Played Black Horse on New Years Day with an early tee time. Ended up with a significant frost delay but was in the fourth group out. Got a Golfnow rate of $105, which was a decent cut off the $140 r... Continue »

Played Black Horse on New Years Day with an early tee time. Ended up with a significant frost delay but was in the fourth group out. Got a Golfnow rate of $105, which was a decent cut off the $140 rack rate. The course was beautiful. The conditions were good. The lies were winter tight but that was to be expected. I had a tough time in the sand so am not a good judge of it. For whatever reason, it did not suit me. The greens were tough. Very undulating with difficult pin placements. I thought the pin placements were punitive but they may have been putting them at sloped areas because Monterey had got quite a bit of rain. Overall, a fun layout with above average conditions. The pace of play was only okay, about 4:45. The service was exceptional. I would like to play it again in the summer when the grass is more lush.

Played here this weekend. Beautiful and lush course. Greens roll true and are in good shape, but they have a lot of twists and turns. Kind of overdone, making it hard to hole longer putts. The course ... Continue »

Played here this weekend. Beautiful and lush course. Greens roll true and are in good shape, but they have a lot of twists and turns. Kind of overdone, making it hard to hole longer putts. The course was damp (always seems this way) making it very important you don't hit the ball fat. The layout is great and the holes all have their own character. A few holes are setup so that balls on the fairway tend to end up in the same place for all golfers. These spots have a lot of old divots and make it extremely likely you won't have an ideal lie even though you are in the middle of the fairway.

The obvious comparison is with Bayonet. I think they both are fun to play and worth seeking out. Prefer Bayonet's greens, but Black Horse's layout. Currently, Black Horse is in noticeably better shape and get my nod today, but my advice would be to play both and judge for yourself.

This is a great golf course with a couple of rough edges. Challenging but fair, no quirkiness or unexpected outcomes. Fast, Undulating greens, strategically placed traps and rolling terrain present a ... Continue »

This is a great golf course with a couple of rough edges. Challenging but fair, no quirkiness or unexpected outcomes. Fast, Undulating greens, strategically placed traps and rolling terrain present a solid test to your abilities. I used every club in the bag before I was done here. Greens roll well, Sand is in good condition and fairways aren't pristine but seem to give you good lies all the time. Just a couple of things...First of all, the price for us as out of towners. We were charged $125 on a weekday morning. I know they're asking what the market will bear and it's much less dough than some of its neighbors, but no way is this a 3 figure golf course. I played its sister course Bayonet just 3 years ago and paid about half this price if i recall correctly. I guess the economy is improving! Another minor quibble is the condition of the tee boxes which are incredibly chewed up, and I'm not just talking the par 3's. Still, this course or it's sister are must plays when visiting the Peninsula.

Continuing my extended b-day weekend up the coast. I booked a 7:00 time through GN for $59, which I was surprised to see on a Friday, but hooray for me! They told me I was off first, but another coupl... Continue »

Continuing my extended b-day weekend up the coast. I booked a 7:00 time through GN for $59, which I was surprised to see on a Friday, but hooray for me! They told me I was off first, but another couple (I guess they are regular dawn patrollers here) jumped out in front of me. They let me through after a few holes and I zipped around with only minimal interference from maintenance doing their great work. I say that because the course is in exceptional condition right now. A few weak spots here and there and rough a bit inconsistent (sometimes really deep and sometimes only pretty deep--always punishing), but any minor flaws are just splitting hairs. Tee boxes and bunkers good. Greens excellent. Firm and fast, yet receptive (aided a lot by the morning moisture). There are some of the outer areas where they are obviously just leaving alone to conserve water, but nothing that really affects play. I played Bayonet a couple years ago and have been dying to come back for Black Horse. Though they have some similarities, they are two pretty different courses and each is very enjoyable in its own right. Bayonet is tighter with more trees in play. Black Horse is more open, but has a lot more contour/undulation with many, many squiggly bunkers you want to avoid at all costs. I've heard some horror stories about these crazy greens. They definitely have a lot of tricky undulation, but I didn't find them too over the top. I've seen crazier, and they are the course's biggest defense if you ask me. Fantastic course and amazing value for top-notch golf on the Monterey Peninsula.

