With the weather being so nice this week, I had to sneak in another round as Sunday was so warm we were seeking shade while waiting between shots. Last week Spyglass was fairly quiet so I figured ... Continue »

With the weather being so nice this week, I had to sneak in another round as Sunday was so warm we were seeking shade while waiting between shots. Last week Spyglass was fairly quiet so I figured Spanish Bay would be the same mid week after the holiday weekend. When I booked the tee time it was a wide open tee sheet but come game day, everyone decided to play hooky and take advantage of the nice weather and great course conditions.

If you plan on playing Spanish Bay, get out and do so quick. The course is currently in super condition but it won’t last long unless we get some rain (a lot of rain) soon. In talking to the staff, they are already starting to hand water at Spanish Bay. Come summer, they will pull water from Spanish to use at the other sister courses.

I’ve seen it before where the fairways get brown and dry here during the summer. I would expect that to be the case this year. On top of no rain, the hotel is closed so they are getting any reclaimed water from there. It’s going to be bad.

But… on the bright side, the course is in excellent condition right now. Greens rolled super smooth at a nice fast but comfortable pace. As mentioned before, the greens at Spanish Bay are very challenging with several undulations. There was a good mixture tough pin locations and favorable ones.

Fairways were very nice. They are starting to show slight signs of being thin, but for now they are emerald green and present a nice hitting surface.

Sand traps were the “weak” link of the course. Bunkers were still above average in quality of sand but a couple were a bit thin. Still easy enough to escape from but not the over the top fluffy white sand the Pebble courses are known for.

We were in the second group off the tee but started to fall a bit behind so after the 6th hole I took off as a single (walking) and quickly made my way through the twosome in front of me and then had clear sailing the last 11 holes. I finished right at 3 hrs.

Right now, Spanish Bay is highly recommended. Come summer time, for the rack rate….?? Probably not.

Tee'd off yesterday morning as the first group out at 7:30 AM on a clear but chilly morning due do a steady 15 mph wind. This is a quick update on the new Covid protocols more than on conditions as c... Continue »

Tee'd off yesterday morning as the first group out at 7:30 AM on a clear but chilly morning due do a steady 15 mph wind. This is a quick update on the new Covid protocols more than on conditions as conditions remain in top condition as they were in October and November. The only change regarding condition is the 50 yards of brown area between the tee and initial fairway have already started to come back green and lush with the little bit of rain that we've had. I did notice that there were a few areas of rough that had some thin spots. Other than that the course remains in top 9-10 conditon throughout.

As for the new Covid protocols: Payment must be made through central reservations prior to tee off. All restaurants are closed, Even for outdoor dining. No beverage cart allowed out so take your own supplies. Pro-shop is open for shopping. Naturally, masks are required inside and they have a supply available in case you forget one.

I know I get the personal/local service because the head pro knows me but all staff at Spanish Bay are super friendly to everyone.

Obviously, Spanish Bay is a highly recommended course.

Some updates for Spanish Bay. Course conditions remain in excellent condition as mentioned before. They are now allowing carts out on some of the fairways. From now until the first rain (forecas... Continue »

Some updates for Spanish Bay. Course conditions remain in excellent condition as mentioned before. They are now allowing carts out on some of the fairways. From now until the first rain (forecast is for some rain in a couple of weeks) they are allowing carts out on about half of the fairways. 90 degree rule in effect.

Caddies: Caddies/forecaddies still aren’t allowed to carry or touch your clubs. In fact the caddies can’t even clean you ball on the putting green. Basically all they can do is spot your drives (very helpful at Spyglass Hill) and read your putts. Looks like this will be in place until the at least the first of the year unless something drastically changes with COVID in the next couple weeks.

Front entry doors at Spanish are closed up and entry has to be made by walking around the back.

Putting green is open with no flags in. Drink cart was out and about making several rounds throughout the day. Credit card only on the drink cart. They have sanitized pens for signing the receipt that once you use them get placed into a “dirty” box until re-sanitized. Masks are required indoors. No rakes in the bunkers but the couple I were in were perfectly smooth. We teed off at 9:30 so there were a number of groups out in front of us. Either they had someone going around and raking bunkers or I just found some that no one else had visited yet.

Monterey County is still outdoor dining only. Luckily, several of the restaurants at Pebble Beach (including Roy’s) have patio dining options.

