The hazards that make Pebble Beach Golf Links the most spectacular course in the land – Stillwater Cove and Carmel Bay – will be in play more than ever at the 2010 U.S. Open. With new tees, trees, bunkers and slopes, Pebble Beach has been tweaked, massaged and molded into what the brass at the USGA hope is a tougher test of golf.
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No one knows more about golf in Pebble Beach than Neal Hotelling. An import from Michigan, Hotelling made it his quest to uncover the unanswered questions about the sport's history on the Monterey Peninsula. He's written two books on the subject, and Hotelling's expertise extends beyond golf, Mike Bailey writes.
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In Golf World's latest Readers' Choice Rankings, Stevinson Ranch Golf Club finished fifth, higher than any other course in California. Also making the list were Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo at ninth, Trump National-Los Angeles at 15th, and the Mountain View course at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert at 25th.
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Director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy since 1996, Laird Small utilizes the mecca of Pebble Beach as a classroom to teach a brand of club-awareness, swing sensitivity, and shotmaking prowess often lost in more mechanical approaches. On a recent, foggy morning at Spyglass, Small sat down with GolfCalifornia.com and elaborated on his nurturing teaching philosophy and on the big-picture of amateur golf in America.
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Pebble Beach Golf Links is always going to be the 1,000-pound gorilla of golf in Monterey. But the Monterey Bay area is chock full of golf worth traveling from the four corners of the world for, whether Pebble is on your itinerary or not. Here are five more Monterey-area must-plays.
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While the clubhouse at many resorts and courses is often a good option for after-golf beers, sometimes it's just good to get away. In the Palm Springs/Palm Desert/La Quinta area, there are plenty of great venues with their own unique atmosphere, and many of them showcase plenty of local golf memorabilia.
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We know golfers love the golf courses at Torrey Pines, but it seems people also think very highly of the resort there. So much so that once again, according to Travel+Leisure magazine readers, The Lodge at Torrey Pines is the No. 1 resort in the San Diego area. All told, the San Diego area landed five properties on the list, up from three a year ago.
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Forget Torrey Pines as you know it. Or heard about it. Or watched it on TV. It no longer exists. At least not for the next six months.
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From the outside, the boxy, windowless, white stucco building at 5125 Lankersheim Blvd. looks more like a KGB office than the headquarters of KZ Golf, aka KZG. But don't let the exterior fool you. Inside these vanilla walls lie enough golf toys to make a golfer feel as excited as a kid at nearby Universal Studios.
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Rodeo Drive doesn't go out of its way to lure golfers - or anyone else. You can find just about any golf package imaginable on the Internet, but you won't find one involving Rodeo Drive. This no-need-to-push-it attitude makes a Rodeo Drive jaunt all the more enjoyable.
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Few golfers in the world are as spoiled with riches as those in Southern California. Infinite great weather combines with some of the world's top golf courses to give Southern California golfers the option to pull out their clubs any time of year. For visitors, Southern California is nearly an amusement park of activity. Beaches, great food, Hollywood, and, of course, amusement parks help make Southern California one of the U.S.'s most prominent vacation destinations.
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Frank still rules this town. If you need to know the last name, you obviously haven't been to Old Blue Eyes' favorite L.A. getaway. One of the most important streets still bears his name and his grave is one of the biggest tourist attractions around. Spend any time in the Palm Springs valley and it's easy to become convinced this golfing mecca is still immersed in 1950s and 1960s celebrity worship. Black and white photos of Bob Hope and various Rat Pack members dominate many hotel lobbies and golf course clubhouses.
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While Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego are the media darlings of Southern California, it's the Inland Empire that does the grunt work. Proudly proclaiming itself as "California's job creation leader for more than a decade," the Inland Empire boasts the nation's 13th-largest metropolitan market and has a diverse economy that is one of the largest and fastest growing in the nation in the United States.
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The city of dreams allows for year-round golf at some of the best public courses in the world.
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Many golfers who think golf in Monterey is out of their price range don't realize is that there is an absurd amount of quality, affordable golf to be played out here. Not so-so munis, but excellent courses that have long been popular with the locals and will forever be overshadowed by Pebble Beach's dominance.
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This is where every golfer wants to be. I'm sitting on the stone wall outside the golf shop at Pebble Beach Golf Links and just about 15 yards from the first tee of what many call the world's greatest, most revered golf course.
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The golf part of a San Diego area golf vacation is pretty hard to mess up. With well-known big names along the lines of Torrey Pines and La Costa North and South, a host of great mid tier plays like Barona Creek and Maderas Country Club and a collection of semi-reasonably priced lesser-known courses such as Steele Canyon Golf Club and Riverwalk Golf Course, the formula for a good time on the links is pretty simple. Pick a course or two from each category and swing away into your future bored office day dreams.
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William Georgeson finds himself in a most coveted golf demographic. He's 62, nearing retirement and mulling a move from California to a more reasonably priced place to take the swings of his golden years
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The "Good shot, mate" rings out so loud and clear it can be heard two foursomes behind. But no one on the Greg Norman Course in the Palm Springs' offshoot resort community of La Quinta turns a head.
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"Sideways," the low-budget Fox Searchlight comedy that's a "Swingers" for the middle-aged audience, has grossed more than $50 million at the box office after its Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
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