Pasatiempo Golf Club hosts the Play With Pete Invitational on Tuesday, May 19th and the players will learn from their very first shots this is a thinking golfer's playground that tests your swing and interrogates your decision-making. Pasatiempo is one of the most enduring masterpieces of golf course architecture the game has ever known.
Architects and historians consider it one of the finest expressions of golf course design ever created. And this Crown Jewel showcases the purest and most influential ideas of legendary architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie arguably even more fully than his other famous Golden Age designs Augusta National Golf Club and Cypress Point Club.
Across the years Pasatiempo has gathered the stories of all who played here beginning with the first shots hit on Opening Day in 1929 by founder Marion Hollins and celebrated amateur Bobby Jones. Major champions Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods have all competed here. And on May 19th four players will become part of Pasatiempo's storied 97-year history in the 2026 Play With Pete Invitational at Pasatiempo.
Pasatiempo's architecture is poetic mayhem. It is MacKenzie at his most brilliant. It is also Mackenzie at his creative peak. Endlessly undulating greens, rugged natural bunkering, strategic lines of play, and elevation changes and property movement make this Mackenzie gem equal parts Shakespeare and tornado.
I'm going to take you through a detailed hole-by-hole course review of Pasatiempo here to get you ready for PWPIPasatiempo. This review includes pictures pre-2024 Jim Urbina restoration. The two-year Urbina project rebuilt Pasatiempo's greens and bunkers back to their original Mackenzie sizes and shapes so what you see in this review won't be exactly what you see during PWPIPasatiempo.
However this review will still show when you play Pasatiempo Golf Club it's like stepping onto a living chessboard carved into its rugged land. Every hole has personality that tempts your imagination. Every green complex has attitude that seems to whisper, "Think you've got me figured out?" At Pasatiempo the question isn't merely "Can you hit the shot?" The question is "Do you have the nerve to try it?"
I'll update this review after PWPIPasatiempo concludes with post-restoration pictures and descriptions. For example the 11th green has increased over 1,000 square feet in size, and the three-tiered 16th green now has a pinnable front locations making it even more diabolical. Dr. Alister MacKenzie. Play With Pete Invitational. Down the rabbit hole we go.
HOLE NO. 1, Par-4 (Gold 458 Yards/White 440 Yards)
Your pilgrimage to Pasatiempo begins with a stimulating tee shot on the 458-yard opening hole. The fairway bunker is camouflage (MacKenzie artistry) for a long approach into a skinny green.
Troublesome back-left and front-right bunkers are drawn into the green’s sloping banks. Don't expect a gentle start to your round. No. 1 is the fourth toughest hole on the course, and two holes later you get the second toughest at Pasatiempo.
Here are a few more looks at the fairway and green-side bunkers on the opening hole. A taste of what’s to come with hazards carved into banks and mounds, and elaborate, undulating greens that can fall into or fade away from spectacular bunkering.
HOLE NO. 2, Par-4 (Gold 430 Yards/White 403 Yards)
You have a more wide open fairway on the downhill, dogleg 430-yard, No. 2 at Pasatiempo, but want to avoid the sprawling natural hazard left.
It's an intimidating line off the tee. You want to hit a fade if possible or aim at the big Oak tree right. The fairway slopes right to left, and even if you miss the bunker, left is a bad spot to be. Many think this is one of the most challenging holes on the front nine.
Three sloping bunkers protect the narrow, undulating green. Miss anywhere on approach and it’s a very tough lie with mounding everywhere.
A more looks at the glorious and formidable Alister MacKenzie green complex and bunkering on the par-4, No. 2 at Pasatiempo.
HOLE NO. 3, Par-3 (Gold 222 Yards/White 200 Yards)
The 222-yard, No. 3 at Pasatiempo is one of the greatest par-3’s anywhere. A cross bunker creates an optical illusion on this uphill shot to a shallow green set on a diagonal.
And five severely angled, upsloping bunkers hem in the green that slopes back to front. Good luck.
Here are a few more different views of No. 3 at Pasatiempo. Tough green to hit, fade one in if you can. Low trajectory shots have no chance to hold. And missing the green anywhere means you're pretty much guaranteed a memorable adventure.
HOLE NO. 4, Par-4 (Gold 378 Yards/White 360 Yards)
The 378-yard, par-4, No. 4 at Pasatiempo is the widest fairway you see so far. Two right fairway bunkers are in play for shorter hitters, and one further up left for longer hitters.
Five bunkers fortify and surround the small green, which has edges sloped towards the middle.
Here are a few more pics from around the green on No. 4 at Pasatiempo.
HOLE NO. 5, Par-3 (Gold 190 Yards/White 172 Yards)
Five bunkers protect the 190-yard, par-3, No. 5 at Pasatiempo, but it’s the center bunker that determines strategy.
Short is a tomb. Too far left is tough putt from highest point on the green. Too far right and the back-to-front slope can easily carry your ball off the green.
Here are a few more views of the swarming bunkers circling No. 5 at Pasatiempo, as well as an early 1929 look at this hole just prior to opening.
HOLE NO. 6, Par-5 (Gold 567 Yards/White 510 Yards)
You have a tight, visually intimidating drive on the 567-yard, No. 6 at Pasatiempo. Big hitters can reach in two but this is really a 3-shot hole. The entire left side is OB and the fairway slopes significantly right to left with a left fairway bunker hidden off the tee.
Your second shot on this par-5 is slightly uphill with a right bunker and mounding in the landing area 50-yards out. The green falls off into two left-side bunkers with a large sprawling bunker cut into the right bank of a deep but narrow green.
MacKenzie lived in this white house off the left fairway on No. 6. A plaque honors his life and genius with a statue of a young golfer in his front lawn. Alister would sometimes put out full bars near the fairway for anyone wishing to imbibe during a round
HOLE NO. 7, Par-4 (Gold 347 Yards/White 335 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 8, Par-3 (Gold 176 Yards/White 158 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 9, Par-5 (Gold 492 Yards/White 471 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 10, Par-4 (Gold 437 Yards/White 437 Yards)
Work In Progress
HOLE NO. 11, Par-4 (Gold 390 Yards/White 377 Yards)
Work In Progress
HOLE NO. 12, Par-4 (Gold 371 Yards/White 371 Yards)
Work In Progress
HOLE NO. 13, Par-5 (Gold 532 Yards/White 484 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 14, Par-4 (Gold 426 Yards/White 382 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 15, Par-3 (Gold 142 Yards/White 120 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 16, Par-4 (Gold 392 Yards/White 367 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 17, Par-4 (Gold 372 Yards/White 361 Yards)
Work In Progress.
HOLE NO. 18, Par-3 (Gold 173 Yards/White 145 Yards)
Work In Progress.
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