Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of several well known courses in Pebble Beach, California and probably the most famous golf course in the Western United States. Four of the courses in the coastal community of Pebble Beach, including Pebble Beach Golf Links, belong to the Pebble Beach Company, which also operates three hotels and a spa at the resort. The other courses are The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.

Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of the ocean. In 2001 it became the first public course (i.e. open to the general public for play) to be selected as the No.1 Golf Course in America by Golf Digest. Greens fees are among the highest in the world, at $495 (plus $25 cart fee for non-resort guests) per round in 2008. (Click here to read the article in full)

The Poppy Hills Golf Course is a golf course in Pebble Beach, California, on the Monterey Peninsula just outside of Monterey, California. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and it opened in 1986. Along with the Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Poppy Hills co-hosts the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, usually held in the month of February. It is the first course in the United States that is owned and operated by an amateur golf association, the Northern California Golf Association, which has its headquarters at Poppy Hills. Poppy Hills has been ranked among the best courses in Northern California and has been ranked in the top 20 in California by Golf Digest.

The course
The course is a par 72 that is set among the many trees of the Del Monte Forest. The course is noted for its many dogleg holes as it bends through the forest. Many holes have elevated greens with undulating slopes to make putting difficult. Almost every hole has at least one bunker and several have ponds fronting the green. The second hole, a par three, actually has two greens, which allows for many pin positions. Another interesting fact is that the course has five par three holes and five par five holes. Most courses have only three (four at most) of those.

The course measures 6,861 or 6,833 yards from the back (blue) tees with a slope rating of 74.6/144 for men. From the middle (white) tees the course measures 6,254 or 6,237 yards with a slope rating of 71.5/138 for men and 76.3/141 for women (as a par 73). From the front (gold) trees the course measures 5,471; 5,403; or 5,396 yards with a slope rating of 72.1/131 for men and 71.6/131 for women. Spikeless or non-metal spike golf shoes are required to play at Poppy Hills.

Matt Gogel holds the course record of 62, which is ten under par.

Criticism
PGA Tour players have criticized the fact that Poppy Hills replaced the Cypress Point Club after that course did not immediately admit an African-American member to its private club, despite the asking of the Tour. Cypress Point is set on the Pacific Ocean and has been called one of the best golf courses in the entire world, not just Northern California. At Poppy Hills, players have complained about the number of dogleg holes and the course’s poor drainage during the common winter rainstorms.

The Spyglass Hill Golf Course is a golf course located in the Monterey Peninsula of California. The course is part of the Pebble Beach Company, which owns the Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, and the Del Monte Golf Course. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and opened on March 11, 1966, after six years of planning, design, and construction. Golf Digest, in its 2003-2004 listing of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses”, ranked Spyglass Hill (known as “the Glass”) fifth best. The course has been in the rotation for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a February tournament on the West Coast Swing of the PGA Tour. The course is a 6,862 yard par 72 from the championship (blue) tees; it has a slope rating of 148 and a course rating of 75.8. The first five holes all have views of the Pacific Ocean, and the other thirteen wind through the Del Monte Forest. Phil Mickelson holds the course record with a 62, which he set in the first round of the 2005 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. On February 9, 2006, Luke Donald matched Mickelson’s 62 during first round play at the 2006 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The holes on the course are named after characters in Treasure Island, the book by Robert Louis Stevenson. The first hole (Treasure Island, par 5 of 595 yards) goes downward and to left almost 90 degrees. From the tee, a player can see the tops of the trees in the Del Monte Forest, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Monterey Peninsula. The green is fronted by a large bunker and the Pacific Ocean is in view. Another famous hole is the fourth, Blind Pew (370 yards from the blue tees), which Robert Trent Jones has called it his favorite par four because of its options. The green is the most photographed on the course and is surrounded by ice plants.