Monterey Golf in May

Wife and I are doing a 10year anniversary trip in May as we never had a honeymoon. We are doing sonoma first and then driving down the coast. Yes I want to play pebble but not staying at the resort so going to try to be a single the night before. Would also like a round the Sunday afternoon we arrive. Anything someone local can recommend? Also do I even have a chance in getting on pebble? Or stick with spyglass?

If if anyone has any recommendations please let me know. Also places to eat, etc? Fellows pilot recommended we stay at Hyatt Carmel Highlands? Trying to use hotel points too.

A bit cliche, but we enjoyed Hogs Breath Inn (formerly owned by Clint Eastwood). Lots of great little restaurants in Carmel. 3 years ago you could reserve PB a week out and not be a resort guest. I guess the economy is better now so they have gone back to 24 hour reservation unless you stay at the Lodge. We stayed at Coachman's Inn in Carmel. Inexpensive but nice. Of course, the 17 Mile drive is spectacular. Pacific Grove is a fun course that has several holes right on the ocean. Inexpensive public course. And maybe Del Monte, Bayonet, SpyGlass or Poppy Hills. Many courses punch the greens in early April. You should be good to go in May. Beautiful area.

Monterey Golf in May

Sounds like you have the golf covered. To eat, I recommend the Whaling Station just off Cannery row on Wave Street. The steaks are superb. Also the Sardine Factory is another good shout. Il Vecchio has also been strongly recommended to me but I've yet to try it. That one is on Lighthouse. Stay away from the wharf unless you want to do the touristy thing.
Depending on cost, the 2 hotels I'd recommend are either the Marriot or The Portola. They are nice and central to downtown.
Golf wise, there are a tonne of courses here. From the places on 17 mile drive to Del Monte, Quail Lodge, Laguna Seca, Bayonet and Black Horse, the list just goes on and on. May is normally a good month weather wise too, you just beat the months of the marine layer.
By the way, are you flying in? If so, I'd recommend you choose the Monterey Jet Center. If I'm working, I'll see you here. We can get you some good deals on some of the local courses.

I was just out there last month! Have you ever played Pebble and/or the other resort courses? If you haven't, it seems to me you might end up feeling like you left something on the table if you didn't at least try to get on Pebble. If you don't feel that way, you can't go wrong with Spyglass but I might actually choose Spanish Bay over Spyglass. Lots of beautiful views and the cheapest of the 3 IIRC. I don't know why everyone ranks it a distant 3rd but it ended up working out great as a buddy and I played it in just over 3 hours while some friends of ours teed off a half hour sooner at Pebble and ended up having to quit on the 14th due to darkness after 5+ hours. Getting on isn't the big problem at Pebble, but finishing is. It is so dang pretty there though... On a side note, IMO having a good caddie at any of those 3 courses is just about necessary but it is an extra expense. I won't go into it further but let me know if you want to know more.

I played Carmel Valley (pretty and fun) and Bayonet/Black Horse (kinda tough but cool layout) while I was out there also. Considering everything is an arm and a leg out there Bayonet is dirt cheap. They had the Senior PGA out there last year too I think. I'm amazed by how many mentions it gets so it might be worth checking out just because of that.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Looks like I have a couple of choices for my Sunday round. As far as pebble goes I am already booked for my May round. Pretty stoked and hopefully the weather and conditions will be good. Looking forward to a great weekend.

Don't see how you lose!!

Motopilot said:

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Looks like I have a couple of choices for my Sunday round. As far as pebble goes I am already booked for my May round. Pretty stoked and hopefully the weather and conditions will be good. Looking forward to a great weekend.

Click to expand...

You will have a great time. Just curious, are you having to stay at The Lodge to get an advanced tee time at PB? I worried about the weather every day before I played and it turned out to be a nice day. It is fun to watch the live cams online to build more anticipation. And do walk with a caddy!

Check out Bayonet Course over at the old Ft. Ord. I think they did a good job on the remake and plays pretty nice. If the sun comes out you have awesome views of the bay.

Also, the Pacific Grove Muni course is a nice little track with the back 9 going along the water. You may have to stay at a local BnB to get a tee time.

Many good recommendations already. Have yet to play Pebble or Spanish bay, but I really enjoyed Spyglass. Poppy hills is open to the public and a really nice track.