Cypress Point Club | PUNCHBOWL GOLF

CYPRESS POINT- FRONT NINE

Mar 28th, 2009

Cypress Point Club

This video is a quick tour of the front nine at Cypress Point. The images and video were taken in the fall of 2007, shortly after the greens had been punched. They show the recently restored bunkers, which were a little too cleaned up for my taste.

Looking at old pictures of Cypress Point, it is clear that MacKenzie tried very hard to tie the bunkers into the natural dunescape. Now there is often a strip of turf between the edge of the bunker and the dunes. Royal Melbourne is probably the best example of bunkers that go from a clean, maintained edge and flow into the natural vegetation. Hopefully over time Cypress will once again regain this look.

Overall, I was blown away by the scale and beauty of the place. As sublime as the place is, I may have been even more impressed with MacKenzie’s routing and strategic placement of bunkers. Working at Pasatiempo and then touring Cypress really gave me an appreciation of the level of detail that MacKenzie put into his courses. It is clear that he thought about every contour, every angle, and every bunker. While tree plantings have eliminated a lot of these angles, it is still amazing to study his thought process.

Click here for the back nine.

N.B. For more on Cypress Point, don’t miss Geoff Shackelford’s great book Alister MacKenzie’s Cypress Point Club.

PB GOLF MISSION

We share a profound love of golf and its architecture, which is a dynamic and worthy subject to study and discuss. We believe that course design is most successful when it is artistic and compelling yet simple and practical. Most of all, the game should be about spending quality time with friends among nature and its elements. Through our golfing adventures, we have met a wide range of fascinating people. We will use this platform to present insight from our own experiences and from industry leaders – from architects and superintendents to developers and shapers. -Will and Colin

ABOUT PB GOLF

After meeting as undergraduates at Yale, Will and Colin have traveled far and wide dissecting the great golf courses of the world. Will received his Masters degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia before helping to build world-class courses like Sebonack, Ballyneal and the Tom Lehman course at the Prairie Club in Valentine, Nebraska. Colin, recently named the coach of the Yale golf team, spent years as an editor of The Golfer Magazine. He took an extended sabbatical in 2006 and 2007 in order to spend a year in the Scottish Highlands participating on the construction of the Castle Stuart Golf Links for Mark Parsinen and Cornerstone Golf.

mike tanner says:

March 30, 2009 at 11:34 am

Probably as close to CP as I’ll ever get. Got plans to post video of the incoming nine? Also, great music track!

admin says:

March 30, 2009 at 11:56 am

Thanks Mike. Incoming nine will happen. Keep checking back. The music is by the band Galactic. They are from New Orleans, but a few members are from the DC area, so you can hear the go-go sound.- Will

admin says:

March 30, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Check back for the back nine. The music is by John Scofield, the great jazz guitarist. The track is called “Boozer” from the A Go Go album, which is great start to finish. He is backed up on the album by the legendary Modeski, Martin, & Wood.- Will

mj says:

March 30, 2009 at 5:07 pm

The Monterey Peninsula offers the most spectacular golfing I have ever experienced. I was pinching myself the whole time I was there just to make sure I was not dreaming. The Monterey region offers the best golf courses in the world! I just got back from the golf wonderland and must say this was the best golf vacation i have ever had! See the courses for yourself: Map of Monterey Peninsula Golf Courses

Dan Herrmann says:

April 5, 2009 at 5:29 am

Great tour! Thanks for sharing!

What’s the music? Great jazz. And what software do you use for your video production?

admin says:

April 5, 2009 at 8:10 am

Thanks Dan.
See above comment for music info. I normally use Final Cut Express for video production, but this video was done using imovie after creating slideshows in iphoto. The new imovie has HD, and I think is probably easier to learn than FCE- Will

Bob Lapic says:

April 6, 2009 at 10:32 am

Is that Roger Downing on the backhoe?

Earth Scuptures did about 40 bunkers for us (Orinda CC, 1924 Willie Watson, 2006-2008 John Harbottle) and he is genius in MHO.

admin says:

April 7, 2009 at 8:23 am

If you are referring to the banner picture than no. That’s me. I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Roger Downing.I do believed he helped at Cypress. I could be mistaken – Will

1. Bob says:
  
  April 10, 2009 at 10:40 am
  
  Will,
  
  You are not mistaken. Add Pasatiempo to the list. Roger has done some fine work with Doak/Urbina as well as with Harbottle.
  
  Bob

tag a long says:

April 9, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Hey,
Seems something is missing in the photos….
Is it a golf course if there are no golfers???

admin says:

April 9, 2009 at 6:36 pm

Wait for your cameo on the back nine.

Yel Vase says:

July 17, 2010 at 9:22 am

Traffic at the Dayton Air Show is a total mess.

pavillions says:

August 2, 2011 at 9:16 am

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