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4.0
190 Reviews (190)
5 Stars
109
4 Stars
45
3 Stars
20
2 Stars
13
1 Stars
3
Conditions
4.9
Value
3.7
Layout
5.0
Friendliness
4.3
Pace
1.6
Amenities
4.0
98.2%
Recommend this course
162 out of 190 reviews
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Average Rating
Avg Rating
0
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
0
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
0
Value
0
Layout
0
Friendliness
0
Pace
0
Amenities
0
0%
Recommend this course
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.0
1 Reviews (1)
5 Stars
0
4 Stars
1
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
0
1 Stars
0
Conditions
5.0
Value
4.0
Layout
5.0
Pace
1.0
Amenities
4.0
StaffFriendliness
5.0
100.0%
Recommend this course
1 out of 1 reviews
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About

Holes 18
Type Public
Style Parkland
Par 71
Length 7002 yards
Slope 144
Rating 74.4

Located on the famed 17-mile-Drive, Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach was the first course in the United States to be owned and operated by an amateur golf association, the Northern California Golf Association. Originally opened in 1986 and designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.,Poppy Hills is a challenging, par-71 venue that weaves through the Del Monte Forest and has played host to several renowned tournaments, including the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991-2009. In 2014, it received an extensive, $10 million renovation by RTJ Jr. The project was first and foremost aimed to improve environmental responsibility, and cut water consumption by reducing the amount of irrigated turf -- about 60 acres -- while also extending the layout to over 7,000 yards. From a playability perspective, all the rough was removed and doglegs were softened. The course was awarded "Best Renovation" that year by all four major golf publications.

Course Details

Year Built 1986
Greens Bent Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. (1986) Donald Knott (1986) Gary Linn (1986) Mark Rathert (1986) Mike Gorman (2014)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - $25
Clubs Yes
GPS Yes
Pull-carts Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Caddies Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Golf Simulator Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Indoor Practice Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes
Dress code Proper golf attire required.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Conference Facilities, Banquet Facilities

Accolades

  • Golf Advisor: Top Courses in California (2017 #22)

Reviews

4.0
190 Reviews (190)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 9
19th Hole Scenic Views 6
Patio Dining 6
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 12
Undulating Greens 10
Forced Carries 6
This course/club is great for:
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 12
A Weekend Splurge 11
Advanced Golfers 10
This Course's Location is:
Worth the Drive 10
Near Local Attractions 6

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Course was in great shape.

Played with a couple that have played the course before and shared the knowledge, otherwise, it would have been a much more difficult round. Some holes on the approach don't require to fly the greed, so need to back off on club selection. This course requires specific locations to place the ball or your in deep you know what. Great value, and its in the Pebble Beach area, life is good!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Great course

This place is amazing. Staff is super friendly.
Greens are impeccable.
Great Robert Trent Jones track. Beautiful.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 8
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great day

Staff was amazing. Course is in great shape. Greens were tough but fair. Overall a great day. Golf now had great rates.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Anonymous
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Hooked

This place is gorgeous. You get unlimited balls at the range before your tee time. The staff was friendly- even though we don't have the best of golf equipment(beginners golf set)- they still treated us with a lot of respect. We had two newbies in our foursome and based on how they played, make sure to take a lot of balls. The views are spectacular, beautiful greens and the club house is awesome.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 3
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Very Enjoyable

Played in the late afternoon and finished in 4 1/2 hours, which is good for a public course. The price/value at Poppy is great.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Previously Played

Decent but not great.

Played a practice round with my daughter today. My 2 cents about Poppy Hills. All pro shop staff were a bit too arrogant for my liking. Then, range attendant was quite rude to us before our round. He was an older man who whistled at me, ensuring I checked in before hitting the range. Tee time was 3:30 because my daughter is a member of the youth on course. (Excellent program for junior golfers). This was our first time out since the remodel, so was excited to see the changes. Old hole #10 is now #1. Would have been nice to have signage or a map to figure that out. The course is mostly how I recalled it, except for the addition of new bunkers in the fairway ( typical of RTJ jr designs) and more undulating greens. Speaking of the greens, they were mostly rock hard and very dry. High iron shots hit the center of the green and roll off the back and into a bunker, ridiculous! This seemed to be the case more so on the front than on the back. Fairways are wide open on most holes, but bunkers are placed in good locations. Tee boxes/bunkers were in good condition. On the course, there were no places to clean your ball and no watering stations. Snack bar was closed at the turn. There was a place to fill up your water container however. Restaurant was closed at 6pm, another disappointment. Definitely not worth paying 200/round. Join the NCGA and play a discounted rate at this course. Even as a member, still not sure it's worth the price. IMO, the course was great the way it was. The course was challenging enough with the tree lined fairways, rough, doglegs, elevation change, and wind/weather. Sure the greens needed updating and removing the rough was a great change. But the orher "enhancements" ruined the Poppy Hills I always looked forward to playing.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Fair
Friendliness Poor
Pace Average
Amenities Poor
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Poppy Hills is fantastic

The only negative to our round was it was cart path only. Not sure if NCGA is going to make Poppy (basically) walking only which is fine, or they had problems with people in carts hurting the course in the past, but we had already played a morning round, wanted to play 36, and it would've been a lot to ask our knees and backs to walk it. Great course, so nice, perfect shape, well worth the greens fee. But cart path only sucks as you all know and the fairways are super wide on most holes, probably would've walked less if we had just walked it. Great venue all in all.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Tough course

This course was a challenge , fast greens and tight fairways. I didn't see any pine straw under the trees . They had a little rough on the edge of the tree line on most holes. Would play this course again .

