In the Los Angeles Times' Business Section this morning they made light of the fact that Pebble Beach Co. has submitted a proposal to build a sixth course on the property (with up to 24 linkside "suites"). The course would cut a path through the forest and likely would not feature any holes near the coastline. The article points out that the California Coastal Commission is strongly opposed to the plan as it would remove 18,000 Monterey Pine trees.
One of the most interesting points in the article (at least for me) is that it points out who owns Pebble Beach. Clint Eastwood, Arnold Palmer and Peter Ueberroth. The three purchased the property from a Japanese firm in 1999 for $820M.
One of the bigger questions I have is this...do they really need a 6th course at Pebble? With Spyglass Hill, Poppy Hills, Spanish Bay, Del Monte, and Pebble Beach is the demand so high that they need an additional 18 holes? Considering that many guests come with plans to play Pebble and maybe one other course it seems like you are simply giving them another option to balance out the capacity at each course (assuming the demand for Pebble is full year round). Or is it simply a move to generate more revenue?
Has anyone played Pebble and the other courses on the property? Was it extremely busy? Do they need a 6th course?
I think part of the reason is that Poppy Hills owned by the NCGA (Northern California Golf Association) not the Pebble Beach corp, only PB and Spyglass are and they want the AT&T to be played on only THEIR courses. It is, as usual, a money issue.
Did you know there is a 9 hole course there too? It IS owned by the PB Corp, last I heard the green fees are around $10...yes TEN. Pretty cheap to be able to say you played Pebble Beach!
As previously stated, it is all about money. The three boys are just trying to extend the value of the company they own. Nothing inheritently wrong with that.
I played Spanish Bay and Pebble and SB was not that crowded. Pebble was slow, but did not feel overcrowded as well. BTW, I loved Spanish Bay's views. Pebble just has some great historic views that cannot be matched and have been seen a million times on tv. The 5th through the 10th are just simply amazing. The 17th and 18th are great as well. I really loved both courses, but you never forget playing Pebble.
I don't think they need this extra course in the Pebble Beach area. They have two of the best courses in the world there.(Cypress Point and Pebble Beach) And they also have 3 other top 200 courses. I don't know how much play Del Monte gets, but another inland course better be as good as or better than Poppy Hills, or it just won't get a lot of play. If Poppy Hills wasn't owned by the NCGA I bet they would just buy it.
That has been going on a long time then...I recall reading about the proposed 6th course in the Sports Illustrated issue that covered Tiger's US Open win at Pebble in 2000!
March 20th, 2006, 02:29 PM
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