The Best Golf Courses on the Monterey Peninsula
No stretch of coast on earth packs this much great golf into so few miles. From the untouchable Cypress Point to the six time US Open host at Pebble Beach, our ranked eight, with the verdict on each, the designers and indicative 2026 green fees.
How we chose
The Monterey Peninsula is the densest concentration of world class golf anywhere outside Scotland and Ireland, a few square miles of pine, cliff and Pacific surf along the 17 Mile Drive between Pacific Grove and Carmel. The land does the heavy lifting, but the architecture is extraordinary too, from the golden age genius of Alister MacKenzie at Cypress Point to the amateur inspiration of Jack Neville and Douglas Grant at Pebble Beach and the muscular modern work of Robert Trent Jones, father and son. We have weighed the quality of the course first, then its setting and pedigree, its conditioning and tournament history, and finally how realistic it is for a visiting golfer to actually arrange a game, because access here ranges from a public tee sheet to one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet.
The result is a top eight led by the private jewel at Cypress Point and the public cathedral at Pebble Beach, completed by the championship courses a resort guest or public golfer can play. A classic Monterey trip stays at one of the Pebble Beach lodges to secure tee times across Pebble, Spyglass and Spanish Bay, then adds the public value of Poppy Hills and Bayonet and the unforgettable cliffs of municipal Pacific Grove. If you can finagle an introduction to Cypress Point or the Monterey Peninsula Country Club, take it without a second thought.
The ranking
Cypress Point Club
The greatest course on the peninsula and, for many, the most beautiful in the world. MacKenzie's 1928 routing runs from dunes into forest and out onto the rocks, building to the storied sequence at the fifteenth and sixteenth, a pair of cliff edge par 3s carrying the open Pacific. Compact, walkable and impossibly varied, it is the purest expression of golden age design. An intensely private club where a game depends entirely on a member's invitation.
Indicative 2026 private club · member introduction required. Always confirm directly before booking.Pebble Beach Golf Links
The finest course in the world that anyone can play, and the spiritual home of American championship golf. Laid out in 1919 by the amateurs Neville and Grant along Carmel Bay, it saves its best for the closing stretch, the cliffside seventh, eighth and eighteenth among the most famous holes in the game. Host of six US Opens and the annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am, with priority tee times for guests of the resort lodges. Expensive, busy and absolutely essential.
Indicative 2026 public green fee, the highest in American golf, resort guests prioritized. Always confirm directly before booking.Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Shore Course
The peninsula's best kept secret, a private members course that shares the same magnificent coastline as Cypress Point and Pebble. Originally a 1961 Bob Baldock and Jack Neville layout, it was boldly reimagined by the late Mike Strantz in 2004 into a dramatic, sand splashed run of holes that now features in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am rotation. Bold greens and rugged dunescapes make it one of the most exciting modern courses in California. Private, by member introduction.
Indicative 2026 private club · member introduction required. Always confirm directly before booking.Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Long regarded as one of the hardest courses in American golf, Robert Trent Jones Sr's 1966 design opens with five spectacular holes through the Spanish Bay dunes before climbing into the Del Monte forest for a brutal, beautiful back nine. A Pebble Beach Pro-Am venue and a stern test off the back tees, named for the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Open to resort guests and public play, and a must on any serious Monterey itinerary.
Indicative 2026 resort and public green fee, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.The Links at Spanish Bay
America's most committed attempt at a true Scottish links, opened in 1987 to a design by Robert Trent Jones Jr alongside Tom Watson and Sandy Tatum, two men who loved the links golf of Scotland. Firm fescue, dunes and ocean wind run beside the Pacific, and a lone piper plays the sun down each evening. Not everyone loves its quirks, but few resort courses are this atmospheric. Open to guests of the Inn at Spanish Bay and the wider resort.
