Pebble Beach Green Changes Just The Beginning Of Future Plans?

Jerry Stewart reports on the new range already under construction at Pebble Beach and also mentions the 9th green changes that apparently will be part of a longer term program to restore more square footage to the badly shrunken surfaces.

Thanks to reader Joel for the story alert and this photo of the green from last week. The bunker is an apparently homage to Apple's iCloud logo.

The biggest change to the green has been the reclamation of 600 square feet of surface area that had been lost from its original size. The reclaimed area is on the left side of the green, which will allow a new pin placement directly behind the primary bunker protecting the green.

Crews have also softened the grade in the middle of the green, lessening the severity of its back-to-front slope in order to improve playability in severe weather conditions. Being tucked on the coast, the green, which was one of the course's fastest during the 2010 U.S. Open, has no protection from high winds.

All that remains in the renovation on No. 9 is for the new grass to grow in. Due to the changes, an alternate green has been used. Like many of the improvements made to Pebble Beach over the past few years, the changes on No. 9 are subtle and in keeping with the intent of the course's original design.

"It's the beginning of plans to make some changes to a few of the greens," Perocchi said. "The ninth green is the first one."