Pebble Beach

I was also planning a trip until I calculated it would cost no less than $2k for two rounds.

Anyhow, I hear Spyglass is a must play along with Pebble. Temps are fairly mild right now i would say. Mid 60's or so. You also have to tend with the wind normally since its right on the ocean.


Enjoy and take lots of pics.

Exactly when are you there? Conditions in Nor Cal are very different in February than May.

[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295583364' post='2911997']
I may be making the trip out to Pebble Beach to play the course for the first time. Have some family out there so lodging should be set and a buddy is taking care of the tee time. Wanted some input from any members who have been their recently.

Just wanted some knowledge on what I should expect playing there for the first time? How will the weather be? Should I be prepared for cool weather (remember I'm from Florida). Anybody know what condition the course is in recently? Do the rounds typically go slow there? (which I wouldn't mind, more time for pictures!)

Feel free to add any other advice that I haven't mentioned. Thanks!
[/quote]

I just got back from there literally an hour ago. I played Tuesday and the course was in phenomenal shape, the best I had ever played when it came to condition. The greens were soft and receptive, but putts could still be pretty quick. Depending on the day and the time of day, it could be pretty slow. They put me out as a single behind a foursome and I waited on every shot, but as you said slow play isn't a problem when you have Stillwater Cove to look at. I think the overall time was somewhere around 5 hours. My caddie characterized Tuesday's weather as a warm summer day for them. It was absolutely perfect, about 75 and sunny with a little wind but nothing serious. From what I saw on the news this morning before we left, they expect the same for the next week or so. After that, it's anyone's guess. Have a great time. You won't forget it.

Stix, did you have a tee time or did you just walk on? What time did you end up playing?

They really push you to keep up with the group in front, even if you are on their butt. When I played, we were getting off the 8th green and the marshal came up to us to remind us to keep up, and the group was still on the 9th tee.

If you are playing it the for the first time, I really suggest playing Tiger Woods golf on the Playstation and create a player that mimics your game. That way you are not too surprised with what club you should hit. I took notes on my Playstation play, and it worked out perfectly. That way I was not too nervous about the club and was able to enjoy the round alot more.

You will certainly enjoy it. If you get out early, the round goes at a nice pace. The weather is a bit hit and miss, but can still have great days in the mid to upper 60s and we always get a warm windless spell sometime in February. . Once March rolls around the wind can pick up a bit and that cools things off.

Spyglass is a must play if you get a chance.

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1295584675' post='2912047']
Stix, did you have a tee time or did you just walk on? What time did you end up playing?
[/quote]


I called the day before and pretty much had my choice of anything after 10 (early morning gets booked up quick). We were staying in SF, so we needed the time to drive down anyway. My spot was at 11:10 but got out closer to noon as we were running late with the awful SF traffic (which they couldn't have been cooler about; very accommodating). They won't let you make a tee time earlier than 24 hours unless you're staying at the resort.

Walk and take a caddie if you can afford it. Makes the round much more enjoyable. First time I went I took a cart and laughed to myself that I was walking further (carts are always on the paths) than the walkers were. Second time i played I ponied up for a caddie and he helped me make many more putts. The greens can be a the biggest issue for a novice to PB. Take the pics and savor the opportunity to play one of America's treasures. Here's a couple from my first round.

[attachment=715862:DSCF0008.JPG]
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Ditto on the caddie. Get one.

Still cold in the Bay Area. Its trying to warm up but still some possibilities of rain. As far as Pebble goes, save your money on the caddie - 1) its expensive and 2) they expect a big tip and if you don't tip them everyone complains. Put your money towards playing Pebble and Spyglass instead. I would walk also because its cart path only.

Thanks for the tips guys. Seems I should just bring enough clothes to prepare for the worst weather.

I'd probably be there late Feb. after the pro am tournament.

I had no idea the course is always cart path only. I'd love to walk but I'm not sure others in my group would be able to walk the whole time. The caddy service looks nice, but it may be too expensive for the whole group. The caddy service alone without tip is more than what I am used to paying for a round of golf. The course knowledge would be nice, but I will most likely enjoy my round whether I shoot in the 70s or 80s (hopefully not 90s...)

Video games actually helped spark my interest in golf, so I have played Pebble on various games. Got the latest Tiger game, so I will definitely fire up some rounds on that before I make the trip.

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1295584240' post='2912027']
I was also planning a trip until I calculated it would cost no less than $2k for two rounds.

Anyhow, I hear Spyglass is a must play along with Pebble. Temps are fairly mild right now i would say. Mid 60's or so. You also have to tend with the wind normally since its right on the ocean.


Enjoy and take lots of pics.
[/quote]


Couldn't convince your wife to go! That's life.

Sitx,

How much was the round?
I thought you had to have lodging there to be able to get on.

$495 for the round plus $75 caddie fee plus whatever you tip the caddie. The guy in the shop suggested $35-50. Obviously the caddie stuff doesn't apply if you don't use one and I don't know what the cart fee would be.

