Dramatic Par Threes: One-Shot Wonders
Whether it requires a mere flip of a wedge or a big swing with a fairway wood, a par-three hole has the ability to not only immortalize a golf course—it can define a player’s entire round. “It’s what we remember because it’s only one shot,” resort developer Mike Keiser says of a par three. “They’re […]
My Courses: Peter Jacobsen
Professional golfer and commentator Peter Jacobsen shares his favorite and most challenging courses to play in this edition of “My Courses.” MY FAVORITE COURSE: Pebble Beach. It was a favorite of our family growing up in Portland, Ore. I so much enjoy the feel of golf in the air on the Monterey Peninsula. FIRST COURSE […]
The Ultimate U.S. Open Course
We asked a panel of players, architects, officials, and media to look at the USGA’s five favorite Open venues and rank them, hole by hole. Here are the results. Not long ago, the USGA expressed publicly its devotion to an elite quartet of U.S. Open venues—Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2, and Shinnecock Hills—with the […]
Ben Wright: Magic in Monterey
Over the years, hundreds of golf fanatics have asked me which was the greatest shot I ever witnessed. It’s been an easy question to answer, thanks to one man: Jack Nicklaus. The best golfer who ever lived played scores of heroic shots, and nearly always when he needed one most. On occasion they even came […]
Ben Wright: Days at the Beach
It’s nearly time for another Bing Crosby National Pro-Am—I’m sorry, make that AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am—which means memories of that great event come flooding back to me like the giant breakers that crash along Pebble’s famed 18th hole. Unfortunately those memories don’t include my actually having played in the Crosby, as it will always […]
New Short Courses On the Horizon
It seems only natural Myrtle Beach should join the short course craze. The lot across the street from Myrtle Beach International Airport has been unused since 2017. But by this fall, it will once again be home to an 18-hole, par three course at the end of the runway—one with lights for nighttime play, music, […]
Plans Revealed for Tiger Woods’s New Short Course at Pebble Beach
Tiger Woods already had a well-known relationship with Pebble Beach Golf Links after his thrilling 15-shot U.S. Open victory two decades ago. Woods and Pebble Beach have since decided to formalize that relationship with the announcement that the 15-time major champion and his TGR Design team would be overhauling the former site of the Peter […]
Dream Nine: Par Fives
The par five. The one hole in golf where almost anything is possible. The longest holes on a course give golfers a chance to imagine the possibilities. A legitimate chance at birdie…or even that rare shot at an elusive eagle. But as many of us know, par fives can often show their teeth, generating double […]
Top 10 Courses: Japan
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic course, Kasumigaseki East, ranks third on our Top 10 list of courses in Japan behind a pair of Hugh Alison designs that are likened to Augusta National and Pebble Beach, respectively. 1. Hirono, Hirono The Augusta National of Japan, this 1932 design by Hugh Alison weaves strategically among woodlands, ravines, lakes, […]
One Course to Play for the Rest of Your Life
While many of us are stuck at home, we’ve had plenty of time to daydream about the places we’d like to travel and the golf courses we’d like to play once again, or for the first time. I’ve spent a lot of time refreshing social media, too, and have seen an interesting topic being floated […]