Pebble Beach

A group of friends and I are turning 40 this year.  On our bucket list was a chance to play Pebble Beach.  We made that a reality in late January as we drove down to Monterey and played Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach.

From the clubhouse, first hole at Spanish Bay.

Putting area at Spanish Bay

Shawn's tee shot at Spanish Bay

My tee shot on #1 at Spanish Bay

More from #1

A par 3, just before the fog rolled in.  The next couple holes got really bad with fog and we lost about 4 holes we couldn't see where we were hitting.

Short little par 3 after the fog cleared.

and a little too much club for me as I wound up on the far side of the hole.

First Tee box at Pebble Beach.  Jason Beaton, Shawn Barker, me and Jason Smith.

4th hole

Shawn's tee shot on the 4th hole.

My tee shot on the 4th hole

From the fairway on the 4th, with the lone cypress in the background.

More from the 4th.

The 6th hole, hard to visualize how much rise there is on your second shot.

Avoid the bunkers on the left and the water on the right and you'll be fine.

My tee shot, my hook showed up on the first shot.

Shawn chipping out of the sand on the 6th. 

My putt on the 6th.

The famed 7th hole.

My tee shot on 7, went into the bunker long and had a really hard time recovering.  This hole is VERY short.

Ball flight looked great, but result wasn't good.

A couple of us all teeing off on 7.

Jason, Shawn, me and Jason on the 7th tee.

Tee shot on 14th, tee box of 9 and the cavern of #8 then the lone cypress in the very background.

Tee shot on 16 for me.

Shawn's 16th tee shot

Jason trying to get bonus points for hitting the truck.

I went long and a little right on the 17th, so I was able to play from the sand.

A nice little swing sequence from the sand for Jason.

Nice finish.

Not quite the same swing from Beaton.

From the 17th green, looking at the Cypress on 7.

Shawn makes his putt on 17

making up for the sand shot.

From the 18th tee box.

A few final swings from the 18th hole.

Great finish to a great weekend.

While we had planned to go in Sept or Oct, I got a chance for us to book and play for about half the cost of a normal round with some $50 gift cards for souvenirs.  We moved up the date and enjoy some of the best weather on the course we could have ever wished for.  The only drawback was some thick fog at Spanish Bay.  Our time at Pebble was unbelievable.  The greens were amazingly difficult to read.  Luckily we had a caddie named Billy Bodensteiner who was incredible at telling us where to putt.  He was fun, told some great stories and knew the greens, all the tricky spots and helped Smith with several long putts.
Can't wait to play it again, with a bit more practice and preparation.  Cross another item off the bucket list.