Tree and Turbulence: Spyglass Hill Golf Course at Pebble Beach

Spyglass Hill Golf Course used to be part of a plan by Pebble Beach Company founder, S.F.B. Morse to place a series of golf courses along the shoreline of Del Monte Forest in the Monterey Peninsula of California. Other golf courses nearby are Del Monte Golf Course, The Links and Spyglass' sister company, Pebble Beach. Robert Trent Jones, Sr. designed Spyglass Hill. It took six years of designing and building before the golf course opened on March 11, 1966.

The golf course's name was highly influenced by the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. The course features a couple of unique terrain types portraying each hole's appearance and type of game play. The Championship tees offer very big challenges for advanced golfers with a slope rating of 147 and a course rating of 75.5. During medal play, stroke average was over 79. Spyglass Hill Golf Course has also hosted a number of events for both amateurs and professionals such as the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The Course

The holes throughout Spyglass Hill Golf Course are unique since these have names reminiscent of the famous novel such as "Billy Bones" and "Blind Pew". Each hole was specifically designed by Robert Trent, Sr. in order to create a very fun, adventurous and challenging match providing people a sense of the story from which the course was taken from as well. Some holes can easily played while others like the 6th and 16th hole are among the most difficult in the world.

The terrain ranges from elevated greens to seaside dunes threatening havoc in each golfer's game. There is a lot of vegetation in the area as well and pines and bunkers line concurrently to guard the sought-after safe paths.

Treasure Island is the first hole featuring a display of the Monterey Bay, Del Monte Forest as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains. The wide green area appears like ocean swells. Billy Bones is another hole with a Blue Tee Yardage of 349 at Par 4. It plays uphill and is guarded by sand and ice plant. The Black Spot has a tricky green design which slopes to the back.