Pebble Beach Help Needed
 

My Husband is turning the big 5-0 soon and his dream is to play Pebble Beach, so that's what he's getting! I don't golf and since the focus of this trip is GOLF, his brother will be going with him and sharing expenses.

The trip will be in Oct. 2009 and we have a reservation at the Inn at Spanish Bay (only lodging with 2 beds) and tee times at Pebble Beach and Spyglass. So far so good, right?

The plan is to fly into SFO and spend 1 night with another brother who lives there. Drive to Monterey/Pacific Grove/Carmel (which one?) and spend 2 nights there - any suggestions on places to stay? Any suggestions on places to golf - I've read on this forum about Pacific Grove Municipal (sounds promising) and Bayonet/Black Horse. Sounds like Del Monte isn't a good choice? Any other suggestions?

Then they'll go to SB for 2 nights and finish with golf at PB on their last day. Then drive back to SF, spend a night and fly out the next day.

Some info: like I said this trip is all about GOLF, they really won't be doing any sight-seeing and shopping is definitely out. PB is a splurge, so making the time in the Monterey area more "budget" would be good (but not cheap - this is a once in a lifetime trip!). Husband enjoys good beer (microbrews, etc) and his brother will drink beer and also wine. No fancy restaurants - husband loves pubs with 1 or 2 nicer meals but not too pricey.

Oh, he was thrilled when I told him he could walk the course with a caddy - he couldn't imagine anything more perfect! When do we need to reserve a caddy?

Thanks for your help!

Your golf advise is right on. Pacific Grove is a charming, historic, oceanfront track that he should experience on this trip. Bayonet or Black Horse are superior to Del Monte. I would go for Bayonet myself.

The quaint local stays are quite a contrast to Inn at Spanish world class resort. I often stay at Village Inn or the Dolphin in Carmel. These are vintage 50's but very well done and in character for the penninsula. The benefit is you are downtown Carmel and walking distance to the beach and all the in town stuff. Monterey has a Marriott and couple other national chains that are also more than acceptable.

Whether Monterey or Carmel, you'll have plenty to do while the brothers are golfing.

The other golf destination en route between SFO and Pebble is Pasatiempo, a Donald Ross course in Santa Cruz. Your guys would rather catch this than replaying another course.

I hope other wives are paying attention to your birthday planning skills.

La Playa is very nice in Carmel, you can walk to the shops and the ocean from here and there is an outdoor pool and small spa here as well. You may also want to check out the Pine Inn or Lobos Lodge. Enjoy Carmel! ***kim*** ((#))

I have a bud who lives in PG and loves golfing at Pacific Grove municipal. There's another post about dining in Monterey and Pacific Grove.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on the Del Monte Golf Course, in Monterey. It's very nice.

Finally getting back to this thread - thanks for your help so far. The trip is shaping up and husband is very excited. We had enough credit card rewards points for his flight, so that is now booked. He changes planes in Cincy (where his brother lives) so they'll arrive in SFO together on Oct. 10. They spend 2 nights with other brother in SF and head to Monterey pen. on Monday 10/12. BTW I'm not going on this trip - just not my thing.....and he'll have a great time with his brother.

I still need a hotel on Mon & Tues 10/12 and 10/13 - may be able to use Marriott points in Monterey. They will golf in this area Mon, Tues and Weds. They check in to Spanish Bay on Weds - spend Weds 10/14 and Thurs 10/15 there and drive back to SF on Fri after playing golf at PB. They fly out of SFO Sunday AM 10/18 - husband will probably stay with friends in Orinda the last 2 nights.

Am I missing anything? Any other advice? He has received PB gift cards so that will help with souvenirs, etc. I'm so happy this is working out!

He is going to love playing Pebble Beach..its an incredible course..
Marriott in Monterey is across from Fisherman's Wharf and a perfect location..

Pasatiempo is Alister MacKenzie, not Donald Ross.

It's in Santa Cruz, I don't think he would regret playing there if he can get on.

This won't do anything to keep costs down but they would surely enjoy golfing at the Links at Spanish Bay. It is a links course in the Scottish tradition. Every night they bring in the final golfers with a Scottish bagpipe in full kilt. It's really neat. Also, they have firepits on the patio where they can sit around the fire and have a drink or bottle of wine in the evening. Spanish Bay is a great choice.

Try not to hit into the ice plants in Spyglass. Tough to get your club on the ball through those things. I think Tiger Woods never broke 70 on that course.

Wow! The big trip begins this weekend! Husband has the following tee times:
Mon 10/12 Pacific Grove Muni
Tues 10/13 Passatiempo (had originally booked this for the drive down on the 12th, but then a tournament was planned after the fact - they were give a credit for their booking fee and a free cart!)
Wed 10/14 Poppy Hills
Thurs 10/15 Spy Glass
Fri 10/16 Pebble Beach
Sat 10/17 Harding Park (in SF) - a last minute bonus!

He decided not to play Spanish Bay due to it being a links course. Biggest decision was between Poppy Hills and Bayonnet - PH won. They will get caddies for Pebble Beach and probably Spyglass - this is a real luxury for my husband.

Any other advice or suggestions?

Just wanted to give an update on this trip - my husband said I never need to give him another birthday gift since this one was so incredible!

The only problem they ran into was the tropical storm that hit the coast on Tues 10/13. They were not able to play Pasatiempo because the day was a total washout. Very disappointing, but will hopefully do in the future. They played Poppy Hills the next day but there was no electricity (so no food) and the course was in rough shape. They still enjoyed it.

The Inn at Spanish Bay was a highlight and they loved the evenings by the fire pits. Of course playing Pebble Beach was the ultimate experience for any golfer and worth every penny. Husband loved walking the course with a caddy. Someone in his foursome got a hole-in-one on 17 which was awesome to witness.

Also enjoyed Harding Park - the President's Cup was held the previous weekend, so all the stands, tents, etc. were just being removed. They got a kick out of this.

Of course, he'd love to go back - to play Pasatiempo, Spanish Bay and Bayonnet (and maybe Pebble Beach again). His brother ended up using Marriott points, but got the one in Salinas (!) which wasn't ideal, but at least it was free. So staying in Monterey would be added to the list.

This was better than any 50th birthday party I could have planned and he's ecstatic!