As the USGA brings the US Women’s Open to Pebble Beach for the first time, many of the top women in the game are seeing the course for the first time. Golf Digest polled 13 LPGA pros, asking each a simple question: what’s your favourite hole at Pebble, and why? While most needed a little time to answer at first – explaining how much they loved the entire course – here’s where they eventually came down on specific holes that have them excited.
7th, 107 yards, par 3
Celine Boutier: “With a bit of wind, it is a really good hole. It’s short, but it’s very tricky because the green’s really small and then with the wind you definitely have to judge the yardage really well. And then there’s the view you see. So it’s a little bit of everything, but I think it’s a very good one.”
Alison Lee: “I made a hole-in-one here a couple of years ago, on that one, and I got it on video too.”
Nelly Korda: “Actually, I almost made a hole-in-one there [on Monday]. I haven’t made a hole-in-one since I was, I think, 11, but I was over it and I was like, Hole-in-one, hole-in-one. It would have been one-for-one. It landed probably an inch away from the cup. I played seven on EA Sports with my brother. We always played Pebble… my favourite hole was always seven on that game.”
Ariya Jutanugarn: “It’s so pretty. It’s just like you can see all the view. So nice.”
Amy Yang: “I like that the green is small. So it’s tough, but we have a shorter distance to get it closer. And with a nice view.”
Mina Harigae: “I know it’s almost everyone’s favourite, but it is for a reason! It’s so visually stunning, it’s less than a 100 yards, but I’ve hit anywhere from a lob wedge to a flighted-down 8-iron, all because of the wind. And also, it’s just super fun.”
Chella Choi: “I’ve watched it a lot on TV. Everybody misses a little left, but it’s a very short yardage. So I don’t know why people miss left. But right now, I understand when I go there. Oh, I missed it [left]. So that’s why people going a little left.”
RELATED: US Women’s Open players face a test at Pebble Beach that they’ve rarely seen
4th, 308 yards, par 4
Angela Stanford: “You really have to think and it gives you so many options, but there’s trouble everywhere. I just love that there’s so much character built in such a small, short hole. Love it.”
Rose Zhang: “No.4 is just such a pretty hole, and I love that hole so much. It was in the Carmel Cup but we saw a dog trying to chase a seal for like a good 40 minutes, and especially on four, five and six, that’s where everyone is waiting for a lot of shots. There is a lot of wait time there. So we were just watching an owner screaming at its dog and just trying to get that dog to come back. So a lot of good memories on that hole. It helps that I was birdieing [too].”
6th, 496 yards, par 5
Jeongeun Lee6: “The view is so good… it’s beautiful. I like six. I eagled it today, too.”
Perinne Delacour: “You see everything like the cliff. You start in the fairway and then you kind of see the cliff and then you go up and then you see the entire Pebble Beach. It’s really nice.”
RELATED: USGA raises US Women’s Open prizemoney payout with eventual goal of equal purse to men
18th, 515 yards, par 5
Brooke Henderson: “The tee shot is cool, and I can remember iconic moments from the men playing there.”
Megan Khang: “It’s such a good finishing hole. The past couple days the wind’s been off the left. It’s a tee shot that requires your full attention and obviously I wish we could get home in two, but I mean, we can’t. I don’t have the firepower to get there, but it’s such a great finishing hole and it’s exciting and I can get relatively close. It’s going to be a good finishing hole I think for the tournament itself.”
