Played Spanish Bay on Monday January 30th as part of the NCGA Winter special. It was me and my best friend, just the two of us and we walked it with our push carts. While carts were included you sho... Continue »

Played Spanish Bay on Monday January 30th as part of the NCGA Winter special. It was me and my best friend, just the two of us and we walked it with our push carts. While carts were included you should know that Pebble, Spyglass and Spanish Bay are cart path only. We figured you do just as much walking with a cart so why not just walk. Spanish bay allows pull/push carts pebble does not and I'm not sure about Spyglass. Call. One other thing you should know is they don't have a range. Go to spyglass or Pebble to hit balls first, it's not far and it's included. They do have a nice putting green and a small chipping area right behind the proshop and next to the first tee. The first hole takes your breathe away. Par 5 that runs right along the coastline and your approach to the green is looking right out to the pacific. Many of the holes are along the ocean. Some run towards it some run away while others and like the first some are parallel. The back nine has a few more holes the are back in the forest but IMHO the are all wonderful. Be careful on #11 the top hat hole. You can put up a big number around that green. Number 14 is a great par 5 downhill with nothing but ocean behind. I'll spare you the hole by hole description but I absolutely loved the course. Some people complain about blind tee shots, but I had a yardage guide and it gave me enough information to get around in 75. Just sayin. Do get a yardage guide for$10 or have a good skycaddie. The greens were imaculate and not overly fast. They rolled very true and the ocean didn't influence the putts as I thought it would. Glad I asked the starter. Read them right and you'll be fine. Two groups behind us was LT. Didn't meet him but it added a little excitement. The NCGA special was $175 and they give you a gift card for $75 to spend at the resort. In my opinion well worth it and I'll be back next year. In fact with the special you can play Spyglass and Spanish bay for the price of Pebble. Just sayin.

Played on Halloween day for my birthday and what an incredible day it was. The entire course is lush and very green from recent rains. The course played soft and not much roll on the fairways. The rou... Continue »

Played on Halloween day for my birthday and what an incredible day it was. The entire course is lush and very green from recent rains. The course played soft and not much roll on the fairways. The rough was deep and somewhat damp. The ball would sit down and a few I just never found. The greens were soft but still ran at a medium fast speed. Pace of play was great as I played alone with nobody in front or back of me. This course does not get the respect of its bigger older brothers on the peninsula, but still is a great fun track. Customer service was great and the many deer in my gallery stayed quiet as I hit my shots.

Forgot to post this review so this is quite a bit late. I played Spanish Bay on 9/23 and,I'll try my best not to compare it to Pebble and Spyglass because it it a different course all together. I walk... Continue »

Forgot to post this review so this is quite a bit late. I played Spanish Bay on 9/23 and,I'll try my best not to compare it to Pebble and Spyglass because it it a different course all together. I walked the course with a pushing cart which I brought with me and had several people ask me about it and I think that Spanish bay offered pushing carts a lot of people would use them. The course is cart path only and,seems,like you could do as much walking back and forth to your cart as you would do walking the course. I played my best 9 ever on the front but I am,not letting it effect my review.
Tee's- level and in good shape. Normal wear and tear on the par 3's.
Fairways -good shape and a little thin in places. Same as other courses in the area . Drought has taken it toll at all courses.
Rough - hit or miss. This in the fairway area's and thick and lush near the greens.
Bunkers-great sand. All the courses in the Pebble rotation have incredible bunkers. Best sand I have ever played..
Greens- med fast with a lot of undulations which I love. The ocean does effect putts and you need to remember that during your round.
Layout was awesome very links style on most holes. Most holels play through the dunes and blind tee shots. Make sure you have a yardage book or good GPS that shows the holes layout. A caddie is not needed as much as Pebble and Spyglass. A long as you don't compare this course with the other two you will love the course. Two bucks were getting ready to fight on one of the holes on the back side and got a little to close for comfort, within 5 yards.

