By Robert D. Thomas
Senior Director of Communications
Southern California Golf Association

In the 23 years I’ve been covering the California Amateur Championship, I’ve told thousands of people (and written several times) that one of the greatest things about the championship is that it affords everyone — not just the players — access to one of the great courses in the world. 

Until this year, that course was Pebble Beach Golf Links.  “Come and watch match play,” I’ve said over and over again.  “You see great golf, you’re walking along with two players and maybe one or two others, and you’re walking Pebble Beach.  What could better?”  This year, the championship shifts to Monterey Peninsula Country Club and you know what?  “Better” might just be MPCC.  For instance, if Cypress Point (located just a driver and wedge from the edge of MPCC) is described as the “Sistine Chapel of Golf,” Monterey Peninsula CC might well be characterized as the Louvre.  Moreover, being on the course during the tournament will be breathtaking not just for the golfers, but also for the spectators.

For starters, there are two great courses housed within the Monterey Peninsula CC’s 450 acres.   Seth Raynor designed the original 18 holes, called the Dunes Course, in 1925, making it the second course within the Del Monte Forest (after Pebble and before Cypress).  Raynor was one of the premiere golf course architects of what was golf’s first great “Golden Age” of course design, and the Dunes Course was one of his last creations. 

In 1998, Rees Jones was brought in to renovate the Dunes Course, which now features lush fairways and distinctive bunkers.  Thick rows of trees line most of the fairways, but holes 10-15 play along the rocky coast, separated from the water only by the 17-Mile Drive; actually, golfers cross the road to reach the 177-yard, par-3 14th hole, where tee shots flirt with the ocean and the green is perched atop rocks.

Jones’ renovation received strong reviews, but when the club decided to redo its Shore Course, it went a totally different direction.  Michael Strantz was a designer who prided himself in fitting his work into the natural terrain and that suited most of the MPCC members just fine. 

Unlike Jones’ work, Strantz’s course was virtually a new creation, with only a little of the original course’s routing retained.  Having moved his design team to Monterey in 2002, Brooke Fezler writes “Mike walked the course and, as he listened to the seals bark, studied the contours of the 40-year-old fairways, and breathed in the rich, salty Pacific, he began to envision the future of [the Shore Course],  Why offer a simple course renovation when the land suggests a complete transformation?  Why not innovate?  Why not inspire?  With echoes of those questions ringing in his ears, Mike set out to craft a work of art.”

Ironically, it would prove to be his last course; Mike Strantz had been diagnosed with tongue cancer and died at age 50 shortly after the course was finished in 2004.  But what he left was a masterpiece, one that is ranked No. 77 in America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf Digest, and No. 44 in Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Courses. 

However, ratings only hint at the Shore Course’s unique beauty.  Nearly all of the 18 holes are artistically situated to take maximum advantage of the natural beauty, particularly of the pounding rocky coast, and each is framed meticulously to accentuate the beauty.  A dozen holes run alongside the ocean; others (including some that make artful use of doglegs) end with greens exquisitely framed by crashing waves.

Strantz’s unique design concept began with par-5 first hole.  In the original design, it was a straightaway, tree-lined drop from tee to the green with the ocean in the background.  Pretty, but bland.  Strantz took the same routing but added a collection of fairway bunkers on the left edge of the fairway, giving golfers a choice of trying to carry the sand on a first tee shot or negotiating an “S”-shaped fairway.  Instead of green grass in the rough, Strantz put native grasses, carefully chosen for environmental, as well as aesthetics.  It shows up everywhere.

There are several other unique design factors that you should notice.  The entire course is built on a four-inch sand cap (unique in America at that point), so the fairways are firm and fast and the undulating greens are firmer and even faster.  If Strantz had his way, the course would have required walking (a la Bandon Dunes), but the club’s membership wasn’t willing to adopt that.  Nonetheless, dirt cart paths are minimal and often tie into large waste areas.  Strantz uses rough-edged bunkers to set off his greens and fairways.  He also left intact some unique rock formations and they provide dramatic backdrops to several greens.

So while you’re watching some scintillating golf, take time to appreciate the artistic canvas that Strantz painted on the Monterey Peninsula.   The irony of all of this, of course, is that in previous years you would never have been afforded this opportunity.  This year might be your only chance to walk Monterey Peninsula CC, but you can still stroll around Pebble Beach Golf Links any time you want.