The 18th hole, Pebble Beach Golf Links : Pebble's New Grand Cypress

Golf Digest, August, 2002 by Ron Whitten

A delicate operation

The skyline at Pebble Beach has changed. Years ago there was a picket fence of Monterey pines lining the par-5 18th, a few even along the seawall. The last one to survive was a 150-year-old tree in front and to the right of the green. Struck by lightning in August 1999, the 80-footer was invaded by bark beetles and decimated by pitch canker.

Pronounced dead, it was cut down in August 2001, and the 18th soon suffered. Second shots no longer had to flirt with the ocean. The green looked naked, and a replacement was desperately needed.

But all pines in the area are doomed to disease. Instead, after briefly considering an artificial tree, a sturdy disease-resistant cypress was found near the parking lot to the right of the par-4 first hole. Consultants agreed the 70-foot tree could be transplanted if it was placed in the same orientation to the sun.

So the 400,000-pound tree had to be hoisted onto a flatbed trailer in the exact alignment at which it would be planted and moved some 2,000 yards to its new location. It took 80 workers two days. The tree was slowly moved along the first and second holes, then made a right turn down the third and 17th holes and another right back up the 18th. The delicate operation, estimated to cost $350,000, has been deemed a success. Experts think the 60- to 70-year-old specimen will survive for another century.

Two other sentinel pines near the 18th fairway, just past the gaping fairway bunker, are dieing. Using a tree spade, they'll be replaced later this year by smaller cypress specimens.