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Golf Course Review Poppy Hills Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Poppy Hills Golf Course

Golf Course Review Poppy Hills Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: dethman, irvine
Played here during a visit to the Monterey Peninsula. Course was in great shape, but some of the Covid precautions were questionable.

Golf Playing Conditions 8.99 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.99 GREAT

The golf shop is not open, so everyone is checking in in the back of the clubhouse. The same people checking you in are helping people ‘shop’ and bringing stuff like clothes out from the inside so people can see and decide whether to buy. So I stood in line for about 20 minutes waiting to check in when there were only 3 people in line.

Next, neither a golf cart nor range balls are included with their $250 rack rate. (not that I paid that, but still). Personally it seemed to be nickel and diming people a bit. I was walking anyway.

Also, a foursome checked in in front of me, and they all wanted to ride, but the course would only allow 2 people to ride in 2 carts, the other 2 had to walk. They were older golfers who just wanted to ride and willing to pay. There were a LOT of carts sitting around. I don’t get that.

Anyway once I got to the first tee things were fine. Great conditions all around, with almost perfectly maintained tee boxes and fairways, with tricky, somewhat slowish greens.

I don’t recall being in any green-side bunkers but they looked fine. A lot of side-hill fairway lies if you don’t know where to hit it. A very nice walk with a push cart through the Del Monte forest and sightseeing through the Monterey pines. Pretty decent pace of play at 4 hours with a noon tee time. Enjoyed it.

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Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Spanish Bay Golf Links

Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

ALERT: Aeration
Will be aerating the greens 4/5 & 4/6.
* Although Greenskeeper.org researches all alerts before posting, we ask that you please contact the golf course for confirmation.

Reviewed by: sbarajasjr, San Diego

Golf Playing Conditions 8.98 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.98 GREAT

Played here yesterday (3/15) as the venue for my GK Cup match with Alex R. on what turned out to be a wonderful day after some severe downpours the night before and right until tee off time. My first time playing ANY Pebble Beach Company property and as you would expect, the place is golf heaven. Even with the course getting nearly 2″ of rain in 24 hours, it drained exceptionally well and was very playable sans a couple of areas of naturally sunken land that collected water, but who cares when it’s Spanish Bay. Alex’s review touches on all the important things, so I will offer a first-timers perspective.

Tee boxes: All things considered, outside the first tee box, all others were level and because of the rain, easy to drive the tee into the turf.

Fairways: Amazing to see how well conditioned they were. Rarely a bad lie (if any) and the run offered on drive was more than fair on a rainy day.

Rough: Tough and the ESA/waste areas were punishing. This course put a premium on accurate drives.

Sand: Bunkers were understandably wet and even so, I still had two sand saves today. Nice white sand in every bunker.

Greens: Amazing. I could seriously stop there but they were so beautiful and pure, some of the best ever (even if they were wet).

ETC: No carts today as course is CPO. Twosome we played with had a forecaddie and he was friendly, even if a bit loud at times. Everything about the course is class and staff was very friendly from start to finish. An amazing outing.

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Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Spanish Bay Golf Links

Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

Golf Playing Conditions 9.06 IMMACULATE
Golf Playing Conditions 9.06 IMMACULATE

For my first outing of 2020 at Spanish Bay the course did not disappoint. The views are always spectacular here and the swell was up making the waves in the background even more impressive. With ocean views on 17 of the holes the scenery is never dull at Spanish Bay. Add in the half dozen holes right on the water and it makes for a fabulous outing.

Course conditions were top notch. Tee boxes and fairways were just short of a perfect 10. The only thing holding the fairways back from a perfect rating were a few damp spots. They were small and really not in play but while walking in the fairway I noticed a couple areas throughout the day that were damp. Other than that the fairways were a dark emerald green and lush. They were an absolute joy to hit off of.

Greens were smooth as silk with very few pitch marks noticeable. Greens have some severe undulations so getting a ball to hold can be tricky at times. They rolled at a medium fast pace.

