I have not.
I gather Cypress Point is at the top of the chart, -- majestic, yet as exclusive as Augusta or Pine Valley to access.
I hear Pebble Beach is often booked with corporate retreats, making for a 5-6 hour round with hacks littering the course.
Yet, the courses are beautiful to the eye. It wouldn't suck.
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the first time I played Pebble I paid $45 (mid-70s...date, not age ;-))...subsequent rounds were a little more expensive, but a close friend got me on during long weekends when the Wall Street crowd took over Pebble, Spyglass and Spanish Bay...no one else but them and their clients for the weekend...your 'Fees' at work...
Pebble has some fantastic holes...my favorites are in the string of #6 (challenging drive to get where you can pop one up the hill for an easy 3rd shot)...#7 (famous vista of the ocean and Pt. Lobos, plus the need to play the wind to get your shot on the green)...#8 (best second shot hole in the world... over the chasm)...btw, my wife and I must have stayed in Carmel dozens of times at a place called the "Happy Landings Inn" which has small individual cottages...we'd take a short walk down to Pebble's 10th hole in the evening and walk around (can't do that anymore...too bad). Fun Fact: I worked as a Marshall there at the 2000 and 2010 US Opens.
As for Spyglass...my favorite course in the USA...have played it a hundred times or more...love every single hole on it. For NORCAL amateurs it used to be the NCGA home course (offices now at Poppy Hills) and has continued to serve the public for tournaments. Best holes for me are the first five...#1 is a beautiful opening par 5 hole that sweeps down toward the ocean...#2 is a short par 4 continuing toward the ocean with an elevated, hard to 'get it close' green...#3 is a downhill par 3 that has a bunker short...ice plant left and long so you 'must' hit the green...#4 is a short he dogleg left with what used to be a LOT of ice plant all along the left side...in tournaments we'd all agree that if you hit your drive in there you'd not really look for it, since it was impossible to hit out and once you started "the process", your only optiona for dropping was at Cypress Point GC (no lie)...the green is very unique...extremely narrow green (think 5-7 yds in the middle) with mounds on either side having ice plant as well...finally, the 5th hole...par 3 with a slightly 'elevated' green...large bunker in front and ice plant left and long (in front of a beautiful home) plus tiers that made positioning important.
Could tell many stories about all the rest but you can sense my love for that course...put it on your bucket list if you can.
Never got the chance to play Cypress, but walked it a few times...15th is gorgeous and 17th is justifiably famous...as for exclusivity.. Bob Hope once said..."Cypress Point just held a membership "Drive"...they DROVE OUT 40 members" ;-)...
Enjoy watching the tournament.
P.S. There are other very good...and much less costly...courses nearby...'Pacific Grove'...'Del Monte'...'Ford Ord' (DON'T MISS 'THEM' (2 great courses)...'Laguna Seca'...to name a few...also, back on the Peninsula, there's Spanish Bay and Poppy Hills, for a few more bucks...very enjoyable courses.
I grew up in Bay Area. Live in MI now but miss much about it.
Second Ty on courses. If you're a golfer you have to go there. If you want to play Spyglass, Spanish Bay and Del Monte(oldest course west of the Mississippi) look into the Duke's Card which offers discounts for multiple golfers at all courses. Stay a week and play a new great course every day and enjoy the best seafood on the coast.
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the Thursday competition round, but on the other days I could wear my 'uniform' clothes and walk inside the ropes on all the holes..chat with other Marshalls, but get real close to players and their caddies...best way to watch a tournament.
btw, on my Thursday gig that year, I was up by the 14th green when Tiger came through...he hit his second shot on the par 5 short and in the rough mear a tree guarding the left side...a really nasty position/lie that I marked for him. Now lots of other players who missed the green would take quite a bit of time to figure out how to play their next shot and keep it on the small upper tier on the left where the pin was...and still they'd mess up...for Tiger...after uttering an expletive when he saw where he was, walked up to the green...took a few moments, then walked back to his ball...I turned to the crowd and held my arms up facing them to signal quiet and expected him to spend a fair amount of time getting ready for his shot...not so...he hit within about 20 seconds and when I turned around his ball was on the green close to the cup and he made birdie...un-freaking believable.
...you proceed to first in line. You'll get about 20-30 others making snide comments, it IS a public course, after all and the lines are long. Just beware of retrieving your ball in the brush. There are 5 subspecies of the Western Rattlesnake afoot.
My caddie said that if there are birds on the ground, chances are there aren't any vipers about. I prefer to just drop another Titleist.
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But recall that it was jaw-dropping.