I played Pebble Beach yesterday (Thursday) under US Open conditions (but from shorter tees). I have several thoughts, and I wanted to start this thread to elicit comments on the course--changes, set-up, conditioning, etc.--from people who are here next week, or just see it on television.
I am biased, but I thought the course was off-the-charts good. It is your beautiful, traditional Pebble--but on steriods for the Open. I am often underwhelmed--or even offended--by changes to classic courses, but I found most of the changes good and in keeping with the nature of the course.
Some random thoughts:
1) The course is in great shape. The fairways are terrific--firm and fast, and few problem areas. The new water source for the course seems to have produced terrific grass. The greens are better than I have ever seen them in 25 years. The surface is smooth and the color is great. They are very firm--and should get firmer as the week goes on--with no rain in the forecast. The rough is graduated--fairways 25-30 yards wide, approximately 5 yards of light rough, then 5 of tough rough, then the very difficult heavy rough, from which I found it hard to hit more than an 8-iron. The ball seems to settle very low in the rough. Around the greens, the rough is very thick and difficult.
2) The ocean has been brought more into play than in any recent times, which they say is how the course was originally meant to be played. The banks have been shaved--and the rough near the ocean diminished--so that mishit balls will feed into the ocean. For example, I hit a shot that landed short of the 9th green, and the ball feed right into the ocean.
3) Several of the fairways have been moved. For example, the 8th fairway is 20-30 yard right of where it was--and with the shaved banks, the ocean is very much in play on the tee shot. Similarly, the 16th fairway has been moved right so that the pot bunker almost becomes the target off the tee and affects play. The 11th fairway is to the right which will require an approach shot over the green-side bunkers
4) There are several new tees that look very difficult--10 yards back on 3, 10 on 6, 15 on 8, 50 on 9, 60 on 10, 20 on 11, and 50 on 13. The new tees will not be used every day. They seem natural and not contrived. The cross-bunker on 13 has been brought more across the fairway, and with the new tee which is back down 12 fairway, it will be tough to carry depending on the wind. This will require a shot to the right for most. New bunkering on the left of 6 and 15 is good.
I'm sure I'll think of addtional thoughts, and I hope to hear from many of you next week. It should be a great Open. The winning score will depend on the wind, but it will be a good test for the participants.