Pacific Dunes (PD) was the best Doak course I had seen - that is - until I saw OM.
After quite an uninspiring starting hole which is somewhat a little out of character with the rest of the layout the course certainly “opens up” thereafter and has a superb routing. It moves out to the ocean very quickly before coming back inland to then touch it again before the final trek home.
Doak is certainly not afraid to do things a little bit differently – back to back P3’s after the turn and three P3’s and three P5’s spread amongst three P4’s is a bold way to build a back nine. That coupled with a ninth hole that has distinctly different upper and lower greens you get a feeling that he is more interested in trying to find the best holes rather than applying a specific formula to his routing to which he should be commended.
PD very much encourages one to leave the SW “flop shot” skills at home and really focus on testing one’s ground game moreso. Don’t get me wrong the SW is certainly not a redundant club it’s just that with the tight lies and angles to the greens a deft touch with say a 7I and putter are just as good as one who likes to take an aerial approach around the greens.
It’s a credit to his skills as a designer that he can build seven P4’s on the F9 with such wonderful variety that you almost miss that very fact. I think his P3’s and P5’s as collections are stronger at OM but the debate can rage on as to one’s favourite layout at the facility – they are both mighty fine courses.
Holes I noted:
1st = a reasonably short P4 of around 370yds with a wicked greensite. There is more width off the tee than one first may feel – I took a long iron and it wasn’t a bad choice with the firm’n’fast conditions providing plenty of “run”. I only question this hole in relation to the rest of the layout where the width off the tee is obvious ?
2nd = a common theme at PD is the use of centreline bunkering to ask questions of the golfer. Which line do I want to take ? And one can work backwards from the green to the tee on this 370yd P4 with a punchbowl green. The great thing about centreline bunkering is that it makes people make choices off the tee rather than steering them around a layout with fairway lined bunkering.
4th = this “clifftop” hole is as good as any of its more famous relatives at Pebble Beach and Ballybunion in the strength of its simple strategy. The bunkers off the tee left and relatively close the green almost “force” one to flirt with the cliffs if they want the more direct line to the green. It’s a beautiful hole and as a 463yd P4 isn’t exactly short for size either.
6th = this short P4 at 316yds is a great teaser. One is presented with a wide fairway with a lone bunker in the dune right protecting the most direct line into the green. The width off the drive is more than compensated by the narrowness of the green with a bunker protecting the “fat” left side in and a steep fallaway to the right. A simple yet great strategic hole.
10th = a P3 of enormous elasticity from 135-206yds – I was particularly pleased with my tee shot to birdie territory only to be out-done by a hole in one !! The great thing about the hole is that it proves that you don’t need to bunker a greensite to make it a challenge. The contours in the green and effects of the wind on the exposed relatively narrow greensite provide enough of a challenge.
11th = not as dramatic as the B2B P3’s at Cypress Point but a solid combination all the same. The bunkers and a steep back to front slope make this short 150yd hole no pushover.
13th = I’m sure Tom was well pleased to discover such a “dramatic” looking hole on this 444yds beauty. It shares the same land as the 6th and has probably the widest fairway on the course that then progressively narrows to the green. Very similar in style to the 4th yet it plays in the opposite direction. The hole is further enhanced by a lovely false front greensite and a large sand blow-out to the right adds to the wonderful look and feel that this hole affords.
15th = I thought that this was the best P5 on the layout – primarily in the fact that all the other P5’s placed a similar emphasis on missing the greenside bunkers. This 540yd hole doesn’t need them – with the fantastic greensite with its knob and fallaways placing enough emphasis on the strength and quality of the approach.
This is a very impressive layout with some very thoughtful yet challenging holes. Its strength lies in the many half-par holes and the way the routing considers the wind impacts that one will get throughout the round. Very clever use of the land re: the transitioning of the holes and greensites that sit perfectly on the natural terrain.
Who needs to go the great “links” of GB&I when you’ve got OM and PD from the stable of Tom Doak right next to one another ?