Pebble or No Pebble?
Well, if you check their current rates, the answer is obvious. A round of golf is up to $495. For one round. Also, to get a tee time, you must stay at the resort. The cheapest room in the joint starts at $600 a night. So, to stay one night and play, you've dropped over a grand. Even in the best of economic times, no sir. Not going to happen. I know guys who have gone and say 'Just bite the bullet, give them your credit card and don't think about the money', but that never seems to work for me. I can't even stop thinking about the cost of my meal at a fancy restaurant, and that's 100 bucks. How am I going to blow off a thousand dollar bill for golf?
Ok. So what if I'm down at the Monterey Peninsula? Well, all is not lost. For the cost of the room and one round, you can have a nice golf trip. Here's my suggestion: Good golf can be had that will not kill your budget. First stop: 36 holes in Monterey at Bayonet and Black Horse courses. They were recently renovated, and should be in great condition. Rates start at $115, and after 1:00 it's $95. The redesign was led by Gene Bates, who we know locally from designing Circling Raven.
For more good inland golf, head just south of Carmel to Carmel Valley. There's another good 36-hole complex at Rancho Canada... good, solid golf that starts at $75, and again after 1:00 goes down to $35. That may be the best deal in the area. A bit further down the valley road is Carmel Valley Ranch, a Pete Dye design that also just underwent a major renovation. Whereas the Rancho Canada courses are fairly flat, CVR has wild elevation changes, with several huge downhill par 3's, and lots of water and tight fairways. It's maybe a bit steep at $145, but I would surely pay the twilight of $85. They also have good packages to stay and play, and a lot of the rooms are nice bungalows with fireplaces, for not too much dough.
Ok, so we're on the Pacific coast, and we can't play golf anywhere near the water? Other than some distant views from the Bayonet course, so far no ocean views. If you want them, but don't want to sell a kidney, head to Pacific Grove, just north of the courses at Pebble Beach. There you'll find one of the coolest muni courses in the country, Pacific Grove Golf Links. The first 9 was designed by Chandler Egan, who built Indian Canyon, and the back 9 was built later by the original designer of Pebble Beach. It shows, since the back 9 plays alongside the ocean, with views the whole time, and 3 oceanside holes. For $40, you will never play golf that close to the ocean. Now, this is not a full length course (only 5700 yards), with some short, kind of pitch and putt holes, but hey... you're playing golf next to the ocean for 40 bucks. Can't beat it.
Ok, time to bust the budget... a bit. The one deal I would go for in the courses at the 17 mile drive is twilight at Spyglass Hill. It's still $175, and that's a lot to pay when you may not finish the round before dark, but here's why: Spyglass starts out with views of the ocean, and the early holes play right down to the water. The back 9 is good, but not oceanfront, so if you can't finish, you still got the good holes in. So with that, taking the drive around the 17 mile dr, and going to get a beer at the taphouse at Pebble Beach... that might do the trick. Or, play one round at Pebble. Your choice.
