Douglas Grant

Pebble Beach, CA

Pebble Beach Golf Links opened in 1919 on the Monterey Peninsula, routed by Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, two California amateurs rather than professional architects. Their decision to push holes out to the edge of Carmel Bay is why the course is what it is. Holes 4 through 10 and the closing two run along the cliffs, with the par-3 seventh playing barely 100 yards downhill to a green ringed by ocean. The greens are among the smallest in championship golf, which matters more than the yardage. Wind off the bay changes clubs constantly, and the shared exposure means the same hole can play two or three different ways in one day. The par-5 18th bends left along the water for its full length. Pebble Beach has hosted the U.S. Open in 1972, 1982, 1992, 2000, 2010 and 2019, the 1977 PGA Championship, the U.S. Amateur in 1929, 1961 and 2018, and the 2023 U.S. Women's Open. It also hosts the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am every year, and is scheduled to hold the U.S. Open again in 2027.