Hole-by-Hole at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Women's Open

The U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. It has a nice ring to it. 

I’m hardly an authority on Pebble Beach, having only played it three times. Two of those rounds came in competition at the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But the experience of playing Pebble Beach in such a heightened state of mind is forever etched in my memory.

Pebble Beach has hosted the U.S. Open six times. Now finally, for the first time the gem on the Monterey Peninsula is hosting the women’s national championship. The purse is a record $11 million, with $2 million going to the winner. 

This course breakdown is from my own experience. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the course is set up so the slew of amateurs in the field can reasonably complete most holes. While shorter in length, the conditions for the U.S. Women’s Open will be more challenging than the PGA Tour event. The par-72 will play at just over 6,500 yards. Expect narrower fairways and thicker rough, which will make hitting the surprisingly small greens all about playing from the short grass. 

‍Hole 1: par 4, 344 yards

The round begins with a short, uphill dogleg right. Most second shots from the fairway are played with a short iron and with the ball well below your feet. The size of the green is generous enough, but has a significant back-to-front slope in it. The greenside bunkers are deep and unforgiving.

‍Hole 2: par 5, 509 yards

This hole plays as a short par-5 in the AT&T and might give the longer hitters in the U.S. Women’s Open their best chance to make an eagle. The fairway for the tee shot is generous, but the second shot presents an important early layup decision. The green is narrow and severely sloped, making up-and-downs around it difficult. 

‍Hole 3: par 4, 384 yards

The sweeping right-to-left dogleg gives a player who can hook a driver a big advantage, setting up a short wedge shot. The danger in this strategy lies in the dreaded straight ball from the tee, which threatens to go through the fairway and into one of a series of deep bunkers, presenting an awkward angle into the green. 

‍Hole 4: par 4, 308 yards

This is where the best walk in golf begins. After players cross a deep waste bunker and walk past a group of trees on the uphill par-4, they are greeted by their first glimpse of the sparkling Stillwater Cove. It’s one of the most stunning and serene views in all of golf. The approach shot is uphill to a narrow greens that funnels shots from both the right and left fringes toward the center. Having birdied this hole both days at the AT&T, it holds a special place in my heart. 

‍Hole 5: par 3, 187 yards

This is one of the most captivating par-3s in the world. A slight hurting wind can make the hole play well over 200 yards to a green set along a dramatic ocean cliff. Across a ravine, the forward tees play just under 150 yards. It’s more comfortable from here, but the angle aims players at a treacherous bunker behind the left-center of the green. The marvelous view of the cove is the only way to calm your nerves between shots.

‍Hole 6: par 5, 496 yards

The imposing par-5 sets the fairway against the ocean cliff. The more aggressive the drive, the more the penal bunkers pinch the fairway along the left side. The second shot is blind and far steeper uphill than I imagined. A perfect drive leaves you wondering if you can hit the ball high enough to clear the formidable hill. The surprisingly flat green is set on top of the hill, which gets ravaged by wind. The panoramic view from here is inspiring. 

‍Hole 7: par 3, 107 yards

The most photographed par-3 in golf and for good reason. As I walked to the green for the first time, I asked to be buried at sea here. 

On a calm day, it looks like you might be able to throw the ball onto the front of the green, but it’s rarely ever calm and therein lies the challenge. Matching trajectory, spin and yardage with a stiff ocean breeze requires a deft plan and execution. A confident short-iron player can have a great look at birdie, but the wrong breeze can leave a player praying. Truly the greatest short par-3 in golf.

‍Hole 8: par 4, 395 yards

Another blind tee shot, this one to a deceptively wide area, must be played short of the most dramatic cliff on the course. Any shot hit more than 230 yards is pushing its luck. The approach plays downhill over the cliff to a postage-stamp green. The second shot might be the most demanding and breathtaking on the course. The green is deceptively tiny and severely sloped from left to right, leaving any bailout shot left of the green a nearly impossible up-and-down. 

‍Hole 9: par 4, 437 yards 

Pebble Beach is all about angles and nowhere is that more evident than on this hole. The tee shot is partially blind. A longer, straight drive can’t be seen as it bounds down the rightward-leaning hill toward the ocean. It’s easy to bail left of the fairway to avoid the penalty area on the right that is the Pacific, but that leaves a nearly impossible angle to the green. 

The second shot never suited my eye. From the fairway, the green looks smaller than it is. The right edge of the green appears to be set on an ocean cliff, but there’s some rough and fescue to catch a slightly pushed approach. The most difficult pin is on the opposite side of the green, where a small peninsula sits between a greenside bunker and a steep hill. 

‍Hole 10: par 4, 429 yards

This hole is versatile. The back-left tee, where the hole is measured from, makes the hole look similar to the 9th. There’s a shorter tee box to the right that changes the angle entirely, requiring a shot over Carmel Beach. 

Steve Young, the former 49ers quarterback and my partner in the AT&T, risked life and limb to slide down the cliff and play his approach shot from the beach. In the AT&T, we played the hole from both tee boxes.

