Was out at Hunter Ranch yesterday. I can’t believe it’s been a year since I’ve played this favorite course. Hunter Ranch is a super fun and challenging course that offers a good mix of strategic shot making skills and enough grip it and rip it holes to let it fly. The elevation changes make the course fun but yet it’s still definitely walkable for those in decent shape.

The greens rolled super smooth at a nice medium fast pace. Greens are almost always in excellent condition here. Right now the fairways are also in top shape. They are super lush throughout. Sand traps have some of the best high quality sand in the business. They rival any top notch course.

I can’t say enough about what a fun course this is that also has the playing conditions to match. Prices are on the rise but still worth it. If you are traveling between Nor Cal and So Cal, Hunter Ranch is a great place to stop and play to break up the drive. It’s also in the middle of the Central Coast Wine District so it’s the perfect place to go for a weekend getaway. Golf in the morning and wine tasting (or bike riding) in the afternoon. It’s surrounded by some great back roads too for the car enthusiasts. Just remember, clubs in the trunk, wife in the front seat. I always get that one wrong!!

Possibly my favorite course ever, and I've played all the big ones. It is so good! Conditions were fantastic. This place gets so much play, as evidenced by old divots, but they really do a great job of keeping it pristine. Pace of play is an issue with the sheer difficulty combined with a lot of "tourist" golf. Played twice this week. First off yesterday and played in 4 hours. I've played before in the afternoon and it was almost 6 hours. Play early! Maybe greatest 1st hole you'll ever see. Spyglass is the best!

Course in great shape. This course is great way to get the feel of golf on the water. I've gone back and forth on this course for years, but I think I've finally decided it's not a great course. Something just doesn't feel authentic. I'd recommend playing once to decide for yourself. The redo should be very interesting. Was told by staff member that it will shut down in 2026 redesign for 1 year. Really hard to believe it will only take a year but I guess they want to get that revenue back ASAP. Great piece of property for Gil Hanse to work with but probably very restricted in terms of how much earth he can move with all the environmentally restricted areas.

I'm a big fan of this place. It's all about hitting the fairways. Rough is serious and easily a 1/2 stroke penalty. Lot of interesting holes. Course is in fantastic shape. I love the local feel. A very relaxing place. It looks much easier than it plays. Must keep it in the short grass. Super challenging greens when they get rolling fast.

Love Poppy Hills. $300 is too much for me, but $100 at twilight is great. Layout is fantastic and conditions to match. Pace of play was swift. Played 2 rounds this week. 4:15 and 4:00 hours. Beautiful course.

Great, tough course. A little too tight with homes encroaching on a couple holes on the front nine, but get past those, and it's a great layout. Everyone very friendly. I wouldn't pay the rack rate. I think it's an $80 course where I live in Dallas, but this is Monterey. Deals to be found and highly suggest that route. Love the local feel. Rode as a 4-some in 4 hours. Fantastic shape, except for bunkers, which were a little thin.

Course in great shape. Fantastic service. Like playing in a garden. Super lush and wonderful landscaping. Great conditions from tee to green. Wouldn't pay the rack rate but at a discount it's a no-brainer. Rode in 3 hours.

Played Pacific Grove GC on Wednesday afternoon with JusGas88 for his first round back after a ten month layoff due to injury. The course was in fairly nice condition overall, though the greens were on the slow side. We tee’d off at 2:30 PM. Afternoons can get windy here as it’s right on the ocean as everyone knows. Wednesday was no exception, though the wind wasn’t too bad. Easily a 1 club wind and sometimes a full two club wind. Most of the greens are traditional back to front slope. They rolled on the slower side but did roll smooth. The odd thing was they were a tad firm and even good approach shots didn’t check up.

Fairways were in very nice condition. Lush throughout but still offerred good roll out. Front nine is tight, placing a premium on accuracy, while the back nine fairways widen up some, so you can grip and rip it. Back nine also has unobstructed views of the ocean which is right across the street. Rough wasn’t too penal, thick enough to stop your ball from rolling but manageable to hit from.

Tee boxes were all in decent shape. Level and good coverage throughout. Even the short Par 3’s had good enough coverage amongst the divots to get a clean area to place your ball on. I don’t remember being in any sand traps. POP was …. Well that’s a different topic but we had two slow groups in front of us. One was a foursome of younger guys (20’s) in which two were just learning (sharing clubs). Given their experience they weren’t too bad but yes they fell behind. Here’s the thing. They were out mid week late afternoon so it wasn’t like they were taking prime tee slots and holding people up. We were all beginners at one point so I guess the afternoon during mid week is the best time to get out on the course. Once we got around them at the turn we had about 3 holes of clear sailing. Then we caught up to the next slow player(s). It was an older gentleman who was out with his (high school aged) grandson. The guy had bad arthritis and could barely walk (it was painfully slow), but man he could swing a club!! Gotta be patient with the elderly. We will all be there someday (hopefully).

