Cypress Point - August 30, 2005
Kirk Davis wasn't the first to tell me his favorite course is Cypress Point. But he was perhaps the most persuasive. Shot for shot, hole for hole, it's spectacular.
We started on the fourth hole in order to get ahead of a group of 20 older gents having a kind of member and guest outing. It's a slight dogleg left, not very long, and I put a drive in play only 150 yards out. My 7-iron ended up just below the hole, and my birdie putt - 10 feet, up the hill, breaking left to right - lipped out.
What's the big deal, you might ask?
Well, the tee shot was slightly uphill, and the landing area was maybe 25 yards. Miss it left or right and you find a bunker, one that probably would have required a pitch-out. And the green, like almost all of Cypress Point's greens, slopes aggressively from back to front. You really want to limit the times you're putting from above the hole, believe me.
The fact is, for fourteen holes Cypress Point is a subtle, wonderful architectural treasure. Hit the right shots, and you'll have a few good scoring opportunities. The others - namely, 15 through 18 - are four of the most beautiful golf holes I'll likely ever see. They weren't designed; they were carved out of the most magnificent topography on earth.
Fifteen is a short (135 yards from the back tee) par 3. The green has three peninsular areas, and I'm sure the pin is always in one of them, making the effective hitting area decidedly small.
Here's Darryl Leech lunging at a 9-iron.
Sixteen is the hole everyone talks about, another par 3, but this one is 218 yards. You have to try to hit, the caddies say; you can't bail left and play for four (though they say Hogan always did just that). But you're hitting over a spectacular formation of rocks and breaking waves.
Seventeen is a classic par 4, if by "classic" you mean beautiful, majestic, and tough as can be. It's only 386 yards, and I hit driver and wedge. But my wedge shot was 108 yards, under a limb, needing to draw about 20 yards to miss the surf and a bunker. (Got it up and down from the rough behind the green.)
And eighteen, though not over the Pacific or an inlet or any water at all, may be the best hole of all. Your drive is a blind shot - you can't see any fairway at all, only trees. "Hit it over that round-top tree, my caddie said." Which I did. Perfect. So all I needed to do now was hit a little 9-iron around another tree, which was hanging over the green, drawing it about 15 yards. That's a lot of complexity for a 343-yard hole.
Kirk said Cypress Point Club is where he would like to play every day. Not close.
I get it, Kirk. If you ever need another to play with, I'm there.
We started on the fourth hole in order to get ahead of a group of 20 older gents having a kind of member and guest outing. It's a slight dogleg left, not very long, and I put a drive in play only 150 yards out. My 7-iron ended up just below the hole, and my birdie putt - 10 feet, up the hill, breaking left to right - lipped out.
What's the big deal, you might ask?
Well, the tee shot was slightly uphill, and the landing area was maybe 25 yards. Miss it left or right and you find a bunker, one that probably would have required a pitch-out. And the green, like almost all of Cypress Point's greens, slopes aggressively from back to front. You really want to limit the times you're putting from above the hole, believe me.
The fact is, for fourteen holes Cypress Point is a subtle, wonderful architectural treasure. Hit the right shots, and you'll have a few good scoring opportunities. The others - namely, 15 through 18 - are four of the most beautiful golf holes I'll likely ever see. They weren't designed; they were carved out of the most magnificent topography on earth.
Fifteen is a short (135 yards from the back tee) par 3. The green has three peninsular areas, and I'm sure the pin is always in one of them, making the effective hitting area decidedly small.
Here's Darryl Leech lunging at a 9-iron.
Sixteen is the hole everyone talks about, another par 3, but this one is 218 yards. You have to try to hit, the caddies say; you can't bail left and play for four (though they say Hogan always did just that). But you're hitting over a spectacular formation of rocks and breaking waves.
Seventeen is a classic par 4, if by "classic" you mean beautiful, majestic, and tough as can be. It's only 386 yards, and I hit driver and wedge. But my wedge shot was 108 yards, under a limb, needing to draw about 20 yards to miss the surf and a bunker. (Got it up and down from the rough behind the green.)
And eighteen, though not over the Pacific or an inlet or any water at all, may be the best hole of all. Your drive is a blind shot - you can't see any fairway at all, only trees. "Hit it over that round-top tree, my caddie said." Which I did. Perfect. So all I needed to do now was hit a little 9-iron around another tree, which was hanging over the green, drawing it about 15 yards. That's a lot of complexity for a 343-yard hole.
Kirk said Cypress Point Club is where he would like to play every day. Not close.
I get it, Kirk. If you ever need another to play with, I'm there.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 11:13 AM
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