7 Days in Monterey***Post trip with pics***

[pappaf2]

[quote name='Matty T' timestamp='1348983656' post='5721531']
Just got back from Monterey visiting my little brother. We played bayonet and laguna seca, and would recommend both.
[/quote]

I played Laguna Seca with my brother in law yesterday and it was in great shape and a good value. I couldn't believe how empty it was. A note to anyone who is thinking of playing here who isn't familiar with the area, it is inland from the ocean a bit and gets much warmer than the costal golf courses.

[SurfinTurf]

The courses I'd recommend are:
Pebble
Spyglass
Spanish Bay
Bayonet/Blackhorse

Cypress and MPCC are private otherwise they'd both be in my top five for you. I know members at both and particularly like the Shore course.

I would skip Del Monte personally. Also I prefer Rancho Canada to Laguna Seca.

If you play PG, try hard to skip the front nine. Maybe play the back 9 twice then grab a Point Pinos Burger. Best burger you'll ever have!! I eat two a week. Note I live In PG.


Further a field I like Pasatiempo. After that I'd play Cinnabar Hills or HMB. I think Cinnabar is the better course honestly, but if you get excited about checking in to a Ritz Carlton then go for it.

[mctrees02]

Replay rate should definitely be attainable at any of the PB courses as a single. The rates are half off the posted rates so $245 PB, $180 Spyglass, $130 SB. When you check-in at PB in the morning, you can ask about replays that afternoon and they will call the other course to fit you in. If playing PB in the morning, plan for about a 5 hour round + transport time. At a minimum, I would try to get my tee times 6 hours apart.

[CosmosMpower]

Pacific grove was fun, front 9 is a normal small muni, back 9 has some incredible views for the price.

I didn't get to play poppy hils but drove by and it looked incredible.

[poppyhillsguy]

1. Spyglass
2. Pebble
3. Bayonet (golfnow.com)
4. Poppy Hills (good twilight rates for out-of-towners)
5. Pasatiempo
6. BlackHorse (golfnow.com)

Don't worry about the fog. It rolls in, it rolls out, it's unpredictable.

[scotchblade]

[quote name='poppyhillsguy' timestamp='1349455386' post='5754921']
Don't worry about the fog. It rolls in, it rolls out, it's unpredictable.
[/quote]
Rolling in through the gnarled cypress trees and pines, it takes on a life of it's own. Simply beautiful. While the East Bay bakes under blistering sun, I'm happy to be engulfed by the cooling mist covering Lake Merced.

If I ever left San Francisco, the fog would be what I miss the most.

[speeder757]

Of the 2 .... Which is better Bayonet or Black Horse?

[Matty T]

I definitly would say Blackhorse is better

[ateupwithgolf]

11-13-12

Wow! Where do I start?

Have you ever had a dream about something and it ended up being better than you dreamed it? That was my trip to Monterey. I did most of my golf research here, so thank you to all who posted here with tips, especially Surf who kept me in the know about course conditions and great restaurants in the area. I called Pebble Beach Resorts the Friday before I left, told them I'd be in town next week, and they gave me a direct line to call Sunday a.m. to my man Gabriel who got me on Pebble Monday a.m. 9:20am. I actually had choice of 3 times for the day. The only anxious moments was wondering if my clubs were going to be there when I arrived, and thankfully they were.

Monday, November 5th, was a very warm beautiful cloudless sky, and I was thankful I wore shorts. I requested Jay as my caddie from a recommendation from someone on here, and it was a great choice. He was knowledgeable, laid back, and put me at ease. I played with 3 others and we all had caddies which was nice. One guy I played with, Bill, was a trucking mogul from St. Louis, and he told me he'd played Pebble over 40 times!

I didn't hit the ball particularly well that day, but I didn't care one bit. We all played the 6400 yard tees. The only thing I'll remember forever is I eagled #6 after holing out from the front right bunker!!! The greens were quite fast, and I couldn't believe how small some of the greens were. If you lost your approach on #4 for example right, you are down a cliff. It really is distracting to try to play there, because the views are so stunning, I couldn't keep from smiling the whole round. I kept seeing the real picture in my head of the holes and comparing it to Tiger Woods Xbox360, LOL. Pretty accurate btw. I think I played more bunker shots that round than any in my life, but if you are hitting it straight, there are some birdies out there for sure. I'm really glad the weather was perfect and that I took the recommendation to walk with a caddie. Just a great day to soak it all in. Cost wise $495.00 + 80.00 for the caddie + I tipped my caddie 80.00 because he was great and took some pictures for me.

After the round, my wife and I ate at "The Bench" overlooking the 18th fairway. BTW guys, if you send your wife to the Spa at Pebble like I did, her bill will be bigger than your golf, seriously…I didn't want to leave! About 4:30 we drove down 17 mile drive and watched the sunset. Best golfing day ever!

