Pasatiempo - Santa Cruz, CA (Alister MacKenzie; most recent restoration by Jim Urbina, 2023 and 2024)
Alister MacKenzie thought so much of this course and this place in the world that he made it his home, living there until his untimely passing in 1934. We think a lot of it too, and it has been a true honor to help out on Jim Urbina’s restoration of this special golf course, working in the shadows of one of our golf design heroes, Alister MacKenzie.
The work started with the front nine last year, and the back will commence in Spring following the Western Intercollegiate. The scope includes freshening bunkers and further restoring them wherever evidence suggests, eliminating excess sand build-up around greens and bunkers, and rebuilding the profile of the greens to USGA specs, using laser technology to recreate their contours to the micro-inch. It’s a tedious but important process, and we look forward to getting back to help out Jim, Justin Mandon (course superintendent), and Earth Sculptures (contractor and other shapers) soon.
Hole 3 bunkers original MacKenzie and restored 2023, taken from the spot on 2 fairway that was our only ground photo of these bunkers taken from off the green.
Left: 2022 before project work on hole 3. Note back left bunker, right side bunkers, and shape of green. Center: 2023 after project work (image: A.J. Pangelinen). Right: 1931 aerial
The back left bunker on hole 3 in middle of shaping. Armando in the center provides a sense of scale and hoe the left portion has been lifted well off the green from the more recent version.
More hole 3 during shaping.
Hole 8 left side bunkers only needed minor tweaks from their most recent version.
Hole 2 bunkers just after shaping.