How Pebble was (American Golfer Article!)

[paul cowley]

....tep, i know you really mean #7 when you say #6.....

[TEPaul]

"tep, i know you really mean #7 when you say #6....."

Paul:

I do indeed.  

[BCrosby]

Paul -

Another question.

As I recall, the picture of the 7th above is of the green as it was redone by Chandler Egan in 1928. The history of PB book had pictures of other greens at PB that Chandler redid with similar ragged, low, "blown" sand areas.

It struck me after seeing the pictures in Geoff's book of Cypress (taken just after it opened, which opening was about the same time that Egan was working at PB) how similar so many of the green complexes were at PB and Cypress circa 1929.

I suspect there was a lot of cross talk between MacK and Egan at the time. Is there any evidence for this? Other than they are, nominally at least, partners? Could the 1929 redo of the 7th (and other greens) at PB have been ghost-written by MacK?

It's also interesting how similarly this type of bunkering evolved at both courses. It certainly doesn't look very maintainable in its 1929 state at either place. Much of it seems to have changed character fairly quickly after it was finished. Neither course has bunkers today with the same sort of undefined borders and that wild, "blown" look.

Bob

[paul cowley]

bob....tep answered a least some of your question on the related peregrination thread and i'll just stick with first hand experiences....but if you compare the 1929 and 1952 photos you will see the' ribbon bunker ' evolution from loose to more defined .....by 1972 it had declined [or peregrined further],almost abscent except for the rear bunkers.....paul.

[A_Clay_Man]

Rihc- This type of rounding?



Clearly on a course that has had much more time to P & P

[ForkaB]

Adam

That bunker is hellish!  Surely the hand of man can be seen in its unnatural fingers and curves......

[T_MacWood]

Bob
I agree with you...a very simlar look to CPC. I believe MacKenzie's construction crew--American Course Builders--carried out the work at PBGL. I recall reading an article written by Morse--after Dr.MacKenzie's death--in which he gave credit to MacKenzie for the redesigned Pebble Beach.

If you read Egan's comments carefully, he appears to say the bunkering was not his or Joe Mayo's (the superitendent at PB) idea. I suspect it was Hunter and MacKenzie's idea.

A few years ago I asked the author of the PB History (an excellent book I might add) if he knew exactly what became of the dune bunkers...when and why. Did they evolve?...were they rebuilt or redesinged?...did they become overgrown?...or whatever. He wasn't exactly sure what occured, but he thought the change occured some time in the 1930's.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mayo made the changes proactively. From what I understand he and MacKenzie didn't exactly see eye to eye. And if I'm not mistaken he was a Raynor desciple, which would explain the more geometric look of the bunkering at #7.

[TEPaul]

Tom MacW;

Why would Mayo have been a Raynor disciple?

[T_MacWood]

Mayo worked construction under Raynor...he was from New York.

[TEPaul]

Tom MacW;

Interesting! No wonder then he was suspicious of those Mackenzie/Hunter/Egan/American Golf Course Construction Co. style bunkering at CPC and Egan's Pebble. Those can't get much different from Raynor bunkering!

How did Mayo happen to get to Pebble---did Marion Hollins bring him with her from New York?