Is Pebble Beach worth the money (high handicapper)

[MuniGrit]

It's just money. Don't you get two nights stay on top of that or have to stay 2 nights?

[Hardspoon]

I'm a 19-hc, and I've talked with my brother about going out to play Pebble for some sort of 40th-birthday thing in a couple years.  I'm not sure what "worth it" means, but for me it's a bucket list thing.

$500 really isn't THAT much...that was only about 6 weekend rounds of golf where I used to play in Philly.

[Buckeyebowman]

Pebble Beach is worth $500 a round because they can get people to pay that. Whether or not it's worth $500 to you is another question. I have to think that many of the "premium" courses around the world are more easily enjoyed by better golfers. If you're hacking it out of the tall and uncut all day long you're liable to start wondering why you blew all that money for the experience.

 

[Green Golfer]

1 hour ago, Hardspoon said:

I'm a 19-hc, and I've talked with my brother about going out to play Pebble for some sort of 40th-birthday thing in a couple years.  I'm not sure what "worth it" means, but for me it's a bucket list thing.

$500 really isn't THAT much...that was only about 6 weekend rounds of golf where I used to play in Philly.

Yeah, it's turned into a bucket list type thing for me as well, after reading more into it. In the end it's more about the experience than playing a good round of golf.

2 hours ago, MuniGrit said:

It's just money. Don't you get two nights stay on top of that or have to stay 2 nights?

I only looked at the fees, not sure if I have to make a commitment to stay at the hotel, although I might consider. 

[Green Golfer]

2 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Pebble Beach is worth $500 a round because they can get people to pay that. Whether or not it's worth $500 to you is another question. I have to think that many of the "premium" courses around the world are more easily enjoyed by better golfers. If you're hacking it out of the tall and uncut all day long you're liable to start wondering why you blew all that money for the experience.

 

Nice to see a fellow buckeye on here. Was raised in southwest Ohio. Have been in southern California since 2002, but didn't start playing until 5 years ago. 

[kpaulhus]

I will play Pebble. I don’t care what it costs. I’ve spent more chasing women in my younger years and I can tell you, it wasn’t anywhere near as scenic or time enjoyed than Pebble will be haha

[golfdu]

It is absolutely worth the money, go play in August!

[golfdu]

I played it on my 18th birthday and took pictures on every hole, wish I had gotten a caddy but I didn't, you should definitely pay the extra $50-60 for the caddy! I broke 80 without warming up on their perfect driving range and had an awesome time. I recommend the experience, it's a special feeling standing on top of the cliffs on #8, one can only feel both joy and fear for life in that moment and spot.

[Green Golfer]

16 hours ago, golfdu said:

I played it on my 18th birthday and took pictures on every hole, wish I had gotten a caddy but I didn't, you should definitely pay the extra $50-60 for the caddy! I broke 80 without warming up on their perfect driving range and had an awesome time. I recommend the experience, it's a special feeling standing on top of the cliffs on #8, one can only feel both joy and fear for life in that moment and spot.

Wow, you broke 80 first time there, and you were just turning 18? That's impressive. I have trouble breaking 90 most days on my home course. Shows that I have a lot of room for improvement. What benefits do you get with the caddy? I may consider it.

[Wally Fairway]

22 hours ago, MuniGrit said:

It's just money. Don't you get two nights stay on top of that or have to stay 2 nights?

You don't get 2 nights on top of that  - here is how it works (or how it worked 10 years ago).
To make a tee time more than 1 day in advance on Pebble Beach you need to stay 2 nights in one of their rooms.
Short answer is we spent about $2,000/person when we went out and that included airfare, rental car, housing, meals, drinks and golf (cars and lodging were split between the 8 of us - great house 10 miles south of Pebble on Hwy 1, view of the ocean) - we figured it would have been about $2,000/person to stay at Pebble and play Pebble & Spyglass + everything else.

Here is a link to the Pebble page with rates and rules for staying on their property
https://www.pebblebeach.com/plan-my-trip/current-rates/#terms-and-conditions

 

[Big C]

I was fortunate enough to play Pebble for a work trip last September. And although my company covered the expense, I was responsible for the logistics, so I got pretty familiar with the current requirements to book. 

To book an advance foursome at Pebble, the current requirement is actually Two rooms/Two nights at one of the Pebble properties. The verbiage in the link that @Wally Fairway provided is a bit confusing because implies that a single 2 night stay will allow you to book a reservation for Pebble. While that is true, it only allows you to book for the two golfers who will be staying in the room. 

To reserve a foursome, my company had to pony up for two rooms/two nights. And since the baseline rooms at the Lodge or the Inn start at $800/night plus tax, you are going to be looking at close to $3,500 all in before you account for meals and golf. Long story short, there is no way a foursome is getting onto Pebble for less than $6,000.

Furthermore, based on the link above, it sounds like Pebble might have started requiring a 3 night stay for weekend play during certain high season times. Unreal.

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 12:28 AM, Henning said:

Any course charging a greenfee of $500 is sending a clear message to me : Yor are not really needed here.

And you would be exactly right! Despite the exorbitant cost I outlined above, when I called in June to reserve rooms and make a tee time, I was given 3 tee time options to choose from. 7:20am, 10am and 2pm. Almost three months in advance and everything else was booked solid. I snapped up the 10am time without a second thought.

That said, my understanding is that there are a lot of 2-some bookings at Pebble. So if you want to avoid the minimum stay requirement and you don't mind rolling the dice, you can always show up on the morning of and put yourself on the list. If you arrive early as a single, you are fairly likely to get paired into a group. And as a 2-some, you still have a decent chance. 

To the original question, I would say the Pebble experience is definitely worth the $600. The ocean contours make every hole so unique and memorable that it's one of the few courses that I can recall almost every shot I made several months later. Watching the AT&T this year was so much more fun and every hole looked just it did in my memory (probably the only course I can say that about).  

 

[mvmac]

No round of golf is "worth" $500-600 but I think if you love golf I'd vote to splurge for the experience and memories of playing one of the most iconic courses in the world, and to watch the AT&T and say "hey I've played there!". I've been fortunate enough to play it a few times during state ams and I can confirm it's a very special place.

Less expensive options that are really good are Del Monte, Bayonet (both courses) and Poppy Hills.

[Bucki1968]

I played there about 5 years ago (I want to say it cost me 350.00). Beautiful golf course to look at. Course conditions were really not that great. Long story short, I wouldn't spend the $ to play there again. There are far better golf courses for far less money. On the other hand...I got to say "I've played it". Oh one more thing...it was about a 5 hour round of golf.

[Groucho Valentine]

Im in the camp of that no round of golf is worth more $100-150 bucks. You can walk along the beach in monterey and get the same views for a few bucks (or whatever the access fee is) 

[FLOG4]

Economic analysis to this subject is kinda moot. If ya wanna play Pebble.....That's what it costs. They charge what they charge and every teetime is booked solid....Need say no more. Go play it unless that amount of money hurts you.

[Piz]

My local, on weekdays, is $17.50 w/cart.  Is it worth the money?  If you live in California...probably not.

[Buckeyebowman]

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to play Pebble! I've played Spyglass, and it was wonderful. However, when my buddy mentioned it and I checked out the rates, I told him that if we walked out the door with 3 or 4 Thou in our pockets we might be able to make it happen!

There's a limit, and Pebble is past mine! As are a lot of other places.