As the 2018 US Amateur returns to Pebble Beach, I thought it would be fun to recount the two times I’ve had the pleasure and honor to tee it up at one of the most historic, hallowed, and beautiful golf courses in the world.
Pebble Beach needs no introduction. Perhaps no course outside of the Old Course at St. Andrews or Augusta National hold a more special place in the hearts and minds of golfers worldwide. I know that I’m lucky. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to play Pebble Beach twice and both experiences have been awesome. If you watch golf on TV you’ve likely seen Pebble Beach plenty of times. Between the annual pro-am that is held there each year or the countless number of major tournaments that roll through, most golfers know the holes at Pebble Beach like the back of their hand.
In this post, I’m not going to give a hole by hole rundown but rather share some fun tidbits of knowledge that I picked up that will hopefully enhance your viewing experiences the next time you catch a tournament on TV or get you amped up for your upcoming trip to the Monterrey Peninsula.
The experience at Pebble Beach, like a lot of other great experiences, starts well before you get there and lingers well after you’ve left. The golf course is located inside a private, gated community on 17 Mile Drive. Even if you’re not a golf fan, a drive down 17 Mile Drive is well worth the trip as it is B-E-A-U-tiful. The natural landscape around Pebble Beach perfectly frames your mindset as everything leading into the golf is breathtaking. Additionally, once your inside 17 Mile Drive you drive by a greatest hits list of epic golf course: Cypress Point, Spyglass Hill, Spanish Bay, both courses at Monterrey Peninsula Country Club, and Poppy Hills. You'er totally overwhelmed by golf and natural beauty from the moment you arrive.
If you’re playing a round at Pebble, here’s my insider tips to make sure you get the most out of your experience, don’t feel rushed, and take in as much as possible. First, take a moment and allow your heartbeat to come down to a normal rate after the visual stimulation of simply driving to the course! Nobody wants to see you die of a heart-attack by rushing out the first tee. Second, get there at minimum two hours early as you’ll want some time to look at the pro shop, the locker rooms (pro tip: check out the locker room as they’ve got some cool lockers for legends of the game), and get warmed up. Note that the driving range at Pebble Beach is a world-class practice facility but it’s not located right near the course. Its located at least a half mile or so down the road and you need to take a Pebble Beach manned shuttle to get there. Give yourself plenty of time as the shuttles only run every 15 minutes or so.
As for the course, whether you’re playing or watching the next event on TV, here are some of the highlights that stick out in my mind:
- The tips are a mere 6,828 yards. By modern standards that is not long but be warned, its the longest 6,828 yards in golf. For those of you not familiar with coastal golf in the Northern California, the air is often heavy with a sea breeze that suppresses the flight of the ball and due to the moisture in the air, the ground is often soft, which is great for hitting your irons off the turf but is not so favorable for getting roll on your tee shots. Additionally, the greens at Pebble Beach are tiny. You may wonder why I’m pointing out green size in relation to the distance that the course plays and that’s fair. But Pebble Beach puts an enormous amount of pressure on you with each approach shot forcing extreme accuracy. So in essence, your normal 8-iron doesn’t feel quite as easy at Pebble Beach. This pressure really begins to add up over the round and begins to wear on your nerves. You want longer, accurate drives and so the vicious but wonderful cycle begins.
- The course has some seriously unique holes and none of the holes feel the same. It offers a great adventure to golfers of all skill levels.
- The 7th hole, the famous 100 yard par 3, is as fun and terrifying as you hope it will be. Depending on the wind, you can range from a mid-to-long iron into a howling wind or chip a sand wedge.
- The 18th hole is one of the coolest finishing holes I’ve ever seen. The hole is routed alongside the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean, has a lone tree nestled right in the middle of the fairway and has an extremely undulated sloping green.
- Beware the ides of march, I mean seagulls! There’s a halfway house with some delicious treats (hot dogs and the normal fare) after the turn but be careful. The seagulls that hangout at Pebble Beach aren’t your average seagulls. These dudes are trained thieves. I’ve seen them dive into a golf cart, eat a hot dog, and open a bag of chips with their beaks and scarf down the chips in under a minute. Needless to say, the 10th tee shot is hard enough when you’re not having to worry about Sammy Seagull and his gang of hooligan thugs robbing you blind.
Alright, enough of me ranting and raving. Let’s get to some eye candy!
Grades (where 1 is significantly below average and 5 is significantly above)
Scenery: 5 stars
Design: 5 stars
Condition: 5 stars
History: 5 stars
Practice Facilities: 5 stars
Experience: 5 stars
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how I think about course ratings.
Pebble Beach is a bit of a rite of passage for any golfer who really loves the sport. The number of historic events alone that have been and will be held at this venue make it an incredibly humbling and exciting experience. Then you throw in the over the top scenic beauty of the surroundings and you have the recipe for a pretty epic experience. If I had to knock Pebble Beach it would be in the value department. The last time we went resulted in me putting a reverse mortgage on my house to pay for the trip. To be fair to Pebble Beach, I live in a double wide trailer that’s not all that valuable. ;) As long as you can swallow the price tag, be sure to check Pebble Beach off of your bucket list and enjoy the entire experience!
