I played Spyglass back with DeapSea14 on what was another perfect Monterey Peninsula weather day. I’m starting to think that if you want guaranteed good weather, just invite Peter! Anyway, he di... Continue »

I played Spyglass back with DeapSea14 on what was another perfect Monterey Peninsula weather day. I’m starting to think that if you want guaranteed good weather, just invite Peter! Anyway, he did a great job explaining in the conditions. I just thought I’d provide an update after talking to my buddy who’s a caddie for PB and played with us last week. He said the greens are 100% healed from the aeration and are rolling great. The fairways are still showing signs of maintenance but they aren’t too bad. Just some brown showing in a few places from the fill sand that was applied.

Played on Wednesday in company of a couple veteran loopers and Alex326.
The course is coming out of aeration (3/31) and the fairways had been plugged and filled also. The price adjustment made it pl... Continue »

Played on Wednesday in company of a couple veteran loopers and Alex326.
The course is coming out of aeration (3/31) and the fairways had been plugged and filled also. The price adjustment made it playable for my level and the weather was another Monterey winter early spring stunner. Perfect for me high 50's under 10 mph breeze mostly sunny. Educational as well watching good players play well.
Not fair to rate conditions but beats most any other in their best shape. A couple days ago the greens were rated tough to putt. Today good but a few marks so a hop or bump could happen. Tee boxes were punched and sanded also. A bit of rain in the forecast and then sun next week and I'd say it's ready to go again. 100% in 7 days or less.
The staff is very nice and ample range time hitting off mats. Saw beverage cart at the right times and the early hole ocean views did not disappoint.
Not much 19th hole stuff here, but a short drive to Pebble and I was in the prime seat for Calamari and a PB pale ale at the newly renovated re-opened (11/2025) Stillwater bar over looking the infamous 18th. Memorable and recommended.

Played Spyglass Hill on Tuesday afternoon on an overcast but warmish day. Being local and knowing the head pro has its benefits. There had been a shotgun tournament earlier in the day and Patrick ... Continue »

Played Spyglass Hill on Tuesday afternoon on an overcast but warmish day. Being local and knowing the head pro has its benefits. There had been a shotgun tournament earlier in the day and Patrick gave us the option of going off the back nine which was wide up. My buddy and I were joined by a single and the three of us had the entire course to ourselves. By the time we came around the front nine it was cleared out and we finished in about 3 hours. Course is in excellent shape as you would expect. Fairways, tee boxes and sand traps are as close to perfect 10’s as you can get. Rough was thick and penal. I don’t know what it is about the rough at Spyglass but it’s like swinging through Velcro!

Greens were a little on the slow side. My guess is they slowed them down for the earlier outing. My buddy is a caddie at PB/Spy and he said the greens were rolling very fast a few days earlier. The slower (normal speed) greens helped tame the greens.

They are still doing work on the 15th green (short par 3) so that hole is closed. They have now moved the tee boxes Waaay back on 14 and made a temp green just in front of the pond. Then they added a tee box off to the right for a short (120 yard) Par 3 over the pond to the original 14th green which is now the 15th green during the maintenance. They have add some golf carts for walkers to take from the 14/15th green to the 16th tee as it’s now a bit of a hike. You then leave the golf cart off to the side halfway down the 16th fairway so the next group can use them. It’s a nice touch of customer service.

Spyglass is a tough track which is always a pleasure to play.

Played this morning. The purpose of my trip to Monterey was to play PB and Spyglass with friends coming from the East Coast. Was not able to play PB but did join them for Spyglass. It has been many ye... Continue »

Played this morning. The purpose of my trip to Monterey was to play PB and Spyglass with friends coming from the East Coast. Was not able to play PB but did join them for Spyglass. It has been many years since I played here last and having played it many times in the 70's and 80's (yeah I am old OK) and a few times over the years since, I was really glad to get back. Played the first few holes just great but after heading into the woods I became a different player. Funny how that works. But on the back nine the old me showed back up and saved my butt. What can you really say about this course (except what the hell happened to the green fees LOL) other than what many GKers have stated. Tee boxes were just fine. Fairways are in great shape. Heard no complaints from anyone in the bunkers (I missed them all lucky me). I did find the woods a few times but playing here that might be expected. And the greens were in great shape for chipping/putting all round. I think this was most likely a one and done for me and I am extremely happy that I got one more round in at Spyglass to take me further down the path in my golfing life.

Played Wed 6/26, 12:10 tee time, walking 4some, no caddy, leisurely 5 hr round, a little waiting, kept pace most of the round. Course in fabulous shape... except, #6 was a temp green about 60 yds sho... Continue »

Played Wed 6/26, 12:10 tee time, walking 4some, no caddy, leisurely 5 hr round, a little waiting, kept pace most of the round. Course in fabulous shape... except, #6 was a temp green about 60 yds short.. the temp green was better than some munis... they made it sound like they were going to change the hole of the temps for a little while . AND #11 had an irrigation project going in the front of the tee about 60 yds.. so they had us play over them... like a hazard... and they had nets and trucks and hard hats and didn't care we were hitting over them. weird. So other than that, the course is in great shape... Spyglass standards did not disappoint. Greens fast.. running a slow 12 downgrain, fast 10 into the grain. Started chilly, but warmed up quickly. mild wind. Sunny. Had a great time, as always.

