re: Webble Beach Love

When Al Michaels ran things, Webb was well maintained and a great course for serious golfers. That was over 50 years ago.

Holes 2, 4, 7, 9, 13, and 18 played long when the irons were blades and the woods were woods. Talk, thick trees lined the fairways. Driving into the trees was a killer and out of bounds on a lot of the holes made things tougher.

Number 8 had white poles that marked an out of bounds along 2 fairway. The canal wasn’t lined with concrete yet; nor was college drive four laned. 3 and 8 played slightly longer for that reason.

When they built I10 someone came up with the bright idea of dumping load after load of excess dirt under the trees that lined the fairways. It was spread out, but the grass that was under the trees became hard pan. To my knowledge things only got worse as players would tell you when you drive into the trees.

Webb was a gem back then. It could be again.