CYPRESS POINT #16

Alister MacKenzie / Marion Hollins Par-3, 222 yds / 1928

Golf course architecture is at its purest when the key strategic feature (i.e., the key puzzle to solve) is derived from a stunningly beautiful natural element. In the case of Cypress Point, courageous golf course architecture met the sublime craggy coast of the majestic Pacific Ocean and created one of the most coveted and heroic forced-carry holes in the game: its par-3 16th [pictured, left].

Marion Hollins, one of the earliest female golf course developers, was responsible for retaining Alister MacKenzie at Cypress Point, and when she first saw the property she must have seen its historic potential—evidenced by her conception for No. 16.

As MacKenzie wrote in his book, Spirit of St Andrews, “except for minor details in construction I was in no way responsible for the hole. It was largely due to the vision of

Miss Marion Hollins. It was suggested to her by the late Seth Raynor that the carry over the ocean was too long for a golf hole. She pegged a ball and promptly carried it to the site of the green, proving him wrong.”

Architects long for the opportunity to find and incorporate irreplaceable natural features into the fabric of their golf holes, and the 16th at Cypress Point sets the ultimate precedent for providing the dramatic thrill of such a do-or-die challenge to those who dare.

They are countless attempted modern interpretations of this hole, but certainly one of the most striking is the 6th at the South Cape Owners Club on Namhae Island, South Korea. This is a 235-yard masterpiece laid out by Kyle Phillips, but much of the hard work was done by the natural lie of its rocky cliff.