I think the criticism thrown at Pebble is pretty easy to understand:
- It's ungodly expensive. I can think of a handful of resort courses that charge within $100 of Pebble's greens fee, and they all catch shade around here with the exception of Pinehurst No. 2 which somehow gets a pass.
- The maintenance meld probably isn't quite up to snuff with the rest of the Top 10 contenders, and in fact, might rank in the bottom 25% on this list. It's kept in very nice shape, but pretty soft and lush with a pretty clean and manicured aesthetic that doesn't get cool points around here.
- A handful of average holes. I don't think this is really a detriment of the course. In fact, I remember coming up 15 and feeling almost overwhelmed by how over-the-top cool so many of the holes were, and being thankful for the chance to catch a breath. I think the flow of the course benefits from having some quieter moments, but the sum of the parts is less than it would be if some of those inland holes were loaded with wild-ass architectural features.
- Nothing makes one's tastes sound refined like shitting on something that's universally beloved. If I go to The Palms with Jones and say something like "I mean, this is a good steak, but the marbling just doesn't quite reach the levels of the finest cuts and also is that... *sniff sniff*... maple that I taste? It's a little cloying. And this preparation is closer to medium than medium-rare, and that's unacceptable..." I sound like a real critic. And because of the items above, it's easy for an armchair architect to pick out some stuff to criticize at Pebble.
- It's a low-key HARD golf course. I think we can safely assume that over 50% of people who play Pebble will only play it once in their lives. How many of them experience the course's greatest thrills firsthand during that round? I know I didn't. I hacked it up all day and made one par. It's my favorite course I've seen, and that's half the reason I can't wait to go back. But I also want another crack at a bunch of shots out there...
- And yeah, it's public. And a publicly-known entity. The guy with the hottest takes about Pebble Beach doesn't have to worry about never getting invited back, or offending his host. And he doesn't step to the first tee with a feeling of inherent gratitude for being fortunate enough to have had the stars align to allow him to step foot onto the property. If anything, he might be a little pissy about just spending $500.
And in fairness, some of the things above are legitimate things to critique. Particularly bullets 2 and 3 - it has some mundane holes, and the presentation leaves something to be desired. Different people will weigh those detriments differently, and there aren't really right and wrong answers.
It's right next to Pinehurst No. 2 on this list, which offers both clear comparability (expensive, famous, resort golf) and contrast (inland, more noted for its consistent excellence than its extraordinary highlights, firm and fast and rugged presentation). For me, if I list the best holes between the two courses, it's not until I'm trying to choose the 9th best hole between them that there's even a discussion of selecting a hole from No. 2. And again, for me, highs that high outweigh the fact that No. 2 doesn't have any holes in the bottom 5.
To compare to another iconic entity from the area, the 2017 Warriors are the best basketball team I've ever seen. I could give a shit that the bench was rounded out with Javale, Zaza, and old Anderson Varejao. In crunch time, the fact that they could throw five Hall of Famers on the floor sorta trumps the rest of the roster for me.