The Links at Spanish Bay

Created by Robert Trent Jones Jnr (with input from Tom Watson and former USGA President Sandy Tatum), The Links at Spanish Bay is laid out on a sizeable area of sandy terrain that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The links-like layout opened in 1987 when it became the fourth 18-hole course to join the impressive Californian golf portfolio of the Pebble Beach Company, along with Del Monte, Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach.

Occupying the oceanfront site of a former sand mine between the Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Asilomar State Beach, the fairways weave through a series of sand dunes, many of which were created during course construction. Consequently, golfers find there’s more than a hint of a Scottish links in the landscape as the round unfolds here. Indeed, Tom Watson’s been quoted as saying: “It’s so much like Scotland, you can almost hear the bagpipes playing.”

The 400-yard right doglegged 6th (“Sandy”) is a feature hole on the front nine and it’s aptly named because no fewer than nine bunkers guard the path to the raised green. On the back nine, the 520-yard 10th (“Half & Half”) is another highlight hole, with three pot bunkers splitting the fairway. The 200-yard 16th (“Dune Hollow”) is a fine par three where left is best to avoid a couple of pot bunkers that guard the green to the right front hand side.