Joined a couple buddies from the valley who wanted to get out of the heat. We had an 8AM tee time and no issue with avoiding the heat. Couldn’t see the greens from 100-150+ yards out due to the low... Continue »

Joined a couple buddies from the valley who wanted to get out of the heat. We had an 8AM tee time and no issue with avoiding the heat. Couldn’t see the greens from 100-150+ yards out due to the low fog. The course remains in fantastic shape all around. Greens were a bit slower than normal at first but still rolled at a nice medium + pace and then sped up to the traditional medium fast pace. Greens are always on the firm side here so getting approach shots to stick can be tricky. Greens rolled true throughout the large multi tier complexes.

Fairways are excellent as well. They are lush and green throughout with not a dead/thin/brown area to be found on the course. Fairways aren’t quite the same carpet like experience as with Pebble or Quail but they are easily an 9 on the rating scale.

Tee boxes were level and lush as well. Of the three greenside bunkers I was in, two were excellent and one was average. All playable without a doubt. POP was just at 4 hours and we probably could have made that a little less but we waited longer than usual in the fog for the group ahead to clear. When it did we were almost a full hole behind and finished about a 1/2 hole back.

As we have mentioned before, Poppy Hills is a solid track that is fun, picturesque, has challenging greens and has all around good conditions. Well worth the entry price. They also appear to be letting carts on the fairway on a regular basis now.

Played Sat 9am. 5 hr round. COLD day. Love this course. Always look forward to it. BUt I always putt horribly... cannot figure it out. Very grainy greens. Anyways had a great time. The marshall... Continue »

Played Sat 9am. 5 hr round. COLD day. Love this course. Always look forward to it. BUt I always putt horribly... cannot figure it out. Very grainy greens. Anyways had a great time. The marshalls and starters were incredibly nice. There was one marshall who wasn't so nice... he 'gave a time penalty' to my friend.. told him he was taking longer than 45 seconds to hit, and the course was slow because of him, and it 'ruined the rest of my day'. And he tells him on the 18th tee, as if there could be anything done by then anyways... Seems very out of line. We weren't too happy about that. Aside from that rude interaction, loved it and can't wait to get back.

Played an NCGA event here, overall extremely well run as you’d expect for the headquarters. I was expecting the course to be cart path only as that’s how it used to be year round in the past, but that... Continue »

Played an NCGA event here, overall extremely well run as you’d expect for the headquarters. I was expecting the course to be cart path only as that’s how it used to be year round in the past, but that seems to no longer be the case. Nevertheless, this course is very walkable and designed with walking in mind. Pace of play was 4.5hrs, never waited and was never pushed by the group behind, perfectly spaced tee times. Only minor complaint is the range balls could use a refresh, they are quite beat up. Course is in the best shape I’ve ever seen it. Greens are no longer rock hard, and approach shots can actually hold now. Green speed was fast which kept your attention all day. Fairways, bunkers immaculate. Sand was super predictable and consistent. There isn’t much rough on this course by design, so overall the challenge comes from staying out of the trees and hitting accurate approach shots that don’t leave super long tricky putts on the large greens. Highly recommend checking it out now, it’s worth the greens fee.

Course is in great shape. Good pace of play. Extremely challenging greens. Seem to have opiate illusions and tough to read. Beautiful course in the forest.

Course is in great shape. Good pace of play. Extremely challenging greens. Seem to have opiate illusions and tough to read. Beautiful course in the forest.

In my bid to play Poppy more this year, I went out last Wednesday with SDF on a perfect mid afternoon day. Conditions are pretty much the same as they were in April with the exception the greens have... Continue »

In my bid to play Poppy more this year, I went out last Wednesday with SDF on a perfect mid afternoon day. Conditions are pretty much the same as they were in April with the exception the greens have firmed up and are back to normal for here. They still roll true at a nice fast pace but getting an approach shot is more difficult (especially compared to the greens at Spanish Bay). Middle and back pins aren’t much of an issue but front pins can be challenging.

Definitely a recommended peninsula

I joined Roarksown1 at Poppy Hills on 4/2 for a little match play (does this count for GK cup?) and a chance to get some of my money back that I lost the previous day at Pebble Beach. I’ve been tryin... Continue »

I joined Roarksown1 at Poppy Hills on 4/2 for a little match play (does this count for GK cup?) and a chance to get some of my money back that I lost the previous day at Pebble Beach. I’ve been trying to play here more often as it really is a solid course in both design and conditions. Whereas prices have gone up and services have dwindled, Poppy Hills is still a great option for Monterey Peninsula golf.

Fairways present more of a tight lies compared to the big three, but they are still lush throughout and present a nice hitting surface Fairways offer a generous amount of roll out even when wet.

Bunkers and tee boxes were just short of perfect 10’s. Greens were above average, rolling at a medium fast pace. Greens were a bit softer than some of the previous times I’ve played here.

