California Dreaming: Cruising the Golden State for Great Golf
Aug 24, 2010; 1:52 PM ET
The swallows of San Juan Capistrano aren't the only creatures flocking to California in summer. Golfers have long relied on the cooling breezes of the state's northern reaches, from the seaside splendor of the Monterey Peninsula to the incomparable variety of the San Francisco Bay Area to the mountain majesty of Lake Tahoe. It may be hard to find a better road trip in the country. Here's your golfer's GPS on what's worth stopping for.
Down in Monterey
You know you're on a winner when the road trip is almost as good as the golf. The Monterey Peninsula's staggering scenery starts with the enormous dunes just to the north at Sand City, followed by a crescent of beach and dense forest. The approach from the south, also on State Rt. 1, is even more dramatic - the slender two-lane highway winds its way between mountains and the headlands above the Pacific, taking you through Big Sur to the famed peninsula.
Everyone knows that the region's best accessible golf is at Pebble Beach Resorts, but it's also the priciest. Value seekers should zero in on a handful of other tracks that provide serious bang for the buck. Start with Poppy Hills ($60-$218; 831-625-2035, poppyhillsgolf.com) in Pebble Beach. The longtime venue of the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Poppy Hills still suffers from an inferiority complex at age 23. It's a strong test that simply lacks the drama (and history) of its neighbors. Despite that, it's still plenty of golf for most of us, with towering pines and sprawling greens defining this Robert Trent Jones Jr. design.
If you experience sticker shock at the prices around Monterey, you'll find a calming influence amid the massive sand ridges at Pacific Grove Municipal ($40-$65; 831-648-6775, pggolflinks.com), just outside the gates of 17-Mile Drive. You can walk it for less than $50, enjoy all the ocean views you want, and play past the oldest continually operating lighthouse on the West Coast at the 16th. There's not much length at this 5,727-yard, par-70 course, and the parkland front nine won't register five minutes after you're done with it, but the back nine mimics a seaside British Isles experience as closely as any course that you'll find in the United States.
Once the exclusive domain of the U.S. Army, the former Fort Ord Golf Club has morphed into a pair of public-access must-plays. Now known by the unwieldy name Bayonet and Black Horse ($75-$160; 831-899-7271; bayonetblackhorse.com), this complex underwent a two-year facelift by architect Gene Bates, with results that would make a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon proud. New bentgrass lets the usually soggy fairways roll much better, and it also makes for smoother putting on the greens. Bates also reconfigured several holes, yanked out trees, reworked the green contouring and splashed some of the game's most artistically sculpted bunkers throughout the acreage. Both courses have never looked or played this good. Bayonet is still the slightly tougher of the two, but Black Horse can gallop alongside without missing a step.
Joe Passov for Golf.com
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