Pebble Beach
Because why not? If you and your buddies haven't had the sublime pleasure of playing Pebble Beach, this is a great reason to get it crossed off your bucket list. Like a Catholic's journey to Lourdes, the pious golfer's pilgrimage to Pebble Beach is sacrosanct. But no amount of driving range self-flagellation can prepare a mere mortal to compete on a course where Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods both won U.S. Opens. Originally designed by amateur course architects Jack Neville and Douglas Grant in 1919, Pebble has hosted the U.S. Open a total of five times (a sixth is scheduled for 2019), a PGA Championship in 1977, and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am every year since 1947. The fairways are perfect. The green greens are fast. The bunker sand is fine as sugar.
The resort is also home to two other courses, the Robert Jones Sr., designed Spyglass Hill, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and which some, including Phil Mickelson, consider a better golf course than Pebble. The Links at Spanish Bay is one of the few true links courses in the U.S. and uses the Monterey Coast to create a spectacular setting for a round of golf.
Any stay in Monterey costs a pretty penny. Four nights at the Inn at Spanish Bay bunking with one of your buddies, plus five rounds of golf, including 2 at Pebble, will set you back about $2,800 per person. But for one of the best experiences in golf, it's money well spent.
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