California’s Monterey Peninsula has an embarrassment of stunning, iconic golf scenery, with windswept holes set hard against scraggly cliffs above the often-angry Pacific Ocean.
And while Pebble Beach’s historic par-3 7th hole gets a lot of attention, Pebble Beach is not the best course in this tiny but crowded golf region. And the 7th isn’t the best par-3. Those honors belong to storied Cypress Point and its terrifying par-3 16th, whose clifftop green lies over 200 yards from the teeing surface, with nothing but churning waves and sand between the two.
Golfers lucky enough to snag a tee time at Cypress Point, which is not an easy task at the uber-private enclave, often see their luck run out on the beautiful, difficult hole.
Hello, Cypress Point: The best course on the Monterey Peninsula isn’t Pebble Beach
But most golfers are not SMU golfer Christian Clark. The college freshman recently had the privilege of playing Cypress Point, and he authored one of the most epic shots possible in the game: a hole-in-one on the iconic 16th.
Fortunately for Clark and the rest of us, someone filmed the entire thing, and Clark posted the footage to Twitter on Thursday night.
In the video, Clark takes aim with a fairway wood at the pin 233 yards away and crushes it over the watery chasm below, then watches anxiously as his ball bounds onto the green and into the cup, setting off a wild celebration with his playing partners.
Check it out below.
The video immediately went viral across the golf world and beyond, with NFL quarterback Tom Brady even chiming in on Instagram, calling it, ‘amazing!”
Cypress Point, designed by legendary architect Alister MacKenzie, is without a doubt one of the best golf courses not only in the U.S., but the world. In fact, it came in at No. 2 in our 2021-22 Top 100 Courses in the World ranking, behind only Pine Valley.
GOLF’s latest ranking, the Top 100 Courses in the U.S., will be unveiled in the coming weeks, with Cypress Point expected to play another starring role.
Can’t wait to find out where it ranks on the new list? You don’t have to. InsideGOLF members can see the new Top 100 Courses in the U.S. ranking right here, right now. Sign up for InsideGOLF today for exclusive content, a free subscription to GOLF Magazine and $120 in value overall.
