Places to play between Pebble Beach and San Francisco

My wonderful wife got me tickets to Friday/Saturday at Pebble Beach U.S. Open! I don't fly out until late Sunday from San Francisco. Any recommendations on places to play between Pebble Beach and San Francisco that isn't too crazily priced (<$250)? Thanks for any suggestions!

Best value for the $$$ would be Bayonet / Black Horse.

Best course in that region would be Pasatiempo.

Poppy Hills is also very nice.

Pasatiempo.. Look online and you'll find rates for less than 250 most likely. Idk if they will be higher that week for people with the same idea, but that is the place to play.

Half Moon Bay

Haven't been to the Central Coast in a few years, but really enjoyed San Juan Oaks Golf Club (twilight rates are superb, FYI). Both Bayonet and Black Horse are excellent and Poppy is great too. Safe travels and good luck out there.

Pasatiempo and the only issue may be the traffic on highway 17 in June.

Pasatiempo, just check around for prices early so you get a better deal

Pasatiempo for sure (watch the college tournament on the Golf Channel next week). Not many other great options in that area - Baylands in Palo Alto is pretty good and is near US 101 so easy to get north to SFO. Crystal Springs up near the airport doesn't get much chatter, and I haven't played there in years so not sure of the condition, but it is a fun course to play and it is very close to SFO. Down closer to San Jose is Cinnabar Hills which is enjoyable.

San Juan Oaks in Hollister/San Juan (about 40 minutes from Pebble and then another 1:15 to SFO. It is a great Fred Couples layout, fairways and greens usually in top shape, last couple times I played it the bunkers were not in Stellar shape.

In San Jose I can recommend Cinnabar hills, they have 3 9s. Very fast greens, good elevation changes, some may consider gimmicky, but it is usually the fairways are pretty wide, so it is definitely a fair course.

As far as Pasatiempo goes, I like the course, just never felt it is a 250 dollar course...I know some of that pricing is for the history, but, it's a bit pricey for what it is.

> @DandyDon said:

> San Juan Oaks in Hollister/San Juan (about 40 minutes from Pebble and then another 1:15 to SFO. It is a great Fred Couples layout, fairways and greens usually in top shape, last couple times I played it the bunkers were not in Stellar shape.

>

> In San Jose I can recommend Cinnabar hills, they have 3 9s. Very fast greens, good elevation changes, some may consider gimmicky, but it is usually the fairways are pretty wide, so it is definitely a fair course.

>

> As far as Pasatiempo goes, I like the course, just never felt it is a 250 dollar course...I know some of that pricing is for the history, but, it's a bit pricey for what it is.

Top 20 public course in the country, one of the best layouts in all of golf, last time I was there it was in great shape (not sure current condition). It is worth every bit of the price. Especially when a course like Harding Park is charging $150+ or Spyglass $350+

> @mci711 said:

> > @DandyDon said:

> > San Juan Oaks in Hollister/San Juan (about 40 minutes from Pebble and then another 1:15 to SFO. It is a great Fred Couples layout, fairways and greens usually in top shape, last couple times I played it the bunkers were not in Stellar shape.

> >

> > In San Jose I can recommend Cinnabar hills, they have 3 9s. Very fast greens, good elevation changes, some may consider gimmicky, but it is usually the fairways are pretty wide, so it is definitely a fair course.

> >

> > As far as Pasatiempo goes, I like the course, just never felt it is a 250 dollar course...I know some of that pricing is for the history, but, it's a bit pricey for what it is.

>

>

> Top 20 public course in the country, one of the best layouts in all of golf, last time I was there it was in great shape (not sure current condition). It is worth every bit of the price. Especially when a course like Harding Park is charging $150+ or Spyglass $350+

I know the course rates well, I am just talking about from an enjoyment factor. I have played a lot of the top 100 courses and have seen quite a few that are greatly overrated (Torrey Pines being a prime example). I liked Pasatiempo, but if it wasn't for who designed it, it would be a 100 dollar course in the area...It's not worth 3-4 times the cost of San Juan Oaks, and I would play Spanish Bay over it every day of the week plus twice on Sundays... If someone really likes the history, its probably worth it. But then again, I am a guy that loved KingBarnes in Scotland when purists hate it.

Just played pasa last week for essentially the same ride as OP (landed in SF on way to Pebble). I really liked the course, was B condition relative to private courses, A for a public. I thought the greens were super fun, lots of Slope, mixed sizes, etc. some great holes, not many “blah” holes, just a really good classic course forcing you to think.

Worth $250 that I paid for it? Not sure, particularly if I lived there. Was it worth it in my situation - absolutely.

Separately, thought Santa Cruz was a cool little town. Had a great dinner right on the harbor

Pasatiempo is the big one, Half Moon Bay is a great pair of courses on the water in a reasonably secluded setting. In the City proper you have Harding Park and Presidio, a pair of similar but different courses in the vein of the Olympic Club. Sharp Park in Pacifica is “The dump with charm”, another Mackenzie design with amazing potential but horrible (yet improving) maintenance.

