Par Excellence
My husband, Brian, has had the same mistress for years. He spends most weekends with her, claims she keeps him in shape and takes away his stress, but often he’ll come home more frustrated than ever. I’ve tried to entice him away with new extracurricular activities, but I know he’ll never give her up. He’s hooked.
His addiction to the game of golf can be spooky; I don’t know if a man could be this passionate about a woman. Once, when I asked him if he had to choose between us--wife or golf--he just stared at me and said, “I’m thinking.” When his latest birthday loomed large, I told him to make a wish. He countered with two little words: “Pebble Beach.” And no, no, no, he didn’t just want to play the famed course itself, the ne plus ultra, the very mecca, the Holy Grail of the sport. He wanted to play the Links at Spanish Bay and Spyglass Hill courses as well--all owned by the Pebble Beach Co., and all located on the private 17-Mile Drive.
He’d been fantasizing about it for years. His love has taken us to some of the world’s greatest fairways: Scotland’s St. Andrews, Turnberry and Gleneagles; the courses at Hawaii’s Mauna Kea and Lanai’s Lodge at Koele resorts; Bali’s Bali-Handara (in the bowl of an extinct volcano); and Kiaweh Island Ocean Course in South Carolina.
But Pebble Beach remained unconquered. And since a very large part of the game is jawing about it to your pals (Ever get stuck in the middle of a lively discourse on double-bogeys?), the cachet of playing Pebble Beach was of great importance to him as a “serious” sportsman.
The Pebble Beach Co. also owns the two resort lodgings here--the Lodge at Pebble Beach, and the Inn at Spanish Bay--and the 101-year-old Del Monte golf course (the oldest course west of the Mississippi), located in Monterey, four miles from the 17-Mile Drive.
The white-columned Lodge at Pebble Beach, which began as a log inn in 1909, is the perfect example of traditional country club style. Its younger sister, the more architecturally hip Inn at Spanish Bay, opened in 1987 six miles from the lodge and was an immediate hit. Washed in soothing taupe and sandy tones, the inn blends perfectly with the surrounding rugged dunes, carpeted in spring and summer with varying hues of purple verbena and lavender seaside daisies.
Guests at these two hotels--the only ones on the 17-Mile Drive--enjoy special booking privileges at all four courses, often a virtual necessity if you want to play. Resort guests also get reduced greens fees. Brian booked it all--the three courses and lodgings--one week ahead.
As first-timers at the Pebble Beach resorts, we chose the luxurious 270-room inn over the equally posh 161-room lodge, mainly because the inn seemed less of a tourist stop and more of a retreat.
Ah, the pleasures of golf widowdom. The inn has eight tennis courts, a vast pool and the Spanish Bay Club, a first-rate health spa offering small, personalized classes in everything from cardio-jazz to yoga, along with aromatherapy, all types of massage and a weight room. Bikes are available, gratis, for cruising the coast, and, should you pedal a beach too far, the resort provides a shuttle to return guests to their point of origin.
Guests at both resorts can use the lodge’s private oceanside Beach & Tennis Club at Stillwater Cove, which also boasts a great cafe for alfresco lunch or brunch overlooking the Pebble Beach fairways. Add the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, with 140 horses and 34 miles of beach and forest trails, and there’s really no excuse for non-golfers not to enjoy this place, even if you just snuggle by the fire in the lobby lounge, and do nothing but stare out at the roaring sea, a hot toddy in hand.
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Buoyed by a fine sunny day last spring, we decided to drive up from L.A., arriving as night fell fast over Spanish Bay, the site where Juan Portola camped in 1769 while trying to locate Monterey Bay.
“I think I hear bagpipes,” I said, as the valet lifted our luggage from the car, and indeed I did. At dusk each day, a kilted Scot piper plays his mournful melody as he walks the dunes around the inn and links--a slightly corny touch, but plaintively beautiful if you’re in the right mood.
Fires burning in oversized hearths drew us into the expansive lobby of ivory and earth-tones accented with burnished walnut and slate. Towering bay windows faced the churning sea. A jazz band played Cole Porter at the far end of the room, and the inviting couches were strewn with contented-looking couples.
Since it had received high marks for service in surveys by organizations such as Conde Nast and Mobil, we were surprised to receive no greeting whatsoever at the check-in desk. And the clerk, a peevish Mr. Bean-type, gave us a room by the elevator on the ground floor. We’d booked an upgraded room rate--not just a “standard”--so this wasn’t cricket. After much deep sighing, he gave us a different room. But the hotel was only 70% full that night; moving us should have been no big deal.
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The inn has two restaurants: Roy’s, acclaimed star celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi’s lively Euro-Asian bistro, and the more elegant Bay Club, with Northern Italian cuisine and an award-winning wine list. After our long drive, we didn’t feel like fussing, so we chose Roy’s, with its sleek Art Deco-influenced decor and views over the dunes. The staff here was extra-attentive, but the elaborately prepared menu choices were lackluster. Next time, I’d stick with the Asian-inspired dishes.
Guest rooms at the inn--more than half boast sea views--have private balconies, gas-lighted fireplaces and overstuffed chairs; dressing rooms and tubs are edged in Italian marble. At 11:15 p.m., the guest upstairs started running a bath, which caused our bathtub, bathroom sink and wet bar sink to gurgle loudly, back up and begin to fill with brackish water. The level continued to rise until he stopped running bath water.
When we finally decided to call it a night, we had another little surprise. Call me picky, but when I pay $365 a night for a nonsmoking room, I don’t want to find a big, round cigarette-burn hole in the bedsheet, right at the top. If you’ve got to give me holes, at least hide them where I won’t find them. Please.
