Cypress Point rumors buzz Pebble Beach AT&T

By David R. Holland, Contributor

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- The buzz around this year's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was talk of bringing Cypress Point back into the three-course rotation that includes Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill.

Some publications reported the speculation as a real possibility, while others brushed off the talk as nonsense.

But one Tiger Woods was posed the question after walking off the 18th green of Plantation Course at Kapalua and said he'd be back for the AT&T in a heartbeat, should Cypress Point be put back in the rotation. Woods has been a harsh critic of the bumpy poa annua greens at Pebble Beach.

The swiftest it could happen would be three years, but Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the organization that runs the AT&T, is posed the question annually. The planned Tom Fazio Forest Course near Pebble Beach, which could start construction within the next year, is also a possibility along with the total reconstruction of one of the courses of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club.

Bottom line -- the players would love a return to Cypress Point. They don't like Poppy Hills, which joined the rotation in 1991, because of its difficulty.

Bing Crosby initiated his "Clambake" on the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, and Cypress Point was one of the original rotation courses, along with Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Pebble Beach. The 1990 Alabama Shoal Creek controversy, citing no African American members, was also directed at Cypress Point and commissioner Deane Beman welcomed Poppy Hills into the rotation.

Angeles National Golf Club in Sunland

It only took 15 years of tree-hugging and bureaucratic road blocks to build Angeles National Golf Club, which opened in April in the Big Tujunga Wash area of Sunland. It took so long to get this one ready that it has three others names through the process -- Los Angeles International Golf Club, Red Tail Golf Club and Canyon Trails Golf Club.

Designed by Steve Nicklaus, the 41-year-old son Jack, this beauty runs through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest.

It measures 7,140 from the back tees at par 72 and skirts three lakes which come into play on five holes. Huge boulders dot the landscape along with native trees and vegetation. There are few parallel fairways and the 18th could be a favorite. It is a 416-yard par four with a lake and vegetation in front of the tee and a creek running down the left side to a large lake that guards the left side of the green.

For more information on Angeles National Golf Club call (818) 951-8771 or log on to angelesnational.com. The address is 9401 Foothill Blvd. In Sunland.

The Woodlands in Nipomo

Santa Barbara native and UCLA golfer Steve Pate has been hired as a consultant on a golf-course project named The Woodlands in Nipomo on California's Central Coast. Damian Pascusso is the lead architect

Pate says he and Pascusso will strive to create a course that blends with the natural surroundings and something that looks like it belongs there. The Woodlands in Nipomo is also planning to build a 500-room resort.

Happy Birthday San Gabriel CC

San Gabriel Country Club, the oldest golf course in its original location in Los Angeles County, is celebrating its 100th year.

Pasadena author Digby Diehl has written a book to celebrate the milestone -- "San Gabriel Country Club, One Hundred Years of History and Tradition". Look up the book on amazon.com.

During research a forgotten cargo container was discovered behind the driving range that included old scorecards and newsletters from the early days of the golf course.

Famous former members include former Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm and U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Ellsworth Vines. It was the site of the 1962 "Challenge Golf' match between teammates Arnold Palmer and Gary Player and Jackie Cupit and Bobby Nichols.

San Gabriel Country Club was designed by Scotsman Norman Macbeth. Nine years later, he added another nine holes as were many of the great oak trees that line the course today.

This and that

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, natives of the Palm Springs desert, are deleting nearly all the debatable elements from its downtown master plan which included theme parks, a second casino, golf practice ranges and a golf course.

Palm Springs has also broken ground on a championship golf course designed by LPGA Hall of Famer Amy Alcott. The Indian Canyons Golf Resort is replacing the old Canyon South Golf Course, where Alcott played one of her first rounds as a child.

San Francisco's Harding Park Golf Course, newly refurbished, wants to host World Golf Championships events in the future and has the blessing of PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. If things go perfectly, Harding Park could host the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship.

Tom Doak is currently working on a design called Stone Eagle in Palm Desert. Construction could begin as early as July. His team is studying a plan to minimize earthmoving and maximize the natural terrain. If you have ever seen the lighted cross on the hill above the Palm Desert Mall, the golf course site is on the plateau up there behind it.

Sierra Golf Course in Placerville, a nine-hole course around for about 45 years, has been put up for sale for $1.4 million. It could become a high-end housing development.

Fort Bragg, a small community near Mendocino in Northern California, would like a new 18-hole golf course. But the environmental hoops are squarely in the way. Recently a scoping meeting was held at Town Hall to get input from citizens. The proposed golf-course site is near the intersection of Summers Lane and Highway 20.

The Kraft Nabisco Championship held in March invited 11-year-old MacKinzie Kline of Encinitas, Calif., to play in the tournament's two-day Celebrity Pro-Am. She's a sixth-grader at Flora Vista Elementary School in Encinitas. In 2002 and 2003, Kline won the California State Girls Championship for 12 and under. In 2003 she was the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. She has a two handicap.

The Golf Channel's The Big Break II brought auditions to Robinson Ranch Golf Course in Los Angeles recently. Those selected will join five other regional auditions for a chance to compete in the reality golf show.

April 6, 2004