Golf Odyssey subscribers have the opportunity to experience Pebble Beach under US Open conditions (See article for details.)
If you caught the ATT Pebble Beach Pro-Am this past weekend, you got a little taste for the many changes to Pebble Beach Golf Links that have been put in place for the 2010 US Open (to be played June 17 to 20).
One thing is for sure, the course set up for this past weekend’s Pro-Am is going to look like a cakewalk compared to what the USGA has planned for the US Open. I am willing to bet a lot of money that someone is not going to need to shoot 16 under par (like Dustin Johnson just did) to win golf’s most valuable prize.
I know many of you are Golf Odyssey subscribers, and before I summarize some of the changes to the golf course, I wanted to highlight a very special and exclusive travel opportunity that I heard about last week.
Golf Odyssey has secured a limited number of openings for their subscribers to play Pebble Beach the first day it is available for play after the 2010 US Open. Golf Odyssey subscribers on this “trip-of-a-lifetime” will be able to experience the golf course just like the pros, from the throttling rough down to the lightning-quick greens.
In addition to playing Pebble Beach under US Open conditions, the trip includes Trophy Club tickets to the final round of the US Open on Sunday, June 20th and rounds at Spyglass Hill Golf Club (another member of the Top-100 golf courses of the world) and Pasatiempo, the Alister MacKenzie classic that was recently updated by Tom Doak. The trip is completely first class, from the accommodations to the meals, to the transportation to-and-from the San Francisco airport.
I just checked with Golf Odyssey’s publisher, David Baum, and he tells me that there may still be a couple spots available. If you have an interest, email me here.
Now, for the changes to the golf course:
Having tuned into the coverage last weekend and read many of the newspaper accounts, it appears that perhaps the most significant change is the lengthening of the par-4 ninth hole, by some 50 yards. Topping out at more than 500 yards, getting to this green in regulation is going to be much tougher this year than in 2000.
Likewise, the formerly 446-yard par 4 tenth will be stretched another 50 yards and the 399-yard par 4 thirteenth hole can also be lengthened by 45 yards. Formerly, these two-shotters presented great birdie opportunities. They won’t come so easy in 2010. All in all, the course is likely to play some 200 yards longer than it did in 2000, when Tiger Woods won by a historic 15 strokes.
On holes 6 and 18, the ocean has been brought much more into play with the strategic placement of bunkers and Cypress trees. The single large fairway bunker that formerly guarded the sixth hole’s lower landing area has been replaced by five bunkers that shift the landing area toward the ocean. On the historic finishing hole, a fairway bunker and two Cypress trees have been added to the right hand landing area. This forces longer hitters to flirt with the Pacific on the left.
The other hole getting a fair amount of attention is the short, par 4 fourth hole where the existing pot bunker in the left fairway was shifted toward the ocean, bringing the water more into play. The addition of two new bunkers puts further pressure on the tee shot.
In total, four greens and 20 bunkers have been rebuilt, altered or installed; 12 tees have been upgraded; trees have been added on six holes and the total length of the course has been extended to 7,014 yards.
The exclusive opportunity to play Pebble Beach in US Open conditions is a great example of one of the many benefits of being a Golf Odyssey subscriber. In the last several months alone, Golf Odyssey has extended its subscribers the chance to play the new Old Macdonald golf course at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort three weeks before it opens to the public and a $400 discount on one of a spectacular cruise to the top golf courses of Northern Ireland and Scotland. This is on top of the playing privileges extended to Golf Odyssey subscribers by some of the top clubs in the world.
If you aren’t already a Golf Odyssey subscriber, you can register for a free trial by clicking here.
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The people of Pebble Beach and true fans of the game have been waiting for this moment for quite some time. From what I have seen, Pebble Beach Golf Links is the ultimate course when it comes to shear beauty. I feel like the changes to the golf course will be for the better. The people that have organized the changes seem to have really kicked it into high gear in preparation for the world’s greatest golfers to tee off at Pebble Beach Golf Links. As an avid golfer I really hope to one day visit this course.