Finally! Pebble Beach's 17th Under Construction

Pretty much unhittable in the last two U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach and far from the hourglass/Redan created in Chandler Egan's 1929 redesign of the course, the Pebble Beach Company is finally attempting to increase the 17th hole's square footage.

Jerry Stewart reports on the work overseen by Arnold Palmer's group that started April 29th and is scheduled to reopen July 24th. The green will go from 3,600 square feet to 5,000 and feature lowered fronting bunkers that had risen up over 85 or so years.

“It’s exciting,” said RJ Harper, Pebble Beach Executive Vice President of Golf and Retail. “We’re energized by this important project.  Arnold Palmer has worked closely with our team to ensure we maintain the original design intent and to create a fabulous new look. It’s going to be absolutely terrific.”

You may recall--I didn't--the art department had done a sensational photo autopsy in 2010 of this with a look at the restored hole. It's worth another look to see just how much of a Redan element there was and just how much the bunker had encroached on the green. We also did this video after US Open Sunday play in 2010 and that on-site video has undermined the broadcast television model ever since.