While the green is again set precariously close to the beachside cliff, it’s a more comfortable and flatter approach shot than the one on the 9th. The key to this hole is getting the ball on the short grass and avoiding the troublesome fairway bunkers down the left side. 

‍Hole 11: par 4, 367 yards

The course turns away from the ocean and heads back up the hill. This tee shot is fairly generous to a turtle shell-shaped fairway. The green is a narrow sliver of steeply sloping turf protected by a bunker. I made birdie here in the final round, but if my 20-footer from above the hole hadn’t found the middle of the cup, I was going to have a long one coming back.

‍Hole 12: par 3, 173 yards

This par-3 looks generous, but the front half of the green slopes away from the tee, making it difficult to hold, especially downwind. The tee is secluded and set in some trees, making it difficult to judge wind direction. There are no easy up-and-downs from around the green. I’ve never hit this green in regulation.

‍Hole 13: par 4, 391 yards

One of the most comfortable tee shots on the course and a hole that plays farther uphill than it appears.  While I suspect the fairway has been narrowed, the greatest challenge here is the approach shot played from a hanging lie to a green that slopes from right to left. The bunkers are uninviting, and anything short-sided leaves a nearly impossible up-and-down. I used three slender palm trees as targets for various shots. 

‍Hole 14: par 5, 542 yards

This is an absolute monster of a par 5. Even the longest PGA Tour players are unlikely to go for the green in two. The tee shot doglegs hard to the right around a couple massive trees. A straight tee shot can easily go through the fairway, and a drive that’s overcut will catch the rough, if not the fairway bunkers. 

The second shot is straight uphill, and players have to consider the pine trees on the right that pinch into the fairway. With a fierce wind off my right, I hit a hook that rode the wind and bounced out of bounds left of the cart path. The shot cost me an annual salary and still haunts me.

The approach is played to a two-tiered green set atop a hill. Any approach with significant backspin can come off the right side of the green and roll 50 yards down the hill. This is one of the few par 5s where you always feel great after making a par. 

‍Hole 15: par 4, 376 yards

This downhill tee shot demands you to find the perfect carry distance to take the treacherous, well-positioned fairway bunkers out of play. A longer player has to worry about a blackhole-like pot bunker on the left side of the fairway. Players erring in the right rough will have tree troubles. The green is fairly large and enticing. Expect many birdie looks from close range. 

‍Hole 16: par 4, 374 yards

This tee shot was awkward for me. It’s downhill and doglegs to the right. The farther the drive goes, the more trees, slope and rough a player has to contend with. I always tried to lay up well short of the trouble and accept a longer shot in. The risk is if the tee ball doesn’t travel far enough down the fairway, the approach is partially blinded by a massive tree 50 yards or so in front of the green. The green slopes steeply from back to front and right to left, so it’s a challenge to keep the ball from zipping into the left fringe.

‍Hole 17: par 3, 175 yards

Find me a course with a more iconic set of par-3s…I’ll wait. This is where history has been made time and again. Jack Nicklaus hit the flag with a 1-iron in the 1972 U.S. Open, and 10 years later, Tom Watson chipped in for birdie to take the outright lead and claim his only Open, eclipsing Nicklaus by two shots. Nicklaus said Watson could have hit 1,000 shots from that spot and never hole it again.

Pin positions on the right side of the exposed, hourglass-shaped green are tempting. The smaller back portion of the green changes the hole entirely. Any bailout right–even on the green–may require a wedge to navigate the significant right-to-left slope. The green is surrounded by deep bunkers, and the Pacific serves as a backdrop.

‍Hole 18: par 5, 515 yards

I haven’t played all of the great holes in the world, but I’ll say it anyway: This is the best hole in golf. Nothing in the game brings scenery, challenge and strategy together more effectively. Hitting a shot off the 18th tee is something every golfer should do once in his or her life. After I teed off on Sunday at the AT&T, I walked to the edge of the tee, cleared my mind and took in the moment.

For men, it’s a risk-reward hole, with almost everyone able to get home in two. (With the tee pushed to the edge of the water, the 18th maxes out at 543 yards for the AT&T.) The women will be playing the hole from about 515 yards and with an aiding wind, it will play that way for some women. The hole is framed on the left by Stillwater Cove, and even on the rare occasions when the water is still, hearts pound like waves crashing against the rocky shore. 

The left side of the small tree in the fairway was my aim point from the tee. The tree has stymied many a golfer, and I suspect this week it will add more victims to its impressive list. Any shot that ends up right of the fairway brings the potential for scorecard disaster into play. An overly aggressive tee shot that flirts with Stillwater Cove can also bring in a big number. The closer to the green a player chooses to lay up, the more precise he or she must be.

Right pins are protected by a severe slope and a long bunker with a steep face. While golfers who easily draw the ball might find a left pin inviting, the ocean looms dangerously near. 

The U.S. Women’s Open figures to be decided at the best hole in golf. You can’t ask for more than that.

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