Played Pacific Grove on recent trip to Northern California. While of course the back nine is more famous for its holes in the dunes hard by the Pacific Ocean, the front nine has a couple of interestin... Continue »

Played Pacific Grove on recent trip to Northern California. While of course the back nine is more famous for its holes in the dunes hard by the Pacific Ocean, the front nine has a couple of interesting and challenging holes mixed in with some fairly short par fours. The back to back par 5 fifth and sixth holes have a huge grove of cypress trees running between the two holes for almost their entire length and when the afternoon wind is usually blowing in from the ocean the 6th plays very tough. There are a number of deer that inhabit the course and they just seem to ignore the golfers for the most part and meander about as you play the course. But of course the real draw of this course is the back nine where holes 11-16 are true links on the exposed Point Pinos complete with historic lighthouse and natural dunes. The 12th is a shortish par 5 in the dunes just across the small two-lane coastal road hard by the shoreline, holes 13 and 14 provide fairly tight passageways between tees and greens through the dunes and holes 15 and 16 are fairly wide open but with wide but blind landing areas. Often called the Poor Man's Pebble Beach, I would label the dunes holes more accurately the Poor Man's Spanish Bay as the dunes holes more closely rival some of the dunes holes found on that course compared to the cliffside holes at Pebble. Also worth noting is that the restaurant at the Pacific Grove course, the Point Pinos Grill, offers a much better bill of fare than you might expect in such modest surroundings with such items as fruit-filled pancakes and pepper bacon that would be the envy of many restaurants that might label themselves as gourmet breakfast establishments. Given that the green fees for the Pacific Grove course are in the $60 range, it truly is a great alternative to the very expensive Pebble Beach resort courses as either a warmup or a place to play a couple of inexpensive rounds mixed in with a round or two at its more famous neighbors just a couple miles up the road off 17 Mile Drive.