Ex-Navy SEAL Captain James Pearson is the owner of a golf expedition company called Sneak On With A SEAL. For $2500, Pearson will transport you and 3 other golfers in a raft from Pacific Grove, California … and land you near the 16th tee at Cypress Point Club. “Most golfers will never have the opportunity to play Cypress Point,” says Pearson. “SOWAS puts you right in the action at one of the most iconic holes in golf … at a fraction of the cost of being a member.”
Pearson invited Golf Lampoon Travel Editor Roland Bellinger to attend one of his Cypress Point amphibious landings last May. Here is Bellinger’s report on what occurred:
We rendezvoused at a coffee house in Pacific Grove at 0:700, where I met the rest of our group. (I will not disclose their identities as they had told their wives they were attending an artichoke growers’ convention in Salinas.) We launched in a motorized raft from Lovers Point Park shortly thereafter. At 08:23, we hit the beach with our golf bags near Cypress Point’s 16th tee box.
Then a Cypress Point Assistant Pro suddenly appeared and politely inquired if we were guests of a member. Before any of us could say “Del Monte Forest,” Captain Pearson emptied his clip into the young man and tossed his body into the churning Pacific Ocean. After that unsettling experience, it was all I could do to concentrate on hitting my baby cut. Fortunately, my ball flew over the water and landed safely on the 16th green. Despite three-putting, I was ecstatic to have played this magnificent golf hole. I was also thrilled to have avoided paying and tipping a caddie. As for the expired Assistant Pro, Captain Pearson assured us that this was merely a standard case of “collateral damage.”
“Don’t forget to tell your readers that Sneak On With A SEAL also offers amphibious landings to other seaside golf courses,” said Captain Pearson. “We’ve got mission plans drawn up for Kiawah, Seminole, Bandon Dunes … even the Old Course at St. Andrews. And down the road, we’ll be advancing up the Savannah River to sneak our clients on to Augusta National. We’re gonna yell ‘Fore, please’ when we storm up Magnolia Drive. Those Augusta members are gonna choke on their peach cobbler when they see us teeing off on the first tee!”