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Course Conditions Need Improvement

Layout and location are special, but the greens were slow and inconsistent and very hard (very slight divots and no hold, even on high iron shots).

This is a good everyday course, but not the "bucket List" course I thought it would be.

Be prepared to hit over or around an army of course
Maintenance people filling in divots during play (should do in Morning)..

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Windy weather
Walked

Affordable "Pebble Beach" experience

Loved the course, excellent condition and beautiful! Carved into a coastal forest! Beautiful course', every part; Fairways, Greens, Rough, Bunkers and Waste areas. As nice as any private CC in Coastal California! The staff was very friendly. 2PM T-time, so the wind picked up as the day went on. Finished in just under 5 hours. Only waited on one hole. Carts were required to stay on path, so we walked. There is a fair amount of terrain, we wish we took a cart. No water stations and no Drink Cart out on the course. Ask for a course map if you're playing for the first time.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Intermediate
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Fair
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Add Poppy to your Pebble Beach Trip!

Great track through the forest with some views of the bay. Conditions were excellent. We played Pebble Beach the day prior, this is an entirely different challenge. Firm fast greens - gotta place your approach shots. Walked at Pebble, took cart here. Glad we did as it is a hilly course. Downside is it is cart path always, all the time. Thought the snack bar prices were high, but we more than made up with GolfNow discount on greens fee. Nice guy working pro shop.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 32
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Poppy hills Rocks!

Even though we played in the rain in the fog and eventually in the sun on the back nine it was such an amazing course. It's very difficult and challenging and at the same time extremely beautiful. Because of the rain they've had for the past months, I'm sure the greens are a lot quicker than they were when we were there, but the read on the greens are hard!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Windy weather
Used cart

Augusta like experience.

This course has finally matured after the renovation and it is a gem. Extremely difficult greens, fast & hard. There are many false fronts, hazards and blind shots. Played on a Monday afternoon and the pace was a little slow as it was carts on paths only. You'll be well served by expecting slow play. Just count on 4 to 5 hours, probably over 5 on weekends. Use the waiting time to study your next shot, you'll need it. This course has many angles and hidden challenges but is a beautiful track. Frigging amazing! I'll walk it next time, especially if it's carts on path only.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

The rate of play was painfully slow. We seemed to be the only group following cart path only rule. There were no rangers or beverage cart and limited water stations. The round took 5 1/2 hours.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Scenery

The course is in excellent condition and is quite hilly meaning there are a number of blind shots. The rating system allows you to chose the tees that cater for your handicap. Take your camera as you will have many picture opportunities as all holes offer views and the local fauna of deer and squirrels are cute. Look after any food as the squirrels may get in your cart. My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 51
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
California Advisor
Top 1000 Contributor
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Walked

Beautiful Course, Dreadful Pace of Play

Played Poppy on Saturday. The course was in near perfect condition. The greens had been aerated about 11 days prior to my round and they had already pretty much healed completely, and were actually a decent speed. Sand traps were wonderful and course handled all the rain from the winter very nicely. I walked, but there was a lady in my group with a cart and the course was cart path only this weekend.

Pace of play was unacceptable. Round took 340 minutes from 1st tee to 18th green. Can't develop any rhythm with that pace. There was a course ranger, but he was unwilling to do anything about the pace. Our group was told, the guy keeps hitting it into the woods over and over... at some point, you have tell the lousy golfer that he's ruining the round for everyone.

Course is too good to not come back, but that sort of pace is really unacceptable. 5 star course, being given just 3 because of the pace.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
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Golf Packages

The Inn At Spanish Bay Stay & Play Package

FROM $877 (USD)
PEBBLE BEACH, CA | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at The Inn at Spanish Bay and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.

La Quinta Resort & Club Stay & Play Package

FROM $167 (USD)
LA QUINTA, CA | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at La Quinta Resort & Club and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of PGA WEST - Nicklaus Tournament Course, PGA WEST - Pete Dye Mountain Course, PGA WEST - Greg Norman Course, PGA WEST - Pete Dye Dunes Course, and PGA WEST - The Pete Dye Stadium Course.

The Casa Palmero – Pebble Beach Stay & Play Package

FROM $1,047 (USD)
PEBBLE BEACH, CA | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at The Lodge at Pebble Beach and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.

The Lodge At Pebble Beach Stay & Play Package

FROM $827 (USD)
PEBBLE BEACH, CA | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at The Lodge at Pebble Beach and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Pebble Beach Golf Links, The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.

The Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa Stay & Play Package

FROM $327 (USD)
MONTEREY, CA | Enjoy up to 5 nights’ accommodations at The Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa and up to 4 rounds of golf at your choice of Poppy Hills Golf Course, Bayonet Course, Black Horse Course, and Del Monte Golf Course.
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