PACIFIC DUNES DELIGHT
The highest ranked of the current bunch is Pacific Dunes. Funny thing is, nobody involved with the course during its design, construction or 2001 debut thought it could possibly surpass its predecessor’s reviews.
In many people’s books, Pacific beats Pebble Beach for hole-to-hole visual drama, pitch-perfect rhythm and strategic heft. Though it’ll probably never host a big professional event since it stops well short of that 7,000-yard cut line, it never lets up on the mind, heart or scorecard. By hewing close to the huge, ever-shifting dunes that distinguish this part of the property, bringing the sea into play at just the right times and sticking with a famously (and wonderfully) lopsided back-nine routing — four 3-pars, three 5-pars, two 4-pars — Doak puts focus and guile at a premium rather than raw power.
