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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Watching the Western Intercollegiate April 10-12 on GOLF Channel will provide golf fans one last look at Pasatiempo Golf Club before a historic restoration turns back the clock on the famous Dr. Alister MacKenzie design.
Once the tournament is complete, architect Jim Urbina and Pasatiempo superintendent Justin Mandon will lead an 18-month-long restoration that attempts to revive the course's MacKenzie roots. The work will be carried out in stages by rotating closures of the nines one at a time. Limited public play will be available until the project is completed by December 2024.
Many details of the project are being kept private for the time being.
“The future of the golf course, in terms of sustainability, requires a full restoration of the greens with modern infrastructure and drainage,” Mandon said in a press release May 2022 when the announcement was made. “Over its nearly 100 years of play, and particularly the more recent increase in volume of rounds, coupled with the addition of alternative water sources and lack of infrastructure, has led to the rapid evolution of the greens. The Club’s Restoration Committee has been working on this project for several years, visiting and consulting numerous golf courses with recent histories of successful restoration work. That information, along with our unique variables, allowed us to develop a scope of work, timeline and process we believe will give us the highest degree of success.”
As any MacKenzie fan knows, it's all about the greens. The Western Intercollegiate will be televised from 7-10 p.m. EST Monday, April 10, and Tuesday, April 11, with the final round from 4-7 p.m. EST on Wednesday, April 12. Replays will available at other times as well.
Pasatiempo's restoration plans
Pasatiempo's management has taken great care not to disrupt the Western Intercollegiate, one of golf's most prestigious events. Other than the 2020 version that was canceled during the pandemic, the tournament has been held every year at Pasatiempo since 1947, producing an incredible list of champions (Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, Mark O’Meara, Duffy Waldorf and Bobby Clampett) and competitors (Dave Stockton, Al Geiberger, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler). Western Intercollegiate alumni have gone on to win more than 350 PGA Tour events, including more than 40 majors.
The 6,495-yard par 70 is one of the shortest courses the nation's brightest young stars play, but the MacKenzie greens and bunkering always keep scoring in check.
"I wish this rain would stop so I could dial in the course," Mandon said last week days before the 12th atmospheric river hit the region. Pasatiempo absorbed more than 6 inches of rain last week alone.
The near-record-setting rainy winter could leave the semi-private course vulnerable if the young guns are able to fire directly at pins without fear of the ball bouncing around and taking those treacherous MacKenzie slopes.
The front nine will officially close April 13 with a scheduled reopening of Dec. 1. Next year's Western Intercollegiate will be contested on the restored front nine and the current back nine. After the tournament, the back nine will close and reopen in December 2024. During the time periods when only nine holes are open, public golfers and members can play the available nine twice to get in 18 holes. Non-members should call the pro shop at (831) 459-9155 for availability and rates.
Hanging inside Pasatiempo's clubhouse are replicas of 11 MacKenzie sketches of the greens (the originals are stored at the World Golf Hall of Fame). The press release indicated the greens will be reshaped "per MacKenzie’s original design intent". Their slopes and movement won't entirely be copied from the sketches, however.
"They are useful in a sense you see what the original intent of the greens were but they differ greatly from what Robert Hunter and MacKenzie actually built," Mandon said.
Laser grades of the green complexes, opening day photos from 1929 and on-site evaluation of the original subgrades will help determine the green shapes that emerge from the restoration.
Mandon did clarify that no greens will be moved, nor will any bunkers be taken out or added. Some trees will be removed, especially on the back nine to open up the barrancas.
Although other restoration efforts have been done over the years at Pasatiempo - notably by Tom Doak and Urbina from 2005-07 - this is the biggest one to date. Anticipation is building to see what's next for MacKenzie's gift to public golfers. Most of his famous courses such as Cypress Point and Augusta National - home to The Masters - are unattainable to many of us.
Playing the course this week gave me one last chance to study its features before they potentially change. It was evident in spots where greenside slopes have built up from years of sand splashing onto greens. Like other MacKenzie fans, I'm curious to see what emerges next December.
A recent GolfPass review shared why golfers love Pasatiempo so much.
"I’ve been coming to Pasatiempo since I played junior golf in the 70’s (ok I’m an old)," wrote reviewer 'Rhrtzll1' in Feb 2023. "The course is one of my favorites in the world and never has once left me disappointed. I have recommended it to so many friends playing the Pebble Beach area and everyone of them has come back marveling at the layout and conditions. It’s not to be missed."
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