Bayonet & Black Horse (Bayonet)

The United States Army established Fort Ord as a field-artillery target range in 1917. Located just outside the coastal town of Seaside, the base was a popular posting for military personnel because of its attractive location just off Monterey Bay, with the 7th Infantry Division as its main garrison for many years.

General Robert B. McClure is credited with designing the Bayonet course (the 7th Infantry were known as the “Bayonet Division”) in 1954 and such was the positive impact this facility had on morale, a second 18-hole layout called the Black Horse (the nickname of the 11th Cavalry Regiment stationed nearby) was brought into play a decade later.

Fort Ord closed in 1994 and most of the 28,000-acre site was sold to local municipal authorities for development. The City of Seaside acquired the golf facilities in 1997 and since then both 18-hole layouts have been extensively renovated by Gene Bates, resulting in the Bayonet course hosting the PGA Professional National Championship in 2012 and 2018.

The revamped course is only sixteen yards longer than the original but the strategic and visual impact of Bates’ bunkering is immeasurable. Kikuyu grass was also removed during the upgrade, replaced with bent grass to greatly improve performance. The course routing remains the same but a number of the holes have been re-sequenced.

One of the more dramatic putting surface modifications was made to the par four 7th (now played as the 5th) where the severe left-to-right slope was eliminated. On the back nine, the long par three 17th hole was also overhauled, relocated to the left of where it was once situated to allow for future residential development.