Black Horse Golf Course

When planning your bucket list trip to Pebble Beach it’s easy to overlook all the world class golf in the area. Because there is so much of it. Of course, you have some of the most magnificent courses in the world in Cypress Point, Monterey Peninsula Country Club and of course Pebble Beach Golf Links. However, there are robust choices in local public golf that you can use to flesh out a comprehensive bucket list golf trip without having to open a home equity line of credit in order to finance it. 

Nearing the top of our list of these unsung public tracks would be a complex in the nearby town of Seaside. Bayonet and Black Horse were originally built on the military complex of Fort Ord. The first course being built and designed by General Robert B. McClure. Black Horse Golf Course is actually the second of the golf courses built at this location. It was designed by General Edwin Carnes, the Commanding General of Fort Ord from April 1963 until June of 1965. The course opened in 1964 as a military golf course not open to the public. 

However, in 1997 the Defense Realignment Closure required the military to sell the base to the local municipality. So, in 1997 the city of Seaside took over the facility, and the course complex became public. In 2005 Seaside Resort Development corporation assumed the lease rights for the property and proposed an extensive luxury resort and spa complex. The progress on this complex was slowed by the economic downturn of 2008. 

Black Horse Golf Course is the younger, more forgiving and more visually interesting of the two sibling golf courses on this spot.  Named in honor of the 11th Cavalry Regiment (nicknamed “Black Horse”) which was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey from 1919-1940.

The nice thing about this golf course is that you have a better view of Monterey Bay in the distance on many holes. This helps you orient yourself when on the greens, because inevitably the ball will break toward all that water in the distance. 

The only knock that I can give on the layout of this course is that hole number 2 is a long par 3. You are almost guaranteed to back up on number 2 tee box. This backup might stretch out over the next few holes. Our advice is to relax and take in the spectacular bunkering and bay adjacent landscape, complete with Cypress trees festooned with moss. 

Hole number 4 is a driveable par 4 that has a great big tree guarding the green like the Swiss Guard at the Vatican. Number 18 is a fantastic dogleg left with a green cantilevered out over the environmental. Don’t tug your approach shot, favor the right hand side. 

Be sure to dress in layers when playing this course, as the “marine layer” has a serious impact on the local climate. In the morning and the afternoons you can expect it to be foggy and cold. But in the early afternoon this burns off and it can be quite sunny and warm. In between you will have to contend with wind that blows the marine layer to and fro. 

A couple words of caution. First off, the crows are crazy quick. Make sure you eat your food fast, or hide it really well. Also, the service at The Turn was very slow, albeit from some of the sweetest people you ever would want to meet. Make sure to call ahead, even if you are just getting a drink. Lastly, make sure you keep pace. Otherwise, you will receive a visit from a very mouthy Marshall who will start “coaching” you on how to play the hole…all as a guise to get you to speed up, which inevitably backfires and play gets even slower as people duff shots having been rattled by “Mouthy the Marshall”. 

All in all, this course is a great golf experience, and is a dish that fits in with the cuisine of a buddies bucket list golf course. Telling your buddies back home that you, not only, played Pebble and Spyglass. But you can tell them that your warm up round at Black Horse Golf Course was an unexpected treat as well. If you can only play one in the complex, this course is the one you want to play. If you live in the area, you should strongly consider making a weekend of playing Bayonet and Black Horse. It’s a strong local destination combo weekend. If you can add a third round, throw in Poppy Hills for a trifecta that won’t break the bank.

Best Buddies Golf Trip Rankings:

• Bucket list rank (from 1 to 5 buckets): 3 buckets 
• Caddies: NA
• Location: 8
• Spectacle/ visual: 8
• History: 8
• New/ancient: modern
• Playability : 8
• Memorability : 7
• Buddy-a-bility : 8
• Service/etc: 5
• Value: 7
• Shopping: 7 (the golf shop is small and austere)
• Warm up facilities/Range: 5 (it has a big grass range that in theory should be awesome. But it’s crowded, and the day we played it the tee boxes were soggy wet and muddy. Even with no rain. Also, the practice bunker is too close to the holes on Bayonet, leaving practice balls near a green- leading to lost balls in a sea of balls)
• Food & Drink: 7