On a golf trip from southern california, played black horse on the 15th at twilight. Beautiful area, enjoyed the layout and cypress trees. Some ocean views throughout the course. Fairways, tee boxes, ... Continue »

On a golf trip from southern california, played black horse on the 15th at twilight. Beautiful area, enjoyed the layout and cypress trees. Some ocean views throughout the course. Fairways, tee boxes, sand traps, and rough were all great. Greens were on the slow side, rolled smooth, nothing awful, just wish they were a little quicker. Would love to come back and play the other 18 on the bayonet course. Course had a nice driving range and chipping area to warm up at as well. Round was quick at about 3.5 hours.

First off the tee yesterday at 7:00 am, played with another single in a cart and two walkers, and we still finished in 3.5 hrs. Course is in very nice shape. There's a very thin layer of sand on the g... Continue »

First off the tee yesterday at 7:00 am, played with another single in a cart and two walkers, and we still finished in 3.5 hrs. Course is in very nice shape. There's a very thin layer of sand on the greens but nothing that affects play. Tees, fairways and rough were all good. Sand in the bunkers was excellent.

The course really puts a premium on the short game with pretty severe greens.

It seems they offer discounted rates M-W, so if budget is an issue, I'd definitely recommend playing on those days ($59 vs. $100).

Course was so good last time I had to go back. See my previous review, everything is still just as good. A few new updates: greens were hard and fast this time, to the point where approaches were n... Continue »

Course was so good last time I had to go back. See my previous review, everything is still just as good. A few new updates: greens were hard and fast this time, to the point where approaches were not holding at all and ending up off the back. It was a little dry and windy this weekend which contributed to the slick greens. Also, the rough is pretty short now, leading to a lot of drives rolling a long way even if you missed the fairway. This made the driving a little less challenging and more forgiving, but the slick greens more than made up for it. Hurry up and get out there before they punch the greens, fantastic challenge!

Played today as a single, starting at 12:30. Slow going because of a tournament ahead, but no complaints, I finished in 4:30. This course is in amazing shape, and you can't beat the prices. The fai... Continue »

Played today as a single, starting at 12:30. Slow going because of a tournament ahead, but no complaints, I finished in 4:30. This course is in amazing shape, and you can't beat the prices. The fairways and bunkers are visually stunning for winter time. Paid $58 with a cart. One of the best deals in the area right now.

Greens: Super fast, fastest greens I have played on all winter. The greens tend to be large on this course, but can be extremely difficult if you don't pick your spots wisely. It would have helped me a lot if I had remembered the greens from playing a few years back. Several times I was on, but still struggled to get the ball close with 2 putts. The greens were not tricky, they rolled true, but there were times where I could see putts rolling completely off the green if you misjudged the break. The condition of the greens was amazing. No ball marks, no bad patches, just smooth.

Fairways and bunkers: Amazing. No divot damage, no thins spots, no mud, just nice pure fairways that actually gave some roll on drives. Think how they should be in the summer time, but in January. The sand was excellent. Was only in it once, but it was fluffy.

Tees: Perfect also. No slopes, no damage, this course is well cared for tee to green.

Overall, I can't believe it took me so long to go back here. This course lives up to the standard that is golf in Monterey area. The quality of the course is top notch, this place is a steal for a challenging, well maintained course.

The third course on our trip, we played Black Horse on 12/8 as the second round of the day. The course was great in trying to accommodate our GolfCaddy deal and trying to find an appropriate tee-time ... Continue »

The third course on our trip, we played Black Horse on 12/8 as the second round of the day. The course was great in trying to accommodate our GolfCaddy deal and trying to find an appropriate tee-time for us when we finished playing Bayonet early. Once on the course we found ourselves once again thoroughly amazed at the condition of the course. I personally like Bayonet better but this course is still a solid play. I found there were less trees (this may or may not be the case) in play but almost everything else is similar to its sister course. There are so many interesting holes in both courses, I have no doubt you will enjoy it. Great course conditions and few groups on the course even on the weekend. Highly recommended.

Bayonet Golf Course Review
Seaside California Golf Course Reviews