Played on Tuesday October 27 and all I can say is that the course is immaculate. The weather today was a perfect 72 with light winds, just enough to make you think about club selection. I love this co... Continue »

Played on Tuesday October 27 and all I can say is that the course is immaculate. The weather today was a perfect 72 with light winds, just enough to make you think about club selection. I love this course and it doesn't get the props it should.
Tees - in great shape and the grass has come in from recent punching.
Fairways - in great shape in fact nearly perfect. There has been turf reduction at the beginning of the fairway, and could come into play for shorter hitters like me.
Rough - nice and lush and does effect how the ball comes out. Almost guaranteed to add at least a stroke.
Bunkers - wasnt in any greenside bunkers but it looked nice and fluffy as you can see some foot prints because of covid rules.
Greens - Did not disappoint. In perfect shape, but did get a little bumpy in the late afternoon. Somebody must have made the greenskeeper mad because some of the pin locations were nasty. These greens are very undulating and can mess with you head. They did not break as much as they looked and the guys I played with were missing putts by fraction of a inch.
I havent had this much fun on a golf course in a long time. Normal Covid rules are in place.
The views on this course are amazing from deer on the forest holes to surfers on the ocean holes.

High ratings in all areas at this ocean-side gem. Played 10/11 8:30 on 225 mile 1-way day trip ride from Sacramento, and it was worth it.
Driving Route 1 past Marina and Seaside at sunrise Monterey B... Continue »

High ratings in all areas at this ocean-side gem. Played 10/11 8:30 on 225 mile 1-way day trip ride from Sacramento, and it was worth it.
Driving Route 1 past Marina and Seaside at sunrise Monterey Bay in view mild temperature gentle breeze. Just as we got to the SB parking lot the fog came in quickly. Played the first 3 holes in pea soup by feel and general direction from Alex only one of our group with experience here. Sun came out warm partly sunny the rest of the round. Nice as can be.
Greens rolled well maybe a touch slow as they had been liquid fertilized recently. All conditions excellent.
First tee area can be a little crowded. PPE protocol being followed.
Nothing more to say than highly recommend.

Another quick monthly update. Conditions remain top notch at Spanish Bay. I’m getting used to the “new look” with the front fairway grass and some of the side areas now brown for water conservation.... Continue »

Another quick monthly update. Conditions remain top notch at Spanish Bay. I’m getting used to the “new look” with the front fairway grass and some of the side areas now brown for water conservation. Overall conditions are 9-9.5 from tee to green as mentioned in my last review. The one thing I realized I’ve never mentioned about Spanish Bay is that all flags are red in color regardless of position. Don’t think because it’s a red flag it means the pin is in the front of the green.

We had an 8:20 AM tee time and the first few holes were in the fog making it extremely difficult to impossible to see your ball. After that, the sun was out and it was beautiful day.

I can’t believe I haven’t played Spanish Bay since February. Between Covid shutdown, injury and having to cancel my round a couple weeks ago due to a family matter, I was itching to get out and enjoy... Continue »

I can’t believe I haven’t played Spanish Bay since February. Between Covid shutdown, injury and having to cancel my round a couple weeks ago due to a family matter, I was itching to get out and enjoy the views of the Monterey Bay. Normally in the summer Spanish Bay can show signs of “summer wear”. Meaning that they pull water from Spanish Bay to give to the sister courses.

I’m pleased to say that the course is in excellent shape. In fact this is easily the best condition I’ve seen Spanish Bay in during the summer. It also rivals the best condition the course has ever been in regardless of time of year.

Greens were soft and easily holding well struck shots. Greens were rolling a tad bit slower than normal which helped manage the severe undulations each complex has. I’d rate the greens at a 9.

Fairways were superb. Lush throughout. Easily a 9.5 if not a 10. I’d like to point out that they have cut down the initial part of the fairways. They have let the first 50-100 yards of fairway go brown to conserve water. Given the great condition of the “playing” area of the fairways, I’m totally good with this decision. At this point they haven’t decided to just let it remain as dead/brown grass or replace it with DG like Poppy Hills did (on the sides) during the remodel.

Tee boxes were great all around. I was only in one fairway bunker and managed to avoid all greenside bunkers. The one bunker I as in was in excellent condition.

We teed off at 9am. The weather was nice, overcast for the most part but the wind did pick up on the last few holes which is typical of this place. All in all Spanish Bay is in fantastic shape right now. A solid 9 rating tee to green.

Played Sat 7/25, 2:20 tee time. 4 1/2 hr round. Cold day with a stiff 15-20 mph wind. I can see why this is the stepchild of the 3 courses, but it's amazing. Ocean views most of the round. Challe... Continue »

Played Sat 7/25, 2:20 tee time. 4 1/2 hr round. Cold day with a stiff 15-20 mph wind. I can see why this is the stepchild of the 3 courses, but it's amazing. Ocean views most of the round. Challenging layout. Greens a fast 10. The inland holes are just as good as the ocean holes. Any other setting, and people would RAVE about this course. In comparison to the other 2, it is a little lacking when comparing holes, shot quality, layout... but the ocean views are as good as most ocean layouts.

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 ... Continue »

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.