Featured Golf and Travel: Northwest USA
The Pebble Beach Links on the Monterey Peninsula in Northern California is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of the ocean. In 2001 it became the first public course (i.e. open to the general public for play) to be selected as the No.1 Golf Course in America by Golf Digest. Green fees are among the highest in the world, at $495 (plus $35 cart fee for non-resort guests) per round in 2008. The course was designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant and opened on February 22, 1919. Neville also designed the back nine at Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course on the other side of the Monterey Peninsula. His objective was, of course, to place as many of the holes as possible along the rocky and beautiful Monterey coast line. This was accomplished using a "figure 8" layout. In laying out the course, Jack Neville attempted to bring as many holes to the rocky coastline as possible. The first two holes are inland, the third runs toward the ocean, and the fourth and fifth holes run along the coast. This arrangement allowed Neville to make use of a peninsula which juts straight out into the Pacific Ocean. The lower "loop" of the figure 8 layout is formed by holes 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, which brings much of the inward nine inland. Unlike virtually all modern courses, Pebble's 9th and 10th holes do not therefore return to the clubhouse. Holes 14 and 15 are among the most inland on the course, but the 16th hole runs alongside the 3rd hole to complete the figure 8 and bring the dramatic closing holes along the Pacific Coast. These include the long par 3 17th, whose place in golf history was assured when Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tom Watson (1982) made key shots there to win U.S. Opens... (Article sourced Here - Wikipedia.com) CaddyBytes image Par 5 18th Hole Pebble Beach Links - (Click Here to See our Slide Show):
|
|||||
Golf Course listings find travel play & stay info by state for Northwest USA: |
|||||
Washington:
|
Idaho | Colorado | Wyoming | ||
| San Francisco - N. CA Coast | |||||
Bandon Dunes Resort, Bandon Oregon
The first course at Bandon Dunes golf resort, opened on May 19, 1999. Bandon Dunes was designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd, and it instantly garnered high praise. The course features gorse-lined fairways and numerous pot bunkers. The resort's second course, Pacific Dunes, opened on July 1, 2001. Pacific Dunes was designed by Michigan architect Tom Doak, and sculpted by his design firm, Renaissance Design, Inc. Pacific Dunes also opened to glowing reviews and quickly surpassed Bandon Dunes as the highest-rated course on the property. Pacific Dunes was rated the number one resort golf course in the country in 2005 by Golfweek magazine, placing just ahead of Pebble Beach. The resort's third course, Bandon Trails, was designed by the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Bandon Trails opened on June 1, 2005. Bandon Trails departs from its siblings in that no holes are routed along the Pacific Ocean. The course meanders through dunes, meadows, and forest land.[1] Upon its opening, Golf Odyssey, the preeminent newsletter devoted to golf travel, named Bandon Dunes, The Best Place on the Planet for Golf. A planned fourth course, Old Macdonald (in honor of Charles Blair Macdonald), is scheduled to open in the summer of 2010.[2] It is being designed by a team led by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina.[citation needed] Old Macdonald will open to the public for limited "preview" play of ten holes starting in April 2009. The United States Golf Association selected Bandon Dunes Golf Resort as the site of the 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links championship tournaments, to be played June 27-July 2, 2011. Bandon Dunes has previously hosted two USGA events, the 2006 Curtis Cup, and the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship. Use of golf carts is not permitted at the resort, unless required for medical reasons. (Biblio: Article Source Click Here from Wikipedia.com):