Northern California Golf Course Reviews
Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course Review
Pacific Grove, CA
67.5 rating; 118 slope
Last Played: 2004
Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course Overview: For the cheap green fee, a superb,
but very short and easy, municipal golf course with the front nine played
amidst the Cypress
trees in the Del Monte forest. The back
nine is in an idyllic setting: along the
rugged Asilomar coastline of the Monterey
peninsula. The last 8 holes are a true
old school links course played amidst large sand dunes, under the watchful gaze
of the historic Point Pinos Lighthouse.
The greens are in good shape throughout the course and it is hard not to
enjoy the round with the surf in the player’s ears and deer walking the course
as well. The best holes are listed
below:
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 3: A short dog leg left par 4 with ample trees left and OB right. A short drive is all that is needed, but it should be right of center to avoid being blocked by a large cypress tree 50 yards from the green, that has a large bunker front and rear and is steeply sloped. (not pictured)
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 6: A tight par 5 that dog legs right and careens down a hill approximately 100 yards from the green. Avoiding the cypress trees on the first two shots is the key to scoring well on this enjoyable hole. Two symmetrical bunkers wonderfully front this green, which is sharply pitched from back to front.
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 3: A short dog leg left par 4 with ample trees left and OB right. A short drive is all that is needed, but it should be right of center to avoid being blocked by a large cypress tree 50 yards from the green, that has a large bunker front and rear and is steeply sloped. (not pictured)
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 6: A tight par 5 that dog legs right and careens down a hill approximately 100 yards from the green. Avoiding the cypress trees on the first two shots is the key to scoring well on this enjoyable hole. Two symmetrical bunkers wonderfully front this green, which is sharply pitched from back to front.
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 12: One of the prettiest driving holes anywhere. The views of the ocean, dunes, ice plant and fairway are outstanding. However, the golfer cannot be distracted as the ideal shot is played over the leftmost dune on the right side and anything right of that is dead. Once this shot is mastered, the rest of the hole is wide open, but still pretty all the way to the shallow and elevated green nestled against a hill covered with ice plant.
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 13: A short, but solid par four where the courageous drive over the cone-shaped sand dune will leave a visually enticing chip shot to a green with a 30 foot high sand dune towering behind it.
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 16: Maybe the widest fairway anywhere will greet the golfer on this downhill hole. The drive must crest the hill, and it will funnel down, leaving a short to mid iron with the Pacific full view in the background behind a green with a deep bunker front right, and a picturesque lake way right for the pathetically pushed shot.
Pacific Grove Municipal Hole 17: The drive on this par three simply has to clear the water well short of the green as there is not too much else to worry about.