Poppy Hills is a fun and challenging layout with some scenic peaks at the bay through the trees.
POP always seems to be slow here and this time was no exception we were the 3rd or 4th group out and it still took 5 hour

Day two of my Monterey swing landed me and Alex326 at the terrific Poppy Hills just inland from Pebble Beach. After what had been a glorious, blue sky Saturday the day before, we arrived to a heavy fo... Continue »

Day two of my Monterey swing landed me and Alex326 at the terrific Poppy Hills just inland from Pebble Beach. After what had been a glorious, blue sky Saturday the day before, we arrived to a heavy fog and intermittent rain showers that forced out the umbrellas early, but luckily they were no longer needed by the third hole and throughout the rest of the round. Alex and I were paired with a wonderful single named Sarah who was an absolute baller around the greens and in terms of consistency. We had an 8am tee time and went off on time with a few waiting periods here and there behind the group in front of us, but never anything too bad. There is a very long walk between the front nine and the back nine though so I can see how that slows down the overall POP. In terms of course layout, this place is a true gem. Walking up and down the holes with all the native areas made me like what I imagine the Pinehurst experience is all about. There are a lot of very strategically placed bunkers on the course and some prime landing spots that require a lot of accuracy, but the fairways are indeed more generous and inviting than I was led to believe from seeing how tight the course looks from Google maps or any GPS app. It's just a lot of fun and definitely worth the walk with plenty of memorable holes. Conditions were pretty great as well from top to bottom. The greens were very nice and required a good account of speeds and lines, but they seemed to hold shots pretty well, although I don't know how much of that was down to the wet morning. Tee boxes were in great shape and the fairways as expected were nice and green. Rough was very playable but thick enough to make you question club selection, but to be fair there's just not a lot of it. It's either fairway or trees. The only aspect not getting pretty much top stars was the bunkers as they seemed to be outfitted with nice sand, but the bottom was not too deep at all so many bunker shots just sailed. Again, I think this had a lot to do with the wet morning. The scenery up in the hills around Pebble Beach here is truly spectacular and I would love to play this place again on a hot summer day with the cool ocean breezes and nothing but blue sky all day, but I wouldn't change yesterday's experience for anything in the world. This is definitely a great 'lower cost' option to the Spyglass and Pebble Beaches of the world, but you're not losing much at all in terms of awesomeness. I would come here again and again.

Played Poppy Hills yesterday morning with a 9:20 AM tee time. Weather was absolutely perfect with sunny skies, low 60 temps and little to no wind. Course is in its usual great shape from tee to gree... Continue »

Played Poppy Hills yesterday morning with a 9:20 AM tee time. Weather was absolutely perfect with sunny skies, low 60 temps and little to no wind. Course is in its usual great shape from tee to green. Range was off mats and a small bucket of balls now costs $10. That’s really the only downside to this course. Greens rolled very smooth at a nice medium-fast pace. Green complexes are very large but they have several undulations so getting on the right tier is critical. The nice thing about the greens at Poppy is that the undulations are spread out over the big greens so unlike Blackhorse where you have multiple breaks in one putt, you usually just have one or maybe two breaks to negotiate depending on how far away you are.

The other thing is the greens have a brownish tint to them. Doesn’t effect the ball at all, just more of an aesthetics thing. Fairways on the other hand were excellent. Very lush and green throughout. They offered a good combination of roll out and lush hitting surface.

Tee boxes were all level with great coverage and divot free. I had a streak of 4 holes where I was in a greenside bunker. All had high quality fluffy sand. Rough was manageable in some areas and deep and penal in others. There are a lot of holes that border gulch’s and the rough is deep in those areas to help stop wayward balls.

Even though the course is built on a hill, it is pretty easy to walk. Most of the holes traverse the hillside and the transfers are pretty short (except from 9 to 10 and maybe 8 to 9). There were a couple of beginners in our group so we were the slow group often a full hole behind the group in front of us. Yet only once did the group behind us have to wait on us as they were often a half hole + behind. So I guess it all worked out.

Poppy Hills is a another gem of a golf course in the 93953 area code. It’s overlooked by some and a main staple for others. Either way, it deserves the accolades.

DBlevs605 is back in Ca visiting so we got in an initial round at Poppy with an 11am tee time. Shirt version is the course is in pretty much the exact same condition as my last review. First off the... Continue »

DBlevs605 is back in Ca visiting so we got in an initial round at Poppy with an 11am tee time. Shirt version is the course is in pretty much the exact same condition as my last review. First off the weather was absolutely fantastic! I didn’t check the weather and wore pants. I roasted the entire day!

Fairways were excellent and rated at a 9.5. Nice and lush and green throughout. Same with the tee boxes. Level and lush. Very few divots. Greens rolled very smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens were still firm but not quite as bad as before.

Sand traps were decent. But like before, could use a go over with the tractor to smooth them out. POP was at about 4.5 hours which is normal.

An all around good time and good course