There is no public golf experience that can compare with a day at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Monterey California! Period, drop the mic, floss, or whatever the kids do these days, end of discussion!!
If you love the game of golf; the beauty of the area, the character of the golf course, the conditions, the hospitality, and the history add up to a great day! In addition, the knowledge that you are walking on the same hallowed ground ground that Jack, Arnie, Tiger, and Hogan played on during the US Open, make this is an amazing golf experience.
From start to finish, the welcome at the Academy practice facility with legendary instructor Laird Small PGA, Kelsey, and staff, to the reflection on your round with a favorite beverage while sitting on the porch, overlooking the eighteenth green and Monterey Bay, everything contributes to create a fabulous day of golf.
I must forewarn you if it is your first time, or an infrequent round for you at Pebble, a certain sadness overcomes you as you head down the fifteenth and sixteenth fairways. You suddenly realize your round is winding to a close, and you don’t want it to end!
I have actually sat on the bench on the seventeenth tee and let others play through in an effort to delay the inevitable. ( Don’t tell anyone, but I have also cut back to number ten and played the back nine over)
When the round continues the joy returns, as you slowly play seventeen and eighteen, and take it all in.
( A Cliff Clavin [Cheers] Factoid): Number eighteen at Pebble is the slowest played golf hole on the planet, yet, no one seems to mind. We all understand the slowed walk, multiple practice swings, lingering stares at the ocean, the picture taking, the added conversation with playing partners, and the extra look at that final three-footer that you face, imagining it’s to win the open, just as you did as a kid.