Report courtesy of Andrew Lee
RAGC members Andrew Lee, Chris Penny, Eddie Bell & Lee Kelly ventured to the USA in late April for a 17 course, 20-day golfing extravaganza.
The golfing itinerary included the exclusive Lake Merced, Olympic Club, Cypress Point Club and Monterey Peninsula Country Club plus the usual Monterey staples of Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, Poppy Hills and many others in the region.
On route from San Francisco to Monterey the group also played Pasatiempo which is the course Alister MacKenzie rated as his best piece of work and his home still sits adjacent the 6th fairway.
The group then ventured further north to the Bandon Dunes golfing mecca playing all 5 courses. The Bandon Resort is nestled on the rugged timber and dune rich Oregon coast which is often described as Barnbougle on steroids and is home to 3 courses ranked in the world’s top 100. Being springtime the group the group was lucky enough to see the gorse in full bloom.
Highlights were many, including organiser Andrew Lee’s hole-in-one on the 13th at Spanish Bay, Eddie Bell’s birdie on the 15th at Cypress Point, Lee Kelly’s eagle at Pacific Dunes and Chris Penny’s birdie on the famous 7th at Pebble.
Debate around the best of the courses played was easy enough for first place with the group voting the world’s number 2 ranked course Cypress Point as the best, but second place honours varied with Bandon Trails, Pacific Dunes, Pebble Beach and Pasatiempo featuring.
The group sourced a special edition book on Cypress Point and have donated this to the library at Royal Adelaide for anyone interested in learning more about the Alister MacKenzie masterpiece designed in 1928 just two years after his design work at Royal Adelaide.
Finally, expect the boys to be showcasing their merchandise around RA shortly as word has it that the US pro shops got a fair touch up!
