Golf Digest 2017/2018
#2 Pacific Dunes
Pacific Dunes enjoys a setting that is simply spectacular. Being high atop the bluff with views of the crashing waves and craggy coastline is damn impressive, but it's Tom Doak's ability to match the scenery with a great design and routing that makes this arguably the best course in the United States! 
(The 463/449 yard par four fourth is one of three holes that plays alongside the ocean. Both the drive and approach are challenged by the 105' drop! A four is a great score.)
(This is the 199/181 yard par three fifth. The green is set in the dunes with a slight tilt to the right.)
(What a great short par four!! Look at all the fairway to the left! The play however is challenging the dune and sand trap on the right...
...the green is long and slender so the approach must come directly from in front of the green. Otherwise one is pitching the ball over a severely deep trap to a small target. The terrain falls off right of the green, so one better have practice the hybrid putt/chip. 316/288)
(The 464/436 yard seventh green is tucked in the dunes with a couple fescue topped mounds fronting it. Two strong shots are needed to cover it's length. Par is a well earned score.)
The inland holes at Pacific Dunes are just as compelling as the ocean holes. That is what makes this such a world class golf course. Each one has it's own distinct challenges, and the wind conditions can change them on a moments notice.
(The drive on nine totally captured my attention! Where do you hit it? What's the line? Damn that dune looks far!..
...after a good drive, this is the view to the lower green. Yes there is an upper green but this is the better of the two. My favorite hole on the course!! 406/379)
The back nine has a crazy routing but it doesn't hit you until you're adding up the scorecard and then you realize there's 4 par threes, 3 par fives, and only 2 par fours!
(The back nine begins with back to back par threes. This is the view from the lower tee. It plays 206 yards...
...the upper tee is only 165 yards with a thirty foot drop. Doak said in "Dream Golf" that he wanted the lower tee because he felt the course needed a long par three into the wind.)
(The sweet eleventh follows with a short par three across giant blow out bunkers and a sweeping vista of the coastline. 148/131 yards)
(When you walk through the dunes and arrive at thirteen tee, speechless is the perfect adjective...
...the hole is 444/390 yards, and it can be a big club to reach it in two. The blowout bunker right is super imposing! Like many other holes, par is great score!)
(No bunkers needed to protect the green at the 539/504 yard fifteenth. A big knob and sweeping swale will make any ball not hit perfectly a tough up n down.)
(The par three seventeenth is Doak's version of a Redan. The line is over the right bunker. There's probably thirty yards of fairway behind it, but the ball will trundle left and bound onto the putting surface.)
Pacific Dunes made all the travel, time, and money spent worth it! It also illustrates what can be done when an architect lets the natural features dictate the routing. That last point can't be emphasized enough. Keiser could have demanded two "normal" par 36 loops, but he trusted his gut and let the architect he chose design a world class golf course. Pacific Dunes is my first 10 (perfect)(must play in ones lifetime). 
(I finished my first round at Pacific in the dark and the clubhouse stood like a beacon as I made my way down the fairway. It was a surreal experience. I could barely make out the ball by my feet, but when I hit it, I knew where it went by the sound and feel. Life is good!)
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