9. The next big thing
• Nothing else really happened for the next 94
years . . . Until something dramatic emerged
on the Monterey Peninsula.
• A whole new Sport
Hinweis der Redaktion
Charles Crocker was an American railroad executive who founded the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took control with partners (including Leland Stanford) of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
It all started with the Hotel Del Monte - Railroad pioneer Charles Crocker (with cane) built the original Hotel Del Monte and shaped its world reputation.The original Hotel Del Monte was opened in 1880 and built by railroad pioneer Charles Crocker.The hotel was often billed as “The Most Elegant Seaside Resort in the World” and “California’s Largest and Best Loved Resort.” Del Monte landholdings included a 7,000-acre parcel section called the Hotel Del Monte Park Reservation.
The Hotel was 20,000 acres of and included a 7,000 acre park reservation which is today’s Pebble Beach resort. Charles Crocker created the original 17-Mile Drive as a local excursion from Hotel Del Monte to the park reservation with visits to historic and scenic sites in Monterey and Pacific Grove along the way.
In the early 1890s, the game of golf made its way to California, and Hotel Del Monte wished to provide a golf course for its visitors. However, because the hotel's own land was occupied by a racetrack and polo field, the 9-hole Del Monte Golf Course had to be constructed offsite.Today, only two of California's earliest golf courses remain in operation: Del Monte Golf Course and the course at the Presidio in San Francisco, built in 1896. Because the Presidio course was temporarily converted back into a practice drill field during the Spanish-American War, Del Monte Golf Course holds the distinction of being the oldest golf course in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River.
By 1915, Hotel Del Monte and its parent corporation, the Pacific Improvement Company, had fallen on hard economic times. The PI Company hired Samuel F. B. Morse, then 30 years old and a former All-American quarterback who led Yale University to championship seasons and national fame, to serve as a liquidator and find buyers for several railroad properties, including Del Monte.
In 1916, Morse convinced the PIC to create a golf course at the edge of Pebble Beach and Stillwater Cove.[9] The lodge burned down on December 17, 1917, while the course was being completed, and a completely different structure replaced it: the Del Monte Lodge. Hobart worked with Clarence Tantau to create a luxurious multi-story hotel, and Hobart designed a signature "Roman Plunge" pool to the east of the hotel. The golf course and the new lodge held a grand opening on February 22, 1919.[
The Pebble Beach Golf Links was designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant[5] and opened on February 22, 1919.
