Flashback: Restoring Pebble Beach's 9th
/Gary McCord suggested on today's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am broadcast that the Pebble Beach Company is considering restoring the 9th hole's original super-wide fairway and perhaps even an alternate tee right off the 8th green.
As you can imagine from the three previous posts I've done on this (here, here, here), I believe it would be a welcome and long overdue improvement to the course.
Here is the most recent post from the 2010 U.S. Open that includes ground view shots of the current abandoned alternate option that would open up the best angle of approach to several hole locations.
**Reader Bill Provan sent this in regarding the ninth hole.
I was standing along the ropes on the ninth fairway during the 1992 US Open talking to Charlie Seaver who was a friend and fellow volunteer with the NCGA. Charlie said that he came out to the course after reading an article in the local paper which quoted Jack Nicklaus as saying he had tried to restore the course to it's original layout. Charlie said, "I came out to check on number nine and I see he didn't restore this hole." Seaver said than when he won the CA state amateur in 1935 he intentionally drove the ball onto the peninsula which extends out toward the beach. (You can see this peninsula in the linked drawing which you have included.) He said that in those days that the peninsula was maintained and if he could hit it, it shortened the hole. The day the two of us were looking at it it was not maintained but was covered with brush and weeds. Charlie's gone now, but I liked the story and thought you might too.
I was very fortunately to interview Mr. Seaver because he's probably the only person on the planet who hit shots for architects Alister MacKenzie and George Thomas when they were building courses like Cypress Point and Los Angeles Country Club North. An accomplished amateur golfer and Walker Cupper, he also was the father of pitcher Tom Seaver.
