Every Hole at Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, CA

Sportscaster and Pebble Beach local, Jim Nantz, narrates this spectacular hole-by-hole flyover of Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, California

[peaceful piano music]- [Jim] Cypress Point,on California's MontereyPeninsula, is viewed by manyas the most beautifulgolf course in the world.It's craggy shoreline, boldarchitecture, and daring naturecombine to present an experiencein golf that's unmatched.It breaks all the rules,including back to back par fivesand back to back par threesbut Alister MacKenzie's masterpieceis always top three onGolf Digest's rankingof America's hundredgreatest golf courses.Former USGA PresidentSandy Tatum called it"the Sistine Chapel of golf."It's beauty and beast,majestic and testing.This is no relic overtakenby modern technology.It's 18 holes feature anumber of heroic carriesand alternate routes,making finesse still matter,course management richly rewarded.[dramatic orchestral music]Welcome to Every Hole at Cypress Point.The opening tee shotplays over 17 Mile Drive,though it's hidden from viewby a tall hedge screening the road.Clusters of cypress trees pinchthe fairway right and left,serving as aerial hazards.Two bunkers on the leftabout 280 off the back teesuggest that MacKenzieanticipated the future.Beyond the perched green aregrand, towering sand dunesthat stretch hundreds ofyards to nearby Spyglass Hill.The second hole is thelongest on the course,a slight dogleg left overa stretch of waste areasthat mark the target lineon the uphill tee shot.Far down the fairway liesa huge bunker on the right,eating into the fairway,counterbalanced by a smaller one left.These are carry bunkers,a feature MacKenzie repeatsthroughout the course.The green is long, slender,and sloping from back to front.Don't go long or a parcould be hard fought.The third is a par three featuringa beautiful green complexwith scattered bunkers,some well short of the putting surface,painstakingly restored nearly 20 years agoby longtime superintendent Jeff Markow.From the tee, the fourthlooks like a sea of bunkersbut the fairway is quite generous,in a dense forest of Monterey Pines.Though the spectacular bunkerson the left can be carried,those farther down on theright can come into playon the tee shots for the bigger hitters.The green is considered treacherous.You must keep your approach below the holeor risk slipping yourfirst putt off the green.The late cartoonist Hank Ketcham,a longtime Cypress member,said, "It's like putting in a bathtub."The first of consecutive parfives, the 493 yard fifth,can be reached in two bysome low handicap playerscourageous enough to challengethe bunker complex 280 yards from the tee.The fairway dips and crests and tiltsfrom tee to two-tiered greenand tall Monterey pines line the hole.For the average golfer, it'sa three shot game of chess,with each play moredemanding that the last.About 30 yards longer than the fifthand playing in a differentdirection, the sixth doglegs leftwith a massive bunker at the turnand several more along the leftto catch shots pulledoff sloping fairway lies.The green sits at the baseof yet another sand dunethat dominates the landscape.Atop the dune seen on holesix is the seventh tee,elevated above a valley.The green, restored to it's original shapeby Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw,is fronted by a diagonal string of bunkersand backed by moreexposed hillsides of sand.The seventh provides the transitionfrom pastoral parklandinto genuine linksland.The eighth is the firstof consecutive holesthat many consider thetwo most interestingshort par fours in the world.Eight is a sharp dogleg right,climbing up a mountain slope of sand.The drive is blind, whetherplaying straightawaywith something less than adriver or cutting the corner.The well-guarded hilltop green,with four distinct levels,must be carried on the fly.Listen to your caddy who might tell youto aim your putt 90 degrees offline.The ascent to the eighth greenis followed by a holethat plunges downhill.Pause for a moment hereand look around at the beauty of nature.At least eight holes can beseen from this vantage point.This par four is reachable from the teewith a long, bold drivebut if one plays an iron or hybrid safeto the ribbon fairway, theball must be positionedto avoid sand left and right.The second is then uphill to a shelf greenthat's tricky to hole becauseof it's diagonal configurationand tumbling character.Ten is the fourth and finalpar five on the course.It's also the shortest.It begins from an elevated teeand it seems like it's goingto be easily reachable in twobut the fairway is pinchedby two glorious bunkers,one 280 yards off thetee, the other less thana hundred yards off the green,and a tiny putting surface is ringedby a series of deep bunkers.Parallel to the tenth butin the opposite directionand often playing intothe prevailing wind,11 might be the most difficultpar four on the course,with trees right and leftand the landing area stoppedby two linear bunkersin the center of the fairway.The second shot might wellbe a long iron or hybridto an oval green, squeezedby three more bunkers.The massive dunecontaining the ninth greenprovides the backdrop for this hole.Like the eighth, this isanother sharp dogleg rightaround a windswept hillside of dunes.But where the eighthplays extremely uphill,the longer 12th plays slightlydownhill from the tee.Mackenzie's fairway bunker,far left, is about 260 out.It has been restoredso golfers must position their tee shots.The second is over aswale and diagonal bunkersto a green that seems toflow out of the dunescape.The 12th is claimed to beBen Hogan's favorite hole.The drive on 13 is over a ridge of sandto perhaps the widestfairway on the course.Position is paramount,depending on the hole location.The approach is uphill to a greenwith bunkers embeddedinto another sand ridge.Along the left, a ridgeresembling a cresting ocean wave.We go from the widest hole at Cypressto the uphill, slight dogleg right 14th,with it's gnarly cypresstrees left and right.The second is uphill toa perched green that,despite all the trees framing it,still seems exposed to ocean winds.As you walk this narrow corridor,look right at the famous octopus treeand marvel at our good fortune.The best is yet to come.You might call this callthis hole "anticipation".Emerging onto the jaggedPacific coastline,we find another Cypress Point oddity,back to back par threes.The 15th is breathtaking,a short shot from 60 feetabove a diagonal ocean cove containinga cauldron of churning surfto a boomerang-shape green surroundedby six glorious bunkers.Get out your camera.Some say it's the mostscenic hole in the worldbut wait until you see what's next.The 16th is perhaps the mostphotographed hole anywhere,if not the hardest.Mackenzie debated making it a par four.It requires a carry of over200 yards, over the rock wall,above an ocean cove, to reachthe front collar of the green.To most players, the 16th isstill the most awesome riskin all of golf, especiallyif the wind is in one's face.Mackenzie thoughtfully provideda wide bailout area to the leftfor those windy or less courageous daysbut from there, the pitchonto the green isn't easy.When the course was beingrouted back in the 1920s,Marion Hollins' influence onthe design of Cypress Point,and especially this hole,cannot be emphasized enough.She casually dropped a ball on the teeand hit it on the greento convince Mackenzieit was a par three.Years later, Bing Crosbybecame one of the fewto make a hole in one.Next comes a shoreline-hugging par four,complicated by the expanseof rocky coastline all along the rightand a shallow peninsulagreen off in the distance.For most of us, thesecond shot must be playedover or around a grove of cypress treesthat gobble up much of the fairway.The second must be dead onlineto avoid the vertical cliff on the rightand a nasty bunker on the left.Ocean winds always seemswirling on the 17th.The short, dogleg right 18th,with an uphill second shot,has scattered cypress treesthat seem to block out the entire fairway.Even the club's yardage bookdescribes them as a barricade.The trees give the illusionthat they engulf the entire hole.In truth, a skinny ribbonof fairway threads it's waybetween tree trunks from tee to greenand can be hit by adetermined, accurate drive.It's a unique, unexpectedfinish to a coursethat provides a lifetime ofmemories in a single round.You have completed the greatest experiencein the world of golf.