The Lodge at Pebble Beach

My wife and I will be staying at the lodge 3 nights in March.

We will be playing golf 3 days at Pebble, Spanish Bay and Spyglass.

Does anyone have any recommedations on any of the restaurants at the lodge? Is it worthwhile eating there or venturing out off site to Carmel or Monterey for a better dining experience.

We will have a car.

Tastes are varied, love most all cuisines and ok with paying $$$ for a top notch meal, but also OK with reasonable great local places.

Thanks to all

The Lodge at Pebble Beach

I prefer Roy%26#39;s at Spanish Bay for dinner over any of the Lodge restaurants, but there are so many excellent places in this area. At the Lodge, lunch at Stillwater Grill is good. If you decide to venture out: In Carmel, Grasings Coastal Cuisine; in Pacific Grove, Red House Cafe, Taste Cafe and Bistro, Max%26#39;s Grill; in Monterey, Montrio, Tarpy%26#39;s Roadhouse.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach

PGdenizen,

Thanks so much. This is our first trip to your area. We have the golf planned for P Beach and are then heading to San Francisco for a week.

I did take notice of your assistance to a gent regarding parking in Pacific Grove for the Monterey Aquarium and walking to the aquarium. Sounds like something we will do.

We will be there in March. Is there a need to get tickets for the aquarium in advance or can we do it once we get there as I am not sure what day we will be able to fit that in.

Can the aquarium be enjoyed for just a few hours in the afternoon after golf or is that not allowing enough time to appreciate it.

Hi Rich. The summer is crazy-busy at the aquarium, but March shouldn%26#39;t be too bad. I wouldn%26#39;t worry about buying in advance--the other poster, Mister Chinn, had no trouble at all yesterday. Here is my view: some people want to spend a whole day at the aquarium, but I get ';saturated'; after a few hours. I think you can spend a couple of hours and still get a lot out of it. I think because it%26#39;s not cheap, some people feel that they need to get their ';money%26#39;s worth,'; but if that%26#39;s not an issue, then, by all means, go for a while after golf. After the aquarium, you can walk back along the recreation trail to PG and up Forest Avenue to Lighthouse, the main street. From there, if you turn right and walk down about five blocks, you%26#39;ll come to Red House Cafe, which is such a nice place for dinner--quaint, casual, excellent food. I hope you get the kind of weather we%26#39;ve been having this week: sunny and mild. If I can help in any other way, please let me know.

PGdenizen,

Thanks again for the tips.

I may very well ask you for some more as I think of questions as we get closer to our trip.

I do see the unusually sunny days they are having for the golf tournament. I hope we have the same luck.

We went to Scotland and London in 2006 for two weeks and not a drop of rain, sooooooooooo maybe.

Thanks again.

We are frequent travelers to Kauai, so if you ever need any info on that island or back east here in Pa, drop me a line.

Thanks, Rich. Kauai: I wish! Pa: I%26#39;ll be there next July for a weekend. I grew up in NJ and my brother has a house on a lake near Milford. Pretty country. Take care.

I respectfully disagree with my friend and co-Monterey-Bay advisor about getting Aquarium tickets in advance. We have taken many visitors there at various times of the year and I *always* get tickets by phone or online ahead of time, and then simply walk up to the ';will-call'; window.

You never know how many people will be standing in line for tickets, even in March, and especially if it happens to be a spring break for some schools.

I tend to agree with Puter about getting those advance tickets. It%26#39;s so worth it to avoid standing in line, esp. since it sounds like your Aquarium visit will be limited. We always go mid-wk. and from what I recall there%26#39;s been a lineup for tickets each time--and we get there shortly after they open. By the way, I also thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience at Red House Cafe. Fun atmosphere with very good food and service. Only drawback is the tight dining quarters--tables are real close to one another due to the small size of the cafe.

restaurant recommendations: Club XIX at the Lodge is OK, but I agree, I like Roy%26#39;s better, but then again, I like Roy%26#39;s in general (I%26#39;ve been to about 10 of the locations). Other great places to eat: Pacific%26#39;s Edge and Casanova in Carmel (both excellent food in incredible settings) and Stokes in Monterey.

I hope you get lucky with the weather the day you play Pebble. I%26#39;ve had the good fortune of playing it 5 times, sometimes with ideal weather, sometime with the marine layer, as well as getting married by the 18th green. It%26#39;s all that it%26#39;s touted to be and then some. Even if you are not a caddie person, I would walk the course with a caddie at Pebble. The golf will be amazing for you. Spanish is a great layout, as close to links-style as you%26#39;ll get in the US. The back nine can be a beast, especially with afternoon wind. Spyglass is very hard throughout, but I think is the best-designed of the three courses, and Pebble is one of a kind, of course.

The Spa at Pebble Beach, by the way, is outstanding as well.

