Pebble Beach Stinks

[Jeff_Lewis]

As a golf experience.

I was there last week and it felt like some weird cross between golf, going to the Statue of Liberty and going to Mt. Rushmore.   Its a tourist experience, not a golf one.  One of my group had a walking issue and needed a cart.  He walked more from the cart paths to his ball than I did without the cart.  I wanted a caddy and there were none to be had. Our round was nearly 5:30.

Pebble may be one of the 10-20 great courses in the world architecturally, but I won't be back until I secure a 7 am tee time and my 8 year old son is ready to join me there in my last round on the course. I'd put it about number 150 on my list of golf experiences, which is really, really sad.  

[astavrides]

as far as stinky experiences go, it is one of the better ones.

[Jason Thurman]

Yeah, I'm sorry you had a bad time. Personally, I find it to be a much better experience than a lot of other courses of its ilk. I'll go back to Pebble 5 times before I go back to Pinehurst (unless my mother follows through on her pledge to retire in Pinehurst and join the club, in which case I'll obviously go visit her and play her course with her, but I'll skip the damn nickel-diming resort).

Seriously, what did you expect in terms of tourist activity? I'm not surprised by your analogy. I'm just surprised you were surprised. It's sort of like complaining that the top of the Eiffel Tower isn't really a good place for a private, romantic marriage proposal. Personally, I find Pebble's relatively open-armed practices regarding tourist management to be one of its greatest charms. It's an awfully pricey place, but it's certainly not one that excludes anyone who loves the game of golf and wants to see one of its greatest treasures in person. I wish there were a lot more great courses so willing to accommodate well-mannered visitors.

[mike_beene]

Any place that let's you carry your own bag is worth supporting( and they do require a lot of "support").Try putting your bag on your shoulder at Pomehurst and they have an insecure temper tantrum. I have always enjoyed Pebble.If you can't enjoy a 6 hour round there you need new glasses,new ears and a new nose.

[Tim Leahy]

If you can't enjoy 5.5 hours on Pebble, maybe you need to stick to the dawn patrol at the local muni!

[Matt Bosela]

Interesting...I'm playing PB for the first time in two days so this is a timely thread.

I spent a few hours there tonight with my wife and young son - we had dinner, shopped a bit and the staff there were unbelievably gracious at every turn. They even let the three of us take a cart and drive around the course to check it out.  I didn't even ask - they asked us if we wanted to take a ride.

I was very impressed and it was one of those great moments that make a vacation.  I absolutely can't wait to return on Thursday for my game there.

[Brent Carlson]

Pebble is one place I wouldn't mind playing a longer round.  Yes it's too expensive but I love the place.  Can't wait to get back in fact.  Enjoy the experience.  The customer service is exemplary.  If Pebble were private I dare say it may be #1 in the USA.

PS - our round was four hours exactly, albeit early in the AM. 

BC

[Connor Dougherty]

I had the privilege of playing it once with my dad being the first tee time out. I ended up playing in 4 1/2 hours, the only time I've ever taken that long, but it was cause I couldn't get over the beauty of the place, and since no one was in front of us, it just seemed even more beautiful and tranquil.

There are things I'd love to change about Pebble and the experience (for one, I'd love for them to have a "culture" of walking, where it was clear that the resort frowned upon the use of carts but allowed it, or allow the NCGA to stage the occasional event on the course) but as far as experiences go, it's up there. I always chastise the course for little things, but every time I can't wait to get back and play it.

[Mark Pearce]

I don't want to play in 5.5 hours ANYWHERE. It's only a golf course - I have yet to play a round where waiting on every single shot was a fun experience.

This.

[Scott Warren]

More than 5hrs and you can have it, I don't care which course it is.

[Ally Mcintosh]

I don't want to play in 5.5 hours ANYWHERE. It's only a golf course - I have yet to play a round where waiting on every single shot was a fun experience.

This.

