The Links at Spanish Bay
A visit to Pebble Beach without a visit to Spanish Bay is like traveling to Disney World and not going to Epcot. A wasted opportunity. There are so many wonderful things about Spanish Bay that have absolutely nothing to do with golf. The accommodations are fantastic; it’s a lovely property with amazing views and an amazing patio, the drinks are second to none, and it’s a must visit during sunset when the bagpiper is playing. It’s also home to arguably the best restaurant in the Pebble complex… Roys.
That said, the golf course itself is a struggle. It’s a tweener among giants. It’s been said that it is an “ornamental golf course”- meant to be looked at, and not played. This may be somewhat harsh, but in the context of how you shape your buddies bucket list trip to Pebble, it might be true. Maybe you should hang out on the patio after your round at Spyglass and have cocktails watching the sunset while the bagpiper plays and just look at the serene links style golf course laid out in front of you with the ocean as a backdrop. Favor the south side of the patio so you can be entertained by golfers hitting into the first par 3. You can even gamble on who will get closest to pin with your patio buddies.
Here’s the thing. Spanish Bay is a beautiful golf course that was carved out of a very environmentally sensitive area. As a result it’s “Cake or Death”. Mediocre shots garner heavy penalties as one slight push off into the ice plant lined fairway and you have no recovery. It’s drop, penalty and play on. This is this golf course over and over again. Grabbing the big stick will often lead to trouble including penalties if you don’t have dead aim. For the best play, grab the most accurate iron you can place a shot with, and play for bogie. That and make sure you have a flask of something in your bag, because you know a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Figure the score won’t matter at Spanish — nobody frames their Spanish Bay scorecard or remembers what they shot (save an ace..). Unlike Spyglass and Pebble.
As much as I hate to say it, my advice is to skip this golf course if you are a mid to high handicapper. It’s one thing to pay this level of an expensive green fee to play Pebble or Spyglass. At least at these courses you have hope that you will find your poor shots — even if you have to play up from the beach at Pebble on 10 or punch out from some trees at Spyglass. There’s hope you might find your ball and play it. At Spanish there is usually no hope the minute the club head hits the ball eskew, and you know it. That’s just not fun bucket list vacation golf.
If you are a low handicapper you will enjoy this course more… but then the struggle is why spend the money? The preference for all players would be to play Poppy Hills, Pebble Beach and Spyglass-in that order. Poppy Hills is a great course at a great deal that will take a little bit of pressure off a very expensive bucket list golf trip. For a budget 4th round add in Pacific Grove. Even nearby Bayonet and Blackhorse are great lower cost options (favor Blackhorse). If you have a 5th or 6th round in the mix on your trip and Pebble cuts you an incredible deal on Spanish Bay (which they are known to do) then sure, have at it. It’s a truly beautiful walk with some amazing vistas, and who knows, you might hit a good shot or two. And if you aren’t playing well, look out to the ocean and see if you can spy whales feeding off shore to help take your mind off the punishing golf and make it feel like you got your money’s worth.
Best Buddies Golf Trip Rankings
- Bucket list rank (from 1 to 5 buckets): 2.5 buckets
- Caddies: 8
- Location: 9
- Spectacle/ visual: 9
- History: 6
- New/ancient: modern
- Playability : 4
- Memorability : 6
- Buddy-a-bility : 8
- Service/etc: 8
- Value: 3
- Shopping: 7
- Warm up facilities/Range: 2 (there are none, you have to shuttle to Pebble practice area)
- Food & Drink: 7
