Detailed Information about the Deceptive rating

At the 1990 AT&T pro-am the pros recorded 15 triple bogies at the par 3 16th, and 17 more at the par 4 17th. This is an embarrassing statistic considering Cypress Point is a par 72 layout with a USGA rating of 72.3, which suggests the degree of difficulty should not be severe. Yet it is.

The weather has much to do with how a player fares; if the winds are up, so are the scores. The beauty of Cypress is its exposed setting along the rugged coastline of California. It is this rocky, cliff strewn setting that makes Cypress such a challenge.

The course was designed by Alister Mackenzie and opened for play in 1928. The club has been male-dominated since then, but ironically it was a woman - Marion Hollins of New York - who was responsible for choosing Mackenzie as course designer.

Hollins - a real estate agent - and her partners had planned to sell 250 memberships at $2000 each, but the Wall Street Crash of 1929 changed those plans and only 40 were sold. While it has since increased to 250, it remains a very exclusive” club.

Recognizing his layout could be nearly unplayable for the amateur, Mackenzie made some concessions without compromising the integrity of the design. He gave golfers the option of going for broke and being rewarded if successful, or taking the safe but longer route to the green. One of the best examples of this is the 16th itself.

The course is not all about those famous holes at the tip of the peninsula however - all of Cypress provides excellent golf.

The 1st is played down to a valley curving to the right and is a severe start.

The 2nd is the longest on the course and has a demanding tee shot requiring a diagonal carry.

After the 2nd the course heads for a wooded hillside, the setting of the 5th through to the 11th. The 7th is a par 3 played from one hill to another over a valley, and the 9th shows that even a downhill par 4 of 291yd (265m) can be difficult-the small hard green can be very tricky to hold.

At the 11th tee you head back towards the rocky peninsula, with the 13th and 14th being seaside holes before the clifftops are reached.