5 Things To Know About Cypress Point - The World Famous Venue For 2025 Walker Cup

Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, California is hosting the 2025 Walker Cup as 10 of the best US amateur golfers and 10 of their most talented European peers go head-to-head for the right to lift the trophy.

The Californian layout first staged the prestigious amateur event in 1981 as the United States team comfortably defeated its GB&I rivals by 15 points to nine on the west coast.

However, over 40 years has passed before Cypress Point was given the chance to host for a second time. As a result, there is a real sense of excitement about the seeing this beautiful course played on again.

Plenty of golf fans will have heard of this world-renowned layout, of course. They will be aware of its breath-taking scenery and of its historic standing in the game, but there remains plenty those tuning into the Walker Cup this year might not be aware of.

Below, we've listed a handful of facts you might not have known about Cypress Point - one of the most famous golf courses on the planet.

DESIGNED BY ALISTER MACKENZIE

Cypress Point Club was designed by Alister Mackenzie (with help from Robert Hunter) and opened for play on August 11, 1929. Mackenzie was at least partially responsible for the design over over 80 courses around the world, with the most famous arguably Augusta National - home of The Masters.

But, of Cypress Point - which consists of one 18-hole course only - Mackenzie said in 1932: "I do not expect anyone will ever have the opportunity of constructing another course like Cypress Point as I do not suppose anywhere in the world is there such a glorious combination of rocky coast, sand dunes pine woods and cypress trees."

CONTRASTING NINES

Cypress Point is located on the Monterey Peninsula in California, where there are a wonderful variety of landscapes within touching distance of each other for miles up the coast.

Regarding the course's variety, the front nine is set largely in the Del Monte forest - which protects players from the elements but also requires more accurate shots - before the back nine is far more open to the elements and winds along the rocky coastline.

The signature hole is the par-3 16th which features a circa 230-yard tee shot over the Pacific Ocean and onto a mid-sized green with plenty of bunkering protecting the target. When the wind is blowing, that hole can cause all sorts of problems for players and finding the sand is often not a bad result.

BEST IN THE WORLD?

Most people in golf will tell you that Cypress Point is "one of the best golf courses in the world," and those who rank the planet's best layouts tend to agree.

Top100GolfCourses.com has Cypress Point down as the very best golf course anywhere in the world, while Golf Digest recently labelled the 2025 Walker Cup host as the third best course in the United States of America.

As well as scoring highly in all of the key areas, it is one of the most difficult to earn a tee time at, too, with one of just 250 members needing to invite you personally if you're ever to step foot on it.

FORMER PGA TOUR CO-HOST

Cypress Point was a part of the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am rotation between 1947 and 1990 along with Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. At the time, it was widely regarded as one of the most eagerly anticipated layouts on the schedule every year.

However, Cypress Point dropped out of the rotation after 1990 following the club's refusal to change its membership policies in order to comply with the PGA Tour's anti-discrimination guidelines, as reported by the New York Times.

Back then, the club had around 250 male and female members, but it was reported that none were non-white.

Speaking in 1990, then-chairman of the Monterey Peninsula Golf Foundation and Cypress Point member, Bill Borland told the New York Times: "We wanted to continue to hold the tournament, but the PGA Tour told us that Cypress Point did not fit into its rules and regulations. There really was no negotiation."

In response, former COO of the PGA Tour, Tim Finchem said: "Certainly, we would have insisted on certain things, but we never got to the point where anything was discussed.

"In the case of Cypress Point, the club indicated that it was unwilling to discuss any action it might take. They weren't going to change what they were doing."

Since then, the club has changed its rules and, in 2013, former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice was admitted as a member.

Although it is no longer part of the PGA Tour event, many players still visit Cypress Point in the days leading up to the tournament in order to practice in similar conditions.

MEMBERSHIP FEES CHANGE ANNUALLY

According to a report from Golf.com in 2019, there was a $250,000 initiation fee required to become a member at Cypress Point, but the exact annual membership fee is not known.

But, per montereypeninsulagolf.com, the club's annual membership fee changes every year anyway.

On the Monterey Peninsula Golf website, it says: "the club decides the cost of yearly membership fees by equally dividing the total operating expenses among all members. Each member of the club is required to pay the same amount in dues, regardless of the amount of play or the number of visits to the club."

There is still believed to be around 250 members at Cypress Point, with star names such as Jim Nantz, Clint Eastwood and Charles Schultz supposedly among them.

CYPRESS POINT FAST FACTS