The Links at Spanish Bay

Opened in 1987 and shaped by Robert Trent Jones Jr., five-time Open Championship winner Tom Watson, and former USGA president Sandy Tatum, the course was conceived as a homage to the great links of Scotland and Ireland.

Firm, rolling fairways, tumbling dunescapes, wispy native grasses, and near-constant ocean breezes give the course a genuine links character rare on the West Coast. Each evening a lone bagpiper walks the course at sunset, playing it to sleep in Scottish tradition, an image that has become inseparable from Spanish Bay.

Course History

Spanish Bay was born of an unusual ambition: to build a true Scottish links on the Pacific and, in doing so, to heal the land. The site had been used for decades as a sand-mining operation, leaving a scarred, industrialized stretch of coastline. Beginning in the early 1980s, the design team and Pebble Beach Company undertook one of the era's most significant ecological restorations, rebuilding the dunes and reintroducing native vegetation before a single hole was routed.

The course opened in 1987 alongside The Inn at Spanish Bay. From day one it was paired with the nightly bagpiper tradition, inspired by Tom Watson's observation that the finished dunescape felt so much like Scotland you could almost hear the pipes. That ritual continues every evening at sunset, rain or shine.

The Design & Architecture

The collaboration between Robert Trent Jones Jr., Tom Watson, and Sandy Tatum produced a course intentionally at odds with the manicured aesthetic of American resort golf. Fairways run firm and undulating, greens sit low and open to the ground game, and holes are framed by restored sand dunes, ice plant, and swaying native grasses rather than trees.

Wind is the course's defining hazard. Because Spanish Bay hugs the exposed Pacific shoreline, the same hole can demand a wedge one day and a mid-iron the next, rewarding the low, running shots that define authentic links play. The most memorable stretches sit hard against the sea, with the dunes and coastline visible from much of the routing.

Playing the Course

From the back tees the course plays to roughly 6,821 yards, par 72, with a course rating near 74.3 and a slope around 142, though the true difficulty is dictated by the wind rather than the yardage. Multiple tee options make the course playable for a wide range of abilities, but firm turf and coastal breezes ask every golfer to think about trajectory and roll.

Bring a creative short game. The ground contours around the greens invite bump-and-run recoveries, and putting from well off the putting surface is often the smart play. Keeping the ball beneath the wind and accepting a bogey when the sea breeze rises are the hallmarks of a good round here.

Know Before You Go

• Public resort access: tee times are available to Pebble Beach Resorts guests and, subject to availability, the public. Reserve well in advance.

• Dress for the coast: layers and wind protection are essential, as conditions can shift quickly along the shoreline.

• Don't miss the sunset bagpiper, who plays the course to sleep each evening near the Inn at Spanish Bay in Scottish tradition.

• The course is located along 17-Mile Drive at 2700 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, part of the wider Pebble Beach Resorts golf collection.

• Embrace the ground game: firm links turf rewards low, running shots far more than target-style aerial golf.