Is Pasatiempo Too Hilly To Be A Great Course?

[John Kavanaugh]

I’ve also said many times that TOC is the greatest course I have ever played. It’s simply an easy way out and does little to promote a truthful process. MacKenzie was a salesman and said what best sold what he was offering. What he built is the truth.

[John Cowden]

To refer to Pasatiempo as a “cartball course”, as someone recently did, is just wrong.   The membership is not particularly young, yet most of them, men and women, love the walk. 

To refer to the greens as “lacking subtlety” is also wrong.  Sure, the big breaks and elevation changes are obvious but there is so much else going on that the golfer only recognizes after watching what his/her putt [unexpectedly] does belies that opinion.

Recall how the course was built (‘28-‘29) with horse-drawn skids shaping the fairways.  Then look around at the surrounding topography, the hills and the barancas.  The routing is genius, imho.  If the good doctor and his patroness had wanted to forego the hills and build a flatter course, they could have focused on the land to the west of nos. 12-14 around Graham Hill Road and the horse show grounds where the early club had its steeplechase course.

Lastly, the rolling topography so resembled a certain Georgia nursery, and the course routed through that topography so inspired the vision of .... well, as they say, the rest is history.   

[John Kavanaugh]

The man liked hills.


If you were to read Doak’s AGC and then go play PD you would be hard pressed to believe he wrote that book.

[Sven Nilsen]

I’ve also said many times that TOC is the greatest course I have ever played. It’s simply an easy way out and does little to promote a truthful process. MacKenzie was a salesman and said what best sold what he was offering. What he built is the truth.

I'll go with his own words over those of a "scoffer."


Aug. 3, 1929 Pittsburgh Press -

[Tom_Doak]

The man liked hills.


If you were to read Doak’s AGC and then go play PD you would be hard pressed to believe he wrote that book.

It's a little early to start playing "truther" on that one.


What amazes me about that book is that I wrote it well before I built most of my courses, and sure, I've learned more along the way . . . but there is almost nothing in the book that I would want to change.


[ADDING:  Including, on page 226, where I listed Pasatiempo as a routing worth studying.    [size=78%]][/size]

[John Kavanaugh]

I was playing an Art Hills course for the first time and knew exactly where to place my drives based on his fairway bunkers largely because I had read your book. I wish betting the ponies later that day had been so obvious.

[John Kavanaugh]

The man liked hills.


If you were to read Doak’s AGC and then go play PD you would be hard pressed to believe he wrote that book.

It's a little early to start playing "truther" on that one.


What amazes me about that book is that I wrote it well before I built most of my courses, and sure, I've learned more along the way . . . but there is almost nothing in the book that I would want to change.


[ADDING:  Including, on page 226, where I listed Pasatiempo as a routing worth studying.    [size=78%]][/size]

Yes and you also mention Pasa on quite a few lists in your most recent CG. What disappoints me greatly is both the sparsity of description by you in your books and the complete lack of a profile by Ran on this site. It leads me to believe that the course fails to inspire.