More
evocative:
Pacific. Although it was a bit less seaside-spectacular than
I'd
expected, I was transported by Doak’s routing and hole
designs—and the
inland
holes were actually more
inspiring than
the cliffsiders. Tom
clearly drew on his
encyclopedic
knowledge of the world’s greatest
courses. In just one round, I was
reminded of Carnoustie,
Ballybunion,
Gullane, Royal Cinque
Ports, Gleneagles,
Muirfield, Cruden Bay,
Shinnecock,
Pinehurst, Casa de
Campo and
Kapalua.
If
I had just one more round,
I’d play: Pebble. There is something about the
sparkle of
Stillwater
Cove on a sunny day, the constant roar and tumble
of the
sea (at
Pacific Dunes, it’s there, but never quite in
your
face) and the
knowledge that you’re playing in
the footsteps
of Jack and Tiger.
Besides, I’ve
always
said there’s no finer
place to play badly than
Pebble
Beach—and my final
round I
will surely play badly.
More
scenic
splendor: Pebble, by the whisker of a walrus. In the
course of
a round
at
Pebble you have roughly 20 shots
where, if you were
to lift your
head up at
address,
you would see the ocean. At
Pacific, the tally is a
mere dozen
or so.
Single
best
view: Pacific, from the championship tee of No. 18.
Perched
atop the
highest point on the property, it offers a
360-degree panorama
of the
courses,
the cliffs, 20
miles or so of pristine beach
and the endless
sea beyond.
Better
bang for the
buck: Pacific, hands down. In season, the green fee is $200
less
than Pebble, and off season, it’s more than $300 less—at
a mere
$50.
The rooms
and restaurants are similarly
priced, and use
of the sauna
and spa is free, as
opposed to gazillions.
Superior
condition: Pebble. I didn’t mind the
intentionally
laissez-faire look of
Pacific’s fairways and
bunkers—that all
goes
toward the genuinely linksy
feel—but sorry, I do like
fast greens, and
Pacific is
so windy that the greens
must be
kept at about 8–10 on the
Stimpmeter, lest resting balls self-embark
into the bunkers.
Shotmaker’s
paradise: Pacific. Minimalist Doak moved
very little
dirt in
crafting these
holes. The result,
as a byproduct of
the natural look,
is a fair number of hilly
lies and greens
tucked and propped in places
that
call for a well-crafted
attack. Add the wind and you have all
the
ball-bending
assignments you can
handle.
Putter’s
paradise: Pacific. First, because its greens
are
roughly
one-and-a-half times as
large as
Pebble’s. Second,
because the links
conditions have been
replicated
here more
successfully than on any
American layout, with the result that the
putter can and
should be used
for shots from the fairway. At
the short but
vexing 16th, my partner
Grant Brooks, teaching
pro at
Pacific, putted his
approach shot from
about 70 yards,
bumping it through a series of humps and
hollows to
about five
feet. 
