The best courses you can play in Monterey, California
Course Vaults is a golf course logging app where members have logged 16,956 rounds in California and rate what they played. These are the 11 highest-rated public courses within about 25 miles of Monterey, California, ranked by those community scores.

Pebble Beach Resorts
Pebble Beach, CA, USAPublicJack Neville & Douglas Grant
- 4.6Conditions
- 4.3Layout
- 3.0Value
- 4.8Scenery
- 3.9Facilities
Stunning views, top-notch history and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. With that said, the course needs renovated. Green complexes need rejuvenated and serious love. I know they are slowly redoing greens, but they need a full scale effort.
Written by
@notaburner105
- Must play
- Views
- Pristine

Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Pebble Beach, CA, USAPublicRobert Trent Jones Sr.
- 4.8Conditions
- 4.2Layout
- 2.8Value
- 4.3Scenery
- 3.4Facilities
Wow. Still speechless over Spyglass in the very best way. It starts wide open. I was cruising along, loving the scenery, and thinking, “What’s so tough?” Then I turned back from the ocean and into the forest and things got very narrow. Can you hit the ball where you want?
Written by
@playpure
- Views
- Must play
- Pristine

Poppy Hills Golf Course
Pebble Beach, CA, USAPublicRobert Trent Jones, Jr.
- 4.1Conditions
- 4.5Layout
- 4.0Value
- 4.2Scenery
- 3.9Facilities
If this local “muni” were anywhere else in the world, it would be talked about all the time. The problem is it’s surrounded by some of the best, well known courses in the world so it’s an afterthought for most. This is a really enjoyable course to play.
Written by
@RLavernia
- Driving range
- Putting area
- Restaurant

The Links at Spanish Bay
Pebble Beach, CA, USAPublicRobert Trent Jones, Jr. & Sandy Tatum
- 4.6Conditions
- 3.6Layout
- 3.1Value
- 4.5Scenery
- 3.6Facilities
Playing Spanish Bay was an awesome experience, and we got incredibly lucky with perfect weather for the round and the starter even told us it was the first time they had seen the sun in 3 weeks.
Written by
@Flopfather
- Views
- Putting area
- By water

Peter Hay Par 3
Pebble Beach Resorts
Pebble Beach, CA, USAPublicPeter Hay
- 3.8Conditions
- 4.2Layout
- 2.8Value
- 5.0Scenery
- 3.7Facilities
Fun little par 3 with immaculate ocean views. $75 is a bit steep but you can’t breathe air in this area for $75 so it is what it is. Fun 9 hole putting setup right beside the course. Only need a wedge and a putter.
Written by
@middleseatsimon
- Views
- Restaurant
- Walkable

The Bayonet
Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Courses
Seaside, CA, USAPublicGene Bates
- 3.0Conditions
- 4.0Layout
- 4.5Value
- 4.0Scenery
- 3.7Facilities
Best deal in Monterey area. Former Fort Ord military courses turned resort. Bayonet is the more difficult of the 2 courses neither is easy. If you want a 17 mile drive experience for less than 17 mile drive prices this is your best bet. Distant ocean views, tall cypress trees, white sand bunkers…
Written by
@GRaleigh 77
- Challenging
- Driving range
- Grass range

Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Courses
Seaside, CA, USAPublicChris Gray & Gene Bates
- 3.5Conditions
- 4.5Layout
- 5.0Value
- 4.0Scenery
- 4.0Facilities
- Driving range
- Grass range
- Putting area

Quail Lodge Resort & Golf Club
Carmel, CA, USAPublicRobert Muir Graves & Todd Eckenrode
- 3.5Conditions
- 3.5Layout
- 3.0Value
- 3.5Scenery
- 3.1Facilities
Pretty views with fun holes on both front and back 9. Not the greatest in terms of value (experience was very member-driven as opposed to out-of-towners) but still a nice course
Written by
@Cary
- Driving range
- Fast greens
- Parkland

Pacific Grove Golf Links
Pacific Grove, CA, USAPublicH. Chandler Egan & Jack Neville
- 3.3Conditions
- 3.4Layout
- NRValue
- 5.0Scenery
- 3.5Facilities
Front 9 is a little more on the traditional muni side, but the entire back 9 plays like an old links course right on the ocean. Lives up to the poor man’s pebble moniker.
Written by
@jttrumbull
- Great value
- Walkable
- Views

Carmel Valley Ranch Resort
Carmel, CA, USAPublicPete Dye
- 4.0Conditions
- 3.0Layout
- 3.5Value
- 4.0Scenery
- 3.3Facilities
Really beautiful through the mountains in Carmel. Extremely tight off the tee and you must hit less than driver on a lot of holes if you’re a moderate to long hitter. I would say 50% of the holes are pretty forgettable but there are a handful of really beautiful holes.
Written by
@RLavernia
- Challenging
- Driving range
- Pristine

Del Monte Golf Course
Monterey, CA, USAPublicCharles Maud & Tom Bendelow
- 4.0Conditions
- 4.7Layout
- 3.0Value
- 3.7Scenery
- 3.1Facilities
- Restaurant
- Challenging
- Pristine
How we rank
Course Vaults ranks public golf courses by Course Vaults Score (CV score), a community rating from golfers who have played and rated each course. Only open courses with at least 5 explicit ratings qualify, and this list is limited to public or guest-friendly courses. City pages include public golf courses within about 25 miles of Monterey, so nearby suburbs can appear on the same list. Rankings refresh about hourly as new ratings come in; each page shows when it was last generated.
FAQ
Common questions about public course rankings in Monterey, California.
The top public golf courses in Monterey, California on Course Vaults are led by Pebble Beach Resorts with a Course Vaults score of 9.3. This page ranks 11 courses, including Pebble Beach Resorts, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Poppy Hills Golf Course.
Course Vaults ranks public golf courses by Course Vaults Score (CV score), a community rating from golfers who have played and rated each course. Only open courses with at least 5 explicit ratings qualify, and this list is limited to public or guest-friendly courses. City pages include public golf courses within about 25 miles of Monterey, so nearby suburbs can appear on the same list. Rankings refresh about hourly as new ratings come in; each page shows when it was last generated.
Yes. The Monterey, California list includes public golf courses within about 25 miles of Monterey, not only courses whose city field is an exact match. Nearby suburbs can appear when they fall inside that metro radius.
Pebble Beach Resorts is currently #1 among public courses in and around Monterey, California on Course Vaults at 9.3 out of 10.
This ranking was last refreshed Nov 12, 2026, 4:17 AM EST. The page revalidates about every hour as golfers add new explicit ratings that meet the 5-rating minimum.
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