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Pasatiempo Golf Club: MacKenzie's "Other"
Jewel on Monterey Bay
By David
R. Holland, Senior Writer
SANTA CRUZ, CA -- It's almost uncanny that Santa
Cruz is known more for its famous Beach Boardwalk or for
having been the birthplace of surfing competitions than for
its golf links history found at Pasatiempo Golf Course.
After all, Santa
Cruz is just an hour north of the more-often hyped golf-hallowed
ground of the Monterey Peninsula. And Santa
Cruz is located on the northern end of that same famous
Monterey Bay.
The Pasatiempo Corporation says no golf vacation to the Monterey
Bay area would be complete without a visit to Santa
Cruz. In fact, on its website, Pasatiempo is extending an
invitation to all those golf nuts who will attend the U.S. Open
in 2000 at Pebble Beach to take the drive to Santa
Cruz for golf at Pasatiempo.
"Golf aficionados call Pasatiempo a hidden jewel and many
golfers don't know the vision and inspiration for Pasatiempo
actually started at Cypress
Point," said Bob Beck, Pasatiempo's historian.
Scottish-born golf architect Dr.
Alister MacKenzie designed Cypress
Point in 1927 and Pasatiempo in 1929, but much of his inspiration
came from Marion Hollins, a New Yorker who came west and put
an indelible stamp on women's golf and other sports. She was
a sports entrepreneur, an unheard of combination for women early
in the century. (See related story of MacKenzie's
and Hollins' unusual business relationship).
Hollins, the 1921 U.S. Amateur Golf Champion, purchased the
property of 570 acres in 1928 and named it Pasatiempo, Spanish
for "passing of time". She then commissioned MacKenzie
to design her golf course overlooking the Central Coast of California
and the Pacific Ocean. MacKenzie, who lived in a house halfway
up the sixth fairway on the left side until his death in 1934,
put his classic stamp on Pasatiempo. He believed in maximun
enjoyment for the maximum number of players. He wanted the high-handicapper
to have as much chance to enjoy a layout as the professional.
Pasatiempo is fair, but is also an exacting challenge with lush
fairways and demanding greens. His expertise in bunkering has
been praised by past and present tour players.
"Both
Hollins and Dr. MacKenzie approached Pasatiempo with specific
design philosophies," Beck said. "Miss Hollins felt
there should be alternate lines of play on every hole, not just
the direct line to the green. This permits the shorter hitter
to attempt a safer line of direction. She called her concept
'strategic golf' design.'"
Dr. MacKenzie agreed with Miss Hollins. "But MacKenzie's
vision is also recognizable in the boldness of designing the
greens and bunkers and also in the way he encourages the player
to do something better than he or she has ever done before,
but at the same time providing a safe route to the hole for
those of less ability or courage."
Interestingly, something happened in February of 1979, to make
the shareholders of Pasatiempo stop and think. Michael Wolveridge,
a member of one of the world's top golf architectural firms
(Thomson, Wolveridge, Fream and Associates), made a demanding
inspection of Pasatiempo.
Wolveridge, who had visited Augusta National and Cypress
Point many times, (two of MacKenzie's greatest works) but
had never seen Pasatiempo. He was floored.
"Pasatiempo
is perhaps the closest of all MacKenzie's works to remain both
authentic and provide pleasurable excitement to the public,"
Wolveridge said. "This course is special indeed."
He compared Pasatiempo's 16th with the 8th at Cypress Point
and the 3rd hole on the West Course of Royal Melbourne. Dr.
MacKenzie regarded the 16th hole at Pasatiempo as the best two-shot
hole he ever designed – and possibly in all of golf. It's
a 395-yard par-4 dogleg left (no doubt the No. 1 handicap).
There's an aiming flag in the middle of the fairway and a draw
will be rewarded on the tee shot. However, the next shot is
as hard as they come. You will probably have a downhill or sidehill
lie over a barranca to the green above. Talk about a visual
scare. From the fairway the optical illusion is that this green
isn't going to hold any shot. The front of the green is false
and your shot will roll off. But if you find the right tier,
you just might have a shot at par. Anything above the flag will
roll back.
Wolveridge went on to praise MacKenzie's greens: "How often
do we play golf on courses where the game is to hit the greens
and it is dull and straightforward? Not so at Pasatiempo where
there exists a collection of 18 of the finest, most interesting
greens which I have ever seen on one golf course. It is more
interesting than Cypress Point or Royal Melbourne. The first
green at the Old Course at St. Andrews is not so interesting
as the 12th at Pasatiempo."
Many of Wolveridge's comments were taken and acted on by the
Pasatiempo Corporation. Many members who had just been enjoying
the golf course realized what a prize they had. And currently,
golf architect Tom Doak is working on a renovation project that
will return the course to many of MacKenzie's original thoughts.
Pasatiempo's first nine holes are laid out in open rolling country.
In the beginning the view from the first tee was basically treeless.
And now, on a clear day from the first tee you can see the roller
coaster at the Beach Boardwalk, Monterey far in the distance
and lots of Monterey pines.
Pasatiempo's par-3 holes are fun, challenging holes, but No.
3 is downright intimidating and the No. 2 handicap hole. It's
217 yards uphill and is one of the toughest par 3's anywhere.
Most high-handicappers will have the best chance to save par
by leaving it short and in front. If you go left, right or long
it will be a difficult save.
No. 18 is a par-3, 173 yards that requires a carry over a huge
ravine, usually a 4- or 5-iron depending on the wind. If you
leave it above the hole take a big breath and tap it lightly
because this is a fast putt.
From the tee at No. 10, a dogleg-left par-4, 444 yards, it looks
mean. There's a series of ravines to drive over, but the carry
is not more than 190 in any spot. The second shot is downhill
and requires an exact stroke. Watch out for the huge eucalyptus
tree on the right.
The tee shot at No. 11 requires a long drive then a scary shot
over a barranca to your left. It's 384 yards and a par-4. Most
mere mortals will have to keep the second shot just short of
the green. If you are lucky enough to have a front-pin placement,
you can fly your chip 10 to 15 feet past the hole and have the
backboard effect bring the ball back to the pin. When the pin
is in the back this can be a frustrating approach. Many balls
will come back to the front.
Pasatiempo was the home of LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster,
who grew up just off the 14th tee, and went to work for the
club at age 15.
"Pasatiempo is one of the toughest
courses I ever played," Inkster said. "I'm grateful
for all the experience I gained here because, in comparison,
most courses are a piece of cake."
 The
Pasatiempo guest book includes: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Byron
Nelson, Ben Crenshaw, Joyce Wethered, May Pickford, Ty Cobb,
Babe Didrickson, Jack Dempsey, Bing Crosby, Fred Couples, Johnny
Miller, Mark O'Meara, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods.
In 1986, the U.S. Women's Amateur was held at Pasatiempo, where
Los Gatos native Kay Cockerill triumphed.
Pasatiempo Golf Club
18 Clubhouse Road, Santa Cruz, 95060. |
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