[jonathan_becker]

I was in Monterey for a few days at the end of October and I thought I would share a few photos of how things are looking at Pebble Beach.  Pebble Beach….the king of American public golf even though many here might disagree with that statement. 

I had walked the course back in 2003, and everyone knows all the holes from the AT&T, but I was quickly reminded how small the putting surfaces are throughout the entire 18 holes!  Pebble Beach has to easily have the smallest greens in major championship golf, correct?  

In all of my travels throughout America, the Monterey Peninsula is probably the most beautiful place I’ve been in the lower 48.  The setting of Pebble Beach does not disappoint in this regard, and even though most of the round was cloud covered, on a few holes the sun peaked out a couple times.

So, here’s a shot or so from each hole and for those of you that haven’t been there for a while you can compare/contrast what’s currently there with what you remember. This is mainly just a photo op but feel free to discuss as well.   Enjoy.

100 yards into the first



Huge bunker in the ditch on 2



2 green



Coming around the corner on 3



4 tee



Greenside on 4 looking at 6 green way out there



4 green from 5 tee



The par 3 5th



5 green



6 tee



Over by the left fw bunkers



Greensite



Boom….money shot of 7 looking from the back of 6 green



From just short



Looking at 9 and 10 from the far right on 8



Approach on 8



Greenside left



Up and over the rise on 9



New front left hole location on 9



Left fw bunker on 10



Back up 10



10 green from 11 tee – there’s some sun



Approach into 11



Coming up on 12



13 tee



Looking back on 13



Getting ready to round the bend on 14




Third into 14



Tiny target!



15 tee



Looking back



16 tee



Approach



From short



17 green



Closer….ehhhhh



18 tee



Some friends

[Carl Nichols]

"In all of my travels throughout America, the Monterey Peninsula is probably the most beautiful place I’ve been in the lower 48."  Hard to argue that it's certainly in the running--probably just personal preference among the top spots.

How did you play?

[Eric Smith]

I was in Monterey for a few days at the end of October

[jonathan_becker]

Carl,

Personal preference for sure.  Considering it took only 5:45 to complete the round, I didn't play too bad!  I made a few birdies out there.

Eric,

 

[Thomas Dai]

Now I realise how small the greens are - and if only the first cut of rough were shorter (or non-existent) shots missing the greens/fairways might roll into some really interesting positions. But then rounds might take even longer than the times mentioned on GCA before.

Well done and many thanks for sharing.

All the best

[jonathan_becker]

Now I realise how small the greens are.

Thomas,

If I was in charge, which I'm not  , in my opinion, something should be done to reclaim 17 green.  Crazy narrow

[Joshua Pettit]

Now I realise how small the greens are.

Thomas,

If I was in charge, which I'm not  , in my opinion, something should be done to reclaim 17 green.  Crazy narrow

I agree Jonathan.

[Josh Stevens]

Jeepers those greens barely exist.  Were they always so small, or have they just shrunk over time

Surely this cant be a good thing - a small green here and there is nice, but to have 18 postage stamps is taking away a large component of the game. The greens are small and flat and the green surrounds seems flat and largely made of long grass.  Or am I missing something - where is the fun?

[jonathan_becker]

Now I realise how small the greens are.

Thomas,

If I was in charge, which I'm not  , in my opinion, something should be done to reclaim 17 green.  Crazy narrow

I agree Jonathan.

Wow!  Thanks for posting.  Most of the old school photos of Pebble look amazing.  Especially old photos of #7

[Terry Lavin]

The greens are small, but that's no small part of the defense of the golf course.  The thing that pains me slightly is just how manicured everything looks out at Pebble Beach.  It's looking more and more like Augusta Ocean Links.  If one wanders through the Lodge, there are dozens of old black-and-white blown up photos of the course as it existed decades ago.  A much rougher, hardier, seaside look is omnipresent.  Now, not so much.  Too bad.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Terry, here is a better looking presentation IMO.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113763297251437641936/Pebble

[Ben Kodadek]

If this wasn't Pebble, this photo tour would be panned on this site.    Shrunken greens, lack of width, glowing white bunkers and hideous cart paths. 

