8 is across the dune and pretty much to the east.  The drive on #12 is more to the SE.  The approach shots are pretty similar.

Bill,

Did you play the Reverse Cypress Point? Cool!!!!

Sean, was I geographically challenged?