Spyglass Hill vs Spanish Bay: The Other Pebble Beach Courses
Every golfer visiting Pebble Beach books the main course. The round at $695 is the reason for the trip. What fills the other days defines whether the trip is a one-round pilgrimage or a multi-day golf destination. Spyglass Hill Golf Course and The Links at Spanish Bay are the two resort courses that complete the Pebble Beach portfolio. They are as different from each other as they are from the flagship, and together they provide the architectural range that makes a three-day Monterey Peninsula trip worth the investment.
Note: Spanish Bay closed on March 18, 2026, for a comprehensive renovation by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. The estimated duration is 13 months. This comparison reflects the course as it played before closure and anticipates what the renovation will deliver.
Spyglass Hill
Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed Spyglass Hill in 1966. It plays 6,960 yards at par 72 with a course rating of 75. The first five holes wind through coastal sand dunes with Pacific views, beginning with a downhill par-5 through ice plant and sand that establishes the course's intent immediately. After the fifth green, the routing enters the Del Monte Forest, where tall Monterey pines frame tight fairways and the atmosphere shifts from links to parkland.
4 and a slope of 145, making it one of the most difficult public courses in the United States.
The green fee is $525 through March 2026. Carts cost $50 to $55; caddies run $150 to $155 for a single bag. Walking is the preferred option for golfers who want the full experience of the dunes-to-forest transition.
Spyglass Hill is the course that separates serious golfers from casual visitors to the Monterey Peninsula. The difficulty is genuine: the slope of 145 reflects a course that punishes inaccuracy from the first tee shot. The dune holes at the start are exposed to Pacific wind, and the forest holes demand precision with longer irons. This is not a course that flatters.
What it offers instead is the satisfaction of playing a course that plays at a championship level in a setting that combines two distinct landscapes. The transition from dunes to forest mid-round is unique to Spyglass and creates a narrative arc that most courses lack.
Spanish Bay (Pre-Renovation)
Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Watson, and Sandy Tatum designed The Links at Spanish Bay in 1987. The course played 6,821 yards at par 72 with a slope of 142, routing through restored sand dunes along the Pacific coast. The design intent was explicitly links-style: firm, fast turf, minimal rough, wide fairways, and the opportunity for ground-game approaches.
Spanish Bay's signature feature was atmospheric rather than architectural. The pre-round and post-round experience at Spanish Bay, watching the sun drop into the Pacific with bagpipe music carrying across the dunes, created an emotional register that neither Pebble Beach nor Spyglass attempted.
A lone bagpiper played at sunset from the 18th-hole area each evening, a tradition that became one of the most recognisable rituals in American golf.
The green fee was $350, making it the most affordable of the three Pebble Beach Resorts courses by a significant margin.
The Hanse Renovation
Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner's renovation, expected to take approximately 13 months, represents the most significant investment in Spanish Bay since its opening. Hanse's track record at Pinehurst No. 4 and the Olympic Course in Rio suggests the renovated course will emerge with sharper strategic definition, improved green complexes, and a playing experience closer to the links ideal that Watson and Tatum envisioned. The renovation is an acknowledgement that the original course, while pleasant, did not fully realise the potential of its extraordinary coastal site.
When Spanish Bay reopens, likely in mid-2027, it will be a different conversation. The Hanse imprimatur on a course occupying this stretch of Pacific coastline has the potential to elevate Spanish Bay from the most accessible Pebble Beach course to a genuine architectural destination in its own right.
The Pre-Closure Comparison
Spyglass Hill was the clearly superior course by every measure except atmosphere. The architecture was more demanding, the strategic questions were sharper, and the difficulty created a sense of accomplishment that Spanish Bay's gentler routing did not. The dune-to-forest transition was a more interesting design proposition than Spanish Bay's single-terrain links routing.
Spanish Bay was the more enjoyable casual round. The links-style layout rewarded creativity, the firm conditions allowed the ground game, and the sunset bagpiper created a memory that outlasted the scorecard. For the golfer who wanted to relax after the intensity of Pebble Beach and Spyglass, Spanish Bay provided that release.
Which to Book in 2026
With Spanish Bay closed, Spyglass Hill is the only supporting course available at Pebble Beach Resorts for the remainder of 2026. Poppy Hills ($225 for general public, $75 to $100 for NCGA members), the association-owned course in the Del Monte Forest, provides an additional option. Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley and Pacific Grove Golf Links offer further alternatives.
For the golfer planning a 2026 Pebble Beach trip, the itinerary is clear: Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill, with Poppy Hills or an off-resort course filling a third day.
When Spanish Bay Reopens
The verdict
The bagpiper, presumably, will return.