Spyglass Hill Golf Course

It’s very possible that the first five holes of “Spyglass” golf course are the best consecutive opening  holes on any public golf course, period. It’s after the opening 5 when you take a right turn and head into the Del Monte Forest that things take a more ominous turn.

Opened in 1966 the Robert Trent Jones course design was developed under the name Pebble Beach Pines Golf Club, but was re-monikered Spyglass Hill Golf Course by the founder of the Pebble Beach company. The inspiration being the novel “Treasure Island”, and the influence can be seen on every tee box. Each hole has a name inspired directly by the novel. The course is a perennial rotational favorite of the old Bing Crosby Clam Bake, now renamed the AT@T Pro Am. 

On the first tee box you stand high atop Spyglass Hill and stare down at a long par 5 dogleg left, aptly named “Treasure Island”. On your second shot the green will be revealed as you will be looking at a large putting surface, well protected by bunkers. Off in the distance, you will see directly out toward the Pacific Ocean. The second hole is a short and challenging par 4 that plays into the wind to an elevated and partially blind small green. This is followed by a par 3 in the dunes that is reminiscent of the infamous seventh at Pebble Beach. This hole with its elevated tee provides you with stunning views of the Pacific, Seventeen Mile Drive, and the nearby Cypress Point Club. Get your shot to the green or you face a tough bunker shot from the hidden bunker that protects the front of the green.

Hole 4 is a favorite for many golfers, not just at Spyglass Golf Course but golf in general. A shallow dogleg left par 4 along the dunes has a demanding second shot to a narrow coffin-like multi-tiered green. The green runs away from you and is nestled in the bosom of two large mounds covered in ice plant and sand. Hole number 5, a par 3, lulls you into thinking you are out of the wind because you can’t feel it on the tee. This is a challenging up hiller that demands a precise shot, otherwise you will struggle out of some of the deepest bunkers on the course that swallow short shots knocked down by the wind.

Just as you develop the mindset that your whole day will be one giant “hit and giggle ocean view spectacular” you turn up the hill into the Del Monte Forest. On the sixth tee box all of the Care Bears and rainbows you would find on Pebble Beach fall away behind you. As you stand on number 6 tee box and assess the uphill fairway- take note. Staunchly lined on either side by dense forest it seems the sky darkens some and the fairway in front of you seems to lengthen and narrow before your very eyes. This is where you have to begin your re-ascent of Spyglass Hill.

Don’t get me wrong this is where the fun begins. Any single digit handicap golfer will tell you that Spyglass Golf Course is a tougher golf course than Pebble Beach and many prefer it. There is a reason why. It’s tough, but never crosses the line to being unfair. The locals refer to the bad breaks and mishaps you experience as “spy-glassed”. Like its younger brother Poppy Hills the course after number 5 is gingerly carved out of the Del Monte Forest, but with longer and narrower fairways, much denser forest penalties and greens that can simply be mind numbing, you have to pay attention every step of the way because of the uneven lies and many uphill shots demanding an extra club. In fact, golfers with ADD sometimes do really well here! 

You have to concentrate on every shot. Brain farts will be penalized by tough green complexes. The course progresses and presents some of most challenging holes like #11 a challenging par 5 , #14, an long uphill par 4, and #16, a perennially tough challenging Dogleg par 4 on that averages over par scores during the AT&T. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a real golf course one of Trent Jones’ finest works, and the toughest (public) on the Monterey Peninsula, but nonetheless a bucket list experience for golfers of all ability.

Every hole is a delicate reveal where you can see the golf course architecture figuratively waving a baton in front of an orchestra building to a crescendo. On a particular high note is hole 12, a par 3 with an elevated tee box having you hitting down into a picturesque green with a pond on the left…yet it will crescendo over and over again. This course is a veritable classic symphony, a Vivaldi’s 4 seasons of golf.

It’s for all these reasons this course is a must play bucket list bucket list golf course, and any Bucket List trip to Pebble Beach without Spyglass Hill is an opportunity tragically missed.

Best Buddies Golf Trip Rankings:

• Bucket list rank (from 1 to 5 buckets): 5 Buckets
• Caddies: 9 — make sure they blow your shoes out at the end of the round. It’s worth it. Be sure to get your medallion too.
• Location: 10
• Spectacle/ visual: 10 
• History: 9 
• New/ancient: Modern
• Playability : 9
• Memorability : 9
• Service/etc: 8
• Value: 8
• Shopping: 8
• Warm up facilities/Range: 9. Although Spyglass has it’s own small driving range you might want to warm up at the Pebble practice facility across the road which is a fair bit more comprehensive.
• Food & Drink: 8