This x 2…

Plus I am almost allergic to any experience that feels like I am being herded through a tourist trail…

So, even though I’d love to see the architecture at Pebble, I have a lot more courses I’d rather see first (or at least play first)

[William_G]

Pebble is one of my favorite courses, but I do avoid it because of the cost and the possible tourist/bumper to bumper round of golf, and walking is not encouraged.

It is a lot of fun to walk the course in the morning or evening or during a tournament as a spectator.

I do think the small greens slow down play for the retail golfer.

The first tee time can be great in terms of speed of play but it's not really the best time to enjoy the course.

Just curious if it's the total time or is the waiting for each shot that is the problem for most folks?

For me it's the waiting.

[Sean_A]

Pebble is one of my favorite courses, but I do avoid it because of the cost and the possible tourist/bumper to bumper round of golf, and walking is not encouraged.

It is a lot of fun to walk the course in the morning or evening or during a tournament as a spectator.

I do think the small greens slow down play for the retail golfer.

The first tee time can be great in terms of speed of play but it's not really the best time to enjoy the course.

Just curious if it's the total time or is the waiting for each shot that is the problem for most folks?

For me it's the waiting.

William

I understand what you are saying.  There are factors involved in a long game.

Is a 2 ball waiting on 4 balls?  Its much less a problem in terms of waiting if yer a 4 ball.

Is the long game due to looking for balls or waiting?  For me, either situation gets old very quickly, but looking is probably a bit more tolerable than just standing around. Well, better in terms of 4.5 hours not being too bad as a 4 ball on a special course.  

I can't get my head around 5.5 hours for any reason.  This would be very disheartening for me especially if I paid 5 bills.  I would be very pissed off because half that green fee relies heavily on delivering the experience and there is no way 5.5 hours can possibly help the experience.  Needless to say, Pebble is not high on my list of wanna plays.

Ciao    

[Scott Warren]

Brian,

I think the reality is Pebble will never offer up the kind of overall experience that the other top 10 / 20 courses that are private will. It's a total factory. But it was nice to see it.

The Old Course and Barnbougle Dunes are destination World Top 50 public courses that draw tourist golfers the same way Pebble does, yet both have round times close to, if not better than, 4hrs.

Why can't Pebble do that if its peers can?

5hrs is unnecessary unless really bad weather or some other outside influence is involved.

[Paul Gray]

.....The customer service is exemplary........

BC

 

[Jeff Evagues]

Yeah, I'm sorry you had a bad time. Personally, I find it to be a much better experience than a lot of other courses of its ilk. I'll go back to Pebble 5 times before I go back to Pinehurst (unless my mother follows through on her pledge to retire in Pinehurst and join the club, in which case I'll obviously go visit her and play her course with her, but I'll skip the damn nickel-diming resort).

Seriously, what did you expect in terms of tourist activity? I'm not surprised by your analogy. I'm just surprised you were surprised. It's sort of like complaining that the top of the Eiffel Tower isn't really a good place for a private, romantic marriage proposal. Personally, I find Pebble's relatively open-armed practices regarding tourist management to be one of its greatest charms. It's an awfully pricey place, but it's certainly not one that excludes anyone who loves the game of golf and wants to see one of its greatest treasures in person. I wish there were a lot more great courses so willing to accommodate well-mannered visitors.

I was thinking of a Pinehurst trip in the next 18 months. Could you highlight why this might not be a good idea?

[Thomas Dai]

Ah, the golf tourist vrs the golfing purist. An interesting issue. I can't begrudge anyone wanting to play interesting courses and especially in todays economy the £$£$ they bring in is very, very nice, if not vital, however, I do find myself sympathising with Jeff's comments in his introductory post.

Some friends and I had a not to dissimilar experience at Royal Dornoch a while back. Four Ronald McDonald look-a-likes chatting loudly about all the courses they's already played on their 'tour of Ireland and Scotland' teed off a few groups in front of us. As golfers they were so poor as to be a safety hazard and as to etiquette and manners, well they simply didn't have any. After only a few holes there was a 6 hole gap in front of them and a long queue of disgruntled folk waiting on every tee and fairway behind. Now I love the course at Royal Dornoch, but if this is the kind of thing you can expect there, and from some enquiries it didn't seem that unusual, then the next time I'm up that far north I'll ignore Royal Dornoch and spend my time and £$£$ at Brora, Tain, Golspie, Fortrose and Portmahomack instead (Skibo not being appropriate without funding from a lottery win).