Baylands in Palo Alto just opened, as did Alameda’s south course. Both are much improved from their former boring muni selves, Alameda especially so. It was in discussions to host a Tour event.

San Juan Oaks and Eagle Ridge in Gilroy are similar examples of “California Foothill Golf” and both are usually in great shape, and fun layouts. Eagle Ridge is in a housing development, SJO is housing-free. My old golf coach recommends the newer Nicklaus course at Coyote Creek (not sure of it’s real name) .

Lots of options available! I also highly recommend either a Pizza My Heart Pizza and/or a Nation’s Giant Hamburger (and a pie) Enjoy your trip! If you have any questions you can pm me.

(Shameless plug for my home course Callippe Preserve; it’s out of the way and always packed, but it’s home and still only about an hour from the airport)

If you’re looking for value, Pacific Grove fits the bill. The front 9 is nothing to write home about, but the back 9 is in the sand dunes with views of Monterey Bay.

I was and annual pass holder at San Juan Oaks for years. And am currently a pass holder at Eagle Ridge. They are nice courses, but not destination type courses. Personally, I’d opt to spend the extra bucks and hit Spyglass or Pasatiempo, especially since you don’t live in the area.

And allow plenty of time to get to SFO if you are leaving the Monterey Peninsula Sunday afternoon. Traffic heading back to the Bay Area can be stop and go for miles, even on an average weekend.

Throw me in the Pasatiempo is really good but probably overrated golf course. In the area that I’ve played, after Pebble I’d probably rank them: Spyglass, Poppy, Cordevalle, Spanish Bay , Pasatiempo (these five I consider in the same relative class), then bayonet / blackhorse (best relative value after a poppy twilight).

I will be there as well for the US Open and looking for somewhere potentially to play Monday morning - close to San Jose preferred - don’t need anything extravagant, $100 range would be preferable.

I saw that Cinnabar Hills fits my price point and looks nice. They also have club rentals which is one of my requirements. I will be staying in Los Gatos so it looks like a < 30 minute drive.

I played Bayonet/Blackhorse and Poppy Hills last week and both were spectacular, would highly recommend either one. Bayonet/Blackhorse were a classic NorCal coastal feel - cypress trees, cold/overcast and windy. Poppy felt more inland (even though it probably isn't), but felt more like a walk through the trees. Can't go wrong with either. Played HMB Ocean in March as well and it was really fun althought hey had just punched. Probably in much better shape now..

> @tad950 said:

> If you’re looking for value, Pacific Grove fits the bill. The front 9 is nothing to write home about, but the back 9 is in the sand dunes with views of Monterey Bay.

>

> I was and annual pass holder at San Juan Oaks for years. And am currently a pass holder at Eagle Ridge. They are nice courses, but not destination type courses. Personally, I’d opt to spend the extra bucks and hit Spyglass or Pasatiempo, especially since you don’t live in the area.

>

> And allow plenty of time to get to SFO if you are leaving the Monterey Peninsula Sunday afternoon. Traffic heading back to the Bay Area can be stop and go for miles, even on an average weekend.

I played Pacific Grove last time I was out. Front 9 is very meh with some strange holes and rules but back 9 was great. I would go back just to play the back 9 again.

> @ewe8523 said:

> I will be there as well for the US Open and looking for somewhere potentially to play Monday morning - close to San Jose preferred - don’t need anything extravagant, $100 range would be preferable.

>

> I saw that Cinnabar Hills fits my price point and looks nice. They also have club rentals which is one of my requirements. I will be staying in Los Gatos so it looks like a < 30 minute drive.

Highly recommend Cinnabar. The rate after 2:20pm for $66 is a steal!

> @tim_harris said:

> I played Pacific Grove last time I was out. Front 9 is very meh with some strange holes and rules but back 9 was great. I would go back just to play the back 9 again.

I’ll be heading out to Pebble in October and we are considering Pacific Grove as a warm up the day before we go to the resort. Hoping you could elaborate on your experience at Pacific Grove.

> @BLM210 said:

> > @tim_harris said:

> > I played Pacific Grove last time I was out. Front 9 is very meh with some strange holes and rules but back 9 was great. I would go back just to play the back 9 again.

>

> I’ll be heading out to Pebble in October and we are considering Pacific Grove as a warm up the day before we go to the resort. Hoping you could elaborate on your experience at Pacific Grove.

>

>

Front side is nothing special. Its all inland with some quirky holes. The back nine you have quite a few holes out near the ocean. When you consider where you are I would put it in the "cheap" category compared to most everything else. If you played it after Pebble I'm sure it would be a let down but playing it as a warm up round the day before would be fun.