By Scott Seward

One look at Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course and it is easy to see the perfect pairing of match play format and a golf course. The club will host the 96th playing of the California Amateur Championship in June. With the move from Pebble each Golf Links, competitors in one of the grandest state amateurs in the nation will now have the benefit of competition at one facility. Stroke-play qualifying takes place on both the Dunes and Shore courses with match play to follow on the Shore.

The 36-hole MPCC is one of the crown jewels of American private clubs. Featuring more than 450 acres of prime Monterey Peninsula coastline, the two golf courses, clubhouse, and large practice facility are situated on the property that best utilizes the magnificent setting.

Both courses and the clubhouse have undergone renovation recently, with Rees Jones’ work on the Seth Raynor-designed Dunes Course debuting first in 1999. Jones maintained the Raynor classic laid out amongst the native sand dunes, only modernizing the course in a sensitive manner by adding length, rebuilding greens and installing a modern drainage system. The course is especially notable for the beautiful, downhill par-4 eighth, with Santa Cruz

serving as a backdrop, and the par-3 14th, a hole played over the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean. The tee shot on the 177-yard hole is an experience in itself as it is played from a tiny plot of turf sandwiched between the ocean and the rocks of Point Joe, a popular stop along 17-Mile Drive.

The Dunes Course originally opened in 1926 as the second course in the Del Monte Forest (following Pebble Beach) and would serve as one of the original host venues for the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Spyglass Hill replaced the course in the rotation in 1967. The Dunes Course is ranked No. 24 in the state in the recent Golf Digest rankings.

However, it is the 6,739-yard Shore Course (ranked No. 77 in America’s 100 Greatest Courses by Golf Digest and No. 44 in Golfweek’s Top 100 Modern Courses) that State Amateur competitors will grow to love. Like Mozart, James Dean, Buddy Holly and other artists who passed far too young, architect Mike Strantz’s rework of the Shore Course defined his career and left his audience wanting more. The iconoclastic architect died of cancer in June 2005 at age 50.

Strantz took a nice course (constructed originally in 1961 and designed by Bob Baldock) on remarkable land and delivered a masterpiece in 2004. Legend has it that Strantz practically lived on the course during the design phase, communing with the land that became his design legacy. Landforms merge vividly with the surrounding native grasses and dunes. Green complexes blend into their surroundings, opening up countless short-game options. While the course is strikingly different, it still maintains a timeless impression.

Baldock’s original routing was preserved for the first four holes, with the most memorable aspect being the downhill first tee shot and its splendid ocean view. But it is the 340-yard fifth hole where match-play strategists will start to have fun. Reminiscent of the 10th at Riviera, the green is reachable, but the penalty for failure is severe, with bunkers and lateral water hazards framing the hole. The conservative player is left with a wedge approach to a tricky green while the aggressive golfer might be putting for eagle. “The green is very daunting. There are a lot of unnoticed breaks,” says MPCC Head Professional Dave Vivolo. “It’s hard to make birdie.”

Perhaps the best-known hole on the Shore Course, the 178-yard 11th, illustrates the artistry that Strantz brought to the design. The 32-foot drop from the tee box perched on top of a large boulder (one of the more prominent features of Baldock’s original course) showcases not only one of the better views on the Peninsula, but also an intricate green complex that falls away from the player and is framed by dramatic, wind-swept cypress trees. The green demands either a high shot with tremendous spin or a shot that lands short and releases on. “That’s a hole you take par and run,” Vivolo says.

The California Amateur began in 1912 at Del Monte GC and then shifted to Pebble Beach in 1919. The change to MPCC in 2007 begins a new era for the championship, as it rotates to selected courses throughout the state. Monterey Peninsula Country Club will make a terrific venue to kick off this rotation with a stellar field that features defending champion Jordan Nasser of Anaheim Hills (and USC), along with past champions Don DuBois (2005), Patrick Nagle (2003), Darryl Donovan (2001) and Casey Boyns (1993, 1999).

Nasser is bidding to become the first back-to-back champion since Dr. Frank Taylor in 1954-55. A Boyns victory would make him just the second person to win three or more state amateur titles (Jack Neville, designer of Pebble Beach Golf Links, won five).

“Monterey Peninsula CC is honored to be the host for the 2007 State Amateur. We look at this as an excellent opportunity to support amateur golf in California,” says General Manager Michael Bowhay. “We also feel fortunate to be one of several private clubs in the state who will host this significant event into the future.” Scott Seward is assistant director of communications for the Northern California Golf Association.

• 96th California Amateur Championship
  • June 18-23
  • Monterey Peninsula
  • CC Defending champion: Jordan Nasser, Anaheim Hills
• 16th California Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship
  • July 20-22
  • Poppy Hills GC
  • Defending champion: Steve Bogan, Placentia
• CGA Net Amateur Match Play Championship
  • June 18-21
  • Blackhorse GC
  • Del Monte GC
  • Laguna Seca GC

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