Just to set the record straight on my "just-about round of my life", my downfall began on 14 when I overcompensated for a below-the-feet lie in the fairway, and pulled a 7 iron 30' left of the pin. Talk about an underrated hole, Tom Watson could not have gotten down in two from there.
I actually bogeyed 15 after hitting a 9 iron a tad long, leaving an impossible up and down to a back right position from about 30' to 40'. With a triple on 16, a tap-in birdie on 17, and a bogey on 18 (after an unplayable approach shot into a Cypress right of the green), I did manage an "easy" 73. Weather and course conditions were optimal for scoring on that memorable day.
The only other time I had the privilidge of playing CPC, I barely broke 90, but the wind was gusting badly and the greens had just been punched. I tried to punch a shot under the wind on 15 that day, chunked it, and was lucky to get across the crevice. A nice sand shot from about 70' followed, but that is one tough green and I missed the putt.
After posting another triple on 16, I am now 8 over on those two holes for my two rounds at CPC.
Mike Hendren is right about the visual impact of the hole life vs. in pictures. Are my recollections correct that there is another point further into the water but maybe back some 30 yards? Somehow, exposing the ocean further would make that hole more fearful and, if possible, more beautiful.
I think that CPC# 15 is a much better hole than PBGL #7. In benign conditions, it is a club or two longer than #7, and when it is blustery, you can't just play the hole on the ground. The green also has some very tight, sloped areas which makes two putting no easy task.
In comparison to its more famous companion, #16, perhaps the hole is underrated. From a playability standpoint, #15 is a much easier hole which allows most golfers to do well on the hole as long as they strike the ball solidly. That is not the case on 16, where many players number cannot carry the ocean on a direct line to the green, and the lay-up left is no picnic either.
Off the subject, CPC is certainly not the hardest course in the world. And it is not without faults. But for me, I have yet to play anything better.