Spyglass Hill Golf Course

Spyglass Hill is the course that Pebble Beach regulars say actually tests them more than Pebble Beach itself — and they're not wrong. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1966, the layout starts on the high ground of the Del Monte Forest with sweeping Pacific views, then descends sharply into a dense corridor of Monterey pine before eventually climbing back out. The opening five holes play across exposed, wind-swept headland; the remaining thirteen wind through forest so thick that you can lose all sense of the ocean entirely. It's two completely different courses in one routing, and both halves are legitimate.

The name is lifted from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island — Stevenson reportedly drew inspiration for the novel from this exact stretch of the Monterey Peninsula, and several holes are named after characters from the book. Hole 4 (the "Captain Smollett") is a long par-5 where the fairway tilts hard toward trouble on the right. Hole 16 (the "Black Dog") is a brutal downhill par-3 into a green cut into the hillside, usually playing into the wind. The course plays to 6,960 yards from the tips with a rating of 75.3 and a slope of 148 — statistically harder than Pebble Beach on paper, and it feels that way.

In the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am rotation alongside Pebble Beach Links and Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Spyglass consistently produces the highest scoring relative to par among touring professionals. That tells you something. It's a resort course managed by the Pebble Beach Company, so booking follows the same system: resort guests first, public tee times available 60 days out. Green fees run $375 for public play — lower than Pebble, and many experienced players argue the golf is better. If you're doing a Monterey Peninsula golf trip and can play both, the correct order is Spyglass first, Pebble Beach as the finale.