Boney's Pulpit: Lessons from Cypress Point
Cypress Point Club is the most rarely seen and played of the top ranked courses. A private club with a small membership, it also has not hosted a tournaments since its last Pebble Beach Pro-Am in '91. Even Pine Valley opens its annual Crump Cup to the public. Cypress would be right at home in a Roald Dahl novel.
Here's a peak behind its fence along 17 Mile Drive. Its course architect, the famed Alister MacKenzie, boldly asserted he would build the best course in the world on such a piece of land. Did he? Does reality match the hype? Or is this yet another course sustained in the rankings by tradition and the always elusive shot values?
Interwoven in this account is a personal trek from novice to competent amateur. What inspired a life-long duffer to try and finally play better? What does he learn about golf and life along the way? This is a journey that changes all of us. Relive and reflect on your own, and learn how even one round at Cypress Point can add so much to it.
We live in a busy, time-pressured age. Accordingly, this book is meant to be read in about an hour.
Quotes
Locker room foyer
"Randomly hanging on the walls in mismatched frames, the dated and poor quality photos in the locker room foyer matched the rustic, summer cabin feel of the place."
Third hole
"It [the dune behind the third] was also covered with several twisted and dying trees, a junkyard of trunks and branches. This was a Yellowstone of sand and wood, suddenly sprouting up from very different surrounding terrain."
Fifteenth hole
"While its singular beauty was memorable, perhaps unlike any other hole they had seen, its difference from the rest of the course deepened their response. This was a Van Gogh on a course of Monets and Constables."
Sixteenth hole
". . .they learned there were two pocket-size beaches on either side of the ballerina’s waist of the peninsula – a sandy tutu. Unnaturally small, these felt man-made until closer inspection. They did not know erosion could be a scalpel and not just an ax."
What is Boney's Pulpit?
It's the 17th tee at Cypress. Boney is a member's nickname, and his frequent sermon is found on a plaque there. Strange name, awesome place.