44th NCGA Public Links Championship | Spyglass Hill GC | June 1-2, 2009
The NCGA Public Links Championship began in 1966 at Spyglass Hill and is the premier event for the public-course player. The 36-hole stroke-play tournament has been played at Spyglass Hill every year, with the exception of 1992, 1996 and 1997.
Ryan King holds the scoring record set in 1999 of six-under-par 138. Only two players have managed back-to-back victories, Mike Powers in 1972 and 1973 and Mitch Thomas in 1978 and 1979, while four-time NCGA Player of the Year Casey Boyns still reigns with the most NCGA Public Links wins, having claimed the trophy four times.
The tournament includes the championship flight for players with handicap indexes of 5.4 or less and two handicap divisions for players with an index of 5.5 to 36.4. Contestants must be bona fide public course players who do not hold playing privileges in any course from which the general public is excluded.
Qualifying Information
Format: 18 holes qualifying for all flights (index used for handicap flights). In the Championship flight, 36 players and exempts will advance to the championship proper. In handicap competition, 36 players from the President’s flight and 36 from the Director’s flight will advance to Spyglass Hill for 36 holes of stroke play (18 holes per day).
All players must qualify except the following: All past champions prior to 2004 (beginning in 2004, this is a 10-year exemption) and the top four finishers in the Championship Flight from the preceding year. Each exempt player is required to submit an entry prior to the closing date. Public Links Championship Exemptions.
Tournament Recaps
For NCGA Public Links Champion Bill Moore, the eight years it took to re-enter the winner’s circle were long overdue. “After my win in 2001 (in this same event), I wanted to average a win in an NCGA event per year,” the assistant manager at The Golf Shop in Monterey said. “But that’s how tough the competition is.” Moore’s steady, even-par 144 (72-72) was good for a two-stroke win over Salinas’ Ricky Stockton… Read Full 2009 Recap | View 2009 Photo Gallery
You would never have known that Kyle Prolo was about to win the biggest tournament of his career as he played the final round of the NCGA Public Links Championship at Spyglass Hill. The cool and calm 21-year-old carded six birdies in the final round including two on the final two holes to win the championship by six strokes over Chris Marin and Brent Booth. ”I knew if I shot around even [par] it would be good enough,” commented Prolo… Read Full 2008 Recap | View 2008 Photo Gallery
Becoming a new father had a motivating effect on Scott Hardy as he claimed the NCGA Public Links Championship at Spyglass Hill. With a one-stroke lead at the start of the final round, Hardy, the golf coach at Saint Mary’s College, would expand that margin in the final round, concluding with a five-stroke win. After an impressive two-under-par 69 and two-day total of 140, Hardy had eliminated the rest of the field… Read Full 2007 Recap | View 2007 Photo Gallery
Past Champions
(All but 1992, 1996 and 1997 played at Spyglass Hill GC)
About Spyglass Hill GC
Ranked number five on “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” list by Golf Digest for 2003-2004.
Spyglass Hill was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., as a part of the master plan for the Pebble Beach ocean front between Cypress Point and Pebble Beach. Opened in 1966, the design features two distinctly different kinds of terrain that influence the way the holes look and play.
The first five holes roll through sandy seaside dunes challenging the golfer to carefully pick the safest path. The following 13 holes are cut through pine trees with elevated greens and strategically placed bunkers and lakes to grab the errant shot.
Spyglass Hill is rated one of the toughest courses in the world from the Championship tees, boasting a course rating of 75.5 and a slope rating of 147. The PGA Tour consistently lists Spyglass Hill’s holes 6, 8 and 16 among the toughest on the tour, and during the 1999 United States Amateur, the stroke average of the field during medal play was in excess of 79.