I believe the cart fee is... you guessed it....$75. One advantage to living in NorCal is being a member of the Northern CA Golf Assoc allows you to use some discounts to play Pebble, Spyglass, etc. They have a "special" now that is $395 including cart thru early Feb. But they have had these specials since the downturn and repeat them often, sometimes nearly every month of the year. Might want to join the NCGA just for those discounts, especially if you are playing multiple rounds while you are there. Their website is www.ncga.org.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions, my friend says we will be getting caddies and walking. So that will be settled. I have a couple more questions if you have any knowledge as well.

Family I was staying with will not be available that time, so anybody have suggestions on where to stay in the area?

Also was wondering if we have a foursome walking, if they would charge to have a friend's girlfriend walk along with us?

[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295734491' post='2915644']
Hey everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions, my friend says we will be getting caddies and walking. So that will be settled. I have a couple more questions if you have any knowledge as well.

Family I was staying with will not be available that time, so anybody have suggestions on where to stay in the area?

Also was wondering if we have a foursome walking, if they would charge to have a friend's girlfriend walk along with us?
[/quote]

They were more than happy to let my wife walk with me. They even let her wear jeans.

[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295734491' post='2915644']
Hey everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions, my friend says we will be getting caddies and walking. So that will be settled. I have a couple more questions if you have any knowledge as well.

Family I was staying with will not be available that time, so anybody have suggestions on where to stay in the area?

Also was wondering if we have a foursome walking, if they would charge to have a friend's girlfriend walk along with us?
[/quote]


Enjoy your time as even though it's expensive, everyone should play Pebble once in their life. The pace of play will be glacial so take a camera with a big memory card. As for caddies, find out if they will be carrying double. If they are, you're really only paying for a bog toter, not someone who is giving individual advice. Always, always, always, on the first tee, tell, not negotiate what you consider to be the minimum requirements of a caddy for the flat rate. A tip is just that, a tip. By definition, a tip is earned by going above and beyond the expected level of service as defined by the customer not the caddy. If you don't define the service, then it will be defined for you.

Try to play Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Pasatiempo if time allows.

[quote name='birdieboy52' timestamp='1295738963' post='2915743']
[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295734491' post='2915644']
Hey everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions, my friend says we will be getting caddies and walking. So that will be settled. I have a couple more questions if you have any knowledge as well.

Family I was staying with will not be available that time, so anybody have suggestions on where to stay in the area?

Also was wondering if we have a foursome walking, if they would charge to have a friend's girlfriend walk along with us?
[/quote]


Enjoy your time as even though it's expensive, everyone should play Pebble once in their life. The pace of play will be glacial so take a camera with a big memory card. As for caddies, find out if they will be carrying double. If they are, you're really only paying for a bog toter, not someone who is giving individual advice. Always, always, always, on the first tee, tell, not negotiate what you consider to be the minimum requirements of a caddy for the flat rate. A tip is just that, a tip. By definition, a tip is earned by going above and beyond the expected level of service as defined by the customer not the caddy. If you don't define the service, then it will be defined for you.

Try to play Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Pasatiempo if time allows.
[/quote]

Interesting, I did notice they mention double caddie on the website. But since the double caddie fee is $150 compared to $75 for my own caddie I'd much rather have one to myself. Do I have to make sure to reserve a single caddie for each person in the group? Do they have caddies carry double just because they are out of caddies for the day?

Thanks for the advice

[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295748367' post='2916089']
[quote name='birdieboy52' timestamp='1295738963' post='2915743']
[quote name='bvmagic' timestamp='1295734491' post='2915644']
Hey everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions, my friend says we will be getting caddies and walking. So that will be settled. I have a couple more questions if you have any knowledge as well.

Family I was staying with will not be available that time, so anybody have suggestions on where to stay in the area?

Also was wondering if we have a foursome walking, if they would charge to have a friend's girlfriend walk along with us?
[/quote]


Enjoy your time as even though it's expensive, everyone should play Pebble once in their life. The pace of play will be glacial so take a camera with a big memory card. As for caddies, find out if they will be carrying double. If they are, you're really only paying for a bog toter, not someone who is giving individual advice. Always, always, always, on the first tee, tell, not negotiate what you consider to be the minimum requirements of a caddy for the flat rate. A tip is just that, a tip. By definition, a tip is earned by going above and beyond the expected level of service as defined by the customer not the caddy. If you don't define the service, then it will be defined for you.

Try to play Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and Pasatiempo if time allows.
[/quote]

Interesting, I did notice they mention double caddie on the website. But since the double caddie fee is $150 compared to $75 for my own caddie I'd much rather have one to myself. Do I have to make sure to reserve a single caddie for each person in the group? Do they have caddies carry double just because they are out of caddies for the day?

Thanks for the advice
[/quote]


I've not played PB in quite a few years but if they are like most high end public courses they'll default to caddies carrying double, primarily IMO because they do not care about the desire of the person paying the bill. You'll need to request one bag per caddy. Expect to get some grief with that request also, so just be adamant in your demand.