Possibly my favorite course ever, and I've played all the big ones. It is so good! Conditions were fantastic. This place gets so much play, as evidenced by old divots, but they really do a great jo... Continue »

Possibly my favorite course ever, and I've played all the big ones. It is so good! Conditions were fantastic. This place gets so much play, as evidenced by old divots, but they really do a great job of keeping it pristine. Pace of play is an issue with the sheer difficulty combined with a lot of "tourist" golf. Played twice this week. First off yesterday and played in 4 hours. I've played before in the afternoon and it was almost 6 hours. Play early! Maybe greatest 1st hole you'll ever see. Spyglass is the best!

Played Wed 12/20, 8:50 tee time, has been raining for a few days now... and since the tee time was made a while ago, and it was on the christmas sale, and i'm driving in 3 hours, and it wasn't windy, ... Continue »

Played Wed 12/20, 8:50 tee time, has been raining for a few days now... and since the tee time was made a while ago, and it was on the christmas sale, and i'm driving in 3 hours, and it wasn't windy, or cold... we decided to tee off in a pretty moderate rain. Because the proshop gave us the option to not play and would give us a gift card for the green fee amount. We took a cart, cart path only... and it ended up only raining 2 first 2 holes, then it came down again on 11, rain gear went back on for 3 holes... The rest of the round was pleasant. Though the sun never came out, all of the layers was too much, and I ended up stripping down on the back 9. And we walked the back 9 as well. Rating is based on a wet course. Some soggy areas in the fairway, so not a lot of roll... Holes I usually lay up off the tee, I hit driver. Greens were soft, and tough to figure out speed wise due to sogginess. But definitely playable. They put out squeegees on every hole, but we didn't need them. Really glad we decided to play. Great rain day.

After the weather canceled two attempts to play here in March and April, we finally got out and played Spyglass yesterday afternoon. As expected the course is in perfect condition tee to green. Af... Continue »

After the weather canceled two attempts to play here in March and April, we finally got out and played Spyglass yesterday afternoon. As expected the course is in perfect condition tee to green. After watching a bit of the Women’s US Open down the road, I headed to the range. To my surprise we were hitting off the grass. This is a rarity at the Spyglass range. Due to the Pebble range being closed off the range was packed. I even ran into a GK’er who was preparing for a tournament at Spanish Bay.

Onto the course, and it played perfectly. Greens were smooth as glass (and rolled at about the same speed). Greens held approach shots well and though at first glance, they look docile, they can be wickedly tough with sneaky big breaks. My go to caddie (Mitch ) was playing with us and even he had trouble with matching up the speed to the break.

Fairways were like carpet. A nice lush emerald green carpet. And none of that factory second junk. There wasn’t a blemish to be found on the entire course. Rough was also lush and consistent throughout. Rough seemed to be a bit more manageable than usual. But not easy by any means.

Tee boxes were level, lush and divot free. Top golf wishes they had hitting mats this good.
If I had to give the course a ding, it would be the sand traps. All were beyond good, just some were a tad thin (nitpicking here). POP was just over 5 hours yet as one of my friend (who was playing it for the first time) said, it went by too fast. At courses like this, you just don’t mind a 5 hour round. We never saw the sun all day, but it wasn’t too cold. About a 1 club wind the majority of the day was all. Expected for an afternoon round here.

An enjoyable (but strenuous) walk with some of the most magnificent golf anywhere. Obviously, highly recommended.

Last round of the year and the “grand finale” of a fun week of golf was at Spyglass Hill. I knew going into the round that conditions would be excellent to perfect after experiencing great conditions... Continue »

Last round of the year and the “grand finale” of a fun week of golf was at Spyglass Hill. I knew going into the round that conditions would be excellent to perfect after experiencing great conditions down the road on Tuesday. The heavy rains of last week along with the beautiful sunshine this weekt has the Pebble Courses all in tip top shape. Spyglass was no exception today. Morning temps were mild (52 degrees) at our 8:40 AM tee time. In fact weather was perfect all day long with hardly a breath of wind during the entire round. The sun came out after a few holes for a typical peninsula 61 degree day. The whales are migrating right now and Tuesday we saw a couple but struck out today. As for the course conditions, superb. Tee boxes were perfectly flat and groomed like an NFL stadium. Easily a 10 for the tee boxes. Fairways were lush and a nice emerald green color throughout. Not a brown or thin spot to be found. The only complaint with the fairways was there were a few damp spot in the morning but nothing huge. Also, as of this week they haven’t roped off the preferred landing areas as GUR in order to keep them clean for the AT&T in about 4 weeks. I imagine that will happen soon. Rough was also wet and sticky. It was easy to get a good lie in the rough, but it was like swinging through Velcro. Very penal but fair. Greens rolled super smooth at a nice fast pace. No un-repaired pitch marks on the greens and if I had a complaint, I’d say they were a tad firm. Well struck shot easily held or spun back but a number of shots would roll out. My guess is they are starting to firm them up for the upcoming tournament. Sand traps were excellent as well. Conditions are exactly what you would expect for this bucket list high end course. All services are still in effect (full carry caddie, club clean, shoe clean etc) and beverage cart was around a few times. SDF and I used Mitch one of my go to caddies and he is the best. Spot on with his reads, ball spots and has an excellent personality. We had a new caddie for our second as my other go to loopers were busy. Mark was old school – keep up, hand up and shut up. It was the first time playing The Glass and having a caddie for my cousins so they were just happy having the “pro” experience of someone carrying their clubs. A perfect day with perfect company on a perfect course was a great way to end the year. Even if the score on the back nine was less than perfect!