Course name: Pasatiempo
Location: Santa Cruz, California
Four Word Course Review: Deserves much more adulation
Having waited seven years to get to Pasatiempo, I arrived early enough to walk around the famous closing holes before my round - not knowing when, if ever, I might return and wanting to make the most of the experience.
It was early enough that no golfers had reached the turn, so it was just me and a couple of grounds staff on the back nine. I walked out past the 18th green, stopping to get my head around such a unique closing hole, and then headed off down the path that separates the 10th and 17th fairways.
From beyond the 10th green, I turned to get the panorama of the incredible three-tiered 16th green (a gentleman raking the front trap providing welcome scale as to just how cavernous it is) and 11th fairway flanking, then crossing, the barranca and ultimately reaching the hilltop green.
Much like when I first visited Royal Dornoch and felt a strange spirituality sitting on a bench by the 1st tee overlooking the deserted links in the late evening light, there was something about the moment unlike what I usually experience on even the best golf courses. I sat for a while on a bench near the 11th tee to take in what I was finally laying eyes on and try to make sense of what caused such a rare feeling.
In hindsight, both Pasatiempo and Dornoch were places I dreamed about and imagined at great length before ever visiting and my first encounter with both was in that magic time within an hour or so of sunrise or sunset. Perhaps not surprising, then, that the elation of being there combined with the beauty of the time of day combined to create such a special moment.
While Dr Alister MacKenzie created a handful of courses more famous than Pasatiempo, it is said there was no course more dear to him than Pasatiempo, which he lived alongside from its conception until his death. In that moment, I could easily understand why.
As well as the legendary 11th, 16th and 18th - I was stunned by the unique fairway of the 14th hole dissected by a Y-shaped depression, the artful bunkering of the barranca-flanked 15th green and the simplicity of the downhill two-shot 12th - another hole to make use of the barranca.
Back to my car to grab my clubs and begin the round, I had to pinch myself setting out onto the front nine - blink on the first few holes and your card could be wrecked and some great holes could be glossed over.
The 2nd green uses a hillside brilliantly and the long par three 3rd is a beautiful brute.
The clever 4th hole sums up that beyond the obvious drama of the land and beautiful bunkering, Pasatiempo hides preferred lines beside and beyond hazards as smartly as any course of MacKenzie's and utilises the more subtle rises and drops in land to create some partial blindness when you misdirect a drive.
Green speeds must be something the superintendent keeps a daily, if not hourly, eye on. Many are so steep and boldly contoured that at too great a speed they'd become un-puttable. The 16th is a poster child for that, but the par threes 5th and 8th are just as "on the edge" - and at the speed I encountered them, a heap of fun to chip to and putt on.
Passing MacKenzie's home near the 6th green was fantastic, it's just a shame the adjoining holes - the short par four 7th especially - have been hamstrung by the tree plantings necessary to improve safety on that tight area of the course.
Pasatiempo doesn't get the attention or love it deserves. Few courses have as many great holes, few courses have so many unique and special features, few courses are as beautiful without relying on external views and few courses possess as many shots that put a smile on your face. What more could you want? Get there immediately.
