Half Moon Bay Golf Links' Ocean Course: Get a taste of Scotland in northern California

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. -- The omnipresent ocean views and firm-and-fast conditions certainly help the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links look and play like a links.

A blind shot, sounds of the bagpipe and gloomy, overcast weather -- all recognizable to any golfer who has made the pilgrimage overseas -- deliver a fully authentic links experience.

Arthur Hills designed the 6,854-yard course in 1997 on a windswept, open expanse along the bluffs of the Pacific Ocean 30 miles south of San Francisco. In theory, his five par-5/five par-3 routing should help players to score better. That's rarely the case. While the fescue lining wide fairways is punishing if players find it, the biggest challenge comes on the approach shots. Only a few heavily contoured greens allow bouncing the ball in, like a true links. Plateaued putting surfaces on holes 1, 2, 8, 9 and 18 tend not to relent to the ground game. Neither do the par-3 seventh and par-4 16th holes, both guarded in front by hazards.

Those who catch Half Moon Bay on a clear day are blessed the spectacular scenery from the elevated tees at holes 2, 13 and 16. Nobody should fear the blind tee shot at no. 18, a strong par 5 that finishes next to the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay. There's a massive fairway hidden above the coastal chasm that must be cleared. The sounds of the bagpiper, who plays at the hotel at dusk Wednesday through Sunday, can waft in on the breeze.

Plenty of famous players have teed it up on the Ocean Course. Paula Creamer won the LPGA Samsung Golf Championship in 2008. Audemars Piguet, a luxury watch manufacturer, held an event played by Sir Nick Faldo, Billy Horschel, Ian Poulter, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Louis Oosthuizen, Victor Dubuisson and Bud Cauley the same week as the 2015 World Golf Championships, Cadillac Match Play Championship at TPC Harding Park.