[Josh Tarble]

Terry, here is a better looking presentation IMO.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113763297251437641936/Pebble

Wow! The 7th hole is spectacular there!

To be honest though, I think it's hard to tell there's been a ton of green shrinkage.  They look pretty small in that SWoG too. 

[BCowan]

The greens are small, but that's no small part of the defense of the golf course.  The thing that pains me slightly is just how manicured everything looks out at Pebble Beach.  It's looking more and more like Augusta Ocean Links.  If one wanders through the Lodge, there are dozens of old black-and-white blown up photos of the course as it existed decades ago.  A much rougher, hardier, seaside look is omnipresent.  Now, not so much.  Too bad.

    I agree completely.  The Golden Age of Golf Design by Shackelford is a must have book.  You can see how incredible courses were and have been ruined over time by well intentioned folks.  Luckily they restored #2 pretty close to the original design.  Can't wait to play Mid Pines on Saturday!

[Joe_Tucholski]

If this wasn't Pebble, this photo tour would be panned on this site.    Shrunken greens, lack of width, glowing white bunkers and hideous cart paths. 

Really?  You aren't impressed with a number of these photos?  Specifically photos of #5-#10.

[Greg Gilson]

Jonathon, thanks for the photos. Lots of eye candy there. I have not played PBGL in 10 years (will be there late January but undecided about playing) - cannot really recall the greens , except that I didn't hit many. So maybe that was because they are so small? I did have the chance to play Inverness not too long ago. Our 2 man consensus was that they were the "smallest greens in championship golf". At the risk of taking this topic in an unintended direction....can anyone split Pebble & Inverness on that point? Any others to ad to the short list?

[Jason Thurman]

I don't see a lot of green creep at Pebble Beach. 17 has obviously narrowed, and the practical area on 14 has become tiny to the point where softening the slope on the right side a bit is probably inevitable. But I'm with Josh T otherwise. In photos I've seen from the '60s and prior, the greens look about the same size and shape that they are today.

Josh S, Pebble Beach is a blast to play. Your characterization of the greens as "small and flat" and implication that the course doesn't look fun proves that you haven't been there. The greens are one of the most exciting sets that I've played. They're small, but fiercely tilted and drive strategy all the way back to the tee. There are lots of opportunities to work the ball closer to the hole using the slopes (this is 15's most overlooked attribute) and the approaches are endlessly interesting even if sometimes extremely difficult. If good golf is all about using angles and slopes to subtly and strategically define ideal position, then Pebble Beach is as good as any course in the world.

I also don't understand the comments about a lack of width. 18 has a narrow corridor, and there aren't many options on 1, 2, or 13 when it comes to the angle taken off the tee. But the rest of the holes are very wide and offer strategic lines off the tee.

Pebble Beach may be the most unfairly criticized course on this site. It's one of the greatest routings of all-time. It has more extraordinary holes than any other course I've seen. The stretch from 4-10 is among the best 7 hole stretches in the world. It's absolutely beautiful. And it has a great set of uniquely small, uniquely tilted, and wonderfully quirky greens. It's one of the best courses on the planet, but to hear people around here talk, you'd think it's just Bay Harbor West Coast. I can understand quibbling a bit about the manicured presentation, but it's crazy to suggest that it deserves to be panned or cited as an example of a course that has "been ruined over time."

Unless we're talking about 12. Because I won't argue with you there. It might be the worst hole in the Western Hemisphere.

