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!

Played Mon 10/17, 12:10 tee time; walked with caddy in 5:15. Beautiful day. Aside from the seagull excrement smell on holes 2-5, perfect day. Course in typical great shape. Greens running about a... Continue »

Played Mon 10/17, 12:10 tee time; walked with caddy in 5:15. Beautiful day. Aside from the seagull excrement smell on holes 2-5, perfect day. Course in typical great shape. Greens running about an 11. Nothing more to be said. Always feel blessed to be playing here when I get to.

Monterey Golf Trip: 10/6 to 10/8 Day #2 - Course #3 - Spyglass Hill The highlight of our trip was to play this course. After a full on steak lunch and bottle of wine at The Tap Room, we had a 1:50 ... Continue »

Monterey Golf Trip: 10/6 to 10/8 Day #2 - Course #3 - Spyglass Hill The highlight of our trip was to play this course. After a full on steak lunch and bottle of wine at The Tap Room, we had a 1:50 pm tee time at Spyglass Hills. We warmed up at their range and spent tons of money in their pro shop. Green fees, plus caddie fee plus caddie tip made this round $$$$. Again, we were concerned about finishing as others have warned us about POP at 5 plus hours because how hard the course was. We finished in 4:40, which is amazing. It helps that two of the guys in our group had rounds of their lives. Course was properly named #10 on Golf Digest Best 100 Public Courses. A lot of history on each hole as it relates to the Robert Stevenson's Treasure Island book. We splurged and had single bag caddies. I recommend single bag caddies every time you can. You pay and tip more, but you get the true personal caddie experience. My guy Dalton was excellent with his green reads, course management and gave me plenty of cool historical tidbits. Again, given this course is cart path only, there was tons of unfilled fairway divots with a later afternoon tee time. Greens were diabolical. It felt like all the long par 4 were uphill and all the short par 3's were downhill. Either way, a true test of all your clubs. Sand traps were well maintained. Layout was incredible and the shot value was incredible. Definitely in my Top 10 played courses of all time.

With the game on track lately, I wanted track to put me to the test. Spyglass Hill fits the bill in all faucets. For a true poetic description of Spyglass, read Roarksown1 review from when we pla... Continue »

With the game on track lately, I wanted track to put me to the test. Spyglass Hill fits the bill in all faucets. For a true poetic description of Spyglass, read Roarksown1 review from when we played a couple of months ago. For the nuts and bolts of the place regarding the conditions after aeration, here you go. We played on Tuesday with a 10AM tee time. First off the greens. They are 98% healed. Only a very very slight hint of aeration on one of the greens. The greens rolled silky smooth at a fast make that very fast pace. For performance, the greens got a 9.5 and for aesthetics they got a 9. Greens were a tad on the firm side making pitch shots difficult to control but everything else was good to go. A couple of the greens still had a slight tan tint mixed in with the beautiful green coloring, but nothing that affected putts. Basically its only because I’ve played here enough when the greens were in even better condition, that they didn’t receive a 10 rating. Fairways were a solid 9 from #1 all the way to the end. Again the only reason is they didn’t score higher is I’ve seen them at even a darker emerald green color. Still, a joy to hit from. Rough was manageable, very lush and thick but shorter in length and predictable. Tee boxes and sand traps were also top notch. Nothing to nit pick there. The layout is just so much fun you almost forget how tough this track can be. We had heavy fog or light rain for the first two holes then sunshine and beautiful conditions the rest of the way in. Used one of our go to caddies, Cody. His reads might just be the best in the business. As much as I like our #1 caddie, Mitch for his personality and professionalism, I’d probably take Cody in a tournament for his spot on reads. I have no idea what the POP was. Bob and I were just enjoying the day, the course, the friendship and watching the joy on the faces of our two playing partners from New York who were experiencing the course for the first time. Prices went up in April but it’s still worth it to experience this place. Just read Rob’s review if you don’t believe me. And I'm happy to report that my game held up to the challenge. A couple of double bogeys down the stretch prevented me from a personal best here. But anytime I walk away from this track with 8 pars and finishing with the same ball I started with, I'm happy.

I'm in love. Plain and simple. Spyglass absolutely blew every expectation away and more. It may very well be now replacing Bighorn as my favorite course ever. It's simply that amazing. That pure. That... Continue »

