| Championship |
413 |
| Maroon |
376 |
| Teal |
366 |
| Orange |
366 |
| Green |
343 |
| Ocean |
343 |
| Khaki |
322 |
| D. Muirhead |
222 |
Par
(Mens/Ladies) |
4/4 |
Handicap
(Mens/Ladies) |
10/12
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|
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Having regained Paradise, this hole appears appropriate: the sex goddess, earth mother with fertility rites and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. As in the old joke, a golfer might take his hat off on the 15th hole for his wife's passing funeral cortege, but golfer Joe DiMaggio was there when they buried Marilyn. I believe she deserves a golf hold shaped and named for her, just for the effect she once had on so many of us.
There used to be a good hole at Bel Air, designed by George Thompson and Jack Jeville who designed Pebble Beach. This hole was called the Mae West and consisted of a green with two large hemispherical mounds. It was removed by Dick Wilson when he remodeled the course using his personal brand of greens and traps, thus occluding its original spirit. I have always felt it was a pity the best architects often make the worst remodelers. On this number 15, I have taken the idea further by incorporating some intensely feminine fairway rolls as well. My inspiration for the body in the fairway come from a magnificent line drawing by Matisse. I don't believe Matisse ever met Marilyn Monroe, but I know if he had, she would have inspired him, just as she did Kenneth Clark, the famous critic, who was intoxicated by her fullness as an art form.
During construction, Lewis Willis, the talented superintendent, thought MM's fullness made a tricky and inadequate landing area. He is right, but then, as I told him, women like life, were ever unpredictable. Some holes are unfair, like life, sometimes, unruly, passionate, fragmented. This is one of those.
The green is semi-blind in the same sort of peek-a-boo, now you see it, now you don't, of the 6th fairway here, and the 7th hole, which I built with Jack at the nearby Mayacoo Lakes. The bosoms are large and I hope memorable. This is the last dry land hole on the course and I wanted to make it unforgettable. My guess is that when the wind is blowing, that's what it will be. But at least there's the aching memory of Marilyn to console one.
Desmond Muirhead |