Spyglass Hill Golf Course Explained

Golf Facility Name:Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Location:Pebble Beach, California,
Establishment:1966,
Type:Public
Owner:Pebble Beach Company
Operator:Pebble Beach Company
Holes:18
Tournaments:
(1967–present)
Website:Pebble Beach Resorts
Course1:Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Designer1:Robert Trent Jones Sr.
Par1:72
Length1:7026yard
Rating1:75.4
Slope1:145 [1]
Record1:62 – Phil Mickelson (2005)
and Luke Donald (2006)[2] [3]
Pushpin Map:USA#USA California
Pushpin Relief:1
Pushpin Mapsize:230

Spyglass Hill Golf Course is a links golf course on the west coast of the United States, located on the Monterey Peninsula in California.[4] The course is part of the Pebble Beach Company, which also owns the Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, and the Del Monte Golf Course. The PGA golf head pro at Spyglass Hill is Patrick Gannon.

Golf Digest has ranked Spyglass Hill as high as fifth on its list of "America's 100 Greatest Public Courses".[5] It has also featured in the popular Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games, along with the sister course Pebble Beach.

History

Spyglass Hill was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., and opened on March 11, 1966, after six years of planning, design, and construction. Since 1967, it has been in the rotation of the multi-course AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a February tournament on the West Coast Swing of the PGA Tour.[6] [7]

Originally called Pebble Beach Pines Golf Club, it was renamed to Spyglass Hill by Samuel F. B. Morse (1885–1969), the founder of Pebble Beach Company,[8] after the place in the 1883 novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), who had spent time in the Monterey area in 1879.[9] All the holes at Spyglass Hill were named by Bob Hanna, executive director of the Northern California Golf Association, after characters and places from the novel.[10] [11]

Its par-72 layout measures 6960yard from the championship (blue) tees, with a course rating of 75.4 and a slope rating of 145.[1] The first five holes all have views of the Pacific Ocean, and the other thirteen wind through the Del Monte Forest.

The course record of 62 (–10) was set by Phil Mickelson in 2005 and equaled by Luke Donald the next year; both were carded on Thursday of the AT&T under calm conditions.[2] [3]

The back tees at Spyglass Hill were called "Tiger tees" when it opened,[7] long before the birth of Tiger Woods.

Layout

The first hole is called Treasure Island, and is a downhill 597yard par 5, which doglegs almost 90 degrees to the left. One of the more renowned holes is the fourth, a 376yard par 4 named Blind Pew, which Robert Trent Jones called his favorite par 4. The green is the most photographed on the course, and is surrounded by ice plant. Other hole names include The Black Spot (3rd), Captain Flint (10th), and Long John Silver (14th).

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Treasure Island597510Captain Flint4094
2Billy Bones349411Admiral Benbow5625
3The Black Spot171312Skeleton Island 1773
4Blind Pew376413Tom Morgan4584
5Bird Rock203314Long John Silver5585
6Israel Hands441415Jim Hawkins1323
7Indian Village5455164694
8Signal Hill3984173244
9Captain Smollett430418Spyglass4274
Out3,51036In3,51636
Total7,02672

Scorecard

[1] [12]

External links

36.582°N -121.957°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Course Rating and Slope Database™ - Spyglass Hill GC . USGA . January 16, 2021.
  2. News: 'Long' Mickelson goes low again . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Associated Press . February 11, 2005 . C4.
  3. News: Donald goes way under at Spyglass . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . Associated Press . February 10, 2006 . D4.
  4. Web site: Spyglass Hill Golf Course . MontereyPeninsulaGolf.com.
  5. Web site: The Pirates Of Pebble Beach: Spyglass Hill Golf Course . Golf Adventures . August 8, 2007 . 2009-04-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090107050541/http://www.golfadventures.com/articles/Pebble-Beach-Golf-Reviews/919/ . January 7, 2009 .
  6. News: Jack wins bet from Crosby by taking 'Spyglass Hill' . Florence Times . (Alabama) . Associated Press . Stevenson . Jack . January 19, 1967 . 10.
  7. News: Bing enthused over links, but some golf pros aren't . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington) . Associated Press . January 22, 1967 . 6.
  8. News: Birth of an Icon: The story of Pebble Beach Golf Links . Monterey herald . California . Stewart . Jerry . June 13, 2010 . February 11, 2016.
  9. Spyglass Hill Golf Course . LINKS . Barkow . Al . May 2006 . February 11, 2016 .
  10. News: Golf course holes named for fighters . Park City Daily News . Bowling Green, Kentucky . Associated Press . Stevenson . Jack . January 15, 1967 . 18.
  11. News: Bob Hanna dies . . Stewart . Jerry . April 2, 2009 . February 11, 2016.
  12. https://www.pebblebeach.com/content/uploads/Spyglass-Hill-Scorecard.pdf