I'm in love. Plain and simple. Spyglass absolutely blew every expectation away and more. It may very well be now replacing Bighorn as my favorite course ever. It's simply that amazing. That pure. That fun. That challenging. That memorable. It's the most compelling golf experience over 18 holes that I've so far ever played. For starters, it's simple. There's no massive clubhouse. There's no daunting procedures to get going. It's just pure and basic, from the humble parking lot to the small basket of balls you grab to walk right over to the small but scenic driving range just adjacent to the first tee. It's so charmingly basic and unpretentious. Don't believe me? Ask all the deer casually ball watching on every hole. They're magnificently calming. When you get to the first tee (Alex and I played the whites for our GK Cup match), it's mind blowing how gorgeous it looks from that elevated perch. The cypress trees line the lush green fairway perimeters and invite you into the round's warm embrace. You turn the corner and stare down the blue waters of the Pacific and try hard to remember you're there to play golf and not just gawk. This continues more or less for the next 17 holes in varying degrees of awe. There aren't as many ocean holes at Spyglass as there are at Spanish Bay, but each hole here is memorable and beautiful with a unique charm all its own. The first five holes are dotted greens and fairways amongst the rolling, seaside dunes before heading inland and being absolutely blown away by the perfection laid out in front of you. Take note of the ridiculously awesome 'bacon strip' green on the 4th hole! Want memorable? The par 3 12th hole may be the most gorgeous par 3 I've ever played and just missed making par. The tee shot on 16 is magically daunting but incredibly rewarding. Funny enough, the most 'basic' hole is probably the 18th. Conditions? Seriously? You don't have to ask. Just imagine everything about a course you play in its best possible shape and you'll have Spyglass. To be fair though, and the only complaint is one of scheduling more than anything else, but there were a few popular landing areas (2nd and 14th holes come to mind) that were roped off as GUR ahead of a PGA tournament here in two weeks. Perfectly understandable but a good amount of damage and divots in those areas for good reason. But other than that, just spectacular in every sense. The greens are also not as tricky as they were at Spanish Bay, but no less difficult. I just loved every aspect of this place. Staff were all very friendly and attentive, and we also had cart service numerous times throughout the perfect January Sunday, as one would expect from a course of this stature. It was just amazing - not many other superlatives to describe it. I would go back and play this course every day if I could, and I never say that about any other one. It's absolutely challenging as all get out, but totally fair and will reward good shots. Nothing gimmicky. Nothing wasted. Alex did me a super solid getting this all together and an incredible rate to play this gem to boot. I smiled from ear to ear the entire five hour drive home last night. And I'm doing the same thinking about the next time. Never, ever miss an opportunity to play here. It's a life changer.

Played Spyglass Hill yesterday with an 8:30 AM tee time. Course is in fantastic condition! I called up one of our go to caddies (Mitch) and being that our other usual caddies were tied up, Mitch ca... Continue »

Played Spyglass Hill yesterday with an 8:30 AM tee time. Course is in fantastic condition! I called up one of our go to caddies (Mitch) and being that our other usual caddies were tied up, Mitch called upon one of his good friends (Tony) to be the second caddie. Turns out Tony was a freshman at my high school when I was a Senior so that was cool. Mitch is the ultimate caddie in that his reads on the greens are spot on and he used to be a club pro and instructor so he doesn’t just give you a yardage to the flag he’ll give shot/club recommendations based on your game. He also has a great personality and makes the walk fun even during the bad shots.

As far as the course goes, I can’t find a reason not to give it a 10 tee to green. The course showed no signs of last weeks rain. Greens were smooth and rolling fast as they should be on a track like this. Greens were soft and easily held well struck approach shots. Fairways were spectacular, even better than the fairways at Pebble Beach a couple weeks ago. I was in two bunkers and they were excellent as were the tee boxes, even the 102 yard par 3, 15th tee box was in phenomenal shape.

Weather was gorgeous, no wind all day and the sun was out for about 14 of the 18 holes with just a high cloud cover the other 4 holes. POP moved along nicely, finishing in just under 4.5 hours.

As mentioned before, The Glass has an awesome layout with a handful of holes right on the ocean (views of the ocean from another half dozen), plenty of elevation changes (hence the name Hill) and a few water hazards thrown in the mix as well.

Highly, highly recommended.

Seeing MichaelKo’s recent post made me eager to get out to the Glass. Went out and played Spyglass Hill this morning with a slightly earlier tee time (8:30) than normal. Course is in excellent shape... Continue »

Seeing MichaelKo’s recent post made me eager to get out to the Glass. Went out and played Spyglass Hill this morning with a slightly earlier tee time (8:30) than normal. Course is in excellent shape as expected. Fairways were a perfect ten. Just slightly better than Ridge Creek which I played again yesterday. Greens had been recently punched with the tiny holes and light sanding. Didn’t greens still rolled smooth at a very fast pace. They said they were rolling at an 11 but they had to be closer to a 13. The tiny holes didn’t affect putts at all.

Tee boxes are always spectacular at The Glass and overall are probably the best in the business on a continuous basis.

Sand traps were disappointing. I was in SEVERAL bunkers and there were a handful that were damp with compact sand. Not the worst thing but not what you would expect from a track like this.

Rough…. OMG was it brutal!! Only about 3” thick but like Velcro. Very penal.
POP was right at 4-4 ¼ hours. We waited early on the twosome in front of us then their caddie got them moving along at a nice pace. We never saw the group behind us after the second hole when we were waiting on the third tee box.

COVID – back to normal. Cups at normal depth, rakes in the bunkers, caddies available and beverage cart out and about.

Spyglass Hill is a great walk (CPO if you take a cart) and always recommended.