SUPPORT YOUR PGA PROFESSIONAL AND YOUR LOCAL PGA GOLF FACILITIES Visit us at scpga.com The 2010 U.S. Open Championship will mark the fifth time that the storied Pebble Beach Golf Links has hosted this prestigious event. In preparation, Pebble Beach Golf Links has unveiled several new refinements to the course, all under the direction of Arnold Palmer. According to pebblebeach.com, four greens and 16 bun- kers have been rebuilt, altered or installed, eleven tees have benefited from enhancements, six holes have seen the addition or adjustment of trees, including Cypress, and the total length of the course has been extended to 7,012 yards. Because of the foresight and talents of original designers Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, Pebble Beach Golf Links has seen few major changes over the years. The current “figure-8” routing is the same one that Neville and Grant laid out in 1919. However, several changes were made during the 1920s as owner Samuel F.B. Morse brought in other architects to “perfect the course.” In 1919, the California Golf Association, which “did not readily accept” the new course as a site for its amateur championship, felt that the 345-yard par-4 18th hole was too easy. So Morse turned to Arthur H. “Bunker” Vincent, who lengthened the course to 6,200 yards, changed five greens, and moved the 18th tee to its current location near the 17th. As a result, 18 became a more challenging 379-yard par 4, requiring “two first-class shots to reach the green.” Three years later, in 1922, William Herbert Fowler transformed the 18th hole from the 379-yard par 4 to a 548-yard par 5 that hardly anyone tries to reach in two because of the severe penalty for failure. Today, 18 is considered to be one of the best finishing holes in golf. More changes were made in preparation for the 1929 U.S. Amateur Championship. Amateur golfer H. Chandler Egan, who had won back-to-back U.S. Amateurs in 1904 and 1905, spearheaded the project. According to peb- blebeach.com, Egan “re-shaped and re-bunkered each green, moved the 1st tee to create today’s dog-legged opening hole, reconfigured the 10th Hole, added length to the 2nd, 9th and 14th holes, and moved the 16th green to a natural depression behind a grove of trees, extending the hole more than 100 yards.” Nearly 70 years later, in 1998, Pebble Beach Golf Links unveiled another major change: a new 5th Hole, designed by Jack Nicklaus. The hole was placed on a parcel of stun- ning oceanfront land that Pebble Beach Company had wanted to reacquire for 80 years. Its conversion marked the realization of Samuel Morse’s original vision of an unbroken string of waterfront golf holes. Because of this change, guests at Pebble Beach Resort now see the coast as the original planners intended: “blanketed by a rolling, unbroken golf-course landscape from The Lodge in the north to Carmel Beach in the south.” For more information on the 2010 U.S. Open, see pebblebeach.com Enjoy your walk, Eric Woods Publisher’s Note The 2010 U.S. Open AT pebble beAch CGN Staff List PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Eric Woods MANAGING EDITOR: Suzy Evans ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Mike Stubbs, Kyle Carruthers SENIOR WRITERS: Tom LaMarre, Jim Dover TRAVEL EDITOR: Wil Barnes CONTRIBUTORS: Nancy Kapitanoff, Ken Lane, Ian Leggatt, Ed Vyeda, Emmy Moore Minister, Chris Austin ART DIRECTOR: Sunju Kwon COPY EDITOR: Josh Burns INSTRUCTORS: Perry Parker, Ted Norby, John Ortega EQUIPMENT ADVISOR: Leonard Finkel, Scott Kramer SALES & MARKETING: Silk Media Group, Tom Stankowski ACCOUNTING: Jep Pickett DISTRIBUTION: Joe Stankoski, Darrell Crowell Published by Golf Lab Media LLC 1730 Pomona Avenue, Suite 4 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (949) 548-2526 e-mail: info@calgolfnews.com California Golf News is published monthly and is disributed through Californian golf courses, practice facilities, golf retailers, hotels and resorts. Entire contents of this publication is copyrighted 2010 California Golf News, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced in any manner in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. For subscriptions, please send your name, address, phone number, and $20 to California Golf News at the above address. For Advertising and Editorial information: Call (949) 548-2526 Or e-mail to info@calgolfnews.com www.calgolfnews.com 8 CALIFORNIA GOLF NEWS • JUNE 2010
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