Indicative 2026 resort and public green fee, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Poppy Hills Golf Course
Home of the Northern California Golf Association and a former Pro-Am host, Poppy Hills is a Robert Trent Jones Jr design from 1986 that was stripped back and reborn in a 2014 renovation by Jones himself. The work removed cart paths and excess water, widened the corridors and firmed the turf into a far more natural, walkable forest course. Genuinely public, excellent value beside its famous neighbors and a favorite of locals who know the peninsula best.
Indicative 2026 public green fee, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Bayonet Golf Course
Built in 1954 on the former Fort Ord army base by General Robert McClure, Bayonet is the tougher of the two championship courses at Bayonet and Black Horse, a long, tree lined test that once earned the nickname Combat Corner for its punishing closing holes. Modernized and lengthened in recent years, it has hosted US Open qualifying and college championships. Fully public, fine value, and a welcome change of character from the coastal resort courses.
Indicative 2026 public green fee, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Pacific Grove Golf Links
Affectionately called the poor man's Pebble, this municipal course gives you a forest front nine by Chandler Egan and a glorious links back nine laid out by Jack Neville beside the Point Pinos lighthouse, where Monterey Bay meets the open Pacific. The dunes finish is pure links theatre at a fraction of the price of its neighbors, which is exactly why golfers who know the peninsula keep coming back. Public, walkable and unbeatable for value.
Indicative 2026 municipal green fee, peak season. Always confirm directly before booking.Designers, opening years and tournament history verified June 2026. Cypress Point and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club are private and require a member introduction. Rankings reflect our editorial view. Course profiles are added across the site as the directory grows.
How to play the peninsula
Access is everything here. The surest route to the great public courses is to stay inside the resort gates, at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the Inn at Spanish Bay or Casa Palmero, which unlocks priority tee times across Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Spanish Bay and the historic Del Monte. Book those rounds the moment your stay is confirmed, often many months ahead, because the calendar fills fast and the Pro-Am in February closes several courses entirely. Poppy Hills, Bayonet and Black Horse and municipal Pacific Grove take public bookings and need no resort stay, which makes them the smart anchors of a value trip. Cypress Point and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club sit behind private gates and a member's invitation, so treat any chance to play them as a stroke of fortune rather than a plan.
Most golfers fly into Monterey or San Jose, base for three to five nights, and pair the marquee rounds with the wine country of Carmel Valley and the drive down Highway 1 to Big Sur. Spring and fall bring the firmest turf and the best chance of clear coastal light, while summer fog can hang over the cliffs into mid morning. Tell us the courses you must play and roughly when, and we will build the itinerary and chase the tee times around them.
Plan your Monterey golf trip
Tell us the courses you want and roughly when. One concierge costs the whole trip to the head and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
Monterey golf questions
What is the best golf course on the Monterey Peninsula?
Cypress Point Club, Alister MacKenzie's 1928 masterpiece on the rocks between the Pacific and the pines, is regarded by most authorities as the finest course on the peninsula and one of the greatest in the world. It is an intensely private club, so the best course a visitor can actually play is Pebble Beach Golf Links, the 1919 Neville and Grant layout that has hosted six US Opens.
Which Monterey Peninsula courses can the public play?
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill, The Links at Spanish Bay and Del Monte are all open to resort guests of Pebble Beach, while Poppy Hills, Bayonet and Black Horse and the municipal Pacific Grove Golf Links take public tee times. Cypress Point and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club are private and require a member introduction. We are a guide, not an operator, so always confirm access and fees directly before booking.
How much does it cost to play Pebble Beach in 2026?
Pebble Beach Golf Links carries the highest public green fee in American golf, indicatively around 700 US dollars plus a cart in the 2026 season, with priority tee times reserved for guests of the Pebble Beach resorts. Fees move every season, so always confirm directly with the resort before booking.
Related
The Tee Sheet
Pebble Beach tee windows, the Pro-Am calendar to plan around and the best of California coastal golf. Every other week.
Hero photograph of Pebble Beach Golf Links via Google Places, contributor Local Guide.