Not the case when I've played there. Staff across the board was courteous, professional and friendly. Had one caddie on my bag and even requested him a few other times at Spyglass and PB. Only time I did not get him was once when he had committed to a person at the other course at the same time. Never had an issue with pace of play either.

[quote name='golfnut5438' timestamp='1295763254' post='2916948']
Not the case when I've played there. Staff across the board was courteous, professional and friendly. Had one caddie on my bag and even requested him a few other times at Spyglass and PB. Only time I did not get him was once when he had committed to a person at the other course at the same time. Never had an issue with pace of play either.
[/quote]

From th9e PB website and the very reason I suggested the original poster requeste one caddy / player: "Each caddie usually carries 2 bags; however single bags will be carried should your group have an odd number of guests wanting to walk"

That said, the OP should beg and plead to get Casey, just to hear the stories he can tell for the five hour round, if asked.

I had a caddie at Spyglass and it really improved the experience. The course has some tricks to it, especially on the approach shots and a caddy helped a lot. When it came to putting, the caddie I had surely helped me drop some hard to read putts including one bomb for a birdie. The caddie would also run up and spot drives (forecaddie?) on the holes where an off-line drive might get you in trouble. Walking WITHOUT a bag just made the experience so much nicer, too. The course is beautiful and to just stroll around and every now and then swing a club was close to heaven.

As for Spyglass, you should check to see if there's anyone around the forum who is a Duke's club member who might want to jump in and play with you guys. That membership drops the green fees from $395 down to $185 (or something like that) for EVERYONE in the foursome.

I played Pebble once, the weather sucked (cold, fog, drizzle), as mentioned the marshals were constantly pestering us while being insincerely polite even though we were keeping perfect pace, and I generally had a lousy time. Would I do it again? HECK YES! I'll pick better weather and tune out the distractions. The course is fantastic.

Hi guys,

Well my once in a lifetime trip has been complete! I can die a happy man now. Thanks for the suggestions for caddies, it was definitely worth it. Those greens were playing tricks on my mind! We also played Spyglass Hill as well, another great course. The weather was fantastic and couldn't have been much better. Both courses were in great shape, although the greens at Spyglass still had some sand on them. That probably helped me out because it slowed some of the faster putts down. The customer service at Spyglass was top notch, the ranger stopped by twice during our round to thank us for playing and made sure everything was going alright. The pace of play at Pebble was about 5 hours and we didn't have any rangers pressuring us to speed up at all. I was so busy taking pictures that sometimes I didn't really prepare for my shot properly. Oh well, once I was there I was so excited I didn't think about my swing at all. Here are some pics. Thanks for the help!

[attachment=738748:golfwrx 3.jpg]
[attachment=738743:golfwrx 1.jpg]
[attachment=738746:golfwrx 2.jpg]
[attachment=738749:golfwrx 4.jpg]
[attachment=738744:golfwrx 1 (1).jpg]
[attachment=738747:golfwrx 3 (1).jpg]

Headed out to SF for a charity golf tournament and will try to get a 24-hour advance teetime for this Wed, then request Casey for single bag caddy, thanks to all the tips here from you lucky B*stards who have been to Pebble Beach multiple times.

Anyone with a membership to Dukes who wants to join us (as well as save us some money ), all the food and drinks you can stuff down will be on us. It's just me and another golf buddy that's gonna try to play PB on Wed July 27th, 2011. One caveat, if the weather forecast for Wed is not good, we may not play PB and opt for Spyglass instead.

Wish us luck.

[quote name='mauiatheart' timestamp='1295584994' post='2912056']
They really push you to keep up with the group in front, even if you are on their butt. When I played, we were getting off the 8th green and the marshal came up to us to remind us to keep up, and the group was still on the 9th tee.

If you are playing it the for the first time, I really suggest playing Tiger Woods golf on the Playstation and create a player that mimics your game. That way you are not too surprised with what club you should hit. I took notes on my Playstation play, and it worked out perfectly. That way I was not too nervous about the club and was able to enjoy the round alot more.
[/quote]


Ha! thought i was the only one. Planned my round at BP Black using a similar approach on Xbox.

Went to Pebble 2 days ago. So awesome. Will post pics as soon as I edit and resize them. Duke's discount only works on certain occasions, unfortunately not on the day we were there. I ended up paying $900+ for one day of golf, including food, drinks, caddies, tips, gifts, etc. The memories (including the triple bogie on the innocuous 156yd par 3, #5) and photos? Priceless...

I am in the area and looking to play PB the afternoon of Aug 10th (2:20 - 2:40) ideally - or similar times on the 11th. Best practice would be to call early that Monday morning? Any Duke's member available?

[quote name='ninothing' timestamp='1312202623' post='3441308']
Best practice would be to call early that Monday morning? Any Duke's member available?
[/quote]

Regretfully, Duke's discount doesn't work except for a few specific times during the year. You can call them directly to verify if you would like, I was just there last week with someone who has Dukes membership.

I called for teetime the morning before the day I wanted to play and they had lots of times available. One thing to remember is to get there early b/c the driving range requires a shuttle bus, 3 min ride away. Hope that helps.