GCM has been inside the ropes at Pebble Beach all week, getting a peek at how the No. 1 public course in the nation gets perfected ahead of the 119th U.S. Open.
Sunday, June 9
U.S. Open volunteers check out the job assignment board ahead of Sunday’s volunteer meeting.
Retirement looms for longtime Pebble Beach assistant superintendent Jack Holt (right), pictured with director of golf course maintenance Chris Dalhamer, CGCS, (left) and assistant superintendent Bubba Wright (center). Holt received a special token of appreciation during Sunday’s gathering. Read about it.
Spend a morning at Pebble Beach with Holt and his trusty canine companions, Lefty and Charlie, courtesy of Golf Channel:
Monday, June 10
With another unseasonably warm day on tap, hand waterers were out in force Monday morning.
Monday morning bunker brigade.
The fourth green — tightly guarded by bunkers — gets plenty of attention as a.m. maintenance rolls on.
Pebble Beach’s iconic par-3 7th hole.
The par-3 12th hole, taken from a bleacher directly behind the green. The maintenance facility sits between this hole and the par-4 10th hole.
A panoramic shot of the eighth hole. The green is left center.
Frank Nobilo, Brandel Chamblee and David Duval break down the “Cliffs of Doom” — Nos. 8-10 — where land meets ocean at Pebble Beach, courtesy of Golf Channel:
Tuesday, June 11
Crews rake the seawall bunker that runs along the left side of Pebble Beach’s 18th hole.
Lefty, one of assistant superintendent Jack Holt’s dogs, lounges on the 18th fairway during Tuesday morning’s work.
Jack Holt (left) talks with one of the volunteers on the 18th hole.
Putting the finishing touches on the Tuesday hole location on No. 3 green.
A deer on the 16th hole. Even with all the activity surrounding the U.S. Open, the Pebble Beach wildlife still go about business as usual.
Crews spiff up the eighth green.
Mark Rolfing breaks down the keys to Pebble Beach’s par-4 eighth hole on Golf Channel:
Wednesday, June 12
Crews get to work on the 16th hole during Wednesday morning maintenance at Pebble Beach.
Jon Rybicki, equipment technician at Pebble Beach.
Jon Rybicki hoses off the cutting units on a fairway mower after Wednesday morning’s maintenance rounds.
A volunteer rakes the deep greenside bunker that fronts the 14th green.
Mowing the green on the par-5 14th hole.
Thursday, June 13
A lone bunker raker tackles the large barranca bunker that fronts the second green at Pebble Beach during work before Thursday’s first round.
The 16th green gets a roll.
The eighth fairway.
Kimberly Erusha (left) and Brian Whitlark from the USGA Green Section take Stimpmeter readings on the sixth green.
Mowing the final few feet of the eighth fairway, looking back toward that hole’s greens complex.
Photos by Scott Hollister, GCM editor-in-chief.