Hit %26#39;em in the short grass.

Parisdreamin,

Thanks for the tips. I am trying desperately to talk my wife into taking caddies for the Pebble round, so we can walk and enjoy the scenery as much as the course. I hate to take carts and have to worry about getting back to the cart path when I should be enjoying the course.

Do you have any idea on caddie rates and tipping caddies and if they have to be pre arranged or can I ask for one the day we get there. Pebble is our second round of the three. we start with Spanish bay I believe.

Rates in general at Pebble are always in flux. Typically rates go up twice per year, I think. Staying at the hotel doesn%26#39;t give you a big break. Basically, it saves you the cost of the cart ($25), if you take one. Caddie rates, as I recall, are about $50 a bag but I%26#39;m not sure. I%26#39;ve tipped anywhere from $25 to $50, depending on how good the caddie was. Standard is probably about $30-40. The one other thing to keep in mind is that at Pebble, carts need to stay on the path anyways, and I always find it a bigger pain to take a cart and have to go back and forth anyways with multiple clubs. Another reason to walk with a caddie. There, of course, are caddies available at Spanish and Spyglass, but it%26#39;s unnecessary at either of those two courses. Yes, you should book the caddie in advance to guarantee that there will be one.

Other tips about Pebble:

1) You will definitely be paired with others to form a foursome. The course is essentially always fully booked.

2) Be ready for the pressure on #1 and #18. There are always tourists standing around near the first tee just watching people tee off. And it is your first shot on one of the world%26#39;s greatest golf courses, after all. #18 finishes at The Lodge, and there will always be people standing adjacent to the green and on the patio above, watching you hit your approach shot in.

3) Weather is a loose, unpredictable cannon in the area, but in general, mid-late morning is a good time to tee off, to allow for marine layer burn-off if there is any that morning.

4) #1 is relatively simple, other than a small, difficult, bumpy green. Stay left off the tee. Don%26#39;t come up in the short, right trap, it%26#39;s painful.

5) #2 grip it and rip it off the tee par 5. Don%26#39;t go over the green, you may not find the ball.

6) #3 Don%26#39;t hit it through the fairway on this dogleg left par 4. I%26#39;ll taken a 9 before just because I was in that rough and advanced it only into the front right trap. Best play off the tee is a big draw (if you%26#39;re a righty). Table top green. HAVE to avoid the front right trap and the back left trap.

7) #4 Don%26#39;t need the driver. 200-225 yards into the fairway is more important. Short-iron approach to small target.

8) #5 Favor the left.

9) #6 Incredible par-5. Three shot hole, even though it doesn%26#39;t seem that long. Plays severely uphill. Play for position.

10) #7 Take a picture. You%26#39;re on #7 at Pebble Beach. Short, but don%26#39;t go long into back trap.

11) #8 One of the greatest golf holes in the world. Put away the driver. Hit it with long iron or fairway wood, aiming at the mustard-colored house in the distance. Second shot will be mid to long iron over chasm to a TINY, sloped green, with trouble everywhere around it. (I%26#39;ve parred this hole one time in 5 tries, and it was with a partly lucky, partly amazing sand shot out of the back left trap to inches of the hole...and I play to a 5 index). That%26#39;s how hard it is. Oh yeah, and 3-puttable green too.

12) #9 and #10. Little extra length off the tee, both are long par 4%26#39;s. Both slope left to right in the fairway, so favor the left.

13) #11 Start of the inland holes. Straightforward, shortish par 4 with uphill blind tee shot.

14) #12 Long par-3, check the wind. Bail out is right of the green.

15) #13 Straightaway par 4. What you see is what you get.

16) #14 Three shot par-5. Pretty straightforward hole until you get to the green, one of the hardest on the course. Small plateau back left. Don%26#39;t go long left. Right of the plateau, the green slopes to the right severely. Pray that the pin is back right, it%26#39;s the easiest spot. Just hit it toward the middle of the green, the ball is going to end up on the right side of the green anyways, and try to two putt.

17) #15 After you get off the tee, second shot is one of the easiest on the course.

18) #16 Don%26#39;t blow it long off the tee into the left rough. You%26#39;ll be blocked out by the front left tree. Just play for position with a fairway wood/hybrid/long iron so you are staring at the green between the tree lines.

19) #17 Don%26#39;t go long, don%26#39;t go left, unless you have Tom Watson%26#39;s US Open flare for the amazing. Just try to put it on the correct side of this world-famous hourglass-shaped green. Check the wind before you hit.

20) Take out the camera. Depending on how long you are off the tee, you can choose the line to take. The majority of golfers end up in the right-hand fairway trap, since everyone favors against hitting it into the ocean. Otherwise, a straightforward hole. Take a moment to soak it in.

Sorry about the lengthy post, I just love the golf course.

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