Compliments
for new No. 5 at Pebble Beach course
PEBBLE BEACH,
Calif. The No. 5 hole at Pebble Beach finally is what it was meant to be 80 years
ago.
The new par-3
hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links, designed by Jack Nicklaus, hugs Stillwater Cove
and the crashing waves of the Pacific.
"I
was really impressed," said Phil Mickelson, who got his first look at the new
hole this week while tuning up for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am."I thought
it looked like it had been here since the first, you know, when the course was
created back in the early 1900s. Just amazing."
The
new hole was placed where developer Samuel F. B. Morse -- a descendant of telegraph
inventor -- originally envisioned it. But alas, he had sold the oceanfront site
before his dream of creating a golf course was realized.
Morse
tried to buy the property back, but balked at the $20,000 asking price. Pebble
Beach was opened on Feb. 22, 1919, with a No. 5 hole that played uphill and inland
from the ocean.
Fast
forward to a few years back, when the Pebble Beach Golf Co. was able to acquire
the property for more than $8 million.
Nicklaus,
who won a U.S. Amateur, a U.S. Open and three Pro-Ams at the course, designed
the hole with the surroundings in mind. The green has a back pin position, guarded
from southerly breezes by a buffer of trees.
The
hole plays 187 yards for the pros, and 138 yards for the amateurs. The two tees
are separated by a quaint bridge over a deep ravine that spills into the Pacific.
The scenic hole
was not without controversy. Environmentalists protested plans to remove an old
oak tree where the green was to be. The oak turned out to be diseased, and cut
down anyway.
Traditionalists
complained about altering the course, which has hosted the National Pro-Am since
1947 when the tournament was known as the Crosby Clambake.
Even
the pros were skeptical. But upon playing the hole this week, many were pleasantly
surprised.
"It
now flows with the rest of the golf course. It's a fair hole, you can now see
the pin," said Brett Quigley, the co-leader with a 6-under 66 after Thursday's
first round. "At the old hole you were hitting over the bunker there and you were
never really sure where you were going."
THE
COURSE: Founded by Samuel
F.B. Morse; designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant; open for public use
HEAD PRO:
Chris Pryor
YEAR
OPENED: 1919
R: 72
SLOPE
RATING: 138 from regular tees; 142 from championship tees
TOURNAMENTS:
