Spyglass Hill™ Golf Course

Great course. Thank you for this opportunity. @yoc @cbs @pebble !!!

Gorgeous course. Challenging par 5. Many rolling and two step greens surrounded with bunkers. Course was in great condition.

Always love this course. Played twice during the last week of June and the course is in absolutely perfect condition as you’d expect.

The greens are lightning fast, especially downhill. They roll pure and are trickier than they look. Make sure to look at the shot from all angles. Or better yet rely on a seasoned caddie to help out. My caddie Mitch is one of the best in the business with 20 plus years experience and has that perfect combination of technical skills (green reading, ball spotting) and personality. I’ve been using him for about 4-5 years now.

Fairways at Spyglass Hill are immaculate. As perfect as you can imagine.

Sand traps are also in top form with a perfect amount of fluffy white sand.

It’s always a pleasure to play here and though fees have increased, you get what you pay for.

The $465 greens fee and the $55 cart fee are ridiculously high for a course living off its past reputation. Cart path only is ridiculous and slows play. No sand bottles on carts or on par 3 tees so many divots go unfilled or not repaired. No GPS on carts
. Golf shop staff and starter are condescending. Golf shop merchandise is ridiculously overpriced.

I won’t repeat what everyone else writes.

It is beautiful, hole 1-5 ocean side, holes 6-18 tree lined.

It’s tough but fair from the forward tees - meaning you have a chance to get on greens in regulation on a number of holes. Everyone (male golfers) I spoke with said it’s the hardest course they’ve ever played. I did not experience that.

The course feels very familiar from hole six to 18 because it’s tree-lined and hilly like courses back home. Perhaps it’s harder from the tips for long hitters that miss the fairways. I tend to be a fairly straight hitter.

The only negative was the greens were aerated so they were full of big aeration holes and slow. So if you plan a trip for the fall, ask when the greens will be punched.

Take a caddy if you’ve never played there and take a cart because there are some big hills and when you want to walk the fairway, your caddie will run back and forth to the cart to get your clubs.

Definitely play Spyglass Hill!!!

Absolutely love Spyglass. A great combination of dunes, ocean, and the forest. First 5 holes are in the dunes and then you move into the forest for holes 6-18. Very difficult golf course. Important to play from the correct set of tees. The ball won’t travel as far on the Monterey Peninsula because of the heavy air and being at sea level. Conditions are excellent. Highly recommend that you take a caddie if you are able. Carts are available but it is cart path only. Definitely need a range finder if you don’t have a caddie. Greens are very fast and tough to read, especially the first time you play the course. Typically takes 4.5 - 5 hours to play but that is primarily because of the difficulty of the course. It’s expensive but definitely worth it for the pure golf experience.

The hype you hear about Spyglass is true. Gorgeous layout and views. Only thing that surprised me was the greens werent as fast as I expected. First 5 holes will match anything you have ever played.

Pebble Beach tomorrow!

What an amazing course! Had a great deal through NCGA and it was worth every cent. Very challenging and the view was amazing and the course was in excellent shape.

The fairways had been topdressed with Sand so shots were stopping quickly. This made for difficult second shots. The seventeenth hole was under construction and was extremely poor.
The par 3s from the ladies tees were all under 100 yards which made them far too easy.
We paid $395 which made this course the worst value we have ever played!

Spyglass will test not only your golfing skills but your sensibilities. The first four holes might be the most challenging and beautiful anywhere. Don’t be lulled into thinking after those four that you can relax, however. The course winds back away from the ocean and takes you into a wooded wonderland. The deer seem to stop eating long enough to see what interloper has invaded their territory. There is a quiet so serene that the peace you feel will be mesmerizing. In any weather conditions, the course will both delight and torment you. While Pebble seems to be the big draw for visitors, Spyglass is far and away the more challenging and the more rewarding of the two. More challenging because of its difficulty and it’s subtle nuances. More rewarding because you know that the next time you come to play you will have an entirely new experience depending on the time of year. It will call you back again and again.

Joined a threesome and had a wonderful experience. Everyone has seen photos of Pebble Beach, but Spyglass Hill is equally tough without being unfair. If you plan to ride (Cartpaths only) get a forecaddie to help with distances and reading greens. The pro shop and grill are each one story and very low-key. Played both Spyglass and Spanish Bay - would definitly return to play Spyglass.

Spyglass is a good course. However I am from Michigan and we have at least a dozen courses that are just a good or better - with just as great of views - lots of trees - and 1/3 the price. I recommend that you check out Michigan for your nest golfing trip.

Spyglass Hill is a terrific course, lets just get that out there. it moved into my top five played courses when I walked off the course, something it's neighbor MPCC (Shores) among other great courses I've played could not do.

Part of the magic of Spyglass for me was the variety of holes you will play throughout your round. The opening ocean holes (which weren't my opening holes as I played in a shotgun start because of the US Open and 1-5 were actually 7-11 for me) are terrific (while the green on 4 is a special kind of evil, more on that later) they are only part of the story here.

There is just a terrific variety of open, wooded, and appropriately hazarded holes from start to finish. One of my favorite features of any golf course is that is protects par without overly punishing for a slightly errant shot. I found this to be almost universally true at Spyglass.

