MPCC Shore (pictures)

[Brian_Gracely]

I hope it's ok that I post some of these pictures as some others have already done so....

I had the pleasure of enjoying a great day on the Monterey Peninsula with our good friend Mr.Huntley and the newly built Shore course (Mike Strantz).  The course was in tremendous shape and very firm & fast (although Mr.Huntley & playing-partner believe it should be much firmer).  

In general the course is alot of fun to play, and the views along the ocean are breath-taking.  I could see this being at least a 6-4 vs. Dunes (Dunes is slightly easier to walk), although it would be a nice problem to have for MPCC members...Dunes or Shore....Shore or Dunes...or just play 36

Strantz did a great job keeping things very natural looking and inline with the surrounding area.  And while those large rocks look imposing from 17 Mile Drive, they never really come into play except for the most errant of shots.

Early feedback at MPCC (from some members) is that the course might not be long enough due to firmness of the turf and the subsequent roll, but I'm not sure I completely agree with that, especially if the wind blows.  At 6800yds, it still required plenty of length off the tee, and accuracy is a must. I thought the Par3s were outstanding, and the Par4s had good variety and that the firmness of the course made you think about all your approaches.  

The greens are very large, and while they don't have alot of internal contours, Strantz does a good job of using various slopes to make them challenging.  Because of their firmness, he probably spent more time trying to build contour that would allow balls to be funneled to different parts of the green or off the green, so accuracy of approach shots is critical.  But more than anything, the conditions of the greens were incredible!!.  They were easily the truest greens I've ever played.  It's fun to know that if you get the line and speed right that you could make putts on these greens from 3' to 50'...they just roll so perfectly!

Tee-shot on the #1 hole (Par5).  From the tee, it looks longer than it actually is to clear the bunkers on the right.  

 
Approach to #1 from about 200yds away.  


Holes #1-4 re-used the original Shore routing corridors.  Holes #5-16 are all completely new routing by Strantz along the ocean.

Tee-shot on the #5 hole (Par4).  Just as Strantz did at Tobacco Road, the fairway width is obscured by waste-area bunkers, but is actually quite wide.


Approach to #5.  The bunker on the right is about 50-60yds short of the green.


Approach to #7 (Par5).  The green is two-tiered with a large slope between the tiers.  The rocks behind the green are probably 50yds behind the hole and serve as the back-tee on #11 (Par3).


Oh to spend your days on the Peninsula...


Looking back across the 6th green, with the surf and CPC #16 in the background...


Our esteemed host with a short pitch left after a huge drive on the 470yd Par4 8th. [NOTE:  The course is very walkable, but unfortunately my host's trolley had a mechanical failure and was offered the buggy as an alternative]


Uphill approach to the skyline(!) #13 green (Par4)


Approach to the #13 green from the left-side waste bunker.  Don't be long of this green or you'll end up on one of the access roads off 17 Mile Drive.


Tee-shot on #15.  The hole appears to be a dogleg right, but actually is a dogleg left and the fairway pitches to the left.  The best line off the tee is the middle or right edge of the large waste-bunker.


Approach to #15 from inside the dogleg.  With that view, you could stand out there all day and hit approach shots.


Many thanks to my host for another enjoyable day and excellent company, and thanks to Mother Nature for once again cooperating during my visit to Monterey.

[Jfaspen]

I never tire of looking at pictures of this re-design..  The views of the holes and the ocean look amazing.  Thanks for posting the pictures

[A_Clay_Man]

Hopefully enough time has past that some less sensitive questions can be asked.

Bob-What role did the CCC play, hinderance or otherwise, in your club's renovation?

I'll understand if this is better taken offline, but it sure would be interesting to hear.

[George Pazin]

More beautiful photos - thanks for sharing.

It almost looks understated for Mike Strantz, at least relative to some of his other works like Tobacco Road, Tot Hill Farm and True Blue. Hope Mike S's health is good.

Regarding the firmness of the course, I'm agronomically challenged, but wouldn't it be necessary for the course to be a little softer in its earlier stages? Wouldn't it be a little dangerous to be all out on firmness early in a course's life? (I'm asking this as a serious question, not as a criticism - I don't know the answer.)

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

I think Strantz did a wonderful "Understated"  (for Strantz) job also at Bulls Bay.  I think when Strantz is given a project parameter that doesnt call for all the wildness he can do a great job while still being "reserved".  I think with Royal New Kent/Tobacco Road/True Blue/Tot Hill Farm, he just kept getting one owner after another that turned him loose and wanted him to do it bigger, better, and wilder than the last one.

I really would like to post some pictures of Bulls Bay, unfortunately when I played out there a few weeks ago, my camera was in the shop and all I had was my buddies 1.6MP camera and I am afraid that the images probably will not do it justice by the time that I post them in their shrunken size.

I might still get motivated enough to do this when I get a chance.

[TEPaul]

Man, from those photos, that looks like some very cool golf architecture. Even from those photos I can tell that course is firm and fast---it has what I call "that dull green sheen" to it!

[Brian_Gracely]

I'll make one comment about the "blow-up" comments regarding #18.  

While I'll agree that the tee-shot (at least from the Black or Gold tees (back)) might be considered awkward, it actually offers three distinct options:

a) Driver or 3w with a fade.  The risk is that you'll double-cross and hit it through the fairway and into the ditch/creek that runs along the left side and is a lateral hazzard.  The reward is a short pitch from a relatively flat lie.  I enjoyed hitting the shot because it's almost identical to the hole-shape and shot required on #16 at Raleigh CC, which is my favorite drive on the course.

b) A straight shot of approximately 200-215yds.  This shot must land between the bunkers and try and stay to the right side to avoid running through the fairway (sloping right to left) and into the far-side bunker.  This shot leaves an uphill approach of approximately 180yds.

c) The safe route....a 150-180yd shot to the left side of the fairway and short of all the bunkers.  This shot leaves an approach over 210yds, uphill, and to a green that isn't going to hold a fairway wood (even a Vijay Singh 7wood).

I don't believe the hole should be blown-up, but I might suggest two small modifications:

a) At Tobacco Road #12, Strantz employs Redan-like slope to the right of the fairway/green that will funnel a running shot onto the green.  Using something like this along the left of #18 would allow alternative options for the player choosing option "b" or "c" above.  

b) With the height of the front bunkers, the green is almost too narrow to hold any aerial shot.  The green is about 2/3 the size of the rest of the greens.  They might want to look at eventually expanded the size of the green to better except an aerial approach...especially if the green retain their existing firmness.