Sand traps were also very nice. They have pure white fluffy sand. I did land in one that was a little damp. Given it rained the previous night, it’s understandable.

The one ding on the course was the skirt area to the side and behind the greens. The “rough” in these areas was only about 1” deep but patchy at times. I struggled on a few holes getting clean contact with my ball just off the green.

Other than the course is in excellent condition. Of course the restaurant/bar overlooking the course and the ocean is also well worth stopping at afterwards.

As a reminder, there isn’t a range at Spanish Bay but you can go up the road and use the range at Spyglass Hill or Pebble Beach. Spanish does have a large practice putting green with some undulations on it to get you prepared for the greens out on the course. Also, for those taking a cart, it’s cart path only.

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Golf Course Review Spyglass Hill Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Spyglass Hill Golf Course

Golf Course Review Spyglass Hill Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

Golf Playing Conditions 9.00 IMMACULATE
Golf Playing Conditions 9.00 IMMACULATE

Played Spyglass Hill on Thursday with the rest of the gang. We had some weather to deal with but other than about a 20 minute period where the rain really came down along with high winds, it wasn’t too bad. I have to say how well the course held up to the rain. No standing water on the greens (in fact they were even watering the greens) and the fairways were excellent. Yes it was lift, clean and place, but the fairways were still a joy to hit from.

Greens were nice as well. As the others mentioned there was a very light top dressing on them but it didn’t really affect the putts. They still rolled smooth at a medium pace. Tee boxes were excellent and the sand traps were as good as you could expect in these conditions.

Other than that 15-20 minute period of high wind and heavy rain, it wasn’t all that bad. JohnnyGK had a 15 footer for eagle, I had 6 pars (2 birdie putts lipped out), Deepsea14 had his usual barrage of 1 putts (with his share of pars as well) and of course RGM2525 was down the middle all day long giving our fore-caddie a reprieve from his side job as a search and rescue member! And speaking of our fore-caddie, Cody is one of our regular caddies and he earned his stripes Thursday. How he kept track of so many stray balls is beyond me! Especially when we routinely had at least one ball on each side of the fairway.

The Glass is still one of my all time favorite tracks and I have to agree with JohnnyGK. It’s my second favorite course behind Pebble Beach. It was so awesome to play them back to back with RGM2525 and JohnnyGk.

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Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Spanish Bay Golf Links

Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: socalherd, Torrance, CA

Played Spanish Bay today with a great friend from West Virginia. A little bit wind-burned at the end of the day, but we enjoyed this challenging layout.

The Review

Golf Playing Conditions 8.58 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.58 GREAT

The course was in excellent condition with the exception being the sand in several of the bunkers that we visited was quite thin. For the price, this really isn’t okay – but we’ll overlook it since our games are more flawed than the golf course.

We played from the white tees, so the course wasn’t extraordinarily long, but remained plenty challenging.

The rough was pretty deep and the ball really sat down. You can not be on the wrong side of the greens on this golf course or your score card is going to look like an SAT score. Putting greens were in really good shape (as they should be) and VERY difficult. There are 3-putts looming on every hole if you are in the wrong spot.

We were paired up with another golfer that had paid for a caddie. This was the first time I have ever played a round where anyone had a professional caddie, and I must say I think it was a complete waste of the gentleman’s money.

Final Thoughts

The caddie did not really provide the assistance I would expect – other than carrying the golf bag and giving a few pointers. He was terrible at reading the greens, was often not accurate with distances, and generally didn’t seem interested in being there. On top of that, he was not exactly an eloquent conversationalist. My buddy and I had planned on tipping him at the end of the round if he had proven to be a value add in any way. Needless to say, that money got spent in the pro shop instead.

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Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Spanish Bay Golf Links

Golf Course Review Spanish Bay Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca
Played Spanish Bay this morning after a bit of schedule change due to heavy rain the last few days and a tournament at Spyglass today. Off to Spanish I go. Used the range up at Pebble (Spanish Bay doesn’t have it’s own range but you can use either Pebble’s or The Glass). Range was on mats and will be until after the US Open. They do offer choice of TP5’s or Project (a) balls for the range.

