The Links at Spanish Bay

The Links at Spanish Bay closes on March 18, 2026, for a comprehensive renovation by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. The final day of play is March 17. The estimated duration is 13 months, which means the course will not be available for the remainder of 2026 and likely much of 2027. What follows is a profile of the course as it existed before the renovation, because Spanish Bay will reopen, and because understanding what came before is part of understanding what comes next.

Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Watson, and Sandy Tatum designed Spanish Bay in 1987 as an intentional departure from the tree-lined parkland courses that dominated American golf architecture at the time. The brief was to build a links course on the Pacific Coast, and the result was a layout that moved through restored sand dunes and coastal grasses with the kind of open, wind-exposed character that Americans associate with Scotland and the Irish seaside. At 6,821 yards with a slope of 142, Spanish Bay played as the most accessible of the three Pebble Beach Company courses, demanding creativity and ground-game imagination more than raw power or precision.

The opening holes moved along the coastline with the Pacific visible from most tee boxes. The turf was firmer and faster than parkland conditioning, encouraging the bump-and-run approaches that links golf rewards. Watson's involvement showed in the strategic options around the greens, where multiple recovery routes existed for the golfer willing to think beyond the standard aerial pitch. The back nine turned inland through dunes and ice plant before returning to the coast for a finishing stretch that caught the late afternoon light in a way that made every round feel like it had been timed to a script.

The daily bagpiper at sunset became Spanish Bay's signature tradition. A lone piper in full regalia walked the grounds near the Inn at Spanish Bay each evening, playing as the sun dropped toward the Pacific. It was theatrical and unapologetic about it, and it worked. Golfers finishing late rounds on the back nine could hear the pipes carried on the wind, and the sound became inseparable from the place.

At $350, Spanish Bay offered a meaningfully lower entry point than either Pebble Beach ($695) or Spyglass ($525), and its links character attracted golfers who found the target golf of American resort courses less interesting than the strategic puzzles of ground-based play. The course was not without criticism. Some found the layout repetitive in its middle stretch, and the inland holes through the ice plant lacked the drama of the oceanside sections. These are fair observations, and they are part of the reason a Gil Hanse renovation is such an interesting prospect.

Hanse's body of work, from Streamsong Blue to Ohoopee Match Club to his restoration of Merion's East Course, demonstrates a designer who understands how to build strategic interest into every hole without relying on visual intimidation. His involvement at Spanish Bay suggests a course that will retain its links identity while gaining architectural depth in the sections that previously fell flat. That is speculation, but it is informed speculation.

For golfers planning peninsula trips during the renovation period, Poppy Hills is the natural substitute in the third-course rotation. When Spanish Bay reopens, it will be a different course built on the same beautiful ground. The bagpiper, presumably, will return.

Know before you go

The course is closed from March 18, 2026, for an estimated 13 months. Check pebblebeach.com for reopening updates. When operational, Spanish Bay was booked through the same system as Pebble Beach and Spyglass, with resort-stay priority for advance bookings. The links-style conditions meant the course played differently than the peninsula's other layouts: bring a variety of wedges and expect to use your imagination around the greens.

What stands out

The links character, unique among courses on the peninsula, and the sunset bagpiper tradition. When the Hanse renovation is complete, Spanish Bay may emerge as the most architecturally sophisticated of the three Pebble Beach Company courses. That transformation is worth watching.