PEBBLE BEACH, CA – It’s called June Gloom, that cold, grey mist that descends upon Monterey Peninsula that turns the otherwise green and golden Pebble Beach into a scene out of Hound of the Baskervilles. Under this chilly blanket of clouds, it’s easier to understand how our beloved Pebble, perhaps the shortest of America’s informal rotation of...
The USGA announced a dozen courses to host sectional qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. While the most groundbreaking part of the announcement was the revealing of the first ever Canadian venue, Rattlesnake Point Golf Club (Copperhead and Sidewinder Courses), Milton, Ontario, the courses that arouse the interest of well-traveled American golfers...
Having been, at various times, both the celebrity in the pro am as well as a player, I can attest to the bedlam, mayhem, and chaos a pro am round can devolve to. I once watched a guy playing in a pro-am in Jamaica smack a stone tee marker in front of him, (a giant tiki…decorative and festive, but bad idea for a tee marker) and had the ball catapult into the...
My first Golf Course Trades article is up! It’s my review of the architectural and agronomic changes to Poppy Hills, the great RTJ, Jr. course on the Monterey Peninsula that shares hosting duties with Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and Spyglass Hill. You can click on the entire article here. Here’s a teaser: “Pine Valley’s...
GNN is running my piece discussing Wine Valley, Chambers Bay, Palouse Ridge, and Coeur D’Alene. What a fantastic trip for you and your golf buddies – all the best the Evergreen State has to offer. Up next: Foo Fighters at Fenway and golf at George Wright and Granite Links!
[Editor’s Note: Bringing back an old favorite column, Jay writes this U.S. Open wrap-up in the form of a Father’s day letter to his 91-year old Dad.] SNOQUALMIE, WA – Dear Dad: For the 11th year in a row, because of the U.S. Open I’ll miss seeing you for Father’s Day. I’m really sorry for that, and I wish it were different. The...
UNIVERSITY PLACE – “It’s too brown! It’s too bumpy! It’s too British!” they moan plaintively. Yes, the whiny blockheads are out in force this year, as they usually are at the U.S. Open, complaining about how unusual golf’s annual Final Examination is. It’s actually flabbergasting: They’re not complaining about how...
UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA – Chambers Bay Co-architect Bruce Charlton smiles and claps his hands as a stat appears on the TV broadcast of the U.S. Open listing the brutish, uphill, 508-yard, par-4 seventh hole as the hardest hole on the golf course thus far in the tournament, a 4.43 stroke average as we go to press. “We wanted there to be swing holes. We wanted...
UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA – I have to weep for our society because we have lost it as a species when we can’t all instantly fall in love with Chambers Bay, the site of the 2015 U.S. Open, hard by Puget Sound’s rugged waters, where forest-fragrant air gently caresses verdant, dew-dripped tree-covered hills. “Idyllic” is the first word that...
Of all the times for the PGA of America to announce the latest venue for their flagship event, they pic the day the U.S. qualifies for the Knockout Round of the World Cup! It will be nice to go back to S.F. – and you can bet I’ll be playing Olympic Cl;ub and having a burger dog while I’m there! Hey USGA! Aren’t you due for an Olympic Club U.S...
Cybergolf has run my piece on Rustic Canyon, Ojai Valley Inn, Soule Park, and Olivas Links. Enjoy!
So back to Helen from Schenectady’s question about where to take a West Coast golf trip this summer… 4. Pebble Beach Golf Resort – There is too much golf history and too much cliffside golf to miss this golf Mecca – even at the uber-exorbitant price. Thank goodness the rise of Bandon Dunes helped somewhat curtail the runaway pricing (some say...
Got this from the mailbag the other day from Helen in Schenectady: “Dear Jay: My girlfriend and I are taking a driving tour of the west coast this summer. If we brought our golf clubs, what public courses should we play on our way down the coastline? Or are there any good courses near wineries we should visit? – Helen in Schenectady Well Helen...
So the first AWITP trip of the year is scheduled for this week – SoCal. We’ll be playing and reviewing Gil Hanse’s work at the recently redesigned Soule Park, along with Olivas Links by Forrest Richardson, and another trip around Hanse’s superb Rustic Canyon. We’ll also have a SURPRISE round at one of SoCals excellent private designs...
Back 9 has run my article on the new bunker on 18 at Chambers Bay – Chambers Basement! Enjoy!