Pebble Beach or Pacific Dunes? Our reviewers argue

What is in a number?

The new ranking of GOLF e Top 100 courses in the USA is just that: a list of the best courses instead, listed in numerical order, “1” is the best.

Sounds straightforward. Hard numbers, hard facts. But as anyone who follows the rankings knows, while the list itself is cut and dried, the thinking behind it is not. It reflects the views of our course reviewers. Sharp-eyed and well-traveled, these people know their stuff. But ultimately what they are offering is theirs opinions. Which brings us back to the question at the top.

What is in a number? Or, put more directly, what makes one course “better” than another that happens to sit lower in the rankings?

To provide a deeper understanding of the considerations behind the rankings, we’ll be asking our reviewers in the coming days to take sides in a “which is better?” debate: a comparison of courses that aims to shed light on how our panelists think about design. We’ll start with two outstanding public access courses, Pebble Beach Golf Linksin California and Pacific Dunesin Oregon, ranked 9th and 19th, respectively New US GOLF Top 100 List.

Which one is better? Read on.

Pebble Beach is the best!

by top 100 course reviewer Jeff Lewis

The recent trend among golf architects is to talk in breezy tones about “natural golf” and then switch gears the next minute to topographical reading. LIDAR survey data to explain the maximum potential of a place from the quality of the bumps and humps of the land on the map.

No high-tech readings required on the Pebble. The response it elicits is visceral, raw. When it comes to golf, the Monterey Peninsula is still the best nature has to offer. The biggest differentiator for a course that bills itself as “the greatest meeting of land and sea” is, in fact, its proximity to the sea, nowhere more dramatically than on the 7th and 18th holes, where the meeting takes place in class. It just can’t be beat.

Pacific Dunes wins on grass, complex variety of greens, bunkering, runoff. But Pebble beats Pacific Dunes overall in walkability, finishing hole and seaside golf aesthetic. As for LIDAR data, who knows which site is better, but many golf architects continue to submit plans to improve the Pebble fairway. Good luck with that.

As a final point to raise the bar, I’ll refer to Jack Nicklaus, who called Pebble’s 8th his favorite hole in golf.

Pacific Dunes are the best!

by top 100 course reviewer Jeff Lewis

The more options there are for shots, the better the golf course. Links courses tend to have more greens at ground level that can be tackled in a variety of ways. They also tend to have more variety, because hour-to-hour and day-to-day wind shifts make them more interesting.

Pebble calls itself a “links,” but it’s really a waterfront park course. or big park course by the sea. But this is not a connection. Pacific Dunes is part of Bandon Dunes Resort, which has achieved the truest representation of UK/Ireland links conditions in the United States. I would say that only Cabot Links in Nova Scotia is as true to the British Isles on its own terms.

The weather along the southern Oregon coast is so similar to that of the UK that the greens staff have, essentially from the start, been able to recreate the terrain conditions found on classic links courses. This is critical. Just because you design a course with greens that allow multiple approach methods doesn’t mean it will if the course is just too soft. Too soft never happens in Oregon.

Of course, the Pacific Dunes are gorgeous too. Perhaps as surprising as the Pebble on any given day. But for me, it gets the nod because I will always take a links course and everything that comes with it over a park course.