Passatimpo

Sun Aug 24, 2008
"Pasatiempo is one of the great golf courses in the world, and one of my favorites. Pasatiempo brings back a lot of memories and is probably one of the premier back 9’s in all of golf.”
— Ken Venturi, Former PGA Tour Player

The state of one’s game will be revealed at Pasatiempo. All phases of your game will be tested ... and marginal shots won't be good enough. One of my all-time favorites!”
— Mark Lye, Champions Tour/Golf Channel Analyst

... good golfers consider the second nine holes at Pasatiempo the finest in existence. The short holes [are] specially good, and I think the sixteenth hole is the best two-shot hole I know.”
— Dr. Alister MacKenzie
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Yesterday I played Pasatiempo Golf club in Santa Cruz CA. This is the 3rd time I played here, and as challenging as it is, I love this place. It was designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, the man who brought us Augusta National and Cypress Point. This is just 40 miles up the coast from Cypress Point, in Santa Cruz and except for the 3 holes directly on the ocean, it feels very much like Cypress Point, perhaps better. It has one advantage, the public can play here. Dr. MacKenzie considered #16 to be the best golf hole he has ever seen or designed and this picture below shows the green complex with the Pacific Ocean far in the background, but the green complex alone does no justice as to how wonderful and unique this hole is. If you want to find out what I am talking about, you are just going to have to go there and play it.




“A really great golf course must be a constant source of pleasure to the greatest possible number of players. It must require strategy in the playing as well as skill. It must give the average player a fair chance and at the same time, it must require the utmost from the expert. All natural beauty should be preserved, natural hazards should be utilized and artificiality should be minimized.”- Dr. Alister MaKenzie

The course has recently been renovated (not redesigned) by Tom Doak. They brought the greens back to the size and shape of the original design and rebuilt the bunkers. Many of these bunkers must be quite a challenge for the maintenance crew because very few of them are flat. Several of them are large and have a severe slope to them . Many of the greens have unusual shapes--- some that look almost like a 3 leaf clover, which means that there are some pin positions are tucked into some very hard to reach corners. This makes putting here a real challenge.

There are several ravines on this course that cause some tough carries and lots of elevation changes, but truly add to the beauty and appeal of this course. It is in fantastic shape and a real treat to play.