
Carlos Amoedo

J.D. Cuban

Carlos Amoedo


J.D. Cuban

Carlos Amoedo
](http://golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/21/55ad8e80add713143b42e6c9_courses-2013-02-cosl03_cypress_point_618.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.690.suffix/1573448858917.jpeg)
Stephen Szurlej
Overview
From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:
Cypress Point, the sublime Monterey Peninsula work of sandbox sculpture, whittled Cypress and chiseled coastline, has become Exhibit A in the argument that classic architecture has been rendered ineffectual by modern technology.
I'm not buying that argument.
Those who think teeny old Cypress Point is defenseless miss the point of Alister MacKenzie’s marvelous design.
MacKenzie relished the idea that Cypress Point would offer all sorts of ways to play every hole. That philosophy still thrives, particularly in the past decade, after the faithful restoration of MacKenzie’s original bunkers by veteran course superintendent Jeff Markow.
Certainly one way to play Cypress is the full-bore, take-dead-aim, grip-it-and-rip-it, bomb-and-gouge approach. But it’s also a course where finesse still matters, where course management is still rewarded. Yes, long bombers can go low at Cypress Point these days, but so can short-hitting, thoughtful players, who much like sailors in a storm tack their way around bunkers, trees, dunes and ocean coves. And when the winds come up, as they often do at Cypress, it’s the latter approach that’s likely to be more successful.
MacKenzie never believed much in three-shot par 5s, so if the 491-yard par-5 fifth is just a driver and 8-iron to many, well, both shots must still avoid acres and acres of sand bunkers splattered across the rolling fairway.
Would the downhill 289-yard par-4 ninth, with its narrow stairstepped green tucked between sand dunes, be any more challenging if it would be lengthened 50 or 75 yards? It would still be reachable from the tee for big hitters, but out of range for ordinary players, robbing the majority of the fun and consternation of trying to drive a par 4.
Likewise, little would be gained by lengthening the tiny 139-yard 15th, which plays over a cauldron of swirling Pacific. Curiously, MacKenzie lamented that the 15th lacked, “a sufficient number of alternative shots necessary to play it.” But he forgot about the wind, which invariably is either directly into one’s face, or blowing out to sea.
As for the infamous par-3 16th, listed at 233 yards, its tee could be moved back up a hill to 260 yards, or even the 280-yard range. But why? To revive the debate whether Mackenzie originally intended the hole to be a short par 4?
One of the great myths of Cypress Point is that founding member Marion Hollins, the 1921 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, convinced MacKenzie to reduce the 16th to a par 3. Jack Fleming, who supervised construction of the course, set the record straight 50 years ago. MacKenzie always conceived the hole as a heroic one-shotter, alternatively as a drive-and-pitch-par 3. Describing the 16th to San Francisco golf writer Art Rosenbaum, Fleming related:
“Miss Marion Hollins and I watched as he [Dr. MacKenzie] took his place exactly where the back tee is today on the 16th. He said, ‘This is the place, over the water.’ We thought he was crazy and told him so, politely of course. Dr. MacKenzie would not budge. He said, ‘Dammitall, the land side is too simple. It they don’t have the game for it, they can play to the left. If they go to the green, they will be credited.’ ”
Ironically, the one hole Mackenzie wanted longer was the 343-yard 18th, where a conventional fairway later become forested by the encroachment of cypress trees. Mackenzie had designed a back tee 50 yards out on an ocean rock, even proposed a suspension bridge to reach it, but it was never built. Today, despite some tree clearing, it’s still the most confounding of holes at Cypress Point, where even a big hitter has no true advantage.
What’s not to like about that?
About
Awards


Ranking history:
100 Greatest: Ranked since 1966.
2023-'24 ranking (and previous): 3rd.
Highest ranking: No. 2, 1987-'88.
Best in State: Ranked first since 2003 (including 2023-'24). Ranked first, 1985-'89, 1997-'99. Ranked inside the top 5 since 1977.
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Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Greatest course in America. No experience can top walking the grounds of CPC."
Read More2025
Review
“The history, setting, character, and conditioning make for an exceptional experience."
Read More2024
Review
“Incredible design architecture combined with mesmerizing scenery hole after hole. Layout variety suffers a bit with the redundant par 4's that work left to right on the back 9. Otherwise a diverse set of par 4's, par 3's, and par 5's in terms of yardages, uphill/downhill, hole shapes, as well as green complexes in terms of challenge & variety. The tee shot on 1 is across & in close proximity to 17 Mile Drive with just a hedge as a barrier. Quirky back to back par 5's(5&6) and back to back par 3's(15&16). 15 & 16 are obvious standout holes in the world of golf, however the risk/reward options presented by natural features on 5, 8, 9, 12, & 17. The bunkering surrounding 13th green is amongst the best in the world in terms of aesthetics & framing. The 3rd and 7th would be the best par 3 at almost every other golf course in the world and get overshadowed by 15 and 16, overall as good a set of par 3's one will find anywhere outside of the Melbourne Sandbelt."
Read More2024
Review
“Alister MacKenzie, 1928 Ultra exclusive private course located on the Monterey Peninsula, next to Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay golf clubs. The first 7 holes are inland and works it way into a links course starting on hole 8. Beautifully sculptured bunkers and waste areas are strategically placed in the fairways and greenside."
Read More2023
Review
“Cypress Point offers some of the most variety of any course I have played offering various lengths for par 3s, different wind directions and different dogleg directions. Despite heavy rain in the previous month, the golf course was in very good condition. Bill Coore was doing work on #9 green and he stopped to talk with us about what he was doing on that hole. The layout offers a lot of options on how you can play each hole"
Read More2023
Review
“Cypress Point lives up to its reputation. What a treat to play here and experience the great variety, superb condition and an amazing layout. Bill Coore was working on #9 green to make a few changes to the left side when we played here."
Read More2023
Review
“The best day of golf on the Planet!!!"
Read More2022
Review
“Amazing golf course on amazing property and setting. Not sure what isn't to love at this course! Golfing sublime"
Read More2022
Review
“I have played 98 of the top 100 in GD from the 2021 list and this is still my favorite course. The design variety is like no other course and the breaks in the greens are so subtle that a caddie with experience is the only way you would make it around the course. A few holes you would see nowhere else. Great feel as you know you are playing one of the top courses in the world. Bunkers are tougher than they look. I love the new dunes areas created by Coore and Crenshaw. They blend naturally into the course. The course is tougher than it looks."
Read More2022
Review
“Perhaps the toughest get in golf, right alongside Augusta. And you won't be disappointed with any part of your day. Everything is first class ... and goodness the set of holes along the water are as good as any in the world."
Read More2022
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