Hole 1 Par 4 381yds

Normally a soft dog-leg to the right, the opening hole now bends abruptly as a result of rough introduced specially for the championship. The priority is to keep the drive on the fairway so as to facilitate a short-iron approach to a very narrow green. In the final round here in 1992, Tom Kite opened with a birdie and went on to win the championship.

Hole 2 Par 4 484yds

This has been reduced from a par five to a long par four, so changing the overall par of the course to 71. Though the fairway is only 30 yards wide, players will be reluctant to sacrifice length, because of the difficulty of the second to another narrow green. A hole which was once considered a strong birdie opportunity is now a difficult par.

Hole 3 Par 4 390yds

Almost a mirror image of the first, this has an even sharper turn - to the left. Once again, the emphasis is on hitting the fairway, while shot-making skills will be tested by the right-to-left sloping green which calls for a high fade. With a 25-foot birdie putt here in the third round in 1992, Gil Morgan became the first player to get to 10 under par in a US Open.

Hole 4 Par 4 331yds

The ocean on the right will cause players to favour the left side which is guarded off the tee by a large bunker. In the final round of the 1972 US Open, Bruce Crampton, was only a stroke behind Jack Nicklaus playing this hole, but ran up a double-bogey to kill his chances of victory. Twenty years later, Joey Sindelar holed a nine iron of 122 yards for an eagle two.

Hole 5 Par 3 188yds

Already acclaimed as a wonderful addition to the course, this newly-constructed par three to a design by Nicklaus, brings competitors out towards the Pacific. Swirling winds make club selection difficult but in practice, Darren Clarke played it beautifully, hitting a six-iron tee-shot to eight feet. The green is especially fast with some subtle, hidden slopes.

Hole 6 Par 5 524 yds

Only a well-hit driver will allow the player reach the second landing area, past a menacing swath of rough and bringing the green within reach in two. On the first day of the 1992 championship, Andy Dillard holed a 15-foot putt here for his sixth successive birdie. But three days later, Morgan carded a double-bogey seven on the way to a closing 81.

Hole 7 Par 3 106yds

The shortest hole in championship golf can change from a sandwedge to a firmly-struck long iron, depending on the wind. When Kite came here as joint leader on the final day in 1992, only one of the preceding 16 players had held the green. As it happened, Kite also missed the target but had the good fortune to see an overzealous chip dive into the hole for an improbable birdie.

Hole 8 Par 4 418yds

By this stage, a spectacular course has begun to reveal itself in earnest. From a three-wood or two-iron tee-shot, the player will be happy to find any spot on a tight landing area. Then comes a medium iron over Pacific breakers to a well-guarded green. In the third round in 1982, Tom Watson played it perfectly, with a four wood, five iron and an 18-foot birdie putt.

Hole 9 Par 4 466 yds

Acknowledged as the most difficult hole on the course, its fairway slopes severely towards the ocean which means that the approach has to be hit from a hanging lie. Because of the fear of going right to a watery grave, players normally over-compensate and pull their approach into the left rough or a strategically-placed greenside trap. A hole where par is a good score.

Hole 10 Par 4 446yds

This completes the most difficult stretch of holes on the course. Sloping towards Carmel Bay, the fairway is extremely difficult to hold, with rough beckoning right and rough and sand on the left. On the way to victory in 1982, Watson made a priceless par here after his seven-iron approach came up short on a shelf just below the green. Typically, he got up and down for a four.

Hole 11 Par 4 380yds

The drive here is blind and is hit to a landing area only 28 yards wide. In fact only the front left of the green is visible on the approach, which means that players could be hitting two blind shots in a row. The green slopes so severely from back to front that it is not unusual to see a chip or even a putt run off the putting surface. On the final day in 1982, Nicklaus three-putted for a bogey.

Hole 12 Par 3 202yds

Generally the firmest green on the course, this rewards a tee-shot which is fed in from right to left. Anything hitting the middle will almost certainly run off the back, into rough or sand. In the second round in 1982, Johnny Miller had a hole-in-one here with a two iron. Ten years earlier, Rod Funseth carded a triple bogey.

Hole 13 Par 4 406yds

Three fairway bunkers have been added to the right side by way of mirroring the configuration of traps just short of the green. Over-zealous approaches will have to be chipped back onto the slickest putting surface on the course. In the third round of the 1972 championship, Tony Jacklin holed a seven-iron second shot for an eagle two.

Hole 14 Par 5 575yds

Unquestionably the toughest of the par fives, it is made all the more difficult by rough to the left side of the landing area off the tee. Most players, even the longer hitters, will lay up before attacking the flag which is invariably on the back half of the green. In 1982, Watson holed a 40-foot birdie putt but 10 years earlier, Kermit Zarley carded a triple-bogey eight.

Hole 15 Par 4 397yds

This is where Tiger Woods started a dramatic surge when holing his second shot for an eagle two on the way to victory in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last February. It is one of the most straightforward holes on the course, despite the fairway being pinched in to about 30 yards. On the way to victory in 1972, Nicklaus made a 13-footer here for his first birdie since the seventh.

Hole 16 Par 4 403yds

Ideally, a long-iron tee-shot should be hit left to right to the upper shelf of the fairway. A drive too long will bounce down into a depression, while anything too far right is destined for either sand or rough. Watson carded a bogey here in the final round in 1982 when he was forced to lay up after finding sand off the tee. Shots tend to slide to the left on the tricky green.

Hole 17 Par 3 208yds

The scene of marvellous happenings in 1972, when Nicklaus hit the flagstick with a glorious one-iron shot and in 1982, when Watson chipped in for what proved to be a championship-winning birdie. The hour-glass green with a rise in the middle places major emphasis on club selection if three putts are to be avoided.

Hole 18 Par 5 543yds

A classic finishing hole to a classic layout, where only the longest hitters will be able to reach the green in two. Woods did it in the final round of the 1997 Pebble Beach Pro-Am and though he missed the eagle putt which would have caught Mark O'Meara, he announced to the golfing world that no lead would be safe when he was in pursuit. Those laying up will have to clear the tree on the front right and the bunker on the right.