On Wednesday, I played Spyglass hill at 8:20am with a couple from Houston. It was much cooler, the fog had rolled in for part of the round, and it was really neat playing conditions. I was hitting the ball better, and this time I eagled #7. Split the fairway 270 on the drive, had exactly 230 in, and hit a perfect draw 3 wood to 6 feet and sunk it. Shot 81 for the day, and had up and downs on 17 including a sandy on 18. Took one more club for every shot, because the temps were like 58-60degrees, but loved every second of it. Cost wise: $395.00 plus 35.00 for the cart.

Friday, I drove up from Monterey to Santa Cruz to play Pasatiempo. Best decision of the trip! Absolutely loved that golf course. Old school, beautiful holes all with so much character. Julie Inkster grew up playing there, and Alister McKenzie moved there after building Pasatiempo, Cypress Point, and Augusta National. I lucked into playing with 3 members, Maasa, Corona, and Ben. They gave me some great lines off the tee, local knowledge on the greens, etc. I shot 78 from the tips, which are 6800 yards, but as they all told me, played a few hundred longer. The 3rd hole was a par 3 that was 235 yards uphill!! They all hit driver short, and I hit my 3 wood on the front edge like I knew what I was doing and narrowly missed my birdie try. If you guys take the trip out there and don't play this one, you are nuts, do it. The guys also told me they host a NCAA deal every year out there. They said Tiger cried when he 4 jacked the 16th green while at Stanford, they were cracking me up telling it.

Hole 10 is awesome, spans across a ravine, hole 11 even better, split fairway with a bridge, hole 16 probably the most famous and tricked out green, right to left dogleg with a two tiered green. It was just my kind of golf course the way McKenzie used the layout of the land and the undulation of the greens, can't say enough how much I enjoyed it. We played in good partly sunny weather up to hole 17, when it started to sprinkle, by the time we played our approaches, it was starting to really come down. After putting out on 17, they headed in, and I played the 18th by myself, which is a 170 yard par 3 closing hole. Here I am, in a HUGE downpour, but I have my rain gear on, and I'm just up there smiling because I know how cool it is to be playing this golf course, with the week of golf that I've gotten to enjoy, and got to play all these different weather conditions. I hit my approach 15 feet right of the pin and came up short for the bird, but tapped in for par, then joined my group in the bar to replay the round with them. Great day of golf.
Thanks again for all those who posted on here with the suggestions. There’s just so much to do there, we got a lot in, and I was happy to get in 3 rounds. Feel free to ask any questions.



If I can figure out how to resize these pics, I've got some good ones!


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[nfinch10]

Sounds awesome! 78 from the tips at Pasa is no joke. Funnny that you think 11 is a great hole. I really, really , really , really do NOT like that hole.

[oregongolf]

What a trip! The Monterey Peninsula and surrounding area has some amazing golf.

I've played almost course in the area and aside from Cypress, I think that Spy and Pasa are the best of the lot.

[duffer987]

Good to hear you enjoyed your trip
Glad you felt the trip up to Santa Cruz was worth it, although you'd have to not like golf very much to think otherwise, ha.
The first 3 at Pasatiempo make for a great start, one of my favorite opening stretches anywhere.

On 3, I turned over my hybrid too much and ended up in the bunker left above the hole, my shot after that one was from the bunker right, below the hole.
Nice to see your's turned out better

[ateupwithgolf]

[quote name='nfinch10' timestamp='1353367918' post='5955593']
Sounds awesome! 78 from the tips at Pasa is no joke. Funnny that you think 11 is a great hole. I really, really , really , really do NOT like that hole.
[/quote]

On 11, all my short knocker partners pulled driver and hit up pretty close to the bridge, I was hesitant after seeing them, so I decided to hit a cut 3 wood up there in the middle and popped it up about 180 yards into the right rough, which left me like 245 uphill over the ravine to the flag, no real shot. I pulled out my 3 hybrid and aimed left of the green about 20 yards, swung as hard as I could, and hit it perfect where I was aiming. Now I have a 20 yard uphill pitch to a pin on a downslope. One of my partners as I was walking up told me there was a false front but also a backstop behind the hole so hit it long---I nipped a sandwedge perfectly hit near the flag, released about 5 yards up the slope, almost stopped, then trickled all the way back down to the hole for a kick in par! You would have thought I was Philly Mick on that shot.

[nfinch10]

[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1353385783' post='5956933']
Good to hear you enjoyed your trip
Glad you felt the trip up to Santa Cruz was worth it, although you'd have to not like golf very much to think otherwise, ha.
The first 3 at Pasatiempo make for a great start, one of my favorite opening stretches anywhere.

On 3, I turned over my hybrid too much and ended up in the bunker left above the hole, my shot after that one was from the bunker right, below the hole.
Nice to see your's turned out better
[/quote]

I watched a guy in my group pull out a putter from that bunker. I was thinking "WTF?", until he put it about 3 ft from the hole.