Monterey Peninsula Country Club  has recently completed its course remodel and it can be praised as a very successful endeavor.  There are no significant changes to the course design and layout but new sand in the bunkers and the verdant grooming of the fairways are evident as the beauty of this venue has been greatly enhanced. The greens are still rounding into shape and are still slower than its cousin Shore Course but these greens will never be as fast as Shore (thank God!).  The head greens keeper must have had a bad night or a big domestic squabble as most of Sunday’s pin positions can be characterized as just short of diabolical.  There were two significant changes to the Dunes that have been made to the course, which we will cover here.

The iconic tree on the 14th hole has been replaced after a vicious Pacific storm finally destroyed the previous tree that had been a landmark on the 17 mile drive for many years.  That tree had survived many a Pacific storm but finally yielded to the whims of Mother Nature in the 2024 rainy season.  That tree stood alone alongside the ocean, wind swept and bent over after surviving many Pacific storms that hammered the ocean over the years.  The tree is a virtual marker for the par 3, 14th hole as it would never be in play.  The new tree is firmly anchored and stands straight saluting the 14th hole, and now will have to survive its new location and prepare for the storms that it will undoubtedly face in the future.

The other major change to the Dunes Course is the 18th hole green complex.  The hole is a 536 yard, par 5–generous fairway shaped by dunes on the left side of the fairway and a 200 yard carry to the right side of he hole clearing the bunkers that shape the beginning of the hole,  The second shot is straightforward–depending on the length of the drive, determine how far to hit your approach shot to the green–not much trouble here so pin position on the green is critical to decide where to land the second shot.

WAS

Before the renovation–there was a greenside bunker on the right that had to be carried to get to the green and the ball would release from right to left –third shot would normally be a short iron or pitching wedge.

The green is generous but sloped a bit from right to left and the first 25 ft. or so is uphill so shots have to carry this hill or they will fall fall to the front of the green for what will be an inglorious 3 putt.

Now

The bunker has been removed and the effect is startling, since it now is parallel to the uphill part of the green, which hasn’t been changed.  The bunker has been relocated to the back right of the green, which I’m sure will come into play when the pin is placed back right.

The elimination of the bunker now allows the pin to be placed in the front of the green.  I don’t believe there was ever a pin placement in the front of the green with the bunker in the former location.

When I played this hole for the first time since the redo, I hit a short iron to the front pin without regard for the absence of the bunker and the ball hit the green about 8 ft. from the front pin only to roll off the green to the new slope on the right as it trundled down into the new collection area.  I was not happy.  Without understanding the slope of the shot, which is a page out of many holes at Pinehurst No. 2, I decided to putt the ball only to misjudge the slope of the shot and had the horrible experience of the ball returning to my original position.

A birdie opportunity turned into a horrible bogey and a new learning experience for the new look of the 18th hole at the Dunes.  Of course, I can say that I am unhappy with the new design but it’s just a new golf challenge that we’ll have to get used to.  I don’t think that the hole is any more difficult than it used to be, but you certainly have to think your approach shot differently in this configuration.  The putting experience on this green is now a completely different approach that the previous configuration.  I believe it made a strong finishing hole stronger.