The Links at Spanish Bay — Local services in Pacific Grove

This might be the prettiest golf course at the Pebble Beach resort -- I would give it my vote. Most holes have views of the Pacific Ocean, and several are strongly influenced by it. The sandy landscaping is exquisite.

As a golf course, it is challenging, but not absurdly so (like Spyglass Hill is, IMHO). On most holes, you can see the green from the tee box. Also, most greens have adjacent and forgiving bail out areas (unlike Spyglass). Stay away from the bunkers! And beware of OB on two or three holes.

The greens are excellent - very challenging, but fair. (Clearly, the same crew takes care of the greens here and at the other PB resort courses). I had one putted ball come back to me because I didn't hit it hard enough to get up the slope - oops!

Last but not least, the price is not crazy. The greens fees here are half that of Pebble, and $200 less than Spyglass. I'd say it is the best value at the resort.

If you have time to play a round after you play Pebble, I strongly recommend Spanish Bay. If you have time for two more rounds, play Spanish again. In other words, don't bother with Spyglass - it is overpriced and absurdly (and frustratingly) difficult.

Our caddy today told me that he has been carrying for the resort long enough that he can pretty much choose where he loops. He prefers Spanish because (1) it is so beautiful, (2) the pace of play is acceptable, and (3) the golfers tends to be more relaxed. He says that Spyglass caddying is hard because the players are always having a hard time.

Pebble Beach Golf Links is best course in the known universe, of course. But if you ignore the "legacy" factor, The Links at Spanish Bay is the best course at the the Pebble...

Where to start,

Me and my 10 friends were excited to play the course for the first time. But we didn't expect the rude treatment from some the staff for the price of $315. At the bag drop off, the staff was lazy and didn't offer to help unload our golf bags and pull cart. He just stood their and told us we can carry our bags down the walking path. Then the starter told me he's going to call us 5mins early before our tee times, but he totally forgot and started yelling at us to tee off right away. Then on the 2nd hole, the Marshall told us we needed to pick up the pace and that we're two holes behind the group in front, which wasn't true. And then on the 12th hole, the Marshall said we're two holes behind and that he was going to call the head pro and have us skip a hole. So we hurry and finish the hole to find the group in front of us we're just hitting their balls onto the green. And it gets worse. A group behind one of our group bombed up on them. So one of our players told the Marshall about it, and said, "Well you're 20mins behind pace". This was so unprofessional of him, and what suppose to be a great memorable golf outing ended up turning into an unpleasant day. But for some reason, the younger staffs that works their has been really nice to us. With all that said, you would expect to get the 5-Stars treatment for that sticker price , but I will never be coming...

Nothing against the course itself, it played wonderfully even for January. My problem was with the staff, starter, whatever. There was no one on the course that I could see. There were only two of us. We traveled from the East Coast and probably would not get another chance to play there. Well, the starter paired us with the only other two people going out that we could see for hours. These other two are regulars at the course and were in a hurry to get done. So needless to say it was not a very casual, fun round. Nice course, plays well, but I don't like to speed golf on a new course, especially when there is nobody else out there, and it was supposed to be an experience, it was...