This course caused the most discussion both prior to our trip and after. Great track. Underrated step-course to Pebble and Spy. Probably, in my opinion, a better piece of property. There were no c... Continue »

This course caused the most discussion both prior to our trip and after. Great track. Underrated step-course to Pebble and Spy. Probably, in my opinion, a better piece of property. There were no complaints here. Exceded expectations

This is going to sound sacrilegious, but playing this course last week completed the Pebble Beach trifecta for me and I've got to say this is my favorite between it, Pebble and Spyglass. Despite the c... Continue »

This is going to sound sacrilegious, but playing this course last week completed the Pebble Beach trifecta for me and I've got to say this is my favorite between it, Pebble and Spyglass. Despite the comments from others about the over the top design and quirky greens, I think smartly played this is the course a mid handicapper playing the right tees can score nearest his handicap. I'm a 12 and shot an 88. You just have to be fortunate enough to get a good forecaddie, keep your shots below the hole and lay up before the hazards. You won't make many putts outside 5 feet so just concentrate on your speed and lag it up there. Course conditioning is impeccable in all aspects as it should be for the price. One advantage as well is that this is the one course I played in the group that allowed carts into the fairway (90*). So the fatigue factor did not play as much of a factor as when I played PB earlier.Also, it's the one course you can reserve without having to stay in one of the resort properties. So, it's merely expensive not prohibitively so.

Excellent food and service at lunch after the round, a lot friendlier and less stuffy than the folks at the Stillwater grill at Pebble.

I absolutely love Spanish Bay. The most underrated course in California. It's really beautiful with lots of great holes. Especially love 16 and 17, right there on the ocean. The place is amazing. ... Continue »

I absolutely love Spanish Bay. The most underrated course in California. It's really beautiful with lots of great holes. Especially love 16 and 17, right there on the ocean. The place is amazing. I think it's more fun than Spy.

Spanish Bay is worth every single penny. The place is top notch and should be played at least once during every golfers life. Starting a the pro shop the service was excellent. Wile forking over yo... Continue »

Spanish Bay is worth every single penny. The place is top notch and should be played at least once during every golfers life. Starting a the pro shop the service was excellent. Wile forking over you $260 you see waves breaking just beyond the course. Standing on the first tee you see one of the most beautiful views in all of golf. The course was in immaculate shape. The greens were fast and rolled true. Pace of play was excellent. Even if I played a 6 hour round the course conditions, service, and views would have more than made up for it. If I remember correctly 15 of the 18 holes have ocean views. This is a true links style course. Spanish Bay is highly recommended even at the astronomical prices they get.

Spanish Bay Golf Links Review
Pebble Beach California Golf Course Reviews

Stayed and played Spanish Bay last weekend, decided to play here instead of Spyglass, glad we did. Have to say this course played much more difficult than Pebble. The links style coupled with many uph... Continue »

Stayed and played Spanish Bay last weekend, decided to play here instead of Spyglass, glad we did. Have to say this course played much more difficult than Pebble. The links style coupled with many uphill greens surrounded by traps and fescue made this a very demanding layout. The tight fairways and landing areas were target golf to the max. Without a doubt enjoyed the challenge, even though I think I lost 6 balls. Probably 13 ocean views and deer everywhere. The best golf weekend ever.

Spanish Bay Golf Links Review
Pebble Beach California Golf Course Reviews

I played here for the first time on 12/21. Absolutely THE MOST enjoyable round of golf I've ever played. I had an 8:30 tee time as a single, but got there early and they let me off before the first sc... Continue »

I played here for the first time on 12/21. Absolutely THE MOST enjoyable round of golf I've ever played. I had an 8:30 tee time as a single, but got there early and they let me off before the first scheduled group around 7:40. The staff was friendly and courteous.

I chose to walk. $260 to walk is pretty insane, but it is Pebble Beach so sometimes you have to splurge. But the combination of walking and being first off made it feel like I had the entire course to myself all morning. Ran into a few maintenance people, but didn't slow me down at all. Round took about 3 hours, which was perfect because I needed to drive further that afternoon.

The course was immaculate from tee to green. Everything was in perfect shape. It was really cold first thing in the morning, but once the sun was shining and I had warmed up from walking the first couple holes, the weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky in one of the most beautiful and picturesque settings in golf. I really enjoyed the course layout. More variety of hole layouts than expected and I'd like to say more oceanfront views than Pebble or Spyglass. The inland middle holes (holes 9-12 I think) provide a nice change of pace in the middle of the round before getting back to the rugged seaside links on the finishing holes. It's a challenging track (especially on and around the greens), but still pretty fair. What an exceptional course.

If you are out there making your big Pebble trip, do not leave Spanish Bay off your list. It's worthy of as much praise (if not more, based on my personal experience) as its big brothers.

Spanish Bay Golf Links Golf Course Review
Pebble Beach California Golf Course Reviews