[BCowan]

Jonathon, thanks for the photos. Lots of eye candy there. I have not played PBGL in 10 years (will be there late January but undecided about playing) - cannot really recall the greens , except that I didn't hit many. So maybe that was because they are so small? I did have the chance to play Inverness not too long ago. Our 2 man consensus was that they were the "smallest greens in championship golf". At the risk of taking this topic in an unintended direction....can anyone split Pebble & Inverness on that point? Any others to ad to the short list?

     I have not played Pebble, but I have played inverness 100 times.  Inverness does have some of the smallest complexes in golf and the contours are amazing.  From looking at photos of great books the original greens looked much bigger at Pebble.  If anything it looks as if someone wanted to convert the original bunkering/green sizes to an Inverness/Oakmont look.  From old photos the course had more of a cypress bunkering style (haven't played there either).  I just don't think ''Inverness size" greens on a seaside course fits.  Pebble plays much different in June than in Feb.  Greg, thanks by the way for just mentioning Inverness, it is my favorite.  

[jonathan_becker]

Terry, here is a better looking presentation IMO.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113763297251437641936/Pebble

A better looking presentation for sure!  What really caught my eye though in those photos were the bushes by 6 tee that are now gone, the ton of trees that are now gone on the inside of 14, and the removed scattered trees down 18.  Thanks for sharing.

As for Inverness, I've played there twice, and yes, the greens are on the smaller side but those greens are appropriate given the shots and clubs required.  I would like to see a little more putting surface given the required shots on say 12 and 17 at Pebble.  And maybe even 14.  I know that 14 green has taken a lot of verbal shit from pros and others, but I guess it does make for an interesting shot given the fact that the approach is with a scoring club.  

[Adam Clayman]

Alterations, and the additions, of the bunkering, only accentuate the schizoid presentation. But even these small changes can't ruin a great piece of ground.

[Jason Thurman]

Johnathan, the approach on 14 SHOULD be hit with a scoring club. I pulled my drive badly on that hole when I played it a few years ago and then fatted my second shot. I had 200 yards into the teeth of the wind and hit a phenomenal low spinner of an 18* hybrid that landed up top and stuck. It was one of the most memorable shots I've ever hit. As a result, I'll never understanding all the bitching about that green from the pros hitting sand wedges.

I do prefer the more rugged look in older photos of Pebble. It seems to better accentuate the rough appeal of holes like 18 and 8 and 6 and 7. Regardless of presentation though, it's an amazing golf course.

Ben, can you (or anyone else) post some old photos of Pebble showing larger greens? I've just never felt like they've shrunken considerably, outside of 17, from the photos I've seen. The old bunkering around 7 and 17 definitely looked cool, but I understand that those artificial dune-style bunkers were impossible to maintain. I'm also not sure that a "dunesy" look actually fits at Pebble, at least if you like true naturalist aethetics. It's not a very dunesy piece of land up on top of those cliffs, and as cool as those old artificial dune-style bunkers looked, they were also a bit jarring visually in photos.

[Tim_Weiman]

Jason,

I agree with you on Pebble Beach and width. Played the course about 5-6 times and never felt width was an issue at all, though the 4th tee shot usually made me nervous.

[Greg Taylor]

Played it for the first time earlier this year...

I have to say, putting $500 aside for a second, it's an awesome experience.

Yes, the back nine is kind of a let down, yes, it may take 6 hours. And yes, the 17th green is a bit of a farce... etc.. etc...

However the stretch from 6 thru 9, and OK may be 5 thru 10 are just out of this world.

The greens are worth a study in themselves... photos don't do it justice to how small they are.


Thank you for posting the pictures... reminds me of a great day.

[jonathan_becker]

I have to say, putting $500 aside for a second, it's an awesome experience.

Yes, the back nine is kind of a let down, yes, it may take 6 hours. And yes, the 17th green is a bit of a farce... etc.. etc...

However the stretch from 6 thru 9, and OK may be 5 thru 10 are just out of this world.

That sums it up well.

[Jim Hoak]

#17 green is going to be redone and restored soon, as is #14 green.

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