All in all it was an enjoyable walk in nice enough weather to keep the sweatshirt off until about the 16th hole.

I’m happy to report that conditions continue to remain steady at Laguna Seca. As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely love this layout, but conditions have always been so so (at best). Lately, the conditions have been very solid. Not Pebble Beach/Quail Lodge great but definitely on the acceptable level and overall much much better than usual here.

Yesterday I played in early afternoon on a glorious peninsula day. Sun was out and very little wind. Fairways continue to remain in good shape with ample lush coverage throughout. Fairways, weren’t quite as nice as reported in my last review but they were close to it. There weren’t any set/soggy areas so the course has drained well this winter.

Green rolled on the slower side (medium-slow pace) but rolled smooth. Tee boxes were fine. A couple of the shorter Par 3 boxes had a lot of divots but the rest were fine and all were level.

Sand traps were the weak areas. Several had either standing water or mud at the bottom from recent rain/puddles. It also appears that everyone has stopped raking the bunkers here. Not sure if it’s because of the wet sand or what but it was annoying.

There isn’t really any rough at Laguna Seca. There’s a small area of slightly longer grass adjacent to the fairway but nothing penal. After that it usually no man’s land.

Pop was right at about 4 hours. Conditions are now starting to catch up to the price tag putting this fun filled track on the recommendation list for peninsula courses.

I flipped a coin to decide between golf and a bike ride. Golf won out and I chose Crazy Horse since I hadn’t been there in probably 9-10 months. This place always has good conditions and great customer service. today was no exception. Greens are on the smaller side here. Not as small as Pacific Grove or Del Monte, but close. Greens are mainly single tier. they rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens were a bit on the firm side.

Like most Nor Cal courses, the fairways were damp but decent enough. No complaints on the fairways. Once they dry out completely they will jump up from a 7 rating to an 8 or 9 with no problem. Tee boxes were a bit thin and damp but not too bad. Sand traps were excellent. Nice white fluffy sand. bunkers aren’t very deep do they are pretty easy to escape from given the nice quality sand. rough is about 3” tall and semi-thick but playable.

Carts were 90 degrees and pop was 3 hours which seemed slow being we zipped around the front 9 in just over an hour and then got backed up on hole 10.

Crazy Horse is a great option to play when in the Peninsula.

Played 2-14-24 early morning riding as a single and finishing in around 2 1/2 hours. Tee boxes were in okay shape, most had decent coverage, but some of them could use some leveling out. Fairways were in decent shape for the most part, with most of them being soft from the rains but still having nice lies with little roll out. Holes 4 ,6, and 10 were cart path only, and with the coming rain I would think the whole course will probably go cart path only. Was in one greenside bunker that had a good layer of soft white sand that was nice to play from. The greens which are normally the highlight of the course did not disappoint. They were rolling pure at medium/fast pace and playing semi-soft. With all the rain the course is holding up very nicely. When the rains stop and the course has a chance to dry out I expect it to be in just great condition.

Played the classic old Del Monte course for the first time with Alex236 and it was quite a treat despite some of the longest rough I've ever had to play and some extremely soggy, over-watered fairways that made getting any distance a real challenge.

This course doesn't feel very much like all the others in the area, but that's not necessarily a knock. I actually enjoyed the more wide-open spaces and less penal nature of the course, but that by no means makes it an easy one. You can spray the ball a bit and get away with it (depending on the hole) but that's where the crazy rough comes into play, and you're aiming at fairly tiny but very well kept greens.

The course conditions will probably look a lot different when the sun dries everything out soon enough, but in the meantime you're getting a fun but tricky course. Greens were great, fairways were soggy, rough was like a foot deep, bunkers were pretty nice and the tee boxes (we played from the whites) were perfectly fine. I really enjoyed this course and would love to come back to not play such a Jeckyll and Hyde round.

Very friendly, welcoming atmosphere and a great low-cost alternative for the area marked by some of the most expensive courses in the country. This track will hold its own for sure, but don't play it expecting to see the same views or get the same feel for a Spyglass or a Pebble. Del Monte has its own history and attitude - respect that and you'll have a great time.

Thanks again to my good buddy Alex for making it all happen and being the best host.