Poppy Hills' reputation reparation

Poppy Hills Golf Club, excommunicated last year from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am course rotation, will undergo a complete renovation once it obtains permits to do so, the Northern California Golf Association has announced.

The NCGA board of directors approved a plan that includes redesigning and replacing all putting greens and redesigning and lessening doglegs to help the holes flow more naturally. The Monterey County Herald said that 13 holes would be modified modestly and five holes modified significantly. Robert Trent Jones Jr., who designed the course, will oversee the renovations.

In a course rotation that included Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Poppy Hill has been the weakest link by a wide margin since replacing Cypress Point in 1991. Tour players generally detested it. Hence it was replaced in the rotation last year by the Shore Course at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club, which played to rave reviews.

-- John Strege