Samuel Morse's transformation of the Monterey Peninsula in the 1920s into a public golf Mecca included the creation of an intimate private club at Cypress Point. As Morse later recalled:
The Cypress Point Club was organized for the specific purpose of building a great golf course in the most unique and beautiful setting imaginable; a setting in which the course as finally developed seems more than in any other instance the work of nature and not of man. The membership of the club is small, but the founders were devotees of the game and financially able to construct this great golfing monument, for such it is.
Principal credit for the formation of the club belongs to Marion Hollins, former National Women's Golf Champion.The course itself was designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, who can be justly proud of this, his finest work, because there can be nothing better.
Morse formed the Del Monte Properties Company in 1919, and with it came control of the famed Cypress Point. Not until early 1924, however, a full year after the arrival of Marion Hollins from the east coast, did an idea take shape for a club on the land Spanish explorer Tomas de la Pena first labeled "La Punta de Cipreses" in 1774.
Hollins issued a formal invitation for memberships in November 1925. Though an initial design for the course emerged that first year, progress was delayed until a sufficient number of members joined, allowing the club to become fully incorporated in July of 1927. Construction on the course began later that year.
On August 11, 1928 the first official round was played at Cypress Point Club. The George Washington Smith-designed clubhouse opened two years later on September 20,1930.
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The credit for creating Cypress Point belongs to two people, Marion Hollins and Samuel Morse. Each was instrumental in the course's creation and in envisioning the atmosphere of the club. Each had an uncanny eye for identifying talented individuals. Morse, for convincing Hollins to move west for the winters starting in 1923, and for hiring her as the Pebble Beach Athletic Director, and Hollins for hiring people such as Alister MacKenzie. Both shared a unique combination of business acumen and an artistic eye.
How the two actually came up with the idea for Cypress Point is a somewhat confusing tale. In later years, Morse and Roger Lapham made it clear that Cypress Point was a Marion Hollins dream, and eventually, a Marion Hollins-shaped club.
"Rapidly, very rapidly, the nationally discussed and exclusive Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula is becoming a reality, " Morse said in his own publication, Game and Gossip. "The course, first conceived by Miss Marion Hollins, famed woman golfer, will very soon begin to shape under the matchless engineering of Dr. Alister MacKenzie, dean of English golf architects."
A Hollins' creation it may have been, but Morse maintained a supervisory, almost fatherly role in club matters throughout his life. Morse also involved himself in the planning stages, taking a stand on proposed alterations to the 17 Mile Drive. But in the end, he all but left Hollins alone when it came to her specialty, the details. Few had a better eye for quality than Marion Hollins. That, combined with Morse's overall vision for the Monterey Peninsula, made them a formidable team.
Golf course architects often receive credit for work that was, in truth, a collaborative effort. Although Cypress Point Club was unequivocally an Alister MacKenzie design, the Doctor consulted a varied team of architects, fine golfers, dignitaries and shapers, all to help create the best possible course. His ability to accept suggestions from others made him an even better architect, perhaps the best who ever lived.
Robert Hunter Sr. was MacKenzie's "right-hand man, "spending time on the site almost daily. Hunter had a background in course construction and brought a scientific approach to the project. His son Robert Jr., was head of the American Golf Course Construction Company, which was partly owned by MacKenzie and was used for all of the Doctors' Northern California design projects.
Marion Holins was instrumental in offering her insights into the course, and MacKenzie trusted her "in the field" instincts as both a great player and as a developer. Roger Lapham, first club president and consultant to Chandler Egan during the redesign of Pebble Beach Golf Links, also proved helpful in the design. Lapham's son, Lewis, hit shots for MacKenzie in the field, as did young amateur golf great Charlie Seaver. Even Chandler Egan took time away from his important redesign work at Pebble Beach to share his thoughts on Cypress Point.
MacKenzie's crew of trusted shapers was vital to the finished product. Dan Gormley, Jack Fleming, and Paddy Cole were the primary builders and proved instrumental in several other MacKenzie designs. All were Irishmen who immigrated to California and each understood what Dr. MacKenzie expected. In the end, however, the course bears Alister MacKenzie's name and the indelible stamp of his design style is at its clearest and most astounding at Cypress Point.
I had the excellent opportunity to judge Dr. Mackenzie as a man and in his professional capacity as a golf architect. The Cypress Point Club turned over to Dr. MacKenzie and his associate at the time, Mr. Robert Hunter, the job of constructing an eighteen-hole golf course over what looked to be very unusual terrain including woods, sand dunes, and ocean. We gave the architects a free hand and were more than pleased with the job when it was done. Dr. Mackenzie seems to have mastered the art of making everything look natural...
Roger Lapham Founder and Club President