All the best

[David_Tepper]

Thomas Dai -

Having spent the past 3 1/2 weeks in Dornoch, I can assure you the powers that be are monitoring and marshaling the pace of play issue there very closely. I don't know how long ago the incident you mention occurred, but I doubt something like that will happen again in the foreseeable future.

That being said, all the other courses you mention are indeed well worth playing.

DT

[Terry Lavin]

Agreed. Here's one sure way to fix Pebble's malaise: Bandonize it by making it walking only.

[jeffwarne]

The clue to why later rounds take
5 and 1/2 hours, lies in a seemingly innocent post on this thread.
Amazed no one has pointed that out yet, and it is a major failing of management if they ever hope to improve on pace.

[Mark Bourgeois]

The clue to why later rounds take
5 and 1/2 hours, lies in a seemingly innocent post on this thread.
Amazed no one has pointed that out yet, and it is a major failing of management if they ever hope to improve on pace.

I noticed it too and couldn't believe nobody picked up on it either. Courses really need to enforce first-out "speed slot" times.

[Brent Hutto]

I've not played Pebble. But our group at Cypress Point played at what I thought was a very relaxed and sedate pace. Many,  many photos were snapped. Many shots were hit. The views, which I'd think are somewhat comparable to Pebble's, were fully experienced. And it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-1/2 hours. Maybe a bit less, certainly no more than that.

So I think the extra hour at Pebble Beach is probably due to casual or infrequent golfers, in foursomes, playing CART PATH ONLY on a course that is a once in a lifetime experience....meaning 4-1/2 hours for the once-in-a-lifetime experience and one extra hour for CART PATH ONLY.

Any course that has someone playing CART PATH ONLY either with or ahead of me is a course to be missed.

[Sean_A]

The clue to why later rounds take
5 and 1/2 hours, lies in a seemingly innocent post on this thread.
Amazed no one has pointed that out yet, and it is a major failing of management if they ever hope to improve on pace.

I think people cottoned onto the shark, but no one seems to blame guys for taking their time at Pebble.  And to be fair, at 5 bills a go its hard not to see their PoV.  This is a very bad fallout from visiting for the experience as much as anything else.  People pay a ton of dosh and therefore feel entitled to take it ALL in.  Pebble is an extreme example, but it exists in the GB&I as well.  Its just that members know when the buses arrive and sensibly stay away.  We had a shocker at Lahinch last year and it was very obvious to us what the problem was.  Except that folks (including club employees) were blaming our group!  That prompted a curt email to the secretary from myself pointing out that the next morning without the slow 4ball who were allowed to cut in front of us by the starter, we went round 3.5 hours compared to 5 hours the previous day.  In that great Irish way the Sec was sweet as roses...

Ciao

[jeffwarne]

I'm 100% sure the first group held up no one, thus they felt no need to rush.
Management has to ne sure no gaps form early., as no doubt group 1 felt no pressure and finished at 4 1/2 meaning group 2 was worse than that and so it goes, then rangers finish breakfast and begin to work, but alas it is all over

[Josh Tarble]

So I think the extra hour at Pebble Beach is probably due to casual or infrequent golfers, in foursomes, playing CART PATH ONLY on a course that is a once in a lifetime experience....meaning 4-1/2 hours for the once-in-a-lifetime experience and one extra hour for CART PATH ONLY.

I think this is the main reason for the extremely slow rounds - Pebble is the place that a once-a-year or even once-a-lifetime player goes and hacks it around.  They may even know to play fast, but when you're taking 150 shots, it takes a long time.

It is actually quite similar to the Brickyard Crossing here in Indianapolis.  The rangers can do the best they can, but when you have John Smith playing for the first time in three years, all the etiquette and quickness in the world aren't going to make up for 150 strokes.