The course conditions were commensurate for what you'd expect when paying (well) over $300 at a resort course... in other words terrific. The rough is thick and often a bit wet so best avoided, but there's no real reason other than a mishit to find yourself there. Spyglass seems to offer a valid attainable landing area on all of your tee shots.

The bunkers also play exactly as they should, with the right amount of soft sand in the two that my ball found it's way into. The greens are fast, but (as far as I recall, other than 4) not too fast and not unplayable in any way.

My favorite hole was the Par three 12th (said by probably no one other than me, ever) which played about 165 downhill to a narrow green protected by water on the left and a hill and bunkers right and behind. It's just a really pretty hole that is completely playable with a good shot.

For me, the most challenging was 4. It's short and seems benign, but the green, really narrow and very sloped, runs away from you fast. I landed pin high (from "position A" off the tee) and wound up all the way down at the bottom of the green.

This hole and several others beg a caddie with local knowledge. I'm not the first person to suggest it in these reviews and I'm certain I won't be the last. I played the best golf I'm capable of playing at Spyglass(from the gold tees 6538/73.8/140) and probably could have had a really magical round with some solid advice (still put up a 76, which I'm quite proud of). But there were many times when just a slightly better approach could have yielded much better results. Since you are already paying nearly $400 to play, the added cost of the caddie is certainly worth it to enhance your experience.

From the guy who met me in the parking lot, to the pro-shop, to the fellow who got mic'ed up and told us about our shotgun start everyone I came into contact with at Spyglass was terrific from a service standpoint. They went out of their way over and over again to ensure that my experience was everything it was supposed to be.

My experience was a little different than normal, of course, given the shotgun start; however, pace of play was good. We finished in under 4:30 which is always decent for a shotgun (especially when there we so many pictures being taken along the way).

For a lot of (probably most) people $385 is - understandably - simply too much to spend on golf; however, if you can afford it and you have the chance, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you play Spyglass Hill. It really has everything you could want in a golf course.

If anything can rival Pebble Beach, Spyglass gives it a verified run for it's money. The stretch of coast within spyglass is some of the most special golf I have ever played. The place is extremely challenging, offers a wide variety hole layouts that truly test the golfer, and a diverse set of views and environmental obstacles. If you ever get the chance to play, run, don't walk, to Spyglass.

On my recent trip to the Monterey Peninsula Spyglass was sandwiched in between rounds at MPCC and Pebble Beach. I knew the first six holes along the ocean would be great, but what caught me off guard was just how much I enjoyed the rest of the course. In fact, I enjoyed the back 9 better than the front 9. The holes were perfectly designed for a fair but tough test of golf. We played the 18th hole in the setting sun, and I could not have asked for a better day. Also with all of the doglegs on the backside you will be very happy you took a caddie, as he will do a great job explaining the lines you might not be able to see. Lastly, take a second and walk up to the back tee on the par 3 third, as it is one of my favorite views of 17 mile drive.

Played as part of the 4th of July Stay and Play package they were running.

This course is no joke. Every employee and golfer tells you this, but it is absolutely true. The first 5 holes out on the ocean are exposed to the wind and VERY difficult. Fast greens. Must find the fairway. I can't say enough positive things about this course, I just had a blast. My only regret was that I wish we had splurged for the caddie, because local knowledge would have helped in many places

Staff was professional and friendly.

Stunning. Go play it.

There's not a whole lot I can add to what has already been said about this course. The first five holes are in fact spectacular. The last 13 sure aren't bad either.

I played Spyglass this weekend, the weather was perfect and the course was in great shape. I do recommend taking a caddie, particularly if it's your first time on Spyglass, since they'll know all the ins and outs of the course. The rough is thick, so getting out of there is a challenge. The traps are deep and are no joke either. Greens probably played to an 11, so very fair in that regard, though putts all break a little more than you might expect.

I think 1 is perhaps the best opening hole in golf, and 3 is the par 3 you see pictures of everywhere. However, some of the holes in the forest are really quite nice. The par 3 12th has a little bit of an Augusta feel to it with a lake on the left side of the green and some flowers behind. The par 5 14th is a nice double dogleg with another green protected by a lake. Visually a deceptive and stunning hole.

There were three things I didn't like:
1) Pace of play was very slow. I think we played to a 5:20 pace when the practice balls on the range say it should be 4:30.
2/3) Lack of a good locker room or restaurant near the 1st hole.

Will probably be back

Playing Spyglass a third time, I finally have a genuine appreciate for the brilliance of its design by RTJ Sr.
When I first played it, leaving the ocean after the fifth tee felt like a letdown. The second time I played it, I was focused on score after getting pummeled the first time. The third time I was able to relax and enjoy every minute.
There's so much to love. Name me a better pair of back-to-back holes in golf than the par-3 third and the par-4 fourth? Both are stunning in their beauty and entertaining to play because of the wind off the water. The long par 4s later in the round still feel like a bit of a slog, so I still suggest to move up to the whites for only those holes. The short, downhill par 3s on the back side in the Del Monte Forest and the short par 4s at No. 10 and no. 17 could help mitigate some of the scorecard damage.
Spyglass is a worthy companion course to Pebble Beach for both the AT&T Pro Am and the upcoming 2018 U.S. Amateur. It doesn't matter if you're a pro or an amateur. You'll have your hands full at Spyglass.