In the summer of 2025, my wife and I had a week of vacation planned for idyllic Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It’s a place we had done a day trip to before and had wanted to get back to for many years. We went into the week with absolutely nothing planned. There were two questions that arose in my golf-loving mind. One, could I get on at one of the greatest golf courses in the world? Two, would it be worth the spend? The decision was made to bring the sticks. It would be an on the ground decision.
How do tee times work at Pebble Beach Golf Links
Presently, it requires a two-night minimum stay to secure a tee time at Pebble Beach Golf Links. If money is not an option, this is the ideal way to ensure you get a chance to walk the famed links. This wasn’t an option. Plus, we were actually preferring to stay in Carmel and enjoy everything it offers including a short walk down to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
The good news is you’re not shut out if you don’t stay at Pebble Beach Resort. We stopped by the pro shop early in our visit and they let me know that the course filled in any open spots with outside play. The secret was to call at 8AM sharp, local time, on the day before the day you wanted to play.
I weighed the costs and decided to go for it. The first morning of calling, I struck out. There was nothing available the entire next day. The second day, I was dialing at 8AM sharp and got in after a few minutes. The operator let me know they had one spot available all day. It was at 6:20AM. I took it. A weird feeling of what I’ll describe as almost disbelief came over me as I hung up the phone. Tomorrow, I’d be playing a course I’d seen on TV my whole life and I’d actually be playing there myself.
Walking the fairways of the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links
Arriving at the course early on such a big round is a given. This day, it brought me to the course around 4:45AM. The unexpected benefit was being the first golfer and even person on the property. While I didn’t get in much warm-up, I got something better in that I had a front row seat to watch Pebble Beach come alive with activity as the sun came up.
The 6:20 tee time was actually the third tee time off for the day as the light starts early in California in the Summer. I took a 2-iron off the first tee of the short dog-leg right par-4. It wasn’t crisp, but it was straight down the middle leaving a long second to the green. The round was underway.
When everything you know about a course is from watching it on television, you realize you know very little the front nine of that golf course. The applies to holes one, two, three. They’re great golf holes that lead away from the clubhouse and over to the Pacific Ocean. Number three was my favorite of the opening holes as it’s a short par-4 with a manageable carry to an almost perpendicular fairway that heads down to the green. A solid tee shot led to a short wedge down to the green which gives the golfers the first look at the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
The fourth hole Is the beginning of seven straight holes along the ocean. I imagine these are the holes that moved jack Nicklaus to say “If I only had one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach.” Each hole is as spectacular as the next. Yet, I was most surprised by the Par-5 6th hole. The elevation gain on the second shot would never come through over television. A good drive left me a chance to get to the front of the green in two with a 3-wood. I hit it solid and high and for a second actually wondered if it would clear the bluff to reach the fairway beyond. It was just an amazing elevation gain considering the ocean is just to your right.
The iconic short 7th hole follows with a short walk to the 8th tee box. This dramatic promontory is called Arrowhead Point. It’s a jagged arrow-shaped peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. The wind picks up here and the cliffs get even taller. The 8th tee ball is all about setting yourself up for the second shot. To me, it was the 8th hole presents the best approach shot on the entire course. It a multi-tiered green that you’re hitting down to and that’s perched on the edge of the cliff with ocean views for miles behind it.
A look back at Arrowhead Point and the steep cliffs to the Pacific Ocean
The 11th tee puts the ocean at the back of the golfers as they turn inland up the dunes and into the Monterey Pine lined fairways. At the 13th, golfers navigate a bunker lined fairway that still provides ocean views from up on high as it comes out of the forest and onto a wide-open dune overlooking the ocean holes.
Starting at the 14th hole, golfers start to recognize what they’ve seen before on television. The 14th is the long dogleg right par-5 with one of the most demanding greens on the golf course. From the fairway, you question if there’s even a green up there to land on. Later comes the 16th where you get to thread the needle between the two trees that flank the right and left of the fairway framing the green.
Getting to the 17th brings on both the excitement of the legendary finish holes at Pebble, but also a sense of how the round has gone by too quickly. The tee box is a chance to reset, appreciate what’s come before and steel yourself for the finish. Numbers 17 and 18 at Pebble Beach were everything I’d expected and more. My walk up the 18th hole included some late morning fog rolling in off the ocean. The cypress in the fairway was still visible and is a great aiming point off the tee. I had an up and down out of the bunker on the last to finish the day on a high note.
Was it worth it?
Pebble Beach Golf Links is the greatest course I’ve ever played in North America. It was a thrill to be able to knock the second course off my bucket list. I’ve talked to golfers who have both played it and those who have passed on playing it due to the expense. I did hear some regret from some who passed on the chance and may know they will ever walk that way again. To me, it was a once in a lifetime chance. Yes, it was also a once in a lifetime big spend and, yes, it was worth it. There’s a common wisdom among travelers that says we should collect great experiences not things. When it comes to Pebble Beach Golf Links, it would be tough to find a better experience anywhere in the world of golf.