The Review

Golf Course Conditions 8.38 GREAT
Golf Course Conditions 8.38 GREAT

On to Spanish Bay on a sunny and delightful morning. Wind free for the first 8-10 holes then a bit of wind on the finishing holes. Tee boxes were excellent. An easy 9+ and that includes the par 3 tees. Fairways were also in great shape ranging between 8-9. I was in two green-side bunkers and both had excellent white semi-fluffy sand. A bit damp from all the recent rain but still excellent to hit out of.

The Greens

After the first semi easy green the rest have severe undulations. They are in the process of doing a light sanding of the greens. We had the front nine clear and they rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. The back nine had already been hit with the sand but still rolled at a medium slow speed. They were in the process of dusting the front greens as we were finishing. It probably won’t take more than a week or two for them to fully recover.

I walked but for May and June they are allowing carts out on the fairways for the first time. Just not this week (due to rain).

Bottom Line

All in all the course is in great shape and worth playing. With all the great views it’s easy to forget about all (4) three putts.

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Golf Course Review Spyglass Hill Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Spyglass Hill Golf Course

Golf Course Review Spyglass Hill Golf Course Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: Alex326, Monterey, Ca

Golf Playing Conditions 9.35 IMMACULATE
Golf Playing Conditions 9.35 IMMACULATE

Played Spyglass this morning while Mickelson and Casey finished up their little match around the corner. Traffic was a zoo inside Pebble but that was my only complaint for the entire day. Weather was absolutely gorgeous with sunny skies and virtually no wind. This is the first time I’ve played The Glass when it hasn’t been cool, damp and foggy.

As mentioned before, Spyglass is all about the golf. Make that about great golf! No fancy hotel or clubhouse. Just great course conditions mixed in with a picturesque setting. Yes the first 5 holes are right on the ocean, but there are plenty of views of the pacific from other holes. Who knew? With the sun out the views of the pacific through the Del Monte Forest are numerous. It was a bit of an offshore breeze so the sound of the waves crashing down below were absent, but still no complaints.

As far as course conditions go. It’s exactly what you would expect from a world class and PGA tour worthy course. Greens were excellent rolling at a medium fast pace. With all the rain, they were super soft easily holding shots. Fairways were lush and surprisingly dry for the most part. They too were soft offering little roll out.

Rough was rough!! very wet, muddy, dense and tall. A two club difference in some cases and a minimum of one extra club in all situations.

Tee boxes and sand traps were also of top notch.

Spyglass has all the ingredients for the making of a top course. Ocean front holes, pristine conditions, elevations changes throughout, 4 water hazards to negotiate on the course and good solid customer service throughout.

A very enjoyable walk and obviously highly recommended.

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Golf Course Review Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Golf Course Review Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach California

Reviewed by: mcantos, lake forest

Golf Playing Conditions 8.84 GREAT
Golf Playing Conditions 8.84 GREAT

Played Pebble on January 13 and was a little concerned about the weather with a chance of rain, but to my delight there was no rain and the weather was beautiful.  That is if you like overcast and 50 degree weather.

My caddie was Jerry Franklin and he was a great guy. From all the reviews that I read about the course they were all spot on. I was paired with 2 other guys from Seattle and their families. At times there were about 10 people with us but everyone was very respectful.

The course was in great shape and you can see workers setting up stands for AT&T. The rough was a little challenging because I was playing a yellow Srixon and it made it difficult to find sometimes. The course is tougher to walk than most people think especially if you’re taking a cart because of the walking back and forth. I was in the bunker on two when Jerry to said hit only 160 because of another bunker/hazard and the sand was pristine. On 7, I had a 60 degree from 95 yards and was in the bunker to the right, I was very fortunate to save par from there.

The greens were fast at times and slower at times and there were more breaks than I realized.

All 18 holes to me were standout and it was enjoyable time that I will never forget. It’s a shame they don’t allow you to play the course without staying there but If you ever get the chance I highly recommend it.