I have been absolutely spoiled this year for golf. There’s no other way of putting it. So I’ve been struggling with how to describe playing at Cypress Point last weekend because it was so incredibly special, yet so different from the other amazing courses I’ve been lucky enough to play this year. I guess to understand how special it is to play Cypress, you first have to know a bit more about it…
Cypress Point is a private golf course on the Monterey Peninsula designed by Alister MacKenzie. Heard of him? Well, he’s designed a few other courses you may have heard of… Royal Troon in Scotland for example… or there’s that little course in Georgia where the Masters is played every year, Augusta National. Cypress has only 250 members, and the only way to play it is with an invite from one of its members. Cypress is considered the second most difficult course in the country to have the opportunity to play, next only to Augusta. Since women aren’t even allowed to play Augusta, Cypress is the toughest place in the country to have the opportunity to play! Before you play, you’re sent a list of guidelines regarding where to change your shoes, where to leave your cellphone, and what to tip your caddy. You’re warned that there are no yardage markers, no beverage carts and even no bathrooms available on the course, and by the way, be ready for the first tee when you arrive because guests are not allowed to use the practice range. Starting to get the idea of how exclusive a course it is to play? I have to admit that when we were driving to the course yesterday, I was skeptical that it could possibly live up to its hype…
Our tee time was 8:15am and we had to arrive by 7:30am, so we started the morning hitting balls in the dark at the practice range at Spyglass. We arrived at the very small parking lot of Cypress at 7:30 to my surprise what was a bit of a whirlwind of activity. There were at least 3 groups of 4 in front of us, and caddies, so the practice green was full of grown men whose collective nervous excitement transformed the practice putting surface to a second grade class about to partake in the best field trip ever! My initial skepticism was quickly replaced with nerves; which soon after were replaced by pure joy.
I feel like I’ve made this statement too many times before, but really, seriously… this time… the first tee at Cypress was the most nervous I’ve ever been on a tee box. I thought I was shaking at St. Andrews, but this time I’m sure I was physically trembling… and the shaking lasted the entire hole. Your first shot is over a hedge and over 17 mile drive! Oh – and its in front of your playing partners, your caddies, and all of the other players waiting to tee off behind you. I didn’t duff it thankfully; but I did pull my shot well left. It was playable, but I hit a second at the encouragement of my foursome and ended up in the middle of the fairway and on my way to a mulligan par on the first hole. We were off…
The first couple of holes were beautiful; the fog hadn’t lifted yet which gave the course a mystical feel. You couldn’t see any of your shots because the fog was so thick, so we relied 100% on our skilled caddies, Paul and Laurent (known locally as “Frenchie”). I think the fact that you couldn’t see the ball over the first few holes actually helped my swing. I kept my head down because I couldn’t see where the ball was going anyway! On the second hole, I experienced my first sand dune of the day. It took 3 shots before I could finally get my drive back onto the fairway. From then on though, something magical happened… my game actually started to come together!
I savored every one of the next 16 holes. I walked them recognizing this may be the only time I get to play them; and if I thought time flew at Pebble, then it was at mach speed at Cypress. Over the course of 18 holes, I had countless opportunities at making shots that I’ve never had the chance to try before. Some worked; like my putt out of a bunker on 11 that ended up within 2ft of the cup. Others didn’t; like my 9 iron out of the plant on the sand dune on number 8 that travelled about 10 ft further in the sand. There was also a 5 wood chip on the 14th that sailed 70 ft past the hole, but stayed on the green… just long enough for me to sink the longest putt of my life.
The greens had to have been the greatest source of entertaining shots from our entire group. On the 5th hole Frenchie told me to hit my chip past the cup. I did and watched with the same awe as the rest of our group as the ball flew past the cup, and then slowly but surely started to catch the swail in the green back towards the pin until it stopped about 3 inches from the cup. On the 13th hole after a disastrous start, I chipped right in from off the green to save a double bogey. There were interesting chips and putts all day long, but the coolest of them all had to have been Jim’s putt on the 8th hole. You have to see it to believe it so just look at the photo below. Jim is putting toward the caddy on the right, Paul. Frenchie is holding the pin in the center. His putt ended up about a 6 inches from the cup on this line. The round was so much fun and it felt so good to have confidence in my game again.
One golfer commented to me before our round that, “once you reach the 15th hole at Cypress Point, there’s nothing else like it in all of golf.” That really sums it up. The 15th hole is a short par 3 over the ocean. It’s impossible not to be distracted by the massive waves crashing up against the rocks lying below while preparing for your tee shot. You leave the 15th feeling like there’s no hole quite so beautiful anywhere in the world. And then you reach the 16th hole; which holds the distinguished reputation of one of the world’s greatest golf holes. It’s a par 3 for the gents and a par 4 for the ladies and you can hardly even remember the beauty of the 15th when you arrive at the tee box. Just have a look…
The 17th hole doesn’t disappoint either with your third consecutive tee shot that has to cross a massive chasm over the ocean to safely reach the fairway. Even once you’re safely over the ocean, you’re far from finished, with a massive cypress tree sitting protecting the green from the middle of the fairway. It’s a challenge to say the least.
The 18th hole plays quite differently from the previous three. The hole takes you away from the ocean and back toward the clubhouse, which is of course disappointing! By the time you play it though, you’re mentally drained. I think its disappointing more than anything though because it marks the end of your round at Cypress.
So if you’ve read this far, you might be wondering how it was that I even got to play on Cypress!?! Well… it was pure luck… someone else who was supposed to play cancelled, so I was the lucky 4th to join Bob, Jim and Scott on the course yesterday. I owe the greatest thanks to Bob for hosting us, and to Jim for suggesting I join when their 4th dropped out. And of course I owe so much thanks to Scott for taking me out west for one of our best anniversary weekends ever! Chances are I will never get to play Cypress Point again, but I’m OK with that, because I gave it everything I had… and for at least a few minutes during the round Cypress Point golf course knew it.
Below from left to right, Scott, Lisa, Bob, Jim
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