First Pebble Beach Impressions
/I walked all 18, but to save you a cart or caddy fee, I'll just stick to some things that stood out.
Overall, the course appears to be in excellent condition with fairly benign rough in most places other than the immediate bunker surrounds, which are extremely severe. Most of the setup touches look excellent, and Jack Nicklaus's 5th hole has aged quite nicely. Thanks to exploding bunker sand and time, it has settled nicely into an old looking hole. Plus, look for the tees to be moved around the 5th to liven things up.
That said, here are a few other observations and images. (You know the drill, click on the image to enlarge.)
The third hole (below) has long been one of my favorites and while I've seen images and aerial flyovers of the new bunkers, to actually get to see this atrocious addition in person was particularly disheartening because it has stripped a wonderful bit of subtlety from the course. Prior to the bunker installation, drives not drawn around the corner would run through the fairway into rough, leaving a hanging flyer lie with OB lurking over the green. Barring a really terrible lie, the fairway bunker shot is now easier to control and the scarier elements for the elite player largely eliminated. Plus, they are woefully out of proportion for the hole and look more like beamed in Bay Hill bunkers than Pebble Beach originals.
Davis Love tees off on the sixth (below), which has been dramatically improved by the decision to move the fairway closer to the ocean. However, the swath of rough leading into Arnold Palmer's poorly-scaled new fairway bunkers leaves a lot to be desired. It'll be interesting to see how players attack this, but I'm guessing that in benign conditions there will be a lot of three woods off the tee, which was probably the desired effect of the new bunkers (you know, to offset today's improved player athleticism and force a longer club into this reachable par-5).
Below is the previously mentioned rough leading into the fairway bunkers. It didn't stop one player from reaching the sand though:
You have to be comfortable with heights to sit at the top of No. 7's huge grandstand (below). But the view is worth it.
The much talked about 10th fairway (below), where the tight mow next to the hazard will be worth watching as predicted. My first impression is that the slippery slope into the rocks will only be a factor if the course gets extremely firm and fast. Either way, it's an amazing hole. Big newsflash there.
The best angle to approach the 11th (below) is unfortunately bathed in rough.
More than the mown-down turf leading into the world's largest water hazard, the tight turf leading into Pebble Beach's fairway bunkers figures to make a difference along with the extreme fescues on the outer edges. Expect to see a meaningful role played by Pebble Beach's bunkering this week.