But the theme of this trip was golf--the metallic thwack of club against ball, the clickety-click of cleats on pathways, the bell-like tinkle of ice in a martini shaker in the clubhouse at sunset. Brian kicked off his birthday binge with the Links at Spanish Bay, built on an abandoned sand quarry at the edge of the Del Monte Forest just outside our door. It’s surrounded by endangered species of flora and fauna, and construction on the hotel and course was delayed for more than 20 years by the California Coastal Commission. The three champion players who designed the links--Tom Watson, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and former USGA President Frank “Sandy” Tatum--finally came up with a Scottish-style links course that seems to melt naturally into the waves.
What makes this course so craggily beautiful is also what makes players grind their teeth in frustration: The rolling dunes, edged by bristled fescue grasses and wildflowers, give way to slow-playing greens and maddening bunkers, some more than 20 feet high. Shots must be carefully thought out. There’s also a constant, stiff breeze on this part of the headland, and both the beginning and ending holes are played out here, in the whistling wind. The 13th hole is considered the best, said to resemble the Postage Stamp Hole at Scotland’s Royal Troon.
The next morning, bright and early, I took two fitness classes back-to-back at the health club, while Brian attacked Spyglass Hill Golf Course, a mile from the Lodge at Pebble Beach, and so named in honor of Robert Louis Stevenson, who was inspired to write “Treasure Island” when he paid a visit to the Monterey Peninsula in the late 1800s. This course, known as “the pirate among gentlemen,” was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. Tough holes are named “Long John Silver” (14) and “Black Dog” (16), a scurrilous par four.
Brian liked this course best, though it has the least impressive clubhouse of the three. “Spyglass is more like playing at Gleneagles,” he explained. “It’s set higher inland than the others, so you play through Monterey pines and sloping fairways. I loved the lushness.”
That afternoon, after a horseback ride along a beach trail, I got caught in the rain as I attempted to walk to Bird Rock, a coastal landmark that’s also home to herds of harbor seals and sea lions. But rain didn’t stop play for Brian.
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Pebble Beach Golf Links is, of course, every golfer’s dream: to stand where the legends have stood, look out over these greens--and break out into a cold sweat. In this celebrated setting, even the greats have been brought to their knees. Bob Hope used to call this course “Alcatraz with grass” because the small greens make it so difficult to hit. Sure, it starts out easy enough--the first hole is downright banal--but after that, it takes strategy and a lot of patience to play it well. Designed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, it almost hugs the shore. Odd slopes and subtle breaks make putts perplexingly hard to read.
Brian’s “hell hole” was the 405-yard eighth, which begins with a blind drive, then is played across a chasm in the 100-foot-high bluffs. Jack Nicklaus calls it the most dramatic second shot in golf. Brian’s advice: “It’s a good idea to get a caddie for here, and at Spanish Bay, to fully appreciate the setting. Tip him at least $20 to $25. They’re helpful with playing hints, and are with you at least five hours.”
How does he really feel about playing Pebble? “The eighth hole alone makes it worth the $255 fee; it’s unforgettable. And the 18th is stunningly beautiful, set at the edge of the Pacific, sea birds crying out overhead. What a way to end a game! The television cameras during tournaments never do it justice. Plus, some of the players wear knickers--one guy in front of me had on a purple pair.”
On our last night, we chose to dine overlooking the 18th green, in the lodge’s split-level Stillwater Bar & Grill. Formerly The Cypress Room (and more casual than the hotel’s posh Club XIX Restaurant), it opened last December to rave reviews. From our reserved window table, we had sweeping views not only of the course, but of Carmel Bay and Big Sur farther south. Stillwater’s chef, Todd Fisher, specializes in fresh seafood, and definitely has a sense of adventure.
Take my wonderful applewood-smoked sea bass with green lentil cakes, corn, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil emulsion and golden chanterelles. Or Brian’s spiced tandoori lamb tenderloins with roasted acorn squash. And the Dungeness crab/scallion cake we split to start was one of the best crab creations we’d ever tried. But when he ordered the Abstract Banana Cream Pie to finish (fresh bananas with maple cream and coffee sabayon layered between almond florentine and pound cake), I feared he might be gilding the lily. But this, too, was exquisite.
The U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach for its historic 100th playing in the year 2000. And the lodge’s spa retreat, now under construction, is set to open at the same time. Just steps from the hotel, it’ll be a European villa with 24 guest suites and lush spa services. Won’t that be nice for us golf widows.
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GUIDEBOOK
Golfing Monterey
Getting there: The Pebble Beach resorts are along the private 17-Mile Drive on the south coast of the Monterey Peninsula, 330 miles north of Los Angeles. Complimentary shuttle transportation is provided to and from Monterey Airport. Fares LAX-Monterey (turboprop only) on United Express, American Eagle and Skywest begin at $124 round trip.
Where to stay: The Inn at Spanish Bay, 2700 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA 93953; telephone (800) 654-9300 for the Inn, the Lodge and golf reservations. Rates: $330 for a standard double to $1,625 for the Presidential Suite; automatic gratuity fee of $18.50 per night.
The Lodge at Pebble Beach, 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, CA 93953. Rates: $370, standard double, to $1,175; automatic $15 per night gratuity fee.
Golf: Rates include mandatory cart rental fees. Pebble Beach Golf Links: $255 resort guests, $320 nonguests; caddie fee (optional) $45 per bag. The Links at Spanish Bay: $165 guests, $210 nonguests; $45 per bag caddie fee. Spyglass Hill Golf Course: $195 guests, $250 nonguests; $45 caddie.
For more information: California Division of Tourism, 801 K St., Suite 1600, Sacramento, CA 95814; tel. (800) 862-2543 or (916) 322-2881, fax (916) 322-3402.