Pacific Grove Golf Links

US Amateur Champion Chandler Egan, having redesigned nearby Pebble Beach with Alister Mackenzie in 1929, returned to Monteray soon after to set out the first nine holes of the Pacific Grove Golf Links and the new course duly opened for play on 9th May 1932.

Jack Neville, another great amateur golfer - who originally designed Pebble Beach along with Douglas Grant in 1919 - extended the course to a full 18-hole layout some twenty eight years after it first opened, using land around the base of the Point Pinos Lighthouse leased from the US Coast Guard.

Because the routing of the Egan Nine was changed to accommodate the new clubhouse in 1960, a round at Pacific Grove begins most unusually with a pair of par three holes - named “Little Tombstone” and “Big Tombstone” - and back to back par fives follow shortly after at holes 5 and 6.

On the Neville Nine, where the fairways tumble into the dunes, only one of the half dozen par fours on the card (“Beacon View,” the 383-yard 15th) measures in excess of 350 yards. Indeed, short par fours at 11, 13 and 18 are three of the most interesting holes on the property.

Steven originally nominated Pacific Grove as a Gem back in November 2006; he also sent us the deer photo. Steven’s original comments are as follows: “Five miles from Pebble Beach on the same coastline – front nine gardens, back nine ocean (the back was designed by Jack Neville the original designer of Pebble Beach!). You can walk – it only costs $35/40 weekday/weekend, there’s a brand new clubhouse and you can always